Glenn beck is not evil, just uses strong language.

[AAAhmed46]

You may disagree with what he is spouting. But all he is doing is the job his station assigned to him. He uses a bit of strong language, but i havent seen him promoting hatred and violence against liberals or the left. We dont even know how much of his wording is really his or just part of a persona.

He exaggerates, uses very strong words. But never violence outright hatred being spouted.

Anyway, discuss if you want, or not. But first it was Bill O reilly, but alot of it was sound bytes with him. Like i said, disagreeing with someones opinions is not grounds to want them off air.

Some FOX reporters are scared he undermines their credibility. But they should blame the bosses rather then beck. He is doing nothing but what they want him to. Make money.

[Bill Glasheen]

Glenn Beck is a pussycat. Want to hear someone who raises some hackles? Listen to Michael Savage. He's on the local AM radio station in the evenings here. Among other things, he preaches that liberalism is a disease. You get the idea.



I listen to him for the entertainment value. A lot of his rants are pretty silly, but they don't bother me. Mostly I would have ignored him, except that recently the UK announced that it would bar him from entering the country for "extreme speech." With that silly declaration, I became a Michael Savage fan.

Be silly all you want, Michael. At least in this country you don't have to worry about big brother deciding whether or not you can be listened to.

- Bill

[Glenn]

Hey Bill, did you see that Glenn Beck claims to be a libertarian (specifically a "conservative libertarian")? Thoughts on that since that is your party?

As an aside that you might find interesting, the Libertarian Party was declared defunct in Nebraska last year, along with the Green and Nebraska parties, because none of their candidates for president or Congress garnered 5% of the vote in Nebraska in 2008.

OMAHA - Nebraska voters tired of the growing acrimony between the Democratic and Republican parties likely won't be able to turn to any third-party candidates this election year.

The Libertarian, Green and Nebraska political parties were declared defunct in Nebraska early last year, because none of their candidates for president or Congress garnered 5 percent of the vote in November 2008, as required by state law for a political party to remain certified.

Since then, none of the parties has taken steps to gather the nearly 6,000 signatures from across the state needed to be reinstated, according to Assistant Secretary of State Neil Erickson.

So Nebraska is strictly a two-party state...well, one-party really.

Also, I sent you a PM

[Bill Glasheen]

Libertarianism is pretty simple. Glenn Beck is confused. Basically a libertarian is fiscally conservative and socially liberal.

I'm not really full-blown libertarian; I just have libertarian tendencies. Our views exist on a spectrum, and are not binary. Consequently I rarely see a libertarian candidate I like. I tend to vote for "blue dog democrats" and republicans who aren't into the whole religious right thing. Basically I think government should just leave us alone as much as possible. I'm a great believer in a free economy, free markets, individual liberties, and the power of people earning their own keep in life.

- Bill

[AAAhmed46]

Glenn Beck is a pussycat. Want to hear someone who raises some hackles? Listen to Michael Savage. He's on the local AM radio station in the evenings here. Among other things, he preaches that liberalism is a disease. You get the idea.



I listen to him for the entertainment value. A lot of his rants are pretty silly, but they don't bother me. Mostly I would have ignored him, except that recently the UK announced that it would bar him from entering the country for "extreme speech." With that silly declaration, I became a Michael Savage fan.

Be silly all you want, Michael. At least in this country you don't have to worry about big brother deciding whether or not you can be listened to.

- Bill

Exactly. I remember listening to old clips of Glenn beck both tv and radio, he has shouted down people saying hateful things.

[Bill Glasheen]

Exactly. I remember listening to old clips of Glenn beck both tv and radio, he has shouted down people saying hateful things.

If you hadn't noticed, politics have become very polarized in this country.

I've been having a Facebook conversation with a former Uechi student of mine (in my very first class of black belts) who now lives in the DC area and works as a cardiologist. In his older age and with whatever crowd he's hanging around, Mark has become an uber liberal spokesperson for the Obama administration and Democratic party. Fine... Everyone needs a hobby I guess.

Lately I've been calling Mark out for the tone of his posts. You think *I* can be rough with folks... Some just resort to saying things like "Glenn Beck is an ass" and we're all supposed to nod our head as if this explains everything. The tone has been getting more and more and more inflammatory. And with the passage of health care legislation, now he and some friends are referring to some of the minority voices as "Nancy's bitches." (Nancy Pelosi)

As I was pondering all this and trying to ground what I consider to be a life-long friend, the thought occurred to me that we can learn much by reading Grossman's On Killing. What some folks attempt to do is to dehumanize an opponent. Doing so makes it easier to say and do the unthinkable. An example would be the WWII era propaganda films here that showed members of the Japanese Army with ill-fitting uniforms, buck teeth, and big glasses. Here's an example from Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips. That's a famous cartoon that - in today's perspective - appears a bit disturbing.



Sometimes when you hear the inflammatory language and the exaggerated characterizations, it's important to understand the potential consequences of these attacks. Intentional or otherwise, it makes it easier for reasonable people to say or do the unthinkable.

- Bill

[MikeK]

Libertarianism is pretty simple. Glenn Beck is confused. Basically a libertarian is fiscally conservative and socially liberal.

Actually you're incorrect Bill. There are several type of Libertarianism that have some important differences, who owns and can use property being one of the major ones. The common idea among the branches is that non-interference to the individual is gold. Now how to define non-interference is a problem.

I think what you are describing is Classical Liberalism which is for limited government and liberty for the individual.

Social liberalism is totally at odds with being fiscally conservative as it looks to the state to provide for the individual.

[Bill Glasheen]

I meant what I said, Mike.

There are lots of ways to slice the pie and label the labels. Here's one that has stood the test of time. See Nolan Chart.





This is what you are talking about. And frankly I think it parses the dimensions a bit too much. It's a labeling nightmare.



Same idea though. Our views can be characterized based on a social dimension and an economic dimension. Each dimension is a spectrum - NOT a dichotomy.

OR... We can always view the world as "us" vs. "them."



- Bill

[Jason Rees]

Personally, I find Michael Savage annoying, and I can only take Glenn Beck in small chunks these days.

Where I am on those charts of Bill's seems to fluctuate year-to-year.

[AAAhmed46]

Personally, I find Michael Savage annoying, and I can only take Glenn Beck in small chunks these days.

Where I am on those charts of Bill's seems to fluctuate year-to-year.

You and probably ninety percent of humanity.