Media persona and commentary
Beck's on-air persona has been described as a "mix of moral lessons, outrage and an apocalyptic view of the future ... capturing the feelings of an alienated class of Americans."[21] Beck has referred to himself as an entertainer,[21] a rodeo clown,[21] and identified with Howard Beale "When he came out of the rain and he was like, none of this makes any sense. I am that guy."[22]
Time Magazine describes Beck as "[t]he new populist superstar of Fox News" saying it is easier to see a set of attitudes rather than a specific ideology, noting his criticism of Wall Street, yet defending bonuses to AIG and denouncing conspiracies against FEMA but warning against indoctrination of children by the AmeriCorps program. Time concludes that "[w]hat unites Beck's disparate themes is a sense of siege" but notes that Beck describes his program as "the fusion of entertainment and enlightenment." [23]
Political views
Glenn Beck has alternately described himself as a conservative or a libertarian. He repeatedly refutes charges that he is a member of the Republican Party.
Gun Rights
Beck supports individual gun ownership rights, and is against gun control legislation.[24] On June 2, 2008, Beck interviewed Governor Brian Schweitzer of Montana on his syndicated radio talk show about the Second Amendment, gun control, and the state of Montana. The interview was mostly focused on Montana's status as a state if the United States Supreme Court ever ruled that gun ownership was a collective right and not an individual right, thus violating Montana's compact with the United States government for its entry as a state. The interview also covered several other subjects including global warming, high fuel prices, alternative energy, and Schweitzer's ideas on how best to deal with the aforementioned issues.[25][26]
On May 7, 2009 Beck spoke on his Fox News show about the Montana Firearms Freedom Act which was signed by Governor Brian Schweitzer on April 15, 2009 and will become effective October 1, 2009. The law exempts firearms made and kept in Montana from Federal firearms regulations.[citation needed]
Other Issues
Beck also is pro-life, including being opposed to euthanasia, in which he said that he could not "imagine telling God that he lived in a society that decided who should live or not."[citation needed] His position on embryonic stem cell research is that he hopes that it can be done without the destruction of another life, and admits his daughter's cerebral palsy affects his viewpoint. In a more recent statement, Beck clearly stated his opposition to federally funded stem cell research.[citation needed]
Beck favors hard currency and opposes the Federal Reserve.[citation needed]
The 9/12 Project
The 9/12 Project is a campaign that was announced by Beck on March 13, 2009. It is named for nine principles and twelve values, extolled by Beck, that he says embody the spirit of the American people on the day after the September 11 attacks.[27] His twelve values are honesty, reverence, hope, thrift, humility, charity, sincerity, moderation, hard work, courage, personal responsibility, and gratitude.[28]
His nine principles are:
1. America Is Good
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday
4. The family is sacred
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty
6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with whom I want to
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion
9. The government works for me — I do not answer to them, they answer to me.[29]
References
- ^ "Events". Glenn Beck. http://www.glennbeck.com/content/events/. Retrieved on 2009-04-09.
- ^ "Glenn Beck not household name - yet | Deseret News (Salt Lake City) | Find Articles at BNET.com". Findarticles.com. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20061125/ai_n16876746. Retrieved on 2009-04-09.
- ^ a b "Is Glenn Beck The Most Annoying Man On Tv?: Gq Features On". Men.style.com. http://men.style.com/gq/features/full?id=content_5845&pageNum=6. Retrieved on 2009-04-09.
- ^ "Glenn Beck: The Real Story" by Jamie Lawson, LDS Living, 2007. http://www.ldslivingmagazine.com/articles/show/325
- ^ A Folksy Guy, in Recovery, about to land Millions. Retrieved February 25, 2008.
- ^ Glenn Beck: Mormon conservative says he's on a personal mission from God., May 11, 2007, The Salt Lake Tribune, Retrieved: May 19, 2007
- ^ "About the Glenn Beck Program". www.glennbeck.com. http://www.glennbeck.com/about/about-glennbeck.shtml. Retrieved on 2006-08-02.
- ^ "The Top Talk Radio Audiences". Talkers magazine. http://www.talkers.com/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=34. Retrieved on 2008-05-06.
- ^ "Glenn Beck". www.cnn.com. http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/glenn.beck/. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.
- ^ Stelter, Brian (2008-10-16). "Beck Leaving CNN for Fox News - TV Decoder Blog - NYTimes.com". Tvdecoder.blogs.nytimes.com. http://tvdecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/16/beck-leaving-cnn-for-fox-news/. Retrieved on 2009-04-09.
- ^ "Current Events & Politics - Picture of the Day - July 22, 2008". Glenn Beck. 2008-07-22. http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/12710/. Retrieved on 2009-04-09.
- ^ "Beck Wins Marconi Award - mediabistro.com: TVNewser". mediabistro.com. http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/cnn/beck_wins_marconi_award_95056.asp. Retrieved on 2009-04-09.
- ^ "Jane Velez Mitchell to Anchor HLN's 7pmET Hour - mediabistro.com: TVNewser". mediabistro.com. http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/cnn/jane_velez_mitchell_to_anchor_hlns_7pmet_hour_97835.asp. Retrieved on 2009-04-09.
- ^ Glenn Beck joins Fox News The Politico. Retrieved on October 16, 2008.
- ^ The 5000 Thousand Year Leap [1] Accessed: 2009-06-24
- ^ "Focus on Family pulls Glenn Beck article". MormonTimes. 2008-12-27. http://www.mormontimes.com/mormon_voices/joel_campbell/?id=5597. Retrieved on 2009-04-09.
- ^ "Question: Is Glenn Beck Mormon". Deseret News. 2009-05-29. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705307446/Question-Is-Glenn-Beck-Mormon.html. Retrieved on 2009-05-30.
- ^ Al Peterson (June 2005). "Not Just Another Conservative". radioandrecords.com. http://www.premiereradio.com/vfile/2005/07/22.pdf.
- ^ America's Freedom Foundation (Press Release) (June 2007). "Glenn Beck to Host 2007 Toyota Tundra Stadium of Fire". Yahoo! Finance. http://biz.yahoo.comostbw/070623/20070623005003.html?.v=1.
- ^ "National Rifle Association - NRA Website Gateway". Nra.org. http://nra.org/. Retrieved on 2009-04-09.
- ^ a b c "Fox News’s Mad, Apocalyptic, Tearful Rising Star". The New York Times. 2009-03-31. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/business/media/30beck.html. Retrieved on 2009-07-31.
- ^ Stossel, John (2009-06-10). "Glenn Beck on Glenn Beck". 20/20 (ABC News). http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/Story?id=7795824&page=4. Retrieved on 2009-07-31.
- ^ Poniewozik, James (2009-04-08). "Glenn Beck: The Fears of a Clown". Time magazine. http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1890174,00.html. Retrieved on 2009-07-31.
- ^ "Glenn Beck: Gun Week!". 12 May 2008. http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/9902/. Retrieved on 15 November 2008.
- ^ "Glenn Beck: Montana here we come". 2 June 2008. http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/196/10727/.
- ^ "Glenn Beck: McCain pros & cons". 4 June 2008. http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/10847/.
- ^ "Glenn Beck - The 9/12 Project". Theglennbeck912project.com. http://theglennbeck912project.com/. Retrieved on 2009-04-09.
- ^ "12 Values : Glenn Beck - The 9/12 Project". Theglennbeck912project.com. http://theglennbeck912project.com/12values/. Retrieved on 2009-04-09.
- ^ "9 Principles : Glenn Beck - The 9/12 Project". Theglennbeck912project.com. http://theglennbeck912project.com/9principles12values/. Retrieved on 2009-04-09.
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