A word about Glenn Beck. Glenn Beck is the worst. But why? Not so much because of who he distrusts or why. From where I’m standing, Beck is so awful because he theatrically combines and conflates performances of ultimate sincerity with performances of ultimate sarcasm. I think this is a telltale sign of a soul disordered by a confusion of love, power, and resentment. It becomes impossible, in such a person, to tell quite where their selfless solidarity, their egotism, and their hatred borne of weakness begin or end.
This is supposed to be surprising? These talk show hosts EXIST to be theatrical and combine sincerity and sarcasm.
They have chosen to the clowns of our society and are highly awarded for success. Every bit of attention they get -- even this one -- adds to their portfolio and their ratings and makes them money. EVERY ONE.
They aren't idiots -- they know that sacrificing their intellectual honesty and even their dignity will get them lots of attention and will perhaps make them rich. It's a choice they make, and know they've made. Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Ed Schultz, Alan Combes, Victoria Taft, all of them -- they all strive to be as outrageous as possible, to get mentioned on Drudge or the Huffington Post, to have people talking about them. It's how they make their living.
The more your disclaim their ideas, the better it is for them.
2 comments:
Limbaugh's deal is actually self-deprecating humor, taking the form of a larger-than-life persona.
The left's inability to do self-deprecating humor is why there is no corresponding success on the left.
Limbaugh's chief weakness is occasionally bouts of moralizing, when he precisely loses this self-deprecation, and the only thing to do is just come back in a week when he's over it.
He's also not good on economics, getting the result right but not able to articulate the right reasons, which is painful to sit through.
Al Franken actually did some self-deprecating humor once, on Imus about his book, so he knows the form. Why he didn't use it on Air America in a mystery.
real audio, Nov 11, 2005.
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