My boyfriend's father has a fairly recent obsession with Fox News. He watches Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck daily, though it never fails to force his blood pressure into dangerous territory. Though he is a very smart man (a computer geek of the greatest kind), he follows Fox with a near religious fervor. I've noticed this seems to be the case for most people who watch the network.
Today, as I worked on my laptop in the kitchen (which, of course, translates to Facebooking and an endless web of Cracked.com leading to Google leading to Digg leading to...), I could hear Glenn Beck speaking (read: ranting) in the background about something Obama had done recently. I'm not sure what terrible crime had been committed; judging by the anger emanating from the living room, I'm forced to assume it was related to the raping of infants. In any case, Beck's anger today actually forced me to question one of my deepest beliefs.
I was always of the opinion that Glenn Beck was a normal adult whose goal in life was to be happy, which, of course, includes making a large amount of money with which to buy pretty things. There's nothing wrong with this. Everyone wants to be happy and money is one way that many people can find said happiness. Beck realized early on in his life that conservative political edutainment was a great way to gain wealth. I was happy for him, though I very often didn't agree with his methods.
Today, that opinion has been shattered.
Glenn Beck needs medication. Blood pressure regulating medication would be great to start with. I am really quite worried about his health. He should also meet with a psychiatric health professional and see what kind of medicines could help him control his outbursts. After all, if he could get on something to allow him to keep a calm composure, he might be able to provide useful, helpful criticisms and suggestions. He may even learn how to correctly debate, which would no doubt be a great help to his cause.
I understand that many of you reading this may not agree with my assessment of Mr. Beck's mental health status. That is fair. I'm no doctor. I myself had difficulty believing that a serious news network would pay a man with serious psychological issues to deliver his interpretation of the day's news to a large number of dedicated followers. However, I did a bit of reconnaissance work and found this video of a recording from his daily radio talk show.
As is clearly apparent, this man needs help. He may, of course, have gotten help since then, though the evidence from today's show is not helping prove this case.
Mr. Beck, as an average American citizen without strong political convictions, allow me to give you some advice: If you are attempting to help persuade people to your side of the argument, take a different approach. You'll gain a lot more respect...and a lot more money.
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