The evil librul media pays homage to Glenn Beck

-- by Dave

I suspect it was just an evil librul media ploy on the part of the New York Times to run such a fluffy little piece on Glenn Beck as this one:

Fox News’s Mad, Apocalyptic, Tearful Rising Star

Because, you know, Glenn's best new pal, Bill O'Reilly, has declared war on the NYT. Right-wingers being the good paranoid types they are, no doubt it crossed their minds that this was a classic wedge ploy. Especially when it features nice complimentary remarks from another O'Reilly bete noire, MSNBC:

And always, Mr. Beck’s emotions are never far from the surface. “That’s good dramatic television,” said Phil Griffin, the president of a Fox rival, MSNBC. “That’s who Glenn Beck is.”

The piece does feature some interesting quotes:

Mr. Beck says he believes every word he says on his TV show, and the radio show that he still hosts from 9 a.m. to noon each weekday.

He says that America is “on the road to socialism” and that “God and religion are under attack in the U.S.” He recently wondered aloud whether FEMA was setting up concentration camps, calling it a rumor that he was unable to debunk.

At the same time, though, he says he is an entertainer. “I’m a rodeo clown,” he said in an interview, adding with a coy smile, “It takes great skill.”

And like a rodeo clown, Mr. Beck incites critics to attack by dancing in front of them.

“There are absolutely historical precedents for what is happening with Beck,” said Tom Rosenstiel, the director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism. “There was a lot of radio evangelism during the Depression. People were frustrated and frightened. There are a lot of scary parallels now.”

Yes, there are.

In any event, we've prepared a compendium of Beck's greatest hits of the past three months on Fox. Just so you all can be reminded just how swell he really is. And start your office pools for when Beck is going to completely go berserk (my prediction: when his ratings begin their inevitable decline).

Or you can just go read the posts from the past few weeks.

Will Bunch has more, as does Eric Boehlert at Media Matters' County Fair.

Cross-posted at Crooks and Liars.