I believe that the Lewis Black attack upon Glenn Beck

[PCIntern]

is the single most effective moment of its type in the last thirty years. If elected Democrats and pundits sympathetic to our cause were 5% effective, none of this Rethug Rebirth would have occurred after the election of 2008. Instead, we were our usual mealy-mouthed smiling denial selves, all the while they were building their fortress of lies.

[napi21]

1. I HOPE all our Dem leaders saw Black's skit! I would have missed it

had Keith not payed it. THANKS KEITH!

[KurtNYC]

2. I don't watch TV, as many others don't,

so I fail to see Glenn Beck as relevant. Lewis Black is a great rant comedian but ultimately these are 2 TV personalities and some words.

[mysticalchick]

5. Glen Beck not relevant ...

... because you don't watch tv? For real? Geez oh pete. I NEVER watch television news or pundit programs and even *I* can tell you that his mindset is affecting many, many people. (And I don't act all 'holier than thou' about it either.)

We have to use whatever we can to fight this crap and I think Lewis Black did a great job of putting it all together in a hilarious way.

[KurtNYC]

10. I choose not to give my energy to a fight with a TV personality's words

I think some confuse the cheerleaders with the real players.

- St. KurtNYC has spoken ;-)

[RaleighNCDUer]

18. If you think a 'cheerleader' who speaks to millions of people on a daily basis

is not a player, you don't understand the game.

[KurtNYC]

21. About 150,000 actually

http://mediamatters.org/research/200608080009

If Glen Beck disappeared tomorrow do you think politics in this country would be one iota different because of that? Or would the powers that be just promote another jester to that position?

[RaleighNCDUer]

25. Come on, be serious. That article was from 2006, about his CNN

show, not from the year of the tea party and his Fox show.

He probably gets 150,000 in NYC alone, these days. What do you think it's like out here?

[Paladin]

35. I Bet Goebbels Would Have Gotten A Pass From You In The 30's, As Well.

Given that you wouldn't have deigned to own a radio.....

[CoffeeCat]

20. People with the same attitude laughed at me...

...when I was concerned about Rush Limbaugh in the early 1990's. These
right-wing blowhards do shape public opinion, they also motivate their
base and keep "We The People" divided with hatred.

Rush Limbaugh was dismissed as a radio clown. Rush even used that "I'm
just an entertainer...a lovable little fuzzball" device to evade accountability
when people questioned his lies and propaganda. Look at what happened in
the 1994 Congressional elections...conservatives swept. Rush motivated them
to vote in high numbers and he also made a radical conservative agenda seem
appealing to Independents and other fence sitters. He really had an impact.

I would estimate that Beck's impact is even bigger than Rush's. The general
public is dazed, confused and fearful. Beck is a consummate liar and manipulator.
Have you watched how skilled he is at coddling his audience and making them feel
as if he's giving them inside information? His audience feels that they are
smarter than the average bear, so they are emotionally invested in Beck's
drivel being true. He creates such fear that keeps them addicted. He's a
masterful manipulator--like a murderer luring a victim.

And he's having a major effect. I talk with people all of the time, who seem normal--but
they are Beck fans. Teachers, engineers, blue-collar workers. They think Beck has
the inside scoop and makes the connections that the non-Beck listeners (progressives)
are just too ignorant to see. It's frightening.

The only way to combat this lying nonsense is to be informed and be aware of the
arguments they make--so we can counter them with truth.

Don't underestimate the power of stupid. Just look at the popularity of Walmart, the
Snuggie and Twinkies. There's a lot of stupid out there. I would say the majority
of Americans lack basic critical-thinking skills.

[Paladin]

34. Well Now, Aren't You Special.

If you're foregoing TV, you're handicapping yourself in terms of keeping track of day-by-day political events and commentary. And you sure as hell have no standing to come to a TV-related DU thread and sneer, particularly about a genuine, impactive masterpiece of agitprop like what Lewis Black delivered to those of us in such severe need of it....

[RagAss]

12. So true...and if there was ever a video that needs to be seen all over the country...

this one is it. Reducing a "dangerous propagandist" to the level of a total Assclown in five minutes.

[Karia]

16. Beck has a large following

Including my own mother, I regret to say, and all of her friends.

I really do not understand it - and this is the worst of it: these people were once liberal Democrats. Somehow, after they retired, they slowly got sucked into the talk radio/Fox "news" brainf*ck.

Seriously, I got my leftist leanings from my mother. I still believe in the values she instilled in me - and I remind her of that whenever we argue about politics. But now she listens to Glen and Rush.

[KonaKane]

28. Happened to my mom too.

It's ponderous. She was a fucking bra burner! Suddenly about five years ago I notice the goddamned FOX news logo is burned into her big screen TV. I am at a loss here. She is much too intelligent to be following those useless assholes, yet she parrots their every word.

[Bluenorthwest]

17. Lewis Black is not a 'TV personality'

He is a stand up comic, an author, and an actor. He is on TV from time to time, but the bulk of his work would be on stage, live. Do you also have moral issues with live performance and books?
The two men are not the same. The day Black is an official 'TV personality' I'll buy you a full Irish Breakfast and call you a genius. That would be a great thing, if artists such as Black were 'TV personalities'.
Cultural ignorance is a personal choice, but you should know that it is not seen by all as a badge of honor.

[KurtNYC]

19. I don't have a moral issue with anything discussed here; more like

a strategy issue. In the incident cited by the OP, Beck and Black are TV personalities -- my point being that they are motivated to entertain, not to lead. I don't think we should try to elevate them. (Technically, Lewis Black is a segment producer: he sells 3 minute bits to TDS.)

Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, etc are irrelevant as individuals because they can easily be replaced with yet another angry, mildly entertaining corporate mouthpiece (and in time they will be). If our fight is with Glenn Beck then we are losers by design.

I don't think Glen Beck is culture; not sure why anyone would.

[LanternWaste]

26. You seem to imply that relevance is a monolithic and objective concept.

You seem to imply that relevance is a monolithic and objective concept. What one may see as "2 TV personalities and some words" many others may see as topical, germane and pertinent.

And to be honest, I would hazard that TV personalities and words have both directly and indirectly shaped national and cultural mores and perspectives, regardless of whether or not one finds either them or the changes wrought relevant.

[olegramps]

36. Playing Ostrich isn't too productive. Its comparable to the Republicans head up their ass routine.

[chillspike]

3. I just watched it

It is absolutely brilliant! I especially love the end. Perfect! I recommend it to every liberal.

Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMOh9L60FKw

[Oceansaway]

4. K&R...n/t

[lamp_shade]

6. I posted it on Facebook this morning.

[Brickbat]

7. I didn't watch to the end because I find rant comedy annoying.

When you say "of its type," do you mean a comedian attacking a buffoon? I'm not trying to be a smartass -- I don't see it as a huge political moment. I do agree that Democrats pull their punches, and shouldn't.

[ceile]

8. Wow.

Just brilliant.

[RagAss]

9. I agree. It felt like a tipping point in the culture....

"Laugh-In" brought Richard Nixon down to a level that made the Watergate hearings possible.

[Bluenorthwest]

11. dig it. your housekeeper would do root canals if she could too

If politicians could do what Lewis Black does, they'd not have to be in politics for peanuts.

[LibertyLover]

13. Glen Beck uses more swastikas than the History Channel

best line in the whole thing!

[immoderate]

14. I caught that too.

For a moment, it felt like a rant on the History channel. Lewis got them so bad.

--imm

[RagAss]

15. ...."and Kevin Bacon is Hitler !"

[lonestarnot]

22. K & fucking R!

[myrna minx]

23. That was brilliant. n/t

[RamboLiberal]

24. The other one I loved was Jon Stewart doing Beck for half the show

Back in March. Someone might have better link to the video but here it is on Huffington Post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/19/jon-stewart-glenn-beck-parody_n_505329.html

Colbert last night(5/12) too I thought was funny with his skit on Beck comparing himself to MLK & to his Plan from God or as Stephen put it Glod.

[unc70]

27. Great work by TDS video reserachers and Lewis Black's delivery

The Black on Beck segment does a great job, with the absurdity Beck's Nazi obsession setting up Lewis to deliver the takedown. Very funny, very effective. The format of the segment, with all the video segments, is in sharp contrast to Lewis's usual performances as a standup comic working alone.

I suspect that this particular segment came mostly from TDS video researchers; not sure who was responsible for the writing, would guess mostly TDS writers in this case, more so than Black, with Lewis joining the process well-along. I can imagine a slightly different bit using the same video, but with Jon Stewart presenting, instead of Black -- likely would have been quite good, but better with Lewis fronting it.

I saw Lewis Black last week at our college reunion, where he was probably the headliner among class members who entertained the rest of us. I did not remember him from college, am certain he did not remember me, his yearbook pictures looking vaguely familiar. I enjoyed getting to meet him and talk a bit. With only a hundred and some of us at the reunion from a class of several thousand, few of us new that many of our class who were there. A number of insights about the last 40 years, but best saved for a different thread.

Back to Lewis Black, Beck, and their importance. Lewis made a observation last week which I had heard previously in some interview, which seems appropriate. It was roughly that our country is in real trouble when someone like Lewis Black is now a main-stream comedian, with the lanugage he uses. He is now doing USO Christmas tours, he is replacing Bob Hope! That is scary!

[ddeclue]

29. missed it.. is there a link?

[Electric Monk]

31. there sure is

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=464794&mesg_id=464794

[Liberal In Texas]

30. Oh, I forgot to K and R this.

Yes, we need more Lewis Blacks. The man is a treasure.

[Warren Stupidity]

32. They just need to laugh out loud at every stupid talking point.

If more people started publicly on air laughing at and mocking the idiocy that is Repubagnuttery, this shit would be over.

[aikoaiko]

33. Really, I think Jon Stewart does better 3 or 4 nights a week.

:shrug: