Apparently Beck has embraced the post-denial, re-framed conservative talking points, which go like this:
Climate change may be happening, but we shouldn't do anything about it because (choose one):
A) It's not our fault
B) Really, there's nothing we CAN do about it
C) Even if there was something we could do about it, it wouldn't be worth the economic cost
D) Is climate change really so bad? New Orleans wasn't so great outside of the French Quarter, anyway.
For those of you not familiar with Glenn Beck, here's John from AMERICAblog:
Of course, this is the same CNN host who called Mrs. Clinton a "bitch" two weeks ago, so why stop there? This is the same CNN host who suggested that all Muslim-Americans are working with the terrorists, that the word "faggot" isn't really much of a slur, that women should be referred to by their weight, that he "hates" the families of the victims of September 11, that Hurricane Katrina victims are "scumbags," and that Senator Obama is so "colorless... he might as well be white."But hey, CNN wants ratings. And they've apparently learned that racism, sexism and homophobia work for FOX, so why not CNN? Very sad.
A great analysis of Beck comes from mcjoan at DailyKos:
My question is not for serial moron Glenn Beck. My question is for CNN. How can you continue to have this man on your network? And Keith Olbermann, I love you man, but Beck shouldn't be today's worst person in the world. It's the person who gave him that air time.
And CNN is not just having this man at their network -- they're lining his pockets not just with salary but with promotion. All the controversy is great news for Beck's bottom line. He has a book due out in November 2007 titled An Inconvenient Book that you can assume will be more deception and denial, and that you know conservatives will lap right up.
Beck's continued employment is part of CNN's latest effort to try to beat Fox News at its own game. Fox News has drawn huge ratings by delivering political opinion presented as news, so CNN and MSNBC have tried to compete by adding bits of conservative opinion to their news channels.
Unfortunately, news programs both national and local have proven this doesn't work. Look at the way your local evening newscasts present sports and entertainment news. They hope to draw us away from Entertainment Tonight and ESPN by giving us short, lame versions of each.
But if I want SportsCenter, I'm going to watch SportsCenter. And if a viewer wants conservative opinion, they're going to watch Fox News. You can't beat them at their own game. That's why most conservative shows on CNN and MSNBC have failed, while liberal shows like Olbermann's "Countdown" have had success.
So how can you send a message? Vote twice:
1) Vote with your remote -- tell CNN you'll change the channel if you see Glenn Beck's face on a program or promo.
2) Vote with your wallet -- I'll have a list of Beck's sponsors tomorrow.