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20 June 2011

Beck to Van Jones: Suck it

Van Jones challenged Glenn Beck to a debate.  On his radio show today, Beck declined.

Here's how Think Progress characterized Beck's reaction to Van Jones:
Glenn Beck took to his radio show to assault Jones’ record. Beck refused Jones’ debate challenge, claiming that Jones is hiding his true desire for a “violent overthrow for a Marxist government.” Beck continued his smears against Jones, comparing him to Mao, Che Guevara, and Joseph Stalin and saying the policies Jones supports — which Beck claims are communist — “only lead to death.”
Here's what Beck said according to an audioclip at Media Matters.  Read it, and you tell me if you think that Think Progress has accurately described Beck's response to Jones.  [For a complete understanding of Beck's tone, check out the radio clip below (cut by Media Matter).  Any mistakes or typos in the following transcript are completely mine.]
I just want you to know, Van, I truly love you as a brother as well.  I think you are so misguided.  I just said my prayers this morning with some members of my team where I prayed for people like you -- and you're included in this -- that I hope we become a nation that can weep for you, we can actually weep for your misguided action.  I love you as well, and I would hope that you would put your Communist revolutionary tactics aside, because it only leads to death -- as it did with Mao, as it did with Che, as it did with Stalin... as it does every single time anyone has the government try to solve things through Socialism and then surround themselves with people who are full of hate, cloak that hate...


[co-host interrupts, says "those policies, when implemented, have led to death over and over and over... And he [Jones] was calling for them."]  Clearly.  I wish you the best, my brother.  I do.  And you are my brother.  But we strongly disagree.  And I love the fact that we live in a country where a man can call for the violent overthrow of the government, and still have the right to say it.  Now, I wish you didn't.  It leads to trouble.  And it leads to death and violence, on your side.  And we'll continue to stand for peace and love and one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.  And when you see the error of your ways, my brother, we'll have a hard laugh.  You probably will have to spend some time in jail if things would go awry, but... [co-host interrupts to question legality/Constitutionality of whether or not you can call for the violent overthrow of the country, and Beck notes that's what he meant by his reference to jail.]  If that were to happen and he were involved... like, for instance, if he still were an open member of STORM... but he realized the error of his ways.  Unfortunately, it's not the error of his ways that I would have noticed, like we shouldn't call for the violent overthrow.  He sees the error of their ways was they were just open about it.  [Co-host interjects agreement, they quote Jones: "Drop the radical pose for the radical ends."]  If you could prove that he [Jones] was involved with anything involving violence [relating to conversation of treason and violently overthrowing the country], yes, yes he would go to jail.  [Co-host: "At that point he would be a convicted felon.] But he's not now."  [Co-host points out that Van Jones cited Dr. King and then called people un-American, the pair say sarcastically, "That's not hateful at all.  That's love."  Co-host: "That's the beauty of this is that he's spewing hatred and then saying 'but I do this with love'."  Here he is.  That's the dropping of the radical pose.  What you heard at the beginning, that's Van.  And what you're hearing now is uh-oh, uh-oh, I've got to drop the radical pose for the radical ends.  He's got to, and they're all doing it.  The Palestinian movement is doing the same thing.  They cloak themselves as a peace and justice movement.  [Co-host: "They have to cloak themselves as victims.  The Palestinians are victims, the Left are victims, Van Jones is a victim."]  I'm no man's victim, and I don't think anyone is any man's victim at this point.  It is time to be men and women of your choosing -- 'cause that's what it is, all of us have a choice to make -- we all have different opportunities, we all have different skill sets, we all have different situations, and as good, God-fearing people, we help each other.  Not through the government, because that always leads to oppression.  I mean, Van, tell me a time when a big government led to freedom?  Justice does not come from man, and it certainly doesn't come from government.  Your solution to the Big Government oppression is to have more government -- and that doesn't really make sense.  But again, you just have to use logic.  Or be honest.  Someday, we'll all be forced to be honest.  I'm trying to live my life in an honest way now, Van.  You are dropping the radical pose for the radical ends.  There's really not anything to talk about until you are honest, and you say you want the radical overthrow of the government, as you have said in the past.  The violent overthrow for a Marxist government.  When you're honest, then people can have a debate.  I'm pointing this out, not really for Van.  I'm pointing this out for you.  You need to know the masks are about to come off.  The world is accelerating in its pace.  Be aware.



Think Progress also said:
Beck once featured a telephone on his set and begged members of the left to call his show and debate the issues. Now that Jones has flipped the challenge on Beck, however, it appears he isn’t willing to follow through.
They link to evidence at TVNEWSER, an article titled, "Glenn Beck Installs Red Phone for White House, 'So You Can Correct the Mistakes as They Happen'".  Here's what the article says about Beck's originally 'begg[ing] members of the left to call his show and debate the issues'."
Glenn Beck stayed on offense during his show today, installing a red phone on his set. The office of White House communications director Anita Dunn was given the number — theonly ones given the number, according to Beck.
Anita. Call me. Call me at anytime. We want to have a dialogue.”
You tell me -- does that sound like Think Progress is accurately representing Glenn Beck?

3 comments:

  1. They spelled his name right. That's quite a achievement for Media Matters. Baby steps, baby steps.

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  2. Much as I'd like to defend him, Glenn walked away from a chance to debate Van Jones. He comes off looking like the weaker party regardless of how he's being portrayed. I would never expect a straight portrayal of any conservative from a source calling itself "Think Progress"!

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  3. Then again, someone else at Althouse makes a good point about Van Jones submitting his request 2 weeks before the show closes, after having 2 years to do so. The odds were in Jones' favour that Beck would deny the request for any number of reasons an he would have some little thing to crow about.

    I'll read up more on all this before jumping to conclusions.

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