Glenn Beck Has a Point

Excuse us while we hold back the dry heave and acknowledge that buried in this obnoxious, childish rant of Glenn Beck’s, there’s a valid point lurking.

Below, Beck comes unhinged after playing a clip of CNN anchor John King apologizing because a guest used the words “in the cross hairs.”

King’s apology is typical of the reaction to the shooting in Arizona and the speculated (and unproven) connection it may have had to nasty rhetoric.

Now, Beck is clearly defensive as one of the leading voices of nastiness on our airwaves. His network, Fox News, is home to the all-stars of the genre and his colleague there, Sarah Palin, was singled out in the aftermath of the shooting.

But he’s got a point. Whatever the Arizona shooter’s motives, it seems absurd that a guest on CNN using an innocent turn of phrase should generate an apology. Furthermore, our media is much more violent, as Beck, in his own way, points out, than our language. Where do we draw the line? Should we ban movies and literature that feature assassination or murder for fear of inspiring the mentally unbalanced?

But as much as Beck has a point, he also misses it. There is a world of difference between using the words “cross hairs” and directing your followers, as Palin did, to a map of targeted congressional districts with the missive “Don’t Retreat, Instead – RELOAD!” Those are not remotely the same thing.

Beck, using baby talk and pantomime, cautions CNN not to insult its viewers by treating them like idiots. We suggest he do the same. — PZS