CNN’s Beck finds the political lining to California’s wildfires

October 22, 2007

The devastating fires continue to ravage southern California. At least one person has been killed, dozens have been injured, and hundreds of thousands have been evacuated from their homes, including a quarter-million people in San Diego alone.

Wildfires fanned by fierce desert winds consumed huge swaths of bone-dry Southern California on Monday, burning dozens of buildings and threatening hundreds more from Malibu to San Diego, including a jail, a hospital and nursing homes. […]

Overwhelmed firefighters said they lacked the resources to save many houses.

“We have more houses burning than we have people and engine companies to fight them,” San Diego Fire Captain Lisa Blake said. “A lot of people are going to lose their homes today.”

And to hear CNN’s Glenn Beck tell it, that’s all right, because those people aren’t any good anyway.

On the October 22 edition of his nationally syndicated radio program, host Glenn Beck stated, “I think there is a handful of people who hate America. Unfortunately for them, a lot of them are losing their homes in a forest fire today.” Beck continued: “There are a few people that hate America. But I don’t think the Democrats are those. I think there are those posing as Democrats that are like that.”

First, just in terms of his on-air comments, Beck is not only offensive; he’s incoherent. I’m left confused trying to understand who, exactly, he thinks hates America. Apparently, they are fake-Democrats who live in southern California?

And second, I’m equally confused about what kind of psychosis leads a person to look at the California wildfires and think about the political ideologies of those who are suffering. I mean, I’m a political guy, and have been for as long as I can remember. But when I see a family fleeing their home, en route to a shelter, because wildfires threaten their community, it just doesn’t occur to me to ask, “I wonder if those people hate America?”

I guess that’s what makes Glenn Beck special.

Glenn Beck is the gossip biddy of the far-right. He is such an old bat at such a tender young age. Makes me think he’s just a man out of this century, more fitting for the 1800s – with Jim Crow and other KKK sentiments spewing from his mouth daily. His passe prejudices are merely dust in the wind in the early 21st century – please give him the memo! -Kevo

  • I guess that’s what makes Glenn Beck special.

    I think the shortbus is what makes Glenn special

  • Irony: The sections which are burning are the most conservative republican bastions of the state, including two republican congresspeople who had been investigated (and had to retract) home sales because they weren’t proper.

    Yep. Burning. He’s making fun of it. And who’s burning? His allies.

    Ignorant.

  • “There are a few people that hate America. But I don’t think the Democrats are those. I think there are those posing as Democrats that are like that.”

    Someone has been in Rush Limpbag’s oxy stash.

    But when I see a family fleeing their home, on route to a shelter, because wildfires threaten their community, it just doesn’t occur to me to ask, “I wonder if those people hate America?”

    That’s why you’ll never be a fRight Wing Talking Head CB. Until you can look at people fleeing wildfires, drowning like rats in New Orleans, being swept away by tsunamis, falling from the WTC buildings and think “Ah ha! They deserved it!” you’ll be stuck with us Libruls.

  • Pushing the edge CB…
    Pushing the edge…
    That’s what it is all about.

    You push the edge of what’s acceptable public discourse…

    Can you call the Jews unperfected Christians?
    Great!

    Can you call anti-war soldiers fighting in Iraq “phony.”
    Super!

    Can you call a 12 year old boy without healthcare and his family spongers and pricks?
    Damn straight talk!

    Can you call liberals with homes on fire traitors who should be tortured?
    Jackpot!

    That’s what it is all about.
    That’s what it has always been about.

    And that’s why I was biting-mad when the Democrats shot MoveOn.org in the face for daring to try to push the dialog the other way. Ya’ all caved on that. Seriously. Pathetically.

    The neocons, theocons, kleptocrats and Cheney’s deadenders have the ball at the 20 yard line. Their plan is to run it loudly down out throats until they can make that anti-America traitor charge stick. Then you know what? Prison camps!

    DON’T YOU DAMN WELL FORGET THAT!

    Not for an instant.

  • ***I think the shortbus is what makes Glenn special***
    ————————–Martin

    You do realize, of course, that the short bus is going to hunt you now. If you wake up in the middle of the night and hear a symphony of bus engines outside your window—just remember what you said….

  • What a maggot! How could his brain even resort to political connections in the wake of this tragedy? Beck is seriously deranged and so our the people he represents. Who in their right mind would give a microphone to such a deluded sick sub-human…Oh yeah, Fox…it’s what they live for.

  • “…I’m equally confused about what kind of psychosis leads a person to look at the California wildfires and think about the political ideologies of those who are suffering.”

    I’m guessing the same kind of psychosis that led a person to look at the Twin Towers falling and claimed it was because of America’s decadent lifestyle, homosexuals, the ACLU, which is the sort of thing you’d expect bin Laden to say.

    ‘cept of course, it was Jerry Falwell, a real American hero as far as you know.

  • Someone should go find the people who had their houses burned down, and get them to watch Glenn Beck spewing his hatred, and then take their outrage and channel it right where it might do some good: At CNN’s advertisers. Here’s how it’s done:

    Dear Company X, I used to purchase your products, but since you sponsor Glenn Beck on CNN and since he thinks it’s really funny that my house burned down (along with thousands of other people who he says “hate America”), I guess I won’t be buying any more of your products, and neither will any of my friends if I have any say so about it.

    Sincerely,
    A former customer.

    That’s the way to play this and our side almost never seems to figure it out. The advertisers don’t want to sponsor hatred, but as long as it makes money and no one’s really complaining, they’ll do it and play ignorant. their sponsorship feeds the beast, and that beast keeps the fires of hatred stoked.

    Follow the money.

  • I’m with Crissa. One home that has been evacuated: The one that was bought from Duke Cunningham that got him in trouble. Rancho Santa Fe.

    My girlfriend’s dad (ex-Poway resident) called it right-wing whacko heaven, and it was!

  • I will not listen or watch Beck, I will not patronize his sponsors, and I written CNN and those sponsors telling them of that little fact. Somehow, I get the feeling that they don’t care what I think. As long as CNN pursues market share by trying to act like Faux, there is no hope unless the Democrats get the gumption to break up the media consolidation that’s characterized the Bush years.
    —-Well it might be a start—-

  • We live thirty miles east of Los Angeles. The smoke from the south, west and now east has been encroaching all day and now it’s overhead. This despite the fact that we are miles from any of the fires. More than a quarter of a million people have been evacuated in San Diego County.

    That Glenn Beck would try to make some sort of ideological point out of all of this loss and displacement catapults him into the first rank of conservative assholes.

  • …when I see a family fleeing their home, on route to a shelter, because wildfires threaten their community, it just doesn’t occur to me to ask, “I wonder if those people hate America?”

    Eh, there’s probably some archived post around September ’05 where you say the Mississippians whose homes were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina got what they deserved for voting for Bush. Without actually searching your archive (which has the potential of proving me wrong), I’ll just assume this is true and waggle my finger at you in shame. Shame, CB!

    Will you ever stop insulting Mississippians?? Yes or no?

  • Crissa is entirely right – it’s all of Rightwing Republican World that’s burning, other than Malibu. Malibu must be what Glenn’s worried about, probably because they laughed at him behind his back for being the little braindead wuss that he is.

    I hereby volunteer to run the de-Nazification, er, I mean de-Republicanization camps come 2009. I have all kinds of interesting ideas about how Glenn and the boys can learn to clean latrines with their tongues.

  • If God were raining fire and brimstone on pockets of sinners, I guess God must have approved of enslaving Blacks and the genocide of American Indians and a whole bunch of other decades or centuries of human atrocities in this nation. Presumably, God also approved of the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide, Rwanda’s genocide, the killing fields of Cambodia, the Soviet gulag system, Mao’s slaughter of millions, etc. etc.

    There will always be Glenn Becks around promoting hate and intolerance and bullshit theology and the only response is to point out the obvious things it proves about his parents and grandparents. And to do as others here suggested: notify his advertisers why you feel compelled to boycott them for funding him.

    Two other points that should be noted about the wildfires:

    1) With a quarter million people evacuated, could the fires have been better contained if the California National Guard wasn’t thin from being deployed to Iraq?

    2) For updates from the area, check in on TBogg. Several among his family and friends have been evacuated and some have already lost their homes.

  • Actually, this could get interesting. After all, it’s one thing for Glenn Beck to trash Katrina victims. They’re poor and black! They probably don’t even HAVE cable unless they’re stealing it, right Glenn?

    But for him to impugn the patriotism of thousands and thousands of rich white conservatives – you know, “God’s favorites” – well, that might provoke a phone call or three from the sorts of people who can make the sissy britches in the media stand up and take notice. THis might be the thing that forces Beck to spend some more time with his family. I’ll take it.

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  • Sounds rather similar to what you’ve migh’ve heard a Serb say about a Bosian Muslim neighborhood (or, vice versa)

    Which probably a clue as to where this country is headed…

  • What a retard. I live in San Diego and I’m currently under mandatory evacuation here, worrying about whether my home will be around in a couple of days and I can tell you first hand that there are WAY more card-carrying neo-cons who still support Bush than there are Democrats being impacted by the fires here.

    Clearly this idiot is only aware of what is going on in Malibu, which is a much, much, much smaller fire/disaster than down here.

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  • “Glenlivet” Beck strikes again! Is his hangover still going on strong by airtime? It could explain his idiotic statements.

  • Beck has showed his true colors and that would be a complete fool. As P.T. once said a fool and his money are soon depart. So it will be for those like Beck. The day will come when no one will listen to him or his kind. To question the character of those people who had or may lose everything they have is beyond stupid.

  • What does he think makes you an America-hater? I’m a former Marine and I am a Democrat. I went to boot camp in San Diego, which is burning now. Crikey, San Diego is one of the most conservative towns in America. Fire burns everybody’s home, regardless of race, creed, politics. What an effing twit Glenn Beck is.

    Why does this loser still have a show? His ratings are bottom of the barrel anyway.

  • Darrell – Good idea. I just sent a message to WMBD in Peoria IL asking for more information on how people losing their homes to wildfires is related to people who hate America.

  • #5, sorry to have to break it to you, your own idiot Harry Reid said that the fires were as a result of Global Warming. Who is disgraced here? Where is your rage for HR? Think HE had an agenda there? He sure did. The fires and the winds have raged for decades. As for Phony Soldiers, well they are Phony! As for the 12yr old boy without Health insurance-do you think those were his words? Bush agreed to sign a bill that was not laden with earmarks-guess what, he stayed true to his word. The bill was laden with earmarks. I agree that we should take care of the kids but those earmarks were for a select few, not the kids. The Dems and lobbyists know this all too well.

  • Im no psychiatrist but have had some training. Anyone that actually seems to find joy in people’s homes burning down needs help. He seems obsessive-compulsive to me. It appears to me that he can in his twisted mind politicize anything. Whats next? Let me guess: sub-prime loan defaulters? mothers in Darfur? people over 100? Shame on CNN for hiring and keeping this loon.

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