Dead Beckoning: A Poem about Glenn Beck

Excerpt from Political Animal by Steve Benen and featuring Hilzoy
Washington Monthly (March 17, 2009)

PEOPLE ARE WATCHING THIS LUNATIC.... Glenn Beck, Fox News' deranged media personality, has been telling a national television audience that the Obama administration might be setting up secret "concentration camps" to lock up conservatives. The president, Beck believes, may be using FEMA in this conspiratorial drive towards "a totalitarian state."


Beck, who has already voiced his affinity for the John Birch Society, is also distributing Birchers' literature to his audiences.


If he were just some random right-wing blogger, it would be easier to laugh this off. If he were just some strange man screaming on a street corner, social service agencies might be called in to help the guy out. But instead, people are listening to this nut.


In fact, Beck has been dominating cable news recently. According to TVNewser's charts of Nielsen ratings, out of all the cable news networks, his Fox show has consistently placed second in the key demographic of viewers aged 25 to 54 over the past couple weeks, beating even Sean Hannity's and trailing only "The O'Reilly Factor." When it comes to total viewers, too, Beck's been cleaning up, generally placing third, just behind Hannity.


Dead Beckoning: A Poem about Glenn Beck
By Elaine Magliaro

He’s nuttier than a fruitcake.
He’s as crazy as a loon.
He’s got bats up in his belfry—
And he howls at the moon.

He’s a little low on neurons
And his brain’s stuck in first gear.
This nincompoop Neanderthal
Takes joy spreading fear.

He cries for love of country…
While pondering its doom
With other “prescient” experts
In his fantasized War Room.

He talks about disasters
That might befall our nation
At some dates in the future.
It’s just right wing titillation.

His ratings keep on soaring
And his TV show’s a hit.
Some folks are fascinated
By the rantings of this twit!

He praises folks like Cheney.
Our President? He knocks.
His comrades at the channel—
Chris and Bill O.—think he rocks.

You can watch Beck blaze on cable.
He’s the bright new star at FOX.



From FOX News Interview Archive (Monday, February 23, 2009)

Glenn Beck’s War Room

Here's an excerpt:
GLENN BECK, HOST: Tonight, we have a very special edition of "The Glenn Beck" program. I want to you join me in the war room which is actually our regular set. We just lit it differently.
But we're going to play out some of the worst case scenarios with some of the greatest minds around, asking ourselves one simple question: What if? Everybody always says, "Gee, you know, we've got to bail out these banks because it will be really bad if we don't." Well, what does it mean "really bad"?


And tonight, we're going to think it out with the help of former CIA agents, some of the best money people around, military analysts, survival experts. We're going to try to show you how to prepare for the worst while everybody else is sitting back and hoping for the best. And I want you to know — everybody involved in this show is also hoping for the best.

Also--Hookers and homelessness: Beck’s War Room predicts doomsday scenario (Video)