photo credit: Joel WashingDarrell Royal, legendary head coach of the University of Texas football team, was once asked if running back Earl Campbell was “in a class by himself.” Royal reportedly replied, “I don’t know if he’s in a class by himself, but it sure don’t take long to call roll.” Earl Campbell was a class act.
Glenn Beck is anything but a class act. Yet, despite his lack of class, Fox News’ latest ratings meteor has found a way to distinguish himself from his not so terribly classy peers—a way to set himself apart and, in his way, ahead of the pack. As television news pundits go, Beck truly has moved into a class by himself, albeit a very low class.
Sure, we’re all familiar with Beck’s fear mongering, far fetched conspiracy theories, unconvincing on camera emotional meltdowns, and vicious attacks upon all things honorable and reasonable. I gauge that I am not alone in my estimation that Beck is a largely unprincipled man who will say almost anything, at the expense of almost anyone, if he calculates that by so doing his ratings, influence and income will increase. But now, there come reports of on-air conduct so seedy, shameless and cruel that I would not have expected it even from such a man as Beck. I am hoping to hear him say the reports are untrue.
What would you think of a guy who used his drive time radio show to repeatedly insult and humiliate a very nice, but overweight, lady with an unrelenting barrage of fat jokes? Pretty low class, right?
What if that embarrassing fat joke campaign was driven by nothing more than a cynical calculation that such outrageous conduct would attract shocked listeners and increase his audience share? I guess that listening to Glenn Beck broadcasts have always been something akin to rubber necking past a collision of decency and ratings. There’s no doubt about it, bad collisions do attract crowds.
Allegedly, Beck’s taunting of Liz Curtis, an on-air personality at a competing station back in the 1980s, intruded even into such personal areas as Curtis’ wedding.
“Days before (Liz) Curtis’ marriage, Beck penned a skit featuring a stolen menu card for the wedding reception. “The caterer says that instead of throwing rice after the ceremony, they are going to throw hot, buttered popcorn,” explains Beck’s fictional spy.” (see article at Salon.com)
Nice, huh?
So, try this. What would you think of a guy who would telephone a grieving woman, and in a live on-air phone call taunt her about her recent loss of a child through miscarriage? That would take a real sweetheart, no? It would certainly take a guy in a class by himself.
Alexander Zaitchik, writing in a multi-part series for Salon, relays both of the foregoing stories about Glenn Beck in his days as a Top 40 zoo jock. The full article can be found here. The latter story is also reported at FDL.
Did Glenn Beck really do these things? I couldn’t say of my own knowledge. I wasn’t in Louisville or Phoenix in the 1980s when he reportedly did these things on the air. I wasn’t a listener, so I really don’t know. I do know that it would take a sorry sack of shabby morals to do such things. So far as I know, Beck hasn’t denied the allegations. If he does, I’ll see that you hear about it here.
One thing is for sure. A guy who would do such things as Zaitchik alleges, well… that’s certainly the kind of guy you’d want to seek out for advice on things like personal responsibility, good citizenship, and serious matters of God and country. A booze and dope habit would make such a guy an even more appealing role model, right?
In a recent television broadcast (see video clip above right) Beck himself admitted that he is a recovering alcoholic, former dirtbag and liar (his words) who has, already, lost everything one time in his life. His lying dirtbag days, he contends, are now behind him. Since those days, he’s found religion and shaped up. He’s a changed man. Maybe so. Anything is, I suppose, possible.
Maybe he’s changed just since I saw him yesterday afternoon. Maybe he’s repented of scaring the hell out of old people with made up stories of government ghouls out to suck their blood. Maybe he’s repented of planting seeds of anger and hatred in the hearts of easily swayed viewers suffering from unemployment and economic hardship. Maybe’s he’s turned away from throwing gasoline on scattered brushfires of racism and bigotry. Maybe I will tune in to his broadcast this afternoon and find a new Glenn Beck spreading a message of reconciliation, cooperation, mutual respect and love. Maybe.
There’s an old story in Choctaw mythology about a dung beetle that transforms into a dove. A few folks believe the story, but I, personally, never gave it much credence. I don’t know why. It just didn’t feel right.
