It's no secret that Glenn Beck is a hothead. The Fox News windbag rants and raves about everything modern—by which we mean nearly everything that's happened since about 1929.
But Beck's verbal hysterics are so overblown that they can lead to actual violence.
That's the topic explored by Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank, who cites the case of a California man who attempted to attack people associated with liberal groups in the San Francisco Bay area.
As Milbank shows, Beck's frequent rants against the Tides Foundation appear to have incited the man, who was heavily armed and prepared to kill.
AT believes in free speech and open debate, but we don't believe in hate speech that incites violence. Beck's not our idea of an intelliegent or thoughtful speaker, but even Beck should know better.
The full story here.
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A thought-provoking article, dedicated to the most certain among us: "How Facts Backfire" from the Boston Globe.
"Most of us like to believe that our opinions have been formed over time by careful, rational consideration of facts and ideas, and that the decisions based on those opinions, therefore, have the ring of soundness and intelligence. In reality, we often base our opinions on our beliefs, which can have an uneasy relationship with facts. And rather than facts driving beliefs, our beliefs can dictate the facts we chose to accept. They can cause us to twist facts so they fit better with our preconceived notions. Worst of all, they can lead us to uncritically accept bad information just because it reinforces our beliefs. This reinforcement makes us more confident we’re right, and even less likely to listen to any new information. And then we vote."
"How can we have things so wrong, and be so sure that we’re right? Part of the answer lies in the way our brains are wired. Generally, people tend to seek consistency. There is a substantial body of psychological research showing that people tend to interpret information with an eye toward reinforcing their preexisting views. If we believe something about the world, we are more likely to passively accept as truth any information that confirms our beliefs, and actively dismiss information that doesn’t. This is known as 'motivated reasoning.' Whether or not the consistent information is accurate, we might accept it as fact, as confirmation of our beliefs. This makes us more confident in said beliefs, and even less likely to entertain facts that contradict them."
Re Beck, as I said here on April 4, 2009:
The lunatic right and their abetters and masters want an affirmation of their "power," performed by some weak-minded fool(s).
Plenty of them out there.
Beck's greatest hit:
Glenn Beck: The Weepening: Cry For America
What a phony. How dumb do you have to be to take this seriously?
There are always those that view the world as they percieve it to be. Then there are the rest of us that view the world in terms of actuality. That's all.....There
are meds for those that are afflicted with these distorted perceptions.There are meds that can fix that for many people. It's likely that Beck just forgets to take his meds sometimes.
His current medication (that we know of) is Vicks Vap-O-Rub to help him cry on cue. YouTube
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