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No, it's my left-wing sympathies. I want to see Obama's
faux-liberalism exposed and his policies reversed.<br>
<br>
If the Democrats can construct Beck et al. as the enemy, they can
sit back and wait for the votes to roll in. <br>
<br>
What the Obamanians fear is the truth - that they're working for the
wealthy, risking the planet and expanding the war, squeezing the
poor and middle-class, and destroying the constitutional bases for
opposition. <br>
<br>
People who produce a parodic version of that objection - which is
what Beck & Co. do - bring that truth into ridicule. If they
can be made to be the issue, BHO is home free. Jensen is
undoubtedly unwittingly doing that. <br>
<br>
There are two possibilities: (1) ignore Beck et al. and construct an
authentic opposition hat will reverse the administration's policies;
or (2) convince the Beckians that what they are objecting to is
Republican/Democrat imperium at home and abroad, in the economy and
the polity. <br>
<br>
The latter may be possible now that two-thirds of Americans know
that Obama is lying about the war, as they do, even though no one on
television suggests that. <br>
<br>
--CGE<br>
<br>
<br>
On 8/31/10 5:39 PM, Morton K. Brussel wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:19039948-0339-4D12-8DEA-B6B25DDF1CAC@illinois.edu"
type="cite">What's the whining here? I would consider Jensen's
response to listening to beck useful information, since i don't
tune in to people like Beck. Jensen has been fervently anti-war
and "progressive" consistently (aside from his tendency to talk
about the value of attending church), and written effectively
thereto. To accuse him of deflecting criticism from the Obama
administration is perverse.
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Are your right wing sympathies offended? :=)</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>--mkb</div>
<div><br>
<div>
<div>On Aug 31, 2010, at 5:07 PM, C. G. Estabrook wrote:</div>
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
<blockquote type="cite">
<div bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> Jensen's a whiner. <br>
<br>
The White House is delighted to have Beck as a bogeyman,
scaring all the liberals back to Barack...<br>
<br>
I wonder if they pay him for the act?<br>
<br>
<br>
On 8/31/10 11:12 AM, Morton K. Brussel wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:69C0CF4D-4ADF-423B-9F36-E9D55B429435@illinois.edu"
type="cite">Jensen was impressed with Glenn Beck, and
hence fearful…<br>
<div><br>
<div>Begin forwarded message:</div>
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
<blockquote type="cite">
<div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family:
'Helvetica'; font-size: medium; color: rgb(0, 0,
0);"><b>From: </b></span><span
style="font-family: 'Helvetica'; font-size:
medium;">"Robert Jensen Updates" <<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:robertjensenupdates@thirdcoastactivist.org">robertjensenupdates@thirdcoastactivist.org</a>><br>
</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family:
'Helvetica'; font-size: medium; color: rgb(0, 0,
0);"><b>Date: </b></span><span
style="font-family: 'Helvetica'; font-size:
medium;">August 30, 2010 12:10:18 PM CDT<br>
</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family:
'Helvetica'; font-size: medium; color: rgb(0, 0,
0);"><b>To: </b></span><span
style="font-family: 'Helvetica'; font-size:
medium;"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:brussel@illinois.edu">brussel@illinois.edu</a><br>
</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family:
'Helvetica'; font-size: medium; color: rgb(0, 0,
0);"><b>Subject: </b></span><span
style="font-family: 'Helvetica'; font-size:
medium;"><b>Glenn Beck’s redemption song</b><br>
</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family:
'Helvetica'; font-size: medium; color: rgb(0, 0,
0);"><b>Reply-To: </b></span><span
style="font-family: 'Helvetica'; font-size:
medium;">"Robert Jensen Updates" <<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:robertjensenupdates@thirdcoastactivist.org">robertjensenupdates@thirdcoastactivist.org</a>><br>
</span></div>
<br>
<div><br>
Glenn Beck’s redemption song<br>
<br>
by Robert Jensen<br>
<br>
[A version of this essay appeared on the Texas
Observer website at <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.texasobserver.org/thewholestar/item">http://www.texasobserver.org/thewholestar/item</a>/16898-glenn-becks-redemption-song.]<br>
<br>
About halfway through Saturday’s “Restoring Honor”
rally on the DC mall, I realized that I was
starting to like Glenn Beck.<br>
<br>
Before any friends of mine initiate involuntary
commitment proceedings, let me explain. It’s not
that I really liked Beck, but more that I
experienced his likeability. Whether or not he’s
sincere, I came to admire his ability to project
sincerity and to create coherence out of his
incoherent rambling about religion, race, and
redemption.<br>
<br>
As a result, I’m more afraid for our political
future than ever.<br>
<br>
First, to be clear: Beck is the embodiment of
everything I dislike about the U.S. politics and
contemporary culture. As a left/feminist with
anti-capitalist and anti-empire politics, I
disagree with most every policy position he takes.
As a journalist and professor who values
intellectual standards for political discourse, I
find his willful ignorance and skillful deceit to
be unconscionable.<br>
<br>
So, I’m not looking for a charismatic leader to
follow and I haven’t been seduced by Beck’s
televisual charm, nor have I given up on radical
politics. Instead, I’m trying to understand what
happened when I sat down at my computer on
Saturday morning and plugged into the live stream
of the event. Expecting to see just another
right-wing base-building extravaganza that would
speak to a narrow audience, I planned to watch for
a few minutes before getting onto other projects.
I stayed glued to my chair for the three-hour
event.<br>
<br>
My conclusion: What I saw was the most
rhetorically and visually sophisticated political
spectacle in recent memory. Beck was able to both
connect to a right-wing base while at the same
time moving beyond the Republican Party and the
Tea Party movement, potentially creating a new
audience for his politics. It’s foolish to make a
prediction based on one rally, but I think Beck’s
performance marked his move from blowhard
broadcaster to front man for a potentially
game-changing political configuration.<br>
<br>
My advice: Liberals, progressive, and leftists --
who may be tempted to denounce him as a demagogue
and move on -- should take all this seriously and
try to understand what he’s doing. Here’s my best
attempt to understand it.<br>
<br>
Religion<br>
There’s nothing new about mixing Christianity and
right-wing politics in the United States, and Beck
put forward a familiar framework: America is a
Christian nation that honors religious freedom.
Christians lead the way in the United States, but
the way is open to all who believe in God. Anyone
teaching the “lasting principles” found in all
faiths is welcome, despite theological
differences. “What they do agree on is God is the
answer,” Beck said in his call for a central role
for religious institutions, whether they be
churches, synagogues, or mosques.<br>
<br>
But for all the religious rhetoric, Beck never
talked about the hot-button issues that are
important to conservative Christians. No mention
of abortion or gays and lesbians. Theologically
based arguments against evolution and global
warming were not on the table. No one bashed Islam
as a devilish faith.<br>
<br>
Instead, Beck concentrated on basics on which he
could easily get consensus. God has given us the
pieces -- faith, hope, and charity -- and all we
have to do is put them together. Rather than
arrogantly assert that God is on our side, he
said, we have to be on God’s side.<br>
<br>
Beck may eventually have to voice clear opposition
to abortion and gay marriage to hold onto
conservative Christian supporters, but on Saturday
it was his apparent religious sincerity that
mattered. I have no way to know how serious Beck’s
faith in a traditional conception of God really
is, but it doesn’t matter. He sounds sincere and
moves sincere; he creates a feeling of sincerity.
He brings an emotional candor to public discussion
of religion that is unusual for someone in his
line of work. When religious people believe that
someone’s profession of faith is real -- that it’s
rooted in a basic decency and is deeply felt --
then differences over doctrine become less
crucial.<br>
<br>
There has been some discussion of whether Beck, a
convert to Mormonism, can really connect to
Protestants and Catholics, some of whom view the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a
cult rather than an authentic Christian
denomination. No doubt some
evangelical/fundamentalist Christians will reject
Beck, but his personal appeal could overcome those
objections for many others.<br>
<br>
Race<br>
There’s also nothing new in Beck’s analysis of
race. Like most conservatives, he argues that
America’s racism is mostly a thing of the past,
and that racial justice means a level playing
field that offers equal opportunity but does not
guarantee equal outcomes. Rather than come to
terms with the way white supremacy continues to
affect those outcomes through institutionalized
racism and unconscious prejudices, folks like Beck
prefer a simple story about personal transcendence
and the end of racism.<br>
<br>
What was different about Beck’s version of this
story was the supporting cast. There were a lot of
non-white people on the stage, including a
significant number of African Americans. The rally
went well beyond the tokenism that we are used to
seeing, not only in the Republican Party but also
in institutions throughout society. Beck not only
gave a featured speaking slot to Alveda King --
one of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s nieces, no doubt
selected to bolster his claim to be speaking in
the MLK tradition -- but also paid close attention
to race throughout the day. Take a look at the
lineup for the presenters of the three civilian
badges of merit for faith, hope, and charity: An
American Indian presenting to an African-American;
a white man presenting to a Dominican; and a
Mexican-American presenting to a white man, with a
black woman accepting on his behalf.<br>
<br>
Is it all cynical and symbolic? For those of us
who are white, do we have a right to ask that
question in the presence of so much passion from
the people of color on stage? These weren’t
cardboard cutouts shoved in front of a camera to
add color, but an eclectic mix of people, all
espousing a fundamental faith that they seemed to
share with Beck.<br>
<br>
Whether a movement rooted in Beck’s approach can
gain wide acceptance in non-white communities is
not the only question. For white people who are
struggling with how to live (or, at least, appear
to live) a commitment to racial justice, this kind
of space will be attractive. Tea Party gatherings
are weighed down by an overt racial ideology that
limits their appeal; Beck may have a strategy that
overcomes that problem, creating a movement that
has a significant enough non-white component to
make white people feel good about themselves
without really challenging white dominance.<br>
<br>
Redemption<br>
The key message of the “Restoring Honor” rally was
redemption, personal and collective, the personal
intertwined with the collective. Unlike some
reactionary right-wingers, Beck spoke often about
America’s mistakes -- though all of them are set
safely in the past. Rather than try to downplay
slavery, he highlighted it. It is one of America’s
“scars,” a term he repeated over and over, to
emphasize that our moral and political failures
are from history, not of this moment.<br>
<br>
“America has been both terribly good and terribly
bad,” leaving us with a choice, he said. “We
either let those scars crush us or redeem us.”
Just as all individuals sin, so do all nations.
Just as in our personal life we seek redemption,
so do we as a nation. Framed that way, who would
not want to choose the path of redemption?<br>
<br>
But while on one level America has sinned, on
another level it is beyond reproach. “It’s not
just a country, it’s an idea, that man can rule
himself,” Beck said. An idea remains pure, which
means we don’t have to wonder whether there’s
something about our political and economic systems
that leads to failures; injustice must be the
product of individual’s mistakes, not flaws in the
systems in which they operate.<br>
<br>
This is all standard conservative ideology as
well. The United States is not just a nation
struggling to be more democratic, but is the
essence of democracy. Our wars are, by definition,
wars of liberation. The wealth-concentrating
capitalist system is not an impediment to freedom
but is the essence of freedom. How any of this
jibes with the egalitarian and anti-imperial
spirit of the Gospels is off the table, because
the United States is a Christian country and the
idea of the United States is beyond reproach.<br>
<br>
But, again, the key to Beck’s success is not just
the ideology but the way he puts it all together.
A nation whose wealth rests on genocide, slavery,
and ongoing domination of the Third World is the
nation that defines faith, hope, and charity? Beck
“proves” it by connecting Moses to George
Washington to Abraham Lincoln to Martin Luther
King, Jr. All are part of the same tradition, the
same striving for freedom.<br>
<br>
Beck is the perfect person to sing this redemption
song. He talks openly of the alcohol and drug
abuse that ruled his life until he discovered his
faith in God. Unlike George W. Bush, Beck tells
the story with conviction. Perhaps both Bush and
Beck tell the truth about their experience, but
Beck makes you feel it is the truth in a way Bush
could never pull off.<br>
<br>
Reactions<br>
Wait a minute, you say, none of this makes a lick
of sense. Beck tosses a confused and confusing
word salad that rewrites history and ignores
reality. Maybe it sounds good, if you throw in
enough energetic music and inspirational personal
stories from veterans, ministers, philanthropists,
and skillful TV personalities. But it’s really
nothing but old right-wing ideology, no matter how
slick and heartfelt the presentation.<br>
<br>
What would Beck’s supporters say? Probably
something like this:<br>
<br>
So, you are one of those who wants to keep picking
at the scars. Why do you lack faith, reject hope,
refuse to offer charity? Why do you turn away from
the values and principles that made us great?
Glenn said it: “We must advance or perish. I
choose, advance.” Glenn wants to help us advance,
and you want us to perish.<br>
<br>
I agree that Beck is wrong about almost
everything. I agree that given his record of
demagoguery and deception, he is unfit for work in
the news media or political leadership. I agree
that he may be one of those people incapable of
sincerity, someone whose “real” personality is
indistinguishable from his stage persona. I agree
that he’s a scary guy.<br>
<br>
I agree with all that, which is why I don’t really
like Glenn Beck. If I ever got close to Beck I
would probably like him even less. But after
watching his performance on a screen over those
three hours, I understand why it’s so easy to like
him, at least on a screen. His convoluted mix of
arrogance and humility is likeable, so long as one
doesn’t look too closely at the details.<br>
<br>
More than ever, people in the United States don’t
want to look at details, because the details are
bleak. Beck is on the national stage at a time
when we face real collapse. One need not be a
Revelation-quoting end-timer to recognize that we
are a nation on the way down, living on a planet
that is no longer able to supply the endless
bounty of our dreams. That’s a difficult reality
to face, one that many clamor to deny.<br>
<br>
The danger of Beck is not just his appeal to
fellow conservatives, but rather his appeal to
anyone who wants to deny reality. My fear is not
that he will galvanize a conservative base and
make a bid for leadership of that part of the
political spectrum, but that his message will
resonate with moderates, maybe even some liberals,
who despair over the future.<br>
<br>
Does worrying about Beck’s appeal beyond the far
right seem far fetched? The most important
rhetorical move Beck made on Saturday was to claim
the rally “has nothing to do with politics.” Many
people across the ideological spectrum want
desperately to escape from contemporary politics,
which seems to be a source of endless frustration
and heartbrea<br>
<br>
To those people, Glenn Beck’s redemption song will
be seductive.<br>
<br>
-----------------------<br>
<br>
<br>
Robert Jensen is a journalism professor at the
University of Texas at Austin and board member of
the Third Coast Activist Resource Center in
Austin. He is the author of All My Bones Shake:
Seeking a Progressive Path to the Prophetic Voice,
(Soft Skull Press, 2009); Getting Off: Pornography
and the End of Masculinity (South End Press,
2007); The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race,
Racism and White Privilege (City Lights, 2005);
Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our
Humanity (City Lights, 2004); and Writing Dissent:
Taking Radical Ideas from the Margins to the
Mainstream (Peter Lang, 2002). Jensen is also
co-producer of the documentary film “Abe Osheroff:
One Foot in the Grave, the Other Still Dancing,”
which chronicles the life and philosophy of the
longtime radical activist. Information about the
film, distributed by the Media Education
Foundation, and an extended interview Jensen
conducted with Osheroff are online at <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://thirdcoastactivist.org/osheroff">http://thirdcoastactivist.org/osheroff</a>.!<br>
html. <br>
<br>
Jensen can be reached at <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:rjensen@uts.cc.utexas.edu">rjensen@uts.cc.utexas.edu</a>
and his articles can be found online at <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/%7Erjensen/index.html">http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~rjensen/index.html</a>.
To join an email list to receive articles by
Jensen, go to <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.thirdcoastactivist.org/jensenupdates-info.html">http://www.thirdcoastactivist.org/jensenupdates-info.html</a>.
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