The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    Michael Wolraich's picture

    The Glenn Beck Generation

    November 8, 1994. It was a slaughter. In one night, Republicans seized 54 seats in the House and eight seats in the Senate, capturing Congress for the first time since 1954.

    The newcomers, many from the South, were predominantly white, male and angry. "You're going to have a difference in style," predicted an Atlanta-based Republican pollster. "With the Southern Republicans, you get a more aggressive, assertive conservatism. This is a conservatism that has been built on confronting Democrats and liberals, not accommodating them."

    Conservative leaders credited Rush Limbaugh, king of angry white men, with propelling the Republican revolution. "He was the standard by which we ran," said former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

    The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, invited Limbaugh to deliver the keynote at its orientation for new lawmakers. Limbaugh encouraged the newcomers to stay mean: "This is not the time to get moderate. This is not the time to start trying to be liked."

    Read the rest of the article at CNN.com

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    Comments

    My previous comment didn't show up, but anyway: Big Doings there, Mr. CNN political commentator!  Congratulations.  You will be glad to know that, as per Glenn Beck, I'm buckling up for some hard times...   (And will make a few calls for my current Representative.)


    Thanks stardust, for the congrats and the few calls.


    I think it's wonderful that your book is in stores and now you're an expert commentator at CNN.com. But, dude, the shirt?


    It's all about branding


    Hey, I happen to like that shirt...


    You are a traitorous rat bastard who should be taken out and shot in the head. All you far left liberals who contend to be patriotic are nothing more than communists wanting to socially engineer America to fit your communist ways. Who better to carry you Anti-American rhetoric but CNN. You are a wothless piece of shit, and a coward. I always love the far left and their reasons not to defend this country, when in reality you are just a bunch of cowards making up reasons to defend your cowardice. Why don't the bunch of you go live in Iran, they seem to have the type of goverment you crave.


    This is probably your best argument to date.

    And if the world was made up of talking tools, no doubt you'd be one the smartest.


    Please tell me that you are parodying a parody!  If so, I am in total awe of the stellar performance you give of an utter clueless ignoramus!  I'll bet you even pretend to bleieve that Obama is a socialist or something (O; would that he were!) 

    I'll be you are parodying one of those Christianist Tea Partiers who abhor church and state entwinement in Iran, but love it in America...  And who would your parody-character wish us to kill beyond who we are killing at present?  OH: just Libruls!

    Yer funny.


    Thank you for the suggestion, Anonymous. I prefer not to live in Iran because then I might receive death threats from people who disagree with me.

    Oh.


    good times. this was when Clinton was getting blown in the WH and lost the codes to the nukes.

    good thing his gf wasn't a russian spy


    Just some thoughts:

    Rand Paul's comments about the North America Union are actually a restatement of his father's arguments of the future of the US.  Ron, a long-time thorn in the sides of Republicans and Liberarians alike, has championed the gloom and doom of international and fiscal policies.  Acting as his "Mini Me," Rand has shared many opinions of his father ... all of this predating the rise of Beck and his latest personna as Prophet-of-Doom-in-Chief.

    Angle's comment about implied armed resistance is not too different than Jim McDermott's accusation of the Bush Administration attempting subvert the Constitution:  "And what we are dealing with right now in this country is whether we are having a kind of bloodless, silent coup or not."  Both comments by Angle and McDermott are examples of worst case scenarios that politicians like to cite to rile up the voters and make them question the intentions of those in power.  They are dumb arguments to make (and usually backfire), but they aren't uncommon either.

    And as for O'Donnell ... well ... she's just odd (and isn't going to win the election anyway, so she can stay indoors and safe from the evil tree-people).


    Thanks for the comment, Common Sense. I find McDermott's hyperbole reprehensible as well. Paranoia is not exclusive to the right; it just has a more receptive home there lately. The "worst case scenario" rhetoric is vintage Beck. Phrasing it that way allows he and people like Angle to communicate apocalypic visions to constituents while denying that they actually believe it's happening.

    O'Donnell will most likely lose, but she's worse than odd. She's nuts.

    You got me on Rand, though. His dad is just as paranoid.


    This op-ed was painful to read. It's the freedom of stupidity, such as what's demonstrated in this diatribe, that is destroying the country.

    Not everything the GOP preaches is sound or even sane (personally, I can't stand Glenn Beck), but overall it makes alot more sense to reduce government in our lives and to STOP STEALING from We the People under the guise of taxation. The party that accomplishes should be the hands-down favorite whether it be elephant red or donkey blue...and only ONE of our parties remotely suggests fiscal responsibility in this day and age.

    How much more do the Libs have to tax us before we say 'ENOUGH"?


    I like that turn of phrase, "under the guise of taxation." Thanks for stopping by to share your brilliance with the stupids.


     

    Oh supreme one - do you not have anything remotely close enough to an intellect to respond with to the prior post?  I understand you are a product of the public school system and therefore unable to think independently and beyond that which you can regurgitate of what you are told…but really – go back to Starbucks with your government debit card and let the grown-ups address the matters which affect the U.S.A.

    God Bless America…and have mercy on those which know not what they do or say.


    I think your thoughtless gathering of different groups and candidates is the perfect material for the hypocritic CNN and Democratic Party. Very comparable to the fear-mongering and ignorant rants acted out by FOX and the Republican Party.

    A large highway is being built through Texas from Mexico, ask all of the people who are getting their land seized by the government to build it. (no this isnt a conspiracy, its Standard Operating Procedure. You house is appraised, government undercuts the price when they give an offer. You deny that offer, they give you a smaller one and smaller and smaller, because you can do nothing)While simply calling it "crazy" may appeal to some of the less educated and easily accepting population, it's widely accepted and speculated by Political scholars in Liberal colleges all over the country that the U.S. may move toward a unified currency and system between North and South America to compete with the Euro and European Union. Why would we not be led to believe so by U.S. Foreign policy? More than 60% of UN operation are funded by our tax dollars.

    We are in the middle of an economic downturn that is crippling Social Security and the Healthcare system, directly affecting the well being of the elderly in this nation, and when Bill Gates is supporting the decision to cut people off from health insurance who are "months away from death" to supposedly keep more teachers it raises an eyebrow. I know many people who have been told by their health providers they had only months to live, when they beat their life threatening diseases to go on living for years. Once again, standard operating procedure in a government healthcare system would be telling these "terminals" to sit on it. Why would anyone blindly trust government? It is a de-humanizing entity that has always strived to consolidate and confuse. (Whether its a Democracy, Dictatorship, or Crown working under Capitalism Communism or Socialism)

    People tend to forget only a few short years ago that Beck was hired by CNN. So pardon those who dig deep for facts if they refuse the large conglomerate media in the U.S. and the fact they cover the exact same stories, with various clowns that give their opinion and pass it as fact.

    You ramble on like a standard elitist who got a nice pat on the back from his editor and a slight raise for spewing unquestioned B.S. you are fed, so that you can dim-wittedly put down groups of people who do not like Beck, or Paul or Limbaugh. A lot of the "Rightists" being described in the media are not even Republicans.

    Once again you've blown your cover by repeatedly pointing out "angry white men" which is a sad attempt to portray a group as racist and violent, much like the horribly written article by Time magazine last week about state militias, seen by those who constructed this country as our most honorable citizens, by tying them to McVey, KKK members and the such, with no such proof or reasonable attempts to even TRY to make the connection. Or the wide acceptance of all of the Tea Party being racist because socially ignorant folk decided to get a marker and put dumb things on their signs. It's of course much easier to generalize people, belief systems and parties by supplementing unbiased and investigative journalism with sound clips, brought to you by a person covered in make-up doing their best emotionless news voice.

    As for Christmas I dont care, I am an Independent thinker in every sense of the word, though you would portray me as an ignorant right-wing Christian who holds myself superior to all other people and races while sniffing glue, firing off guns, and believing "conspiracy fairy tales". The arrogance of the elite is going to crumble when the masses wake up to the fact their country is run by absolute crooks in both parties. There is going to be a major political shift in this country in the next decade, where arrogance, fear-mongering, ignorance, and the ways of divide and conquer will be replaced by peace, knowledge and truth. The evolution of humanity will never be stopped or controlled, regardless of how much smug coastal "scholars" believe they can control things and keep the public in fear of itself.

    As for you, you are a pathetic submissive reflection of those who pull your strings. Eat when you are told, write what you are told, think what you are told. Good boy. Go down to the bar and maybe discuss how pathetic and stupid the American public is, though your education was paid for, and you were spoon fed through child-hood without understanding the upside down power structure and ways of this over-marketed prison of natural thought and growth. In a way I feel bad for you, you will never understand the merrit of questioning authority or doing anything other than what you are told. Maybe you will tell your friends about the lunatic that posted on your blog today, maybe you can present it well enough, and never really come to terms with the fact you felt threatened by something you can't understand, something bigger than you.


    Come on. Who are you really?

    Seriously, Ramona - are you here legally...since you are obviously incapable of focusing on one topic mentioned in the previous post - let's discuss your immigration status instead, shall we?

     


    You show your papers first.


    Just reached 2000 comments on CNN, mostly jubilant right-wingers who have declared me the epitomy of evil for daring to accuse Beck and some Republicans of paranoia. I wryly note that most of the article consists of direct quotes by said Republicans.


    I went over there and commented but I was just a little minnow in an ocean of sharks. Sorry about that.

    sort of like this year's election.


    I appreciate the effort. Next time, bring a spear gun.


    I guess I should clarify the intent of my anger a little more.

    I am tired of the news media beating dead horses and being unable to move forward with any facts or valid points to bring up. Your article was pointless, unoriginal babble to me, because I get to hear the same things from CNN and MSNBC all day, every day.

    I think Glenn Beck is a person living in a box, like most who work for corporate media, yourself now included. I do not deny the ignorance and blind following of many Glenn Beck supporters like he is some messiah, EXACTLY how I do not deny the blind following of many Barak Obama supporters.

    The loyalty to the two parties in this country is sickening, especially when working on the inside and getting to see the rampant corruption that goes on in the two party system.

    Ron Paul is not the same as Glenn Beck or Limbaugh or these random Tea Party candidates, socially he brings the only solution to a country divided by two lumped together ideologies that are made that way because of how the party system works. States rights. That way the gun toting hicks can keep their day to day lives together as they enjoy it and the cafe hanging anti-gun pro government people can sit around and put down everyone with snooty discussions and enjoy it. Bam, our cultures can be without consolidation under an over taxing and overly aggresive, war based federal government.

    Without questioning government we accept exactly what we were told on 9/11, we accept exactly what we are told about Iraq, so we go into war. Why not evolve as a people and ask questions and demand answers, instead of blowing things up, torturing people, bailing out greedy banks and then saying "whoops", while the public devours itself by calling each other communists or conspiracy theorists, once again, unintelligent generalizations.

    It's ignorant. It's ridiculous. Pre-emptive war, domestic spying (ATT&T getting the big Patriot Act contracts while at the same time being one of the biggest campaign contributors to BOTH parties) "Free Speech Zones" the "War on Terror" just break down the language of those two statements then look at what they encompass. Restriction of free speech and a broad pre-emptive war against an unknown entity around the world that we just call "Al-Qaeda". The "Patriot Act".

    When people question this they are considered loons. "Go to bed America, take your medicine, trust us, just trust us"

    Democrats bash Republicans, get in office and fail. Republicans bash Democrats, get in office then fail. Wake up people, it is a broken system perpetuated by biased reporting. Yeah, it's all biased, get over it, expand your own mind and look at all the facts, don't just get things spoon fed and repeat talking points over and over as some sub-conscious takeover of what the public talks about every day. Be an individial, don't be afraid to be, it's your right, take it.


    Oh I see...if we expand our mind we will see the brillance that is Ron Paul and then we will take what he spoon feeds us, and this will be different because it is Ron Paul.


    Yeah thats pretty much exactly what I said isn't it? Don't confuse your poor attempt at sarcastic mockery with intelligence.

    I'm saying the idea of letting social issues be voted on by the states is the best way to keep people happy and comfortable in their homes and the best way to move forward as a country instead of constantly revisiting the same topics and debates for over 50+ years. It makes us stagnant and it's just a way to subvert our attention and divide the masses.

    As far as I see Ron Paul is the only major candidate that has brought this to the table, (along with other less known Libertarians and Independents)

    Why would we have any chance gathering intelligence and making rash decisions on war when we are so far behind that we can't even give homosexuals equal rights as people in a religious tradition that is supposed to be separate from the state?

    But please, take any sentence here you want, erase any comments I made around that sentence (this is called the building of an argument, scrap that part) take the sentence you want way out of context, add a dash of sarcasm, misconstrue the point, and boom, you have successfully learned how to disprove anyone who you don't agree with, without explaining why you don't agree or providing any real solutions. Congrats you have mastered the comment structure of a true debate, one-sided CNN/FOX talking point style. You get a gold star. But you knew what you were doing the whole time "Trope".

     

     


    Well, I just spent some good time responding to you, but unfortunately it was to your duplicate post.  So when I posted the reply...poof all that work gone.  So for time's sake, I will put aside the inquiry into whether you are contending that the divides over social issues seen nationally doesn't exist on the state level (i.e. there is actually consensus on a state level).  I will also put aside the inquiry into whether you are fine with states that would choose to adopt racist, sexist, homophobic, etc legislation.

    I will merely inquire into the simple issues of 1) whether you believe that the system that you claim is so broken on the national level is just fine on the state and local level, and 2) whether you believe that special interests and their money that is currently focused on D.C. would not follow the legislative power to the state capitols.

    As it is pretty obvious, I don't believe shifting power from the belt way to 50 different locations will rid of any of the problems we face.  And chances are it would create a whole another level of problems as the debates going on nationally fragment into 50 separate arenas.  One only has to watch the battles over gays' right to marry that has occurred in the states to know that while a majority might be able to impose its views on the minority, the discord is intense leaving people neither happy nor comfortable in their homes in the aftermath.  Moreover, the fundamental issues of money and influence on politics which is at the core of the problem with the federal government would not go away. 

    The solution to our problems is the hard, hard grassroots work of deriving a national consensus on such issues as gay marriage and election reform so that these then become reflected in legislation.  The solution to our problems is the hard, hard work of increasing the knowledge and engagement of the citizens in politics on local, state, and national levels.  And so on.  There is no magic bullet, like returning power to the states. 


    So sorry, AT. I deleted the duplicate. Next time it happens, I'll just leave both up.


    No problem.  In the future one needs to just comment on the first entry.  It is better to eliminate duplicates esp when they are somewhat lengthy. 


    Congratulations Genghis! Seems like you're making a lot of new friends!!

    Wink


    It's the shirt.

     

    ;)


    I like the shirt....


    It screams lets hop in my volvo and go get some lattes while we talk about socialism and decadent art.


    Wink


    Woah, this shirt may say a lot of things, but "hop in my volvo" and "get some lattes" are certainly not among them. You're thinking of some other shirt, perhaps.


    A ha!  So you own up to the socialism and decadent art, then! 


    I neither confirm nor deny using conversation about socialism and/or decadent art to lure women and/or men and/or fauna/flora into a Volvo or any other motorized and/or non-motorized vehicle.


    I agree with you.   They are going to see danger under every rock and around every corner.  My mother befor she died call Gringrich, the Grinch that stoled Congress.  She died before she got to see his down fall.  

    You are a uber republican troll magnet.   Congratulations!  You must of hit the nail right on the head with all that commotion coming out of Crazy Land.    


    It's a pretty damn big nail