In the Arena

Out of Context

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I’ve been getting some anguished comments about this clip from Reliable Sources, posted on Huffington today. I have three responses:

1. The clip represents only a small part of the interview, much of which was devoted to torching Fox News for its constant promotion of material that isn’t true–i.e. death panels, birtherism and almost anything comes out of poor, poor Glenn Beck’s mouth. I identified such swill-peddling as problem number one with cable news. Problem number 2 was cable’s aversion to complexity–hence, the Schultz comment. Problem number 3 was the hyperventilation surrounding and over-reliance on polls, and the blowing up of slight political controversies into major news, as often practiced by CNN.

2. I stand by every word with regard to Schultz. What he did was infantile, a disservice to a crucial national security issue–stability in central Asia (do I have to go through the potential threat from Pakistan yet again?)–and to the complexities of the situation in Afghanistan.

3. On the other hand, Dylan Ratigan–also of MSNBC–had me on for an interview about Afghanistan that was everything the Shultz interview was not–nuanced, courteous and, I believe, informative. These things can be done well, if information, not controversy or entertainment, is the primary coal.

More Hyperbolic Beck Crap: In an email, Beck tells Palin that she needs to get some good security protection because an attempt “on you could bring the republic down.” I certainly agree that Palin may need increased security in the current atmosphere–perhaps she could hire a couple of the gargantuan thugs from Beck’s own crew–and I would abhor, of course, any violence against Palin or her family, but notice the “bring the republic down”  part of the program. Bring the republic down? Abraham Lincoln was assassinated–simultaneous attempts were made on members of his cabinet–at a moment of peak national instability and the republic wasn’t brought down. But this is the dope that Beck is peddling: the paranoid notion that the nation is somehow imperiled. These are difficult times, but we’ve been through worse. Beck seems a wobbly enough character that he might actually believe the swill he’s retailing; then again, when people get scared, the sometimes resort to buying gold–another product Beck is selling.