Tune In To The Glenn Beck Program

Well Glenn Beck started his new CNN Headline News program tonight, and I thought it was pretty good. I think Glenn still needs to perfect his TV style , and some of his jokes where kind of lame, but his likability translated well to television. They did some interesting things visually as well, both in terms of occasional stylized shoots and some gags about TV news 'boxes'. Glenn even managed to swing an interview with the President. I think the show is just different enough to work, it reminded me a little (ironical of course) of Michael Moores TV Nation, and that programs slyly satirical approach to real issues. Some people are already trying to get Glens show canceled however, as witness this site maintained by people who might be taking some of Mr. Becks comments just a little to seriously.

5/10

The People over at Republicans Hate America don't seem to like Glenn either. I am attempting some kind of discourse with them, monitor its progress via this link.

Also Media Matters is keeping taps on absolutely everything it thinks Beck does wrong. Media Matters sets itself up as an objective non-partisan site, but I've scanned their web page and it looks as though they pick their targets based more on politices then on anything else. I may be wrong on this, but can anybody site me an instance where someone who might be considered a liberal received censure from Media Matters?

Also I'm afraid that I don't quite understand what the big deal is about Glenn calling the Saudi government "dirtbags". I mean I find this especially perplexing coming from the political left, the Saudi government doesn't have a great record when it comes to personal freedom, the statues of women, or capital punishment, not to mention that their ties to the Bush family are routinely trotted out as being ominous and compromising. It's a repressive regime why not call its leadership 'dirtbags'? Saudi Arabia is not high on the neocon overthow list, so I don't see how fears of that kind of rhetoric (which when you think about it 'dirtbag' is pretty tame), translates into any substantive geo-political concern. If the hard left doesn't have problems with critiquing our own government with Bush/Hitler comparisons, why is the equation of the Saudi government to 'dirtbags' so offensive? I personally probably wouldn't call the Saudi leadership 'dirtbags' but that's largely because of how much worse their likely alternative government would be.