Beck and Fall

Most readers are at least aware, in passing, of Glenn Beck and his programs and books.  He has a radio show, a number of books published, and a weekday program on Fox news.  Having gone from a self-described alcoholic and drug user, to being one of the country's leading political pundits, is quite an accomplishment, regardless of what anyone thinks of his opinions and views.  Much of his show consists of talking about conspiracies between various groups of people, strategies to intentionally collapse the nation so warmed-over 60s-style Frankfurt school radicalism can take over (although most of the disciples of that viewpoint have moved on to enjoying their own slice of the pie -- being a revolutionary seems to be like being a professional lottery player...not worth the effort unless you win the whole enchilada).  Now and then, he takes a token shot at the Right and George Bush, before putting more pictures on a blackboard and drawing lines between them.

Over the last few days, there's been a trial bubble floated about Mr. Beck leaving Fox, based on a number of factors, including declining ratings and a veering away from the "mainstream conservative" politics that Fox generally represents, and leaning toward more of a populist form of conservatism.  If anything, it means he'll probably abandon a medium which really hasn't been as friendly to political commentators as one might've expected (see the experiences of Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage on TV), and will return to radio and print, which is where the "alternative" news media got started and where people like him seem to thrive best. 

Why the meteoric rise and the almost-as-meteroric fall?  The real problem, I suspect, is not with the man, the means of the medium, but the message.  People would like to be able to scapegoat one group or another for the problems of the nation -- unions, Christians, patriots, liberals, Muslims, pick something -- but the problems we face are ones we've all had a hand in creating.  Support massive defense spending for "security?"  Well, guess what, a large share of the national debt is yours.  Support massive social spending for "compassion?"  Ditto.  A conspiracy's not a conspiracy any longer if it's out in the open and everyone knows about it.  Even the banksters have to feel a little uncomfortable in those quiet evening hours, when they wonder if they're diversified enough to survive the fall of the dollar or if a mob with torches and weedwackers will show up outside their Hampton mansions. 

On a deep level, I think that everyone knows that we're in serious trouble now and that there's no easy way out of it, if any way is possible at all.  Talking about conspiracies now is like talking about it being cloudy out when there's a hurricane raging overhead.  It's not as much fun to engage in "what if" games when the problem is right in your face and you're wondering if you can get out of the way of the falling pieces or if you'll be caught up in the debris as well. 

At least Mr. Beck has probably gotten some people to reevaluate their lives and start thinking about a post-collapse future, so his time on the air has probably not been for nothing.  Sadly, the rest of his time -- looking for hidden groups of people to blame for what's coming our way -- has been nothing but a distraction and an escape from the reality of why we're really where we're at.