Black Box Report

Glenn Beck, idiot:

We come to the center on principles. We come back to the center of the melting pot, that we're all one America, that just because I disagree with you doesn't mean you hate America, and I love America. We all love America. We just disagree on how we should function, what we should do, big government, small government. It doesn't mean you hate America. 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.

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.

But you don't come into the center. You have to stand up for what you believe in.

(emphasis mine)

He's right, of course. You do have to stand up for what you believe in. And I believe Glenn Beck is an idiot.

Now, finding proof that Glenn Beck is an idiot is like shooting large sleepy fish in a very small barrel. Nevermind the logistical contortion of going from "just because I disagree with you doesn't mean you hate America," to "I think there is a handful of people who hate America" in the space of three sentences, or that Beck tries to parse between Democrats and the people who hate America who pose as Democrats (presumably by registering and voting as...Democrats). Not that it needed pointing out, but Atrios notes that Beck literally doesn't know what he's talking about:

You have to be a moron like Beck to not understand that these parts of California are more likely to contain members of his political tribe, not mine.

There weren't many rightwing blogs that came to Beck's defense. To their credit, some took him to task for his comments (sort of). But to their discredit, they criticized him for the wrong thing:

How could Beck be stupid enough to make such an idiotic statement while hundreds of thousands of people were being evacuated? At a time like this, politics should be irrelevant. Normal human beings don't want to see people losing their homes.

That is true, and totally beside the point. Not to be outdone by some rightwing blogger, Beck's producer responded to the controversy and proved he's just as clueless:

A spokesman for Beck expressed surprise that bloggers are seizing on this quotation as an example of incivility. "To most rational people, unfortunately still means unfortunately," (said) Chris Balfe, the show's producer.

This is, of course, incoherent drivel:

According to Beck's producer, telling a national audience that wildfire victims "hate America" is fine, so long as one says it's "unfortunate" for those who hate America to lose their homes. By this logic, one could say, "Unfortunately for Glenn Beck, he appears to have the intelligence of a cardboard box." This isn't an insult, because, to most rational people, unfortunately still means unfortunately.

Yes, unfortunately still means unfortunately. And saying an amorphous mass of people "hate America" because they live in California, which contains Hollywood, so therefore everyone must be a bunch of baby-killing, America-hating libruls, means you're an idiot.

I would also point out that saying, "Unfortunately for them, a lot of them are losing their homes in a forest fire today." implies it's unfortunate for them, but fortunate for Glenn and those who don't hate America. But that's just quibbling. Glenn proved he's an idiot even without me reading any implications into his statement.

Finally, AMERICAblog asks the only question left worth asking:

And the question remains, why does CNN continue to stand behind this idiot?

CNN. "The most trusted name in news." That should be a question, not a statement.