Sunday, May 16, 2010

Glenn Beck's Nazi Tourette's

Though I can't use jet lag as an excuse, my schedule is a bit out of whack due to my late arrival in Honolulu last night and my Census Bureau work (not to mention a big project from Korea), so I'll just link to something from The Daily Show I found funny about Glenn Beck:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Back in Black - Glenn Beck's Nazi Tourette's
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorTea Party

5 comments:

  1. However, on Friday night Beck and Bill O'Reilly were sharing a chuckle over Jon Stewart's consternation, at finding himself in agreement with Beck that the Times Square bomber ought to be mirandized and tried in civilian court.

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  2. Funny. So funny, in fact, it ALMOST made me forget that this whole thing started with supposedly responsible LA city councilmembers, including Paul Koretz and Janice Hahn, and of course Cardinal Roger Mahony (always nice to see him take time off from hiding pedophiles to weigh in on illegal immigration), likening Arizona's, uh, attempt to enforce the people's immigration laws to the Nazis.

    But sure, why go after them when you can go after Glen Beck? Sure, Beck's an ass, but frankly, everyone should be offended by the Arizona Nazi references.

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  3. A fair point, Marmot. Truth be told, I discovered this by following a series of funny videos of no political content that began at List of the Day, so I did not know the context of Glenn Beck's original Nazi utterings.

    I think there could be some legitimate ones in there, but my impression (formed, admittedly, from watching others calling him out) is that he goes for quantity over quality.

    I don't know how I feel about the "Papers, please!" Nazi references I've heard critics of the Arizona law make, but I do feel that this law has the potential for racist abuse and could have been written much more clearly. On the other hand, I have no problem with checking everyone who ends up in police custody for other legitimate reasons.

    I'd also like to see more regularity in enforcing the laws where people get hired, including eligibility status checks for all and harsh punishments for employers who knowingly hire illegals.

    I will say one thing, though, in the long run, at least for the next few years, this will bite Arizona in the butt, with probably considerably less compliance with the US Census from people who are worried that Census workers can or must report the existence of even potential illegals (which means less Federal funding divvied up and sent their way).

    Just like folks here in Honolulu who deliberately mislead Census enumerators about the second or third housing unit on their property because they fear the privacy-sworn federal employees of the Census Bureau are going to tell the City and County of Honolulu about housing violations.

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  4. Sure, people playing the Nazi card are usually dumb, regardless of their politics. I hated George Bush, but cringed when I saw the Nazi references, mostly because those kinds of exaggerations do more to weaken your argument than strengthen it.

    So considering the fact that every other card in Beck's hand is the Nazi or the Communist card, the Daily Show segment was pretty much spot on.

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  5. Agreed, Scott. I didn't care much for Bush43, but found the Hitler comparison unsettling and unfair. Ditto when they're applied to Obama.

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