When Did Glenn Beck Lose His Mind?

Let’s get some things off the table first.

I’m not writing this as Steve Romain, 99Problems editor. Nor am I writing this as Steve Romain, 99Problems columnist. I’m writing this as Steve Romain, concerned citizen, therefore none of the things I am about to say are the views of 99P or any of its affiliated organizations.

That being said:

I don’t hate Glenn Beck. *Cue the awkward silence.* Really. I don’t. He’s one hell of a showman and a great actor. Let’s face it – the ability to cry on command and speak without listening to yourself is an incredible skill. Plus, if you’ve got the drive, passion and motivation to successfully engage millions of Americans, you’re doing something right.

But this brings up a huge set of questions. When did Glenn Beck lose his mind and why are we still listening? Have things gotten so bad that the only way we can intake information is through the ramblings of an insane person? And how have the followers of these “newsertainment” anchors developed such an obsessively obedient cult-like following? Frankly, I know that certain members of my family will probably string me up after they read this piece.

Some friends of mine brought the following video to my attention: Glenn Beck “Uncovers” Conspiracy Involving Van Jones. While watching it, I was eerily reminded of the classic movie Network. If you’ve seen it, you probably see where I’m going, so let me open this up to the ‘uninitiated’.

The movie Network was about the on-air breakdown of Howard Beale, a news anchor who eventually became the ‘mad prophet of the airwaves’, inciting Americans to yell from their windows that they are “mad as hell and not going to take it anymore”. The problem here is that Beale had a reason to lose his mind on the air – he was sick and tired of crime in the streets, the mess of the environment, the decline of the American economy and mostly, the fact that he was quickly becoming a man antiquated: a journalist in a world of gossip. Beck has lost his mind and become the complete opposite. Yet we listen.

His daily viewership often crosses 3 million per day. People host viewing parties for his show. He routinely breaks into tears, pours “gasoline” on fellow anchors, screams like a 12-year-old when people disagree with him and – let’s face it – acts like a horse’s ass on national television. He has gone on record calling President Obama an unabashed racist and informed his viewers that he’s the kind of guy who brings a gun to a movie theater. Just to do it. Yet we listen.

What has happened to our ability, as Americans, to make our own decisions and just get the facts in a country where Jon Stewart – a comedian, in case we forgot – is the most trusted man in the news, just because the guy is pretty much fair and balanced about his mockery? Overwhelmingly, people are getting their news from sources such as Beck, O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, and on the other side of the spectrum, Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann, who just consistently bitch at one another for hours on end about the other’s character, drowning out the actual news that we – as Americans – need to know. Do we blame the media for shutting out the facts in favor of loud noises from talking heads? Or do we blame ourselves for continuing to watch it?

I suppose my ultimate question is this: Why do we need to watch people go absolutely nuts in order to develop a passionate opinion on a current issue? Shouldn’t we be doing this already? It’s our country. We need to take charge and develop rational, fair and well-informed opinions for ourselves, devoid of the partisan hackery that is consistent with these different shows.

The crazies are just bringing us down and I, for one, am not going to drink the Kool Aid.

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Steve Romain