Beck the Tea Bagger

If you watch Comedy Central or MSNBC, it is not necessary to watch Fox (or for that matter Rush), as Stewart, Colbert, Olbermann, and Maddow keep you up on all the "good" parts. However, sometimes it is fun to go right to the source. Glenn Beck, high school graduate and Fox weekday show host, popped up on my radar after his infamous "I just love my country" crying spell. On Friday, Beck put on an hour-long special report on how our country got to "where it is" today, with the hint that "where it is" is either "off the rails" or "heading towards fascism".

The teaser for the show also sucked me in. Beck insisted that the show be watched in its entirety, as to do otherwise would risk hearing things "out of context" and those decontexted snippets might seem extreme or give you the wrong idea, whatever that could be.

As it turned out, the content of the show was not nearly as interesting as the formula. Beck had four guests, each the author of a book that had changed the way he thought about the world. All of the authors were friendly witnesses and they had a grand time talking about Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Stalin, Mussolini, Hitler, the progressive movement in the early 20th century, and the great depression of the 30s. The big takeaway was that fascism has two preconditions: fear and hunger. Once we were properly schooled in history-a-la-Beck, we were admonished that "history repeats itself." No attempt (zero, nada) was made to compare the circumstances of the 21st century with the circumstances preceding the rise of 20th century fascist regimes. It was up to the viewer to connect the dots. Beck also insisted that the viewer go out and buy the books, giving the show the feel of an infomercial.

The show concluded with a speech by Thomas Paine, who is normally unable to give speeches due to being dead for 200 years, however, an (old looking) actor filled in. Beck claims Paine as an ancestor but he may have been just joshing us. Paine the actor's purpose was to rouse the rabble to participate in some tax day tea bagging, you know, Boston Tea Party-like behavior to protest all the outrageous spending of taxpayer dollars by our federal government.

Did he say tea bagging? I first learned about tea bagging when watching one of my favorite movies, John Water's Pecker. Let's just say that if you look up and open your mouth and a guy sets his nut sack on your tongue, you have just been tea bagged.

Do the tax day tea bagging people not know what they are saying? I think not. Rachel Maddow is giggling so hard over this that I am amazed she hasn't fallen off her chair.

Just as Olbermann always refers to Rush as "Rush the comedian", I shall forever refer to Beck as "Beck the Tea Bagger".