Quote:
Originally Posted by Zekester
Personally, I think that he runs the gamut between all of the above.
Question: Overall, do you think that he is a positive force in this country or a negative one?
Correction: as one astute poster pointed out, I should have included a fifth option:
5) a shrewd businessman exploiting a niche market in American gullibility.
I'll try to be more thorough next time. My apologies.
|
That's OK, Zekestrer. You also left out those who land in Bill O'Rielly territory, who think Beck is less than a zealot, more than the average conservative newsman.
The poll is a bit stacked up on the paranoid side of Beck. If you add up everything down from paranoid, most folks who responded think he's anywhere from a minor nut bag to a seriously sick head case.
If you add up the last 3 opinions in your poll, right now it's 113 who think he's disturbed to 83 who think he's patriotic.
Patriotism and lunacy aren't exlusive to each other. Joan of Arc and Hitler were both lunatics and patriots. Both died due to their insanity more than their leadership abilities in the end, but Joan's patriotism led to a winner, while Hitler's lead to a loser in the political side of events. Goes to show the powers of personality much more than possession of personal wisdom. The dedicated follower of either Joan or Adolph shed gallons of their blood equally for the cause they were inspired to follow.
Our own independence came about in large part because our former leader, King George, became mad as a hatter at a time when a King could still really mess up his Kingdom due to insanity.
Crazy prophets are even worse, because they don't take the welfare of their country into consideration. They can't, because they're crazy.
Russia wasn't doing so bad under Czar Nicholas II until Rasputin showed up, made a bunch of faith-healing promises for Nick's terminally ill son, and promptly began messing with the Empire as soon as he appeared. That's what crazies do when they have a way into prominence. Until then, they're just local whack-o's who no one pays much attention to. Nations always have problems. Some problems are long lasting, but most are passing. If a disturbed person is entertaining, and hits the right button at the right time, they can become very popular. Everyone, sane or not, wants to be popular.
I doubt few would disagree with the evidence that Beck is at least very emotionally fragile these days. Whether or not that means he's anything else won't ever be decided, I think, except by whatever lasting influence he has to our history.
The United States is just as prone to following crazy people's crazy agendas as any other country- John Brown was a well known lunatic in his day, and look what he accomplished. Your guess is as good as mine as to Beck, but I don't think he's anywhere as great as John Brown was by the measurement of history. I also don't think Glen Beck is anywhere near to John Brown's insanity, either.
But you never know… for sure, John Brown stepped up his game over the years as his mind degenerated. Mental illness does that, sometimes.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
