Posts Tagged ‘Glenn Beck’
September 27th, 2011 by John Feehery
“And so tonight — to you, the great silent majority of my fellow Americans — I ask for your support.”
In November of 1969, Richard Nixon uttered this line in a televised address to the nation, explaining his plans in Vietnam.
At the time, the nation was enveloped in social, economic and racial turmoil. Nixon was speaking to the folks in the country who were respectful of authority, preferred order to chaos, disdained the revolutionaries and distrusted the intellectual elite who were attacking the pillars of American society.
The silent majority came to mean the white middle and lower middle class of America, and Nixon’s phrase came to be seen as a way to polarize an already polarized society.
But the phrase still has some uses.
The Republican Party has been embroiled in revolution from the so-called Tea Party Patriots.
These Tea Party Republicans were the first to embrace Sarah Palin. They gained inspiration from Glenn Beck back when Beck was the man. They held large protests around the country and on the National Mall. They targeted Republicans in primary fights in the midterm election, and successfully took out Bob Bennett, the senator from Utah; Mike Castle, the favorite to win the Delaware Senate seat; and Lisa Murkowski, the sitting senator from Alaska (who ended up winning the general election in a daring third-party challenge). Read more...
Tags: Bob Bennett, Buchanan, bush, Bush II, Chambers of Commerce, Dole, Glenn Beck, Herman Cain, Jeb Bush, Jon Huntsman, Kiwanis Clubs, Lisa Murkowski, majority, McCain, Michele Bachmann, Mike Castle, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Politics, presidential campaign, Presidential election, Reagan, Richard Nixon, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Robert Taft, Sarah Palin, Tea Party Patriots, Tea Party Republicans, Vietnam, white middle and lower middle class
Posted in GOP, Government, History, Liberal Media, Media, Politics, Presidential election, Promises, Reviews, Theory, election, speeches, spending, taxes | 2 Comments »
March 1st, 2011 by John Feehery
On June 11, 2002, when American Idol premiered on the Fox Network, it introduced the American people to its first taste of crushing reality. Thousands of people auditioned in front of three judges, hoping upon hope that they would grab the brass ring, that their singing talents were so immense, they would be big star.
Simon Cowell, who had the guts and the fortitude to tell the would-be singers that they sucked, mostly crushed the hopes of the overwhelming majority of contestants. Cowell wasn’t nice about it. He was brutal. And it was just about what America needed to hear. We can’t all be stars. Some people have voices that are best left in the shower.
Four years later, on February 13, 2006, a new reality show hit the airwaves on NBC. The Biggest Loser has a simple premise. It is a weight loss contest. But this is a weight loss contest on steroids. The contestants are huge. The challenges are immense. And the tactics are brutal.
The trainers are merciless. They don’t spare anybody’s egos. They practice tough love. And they don’t beat around the bush. America is way too fat and we all know it. To get less fat, we have to face reality. We have to eat way less and exercise way more. And if we want to survive, we have to get working on it soon. Read more...
Tags: America, American Idol, Barack Obama, C-Span, Congress, dollar, Economy, Fox Network, Glenn Beck, Government, government shut down, health care, NBC, reality TV, Simon Cowell, Social Security, spending, taxes, The Biggest Loser
Posted in Bad Decisions, Economy, GOP, Government, Media, Politics, Theory, spending, taxes | No Comments »
February 11th, 2011 by John Feehery
Hosni Mubarak surprised everybody when he said that he was sticking around until September. Charles Krauthammer predicts that once the mosques adjourn in Cairo later today, there are going to be a lot of very angry Egyptians who are not to going to accept Mr. Mubarak’s decision.
You want to cause a revolution? Raise expectations and then disappoint those whose expectations you raised.
House Republican leaders promised in their pledge to America to cut one hundred billion dollars from domestic discretionary non-defense spending. They then tried to explain to their newly elected revolutionaries that they had to pro-rate those budget cuts to account for the fact that close to half the budget year was done.
To newly elected revolutionaries, they don’t want rational explanations. They want to cut a hundred billion dollars. Instead of be toppled by the rebels, the leaders did what they had to do. They agreed to the terms.
The lesson: Don’t unnecessarily raise expectations.
Conservatives have come to Washington to their annual meeting to try to hash out what conservative really means. The consensus? I am a conservative, but that guy over there is a sell-out squish. Read more...
Tags: America, Congress, Democrats, dollar, Economy, Egypt, Glenn Beck, Hosni Mubarak, John Boehner, policitcal revolution, Republican, Republicans, revolution, Sarah Palin, spending, Tea Party
Posted in Economy, Government, Politics, Theory, spending | No Comments »
January 11th, 2011 by John Feehery
It was Charles Manson who said: “Years ago, it meant something to be crazy. Now everyone’s crazy.”
It sure seems that way. You just have to take a look at what is on the TV for a few minutes to confirm for yourself what Manson has asserted. From reality shows to the 48 Hours Mysteries to Glenn Beck and Keith Olberman, it seems that as a society we have all gone a little cuckoo.
Friedrich Nietzsche put it this way: “In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.” These days, both in individuals and in groups, nations and epochs, it has become the rule.
Insanity has made an entrance again on the national stage, as a disturbed young man tried to kill a popular Congresswoman and succeed in killing many more. Conservatives believe that this was an isolated case of a crazy person. Liberals believe that this crazy person was born of a movement of crazy people that they call the vast right-wing conspiracy. Read more...
Tags: 48 Hours Mysteries, Charles Manson, Congress, Congresswoman, Conservatives, Crazy, faith', Friedrich Nietzsche, Glenn Beck, Government, Keith Olberman, Media, President, Religion, Tea Party
Posted in Bad Decisions, Government, History, Liberal Media, Media, Politics, Radicalism, national security | No Comments »
October 29th, 2010 by John Feehery
ThinkProgress, the left-wing, anti-capitalist, George Soros-funded attack machine put little old me in their cross-hairs. They accused me of being a paid toady of the Chamber of Commerce: “Paying For Television Pundits: GOP lobbyist John Feehery has appeared on cable television to attack ThinkProgress’ reporting, taken to Twitter call President Obama a “business-hating socialist” for calling attention to this story, and even penned an article in The Hill newspaper to defend the Chamber and lie about our investigation. Feehery never mentioned the foreign corporate direct donations to the Chamber’s 501(c)(6). But more importantly, neither The Hill nor any of television outlets Feehery appears on disclosed the fact that Feehery’s public relations firm, The Feehery Group, counts the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as one of its clients. Shortly after our story broke, Feehery was hired by another public relations/lobbying firm, Quinn Gillespie, which is also a client of the Chamber. Moreover, Fox News’ parent company is an active member of the Chamber, and hate-talker Glenn Beck met with the Chamber’s second in command earlier this year to plot the 2010 election. While Fox hosts and Beck have endlessly defended the Chamber’s secret money, there has been no disclosure of the network’s financial ties to Chamber lobbyists.” Read more...
Tags: Barack Obama, Chamber, Chamber of Commerce, Congress, Conservatives, Democrats, George Soros, Glenn Beck, Government, Obama, Politics, Quinn Gillespie, Republican, Republicans, ThinkProgress
Posted in GOP, Government, Liberal Media, Media, Politics, Theory, just made up | 1 Comment »
September 1st, 2010 by John Feehery
Glenn Beck is crazy. His fans, on the other hand, are not.
I have talked to several reporters about the Beck event on the mall over the weekend, and every one of them had nothing but complete disdain for Beck.
And yet, each one of them commented about how nice the crowd was.
The Beck fans were orderly. They didn’t carry wacky signs. They were very respectful of each other. As one reporter told me, “you would feel very comfortable with your kids running through this crowd.”
The Beck fans were immaculate. They cleaned up after themselves. In fact, the place looked cleaner after they were there then it did before they got there.
The problem the left has in attacking the Tea Party and in attacking Glenn Beck’s supporters is that they are attacking people who are actually very nice.
These folks are very concerned about what is happening to America. Yes, they are concerned about President Obama, but it isn’t his race that bothers them. It is his philosophy and his insouciance about America’s essential character. Read more...
Tags: America, Barack Obama, Conservatives, Democrats, Glenn Beck, rally, Republicans, Tea Party
Posted in Politics | 5 Comments »
August 30th, 2010 by John Feehery
Glenn Beck // Photo credit: Gage Skidmore
The good news coming in over the weekend is that Glenn Beck announced that he wasn’t running for President. The bad news is that he seems to think of himself as some sort of a religious prophet, and a lot of people seem to agree with him.
Beck proved that he wasn’t completely delusional when he admitted that he would be unelectable should he decide that he was running for the nation’s highest office. On that, I assume he is correct, but then again, you never know.
Beck’s rally, from all the news reports, was a political curiosity, in that it wasn’t supposed to be overtly political. He gave an award to Albert Pujols, the St. Louis Cardinal’s slugger, and somehow suckered Tony LaRussa, the Cardinals’ long-time manager to be there to actually present the award to his star. He also gave an award to a relative of Martin Luther King, which was appropriate, (I guess) since it was 47 years to the day that King gave his famous “I Have A Dream” speech in that very same location. Read more...
Tags: Barack Obama, Catholism, Fulton Sheen, Glenn Beck, Martin Luther King
Posted in Politics | No Comments »
July 22nd, 2010 by John Feehery
Glenn Beck is not necessarily my cup of tea.
But you have to give the guy credit. His show is pretty entertaining.
And apparently it is watched with great interest at the White House.
Earlier this year, I went home to Chicago for my brother’s 40th birthday (yes, he is my younger brother and yes, it was a surprise), and all anybody could talk about was Glenn Beck.
And they were all positive comments. Do you watch Glenn Beck? Do you like Glenn Beck? Did you hear what Glenn Beck said about this or that?
It was fascinating. My family is not exactly a bunch of right-wingers. They are mostly centrists who have grown tired of Barack Obama’s false promises. They are concerned about the future of the country, about the debt, about the lack of jobs.
They watch Glenn Beck because they find his show entertaining and informative.
They aren’t the only ones. I remember I spoke once to a fly-in for a member of Congress, and I said something less than positive about Mr. Beck, and I had to defend myself from a verbal attack from the Congressman’s mother, who is a rabid follower of him. Read more...
Tags: Barack Obama, Congress, Glenn Beck, NAACP, racism, Shirley Sherrod
Posted in Politics | 3 Comments »
June 30th, 2010 by John Feehery
The Washington Post today reports on the breaking news that the FBI has broken up a Russian spy ring in the U.S.:
“Details that emerged Tuesday about the alleged spies’ lives added to the mystery of a network that prosecutors say extended from Manhattan to Seattle and the heart of the Washington area. Though utterly unremarkable to their neighbors, the suspects allegedly buried stashes of money and wrote messages in invisible ink as they sought to collect tidbits about U.S. policy and secrets. On closer inspection, there seemed to be hints that something was going on. The suspect known as Anna Chapman, who operated an online real estate company in New York, revealed on her Facebook page that she was educated in Moscow and belonged to an organization of Russian-speaking professionals. Another suspect, adjunct college professor Juan Lazaro, was recorded on an FBI wiretap describing his childhood to the woman who lived as his wife.”
What the Post didn’t report and what can now be revealed for the first time is that the Russians not only had this passive intelligence-gathering program. It also had a program that was intended to actively undermine American democracy. We at the JMU news network have uncorroborated evidence of these spies: Read more...
Tags: Bernie Madoff, FBI, Glenn Beck, google, Lady Gaga, Ronald McDonald, russia, Russian spies, Steve Jobs, Tom Cruise
Posted in Fun, Government, Humor, Politics | No Comments »
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