Freedom's Just Another Word ...

Caption: Click on Janis for a musical accompaniment.

Eli seems troubled by this revelation about Glenn Beck by After Downing Street's David Swanson:

I don't think Glenn Beck has much between his ears. I don't think he has a coherent principled view of anything, and I expect he would throw his own grandmother under a bus for a buck. His opposition to war is driven by the most disgusting priorities, lacks logic or coherence, and manages to co-exist with a certain strain of fascism for dummies. He thinks he can put the military in charge of Congress AND defund the military. Yet it may just be that his is the best antiwar voice on network or cable television. The bar is that low.

Is the Best Antiwar Voice on TV Glenn Beck?

I assume, without bothering to check, that Beck really did say these things, and sounded like he meant them. I'm not shocked that he would, at least not completely. The reason - both that I'm not shocked and that I didn't bother to check the video - is that Beck, among television commentators, is uniquely gifted with this pair of traits:

• He's crazy


• He has nothing to lose

At least, he has nothing to lose when it comes to sponsors. Among all the people gracing us with their presence on the screen, Beck has the fewest worries about honking someone else off. He's free to say whatever he wants, as long as a substantial portion of his television audience will believe him, which I suspect is seldom a problem.

Most commentators, working for most networks, like this one, have to worry about what the defense contractors that either own the network or advertise on it will think of such behavior. Beck can operate without these restraints. They might or might not be crazy, or otherwise unaware of what's going on in the world around them, but those talking heads know where their bread is buttered. Beck's is buttered in an entirely different place.

So on those occasions when Beck happens to feel like saying something that's true, he's quite likely to say it. Every once in a while, perhaps despite himself, Glenn Beck is going to be right about something. And it really is perfectly obvious, even to people like me who have worked in the business, that the defense establishment is far too large, and used far too often, for our good as a country. You almost have to want to not see that to be unaware.

There's really nothing more to it than that.

Kris Kristofferson said it best.