The Great Pretenders

Crying and lying are profitable, but don’t take my word for it, ask Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. In fact, Sarah Palin has learned very quickly she since resigned as governor that a right-wing conservative pretender can make a lot of money.

These conservative pretenders bring in a lot of cash for themselves and serve as the glue that helps to hold together a cross-cultural base of conservatives across the country. They have taken up the sword in an effort to hold the Republican Party base together, but that sword is ripping through the fabric of America, and as they apparently believe themselves, he who lives by the sword also dies by the sword.

Glenn Beck for example, is keenly aware the vomit coming out of his mouth poses a dangerous situation. Beck is accompanied on a regular basis by two body guards. It has been said that Rush Limbaugh would be swinging from a tree if not for his bodyguards. Sarah Palin is well guarded, and rumor has it she can shoot pepper spray directly from her nose. (Efforts to confirm this rumor, however, have been unsuccessful).

Despite the damage these pretenders may be responsible for the money makes the effort worth it. Glenn Beck earms at least $32 million a year from his recent book about common sense, his radio show, a string of websites, speaking engagements and from television. Beck doesn’t think of himself as a “television guy,” however, but as a “brand.” Expect to see Beck breakfast cereal and cologne in big box stores near you. Glenn claims he was a pot-smoking alcoholic until his conversion to Mormonism, which according to his own account is responsible for his success.

Beck has become widely known for his on-air antics: angry outbursts when disagreed with, crying, lying and his bigoted words. For Beck and his audience tears are not a sign of weakness but a sign of sincerity. Anger is not a sign of weakness either, but of righteous indignation. Glenn Beck, like Rush Limbaugh, bends the spectrum of light to validate his values and claims. “I’d better start wearing a bullet-proof vest to guard against White House attacks,” he said in a recent interview. I doubt, however, the White House is planning to have the CIA assassinate him as he suggests, but he probably should be concerned about the man on the street.

Beck’s statement about the White House, not only suggests he is a weeping paranoid schizophrenic, but it lends credence to the idea that people who are intent on stirring up the emotions of others for their own wellbeing are making targets of themselves.

The rhetoric the pretenders create to make themselves rich also creates an atmosphere where violence can grow. Sarah Palin, of death panel fame, recently stated on Facebook “don’t retreat … reload.” This double-edged sword carries two messages: don’t give up and keep fighting for what you believe in, and to the dimwitted in our society, don’t back off, load you ...

Palin is not a rich woman yet, but she left her job as governor of Alaska, where she earned $125,000 a year, for a higher calling. She works as a pontificator Fox News, is a frequent guest on talk shows, has had a book written in her name and speaks at Tea Party rally’s for $100,000 a pop. She has seen the light. There is no money in not in public service, but there’s plenty to go around in the field of public torment.

Rush Limbaugh is the king of pontificating pretenders. An example of his rhetoric comes from comments he made about health care. In defending the US health care system as being the finest among industrialized nations, Limbaugh claimed statistics showing the US as having a poor infant mortality rates and lower life expectancy were skewed due to “the epidemic of low-birth weight babies born to teenage and drug-addicted mothers, along with drug related homicide rates.”

The fact of the matter is, The CDC estimates that removing homicides rates would only increase life expectancy by about three months on average and mortality rates have a direct correlation with lack of pre-natal care. The CDC estimates mothers who lack proper pre-natal care are ten times more likely to have unhealthy babies.

Limbaugh also claimed the H1N1 virus was created by the government to kill people. Rush likes to make things look dirty. Drugs and violence and government conspiracies are dirty, but so is the slobbery cigar clinging to his lips.

Nevertheless, Limbaugh’s false accusations and big-mouth ranting have made him a millionaire; he is estimated to be worth in excess of $650 million.

By the way, all of the above mentioned “celebrities” have something else in common, they speak in a knowing self-important way about issues they are not qualified to talk about, but unfortunately, people listen.

The gloves came off, as the news media likes to say, with the setting aside of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987. The Fairness Doctrine had been in place since 1949 and required some broadcast time be set aside for opposing viewpoints. Under the Fairness Doctrine Limbaugh, Beck and Company could not spew an hour’s worth of deception unless they gave 20 minutes of that hour to an opposing argument.

The broadcasting industry, taken over by a few wealthy individuals and corporations, claimed the Fairness Doctrine was too costly to them, but the social costs since its disappearance have been even greater. As the Fairness Doctrine died, birth was given to the pretenders.