Glenn Beck of Fox News said this week he thinks the Beatles' song "Revolution" is basically a blueprint for what he thinks is happening in Washington under the Obama administration. Talk about a stretch.
Here's part of his on-air commentary from Monday:
Last week on radio, we were talking about the Beatles song, "Revolution." I believe the song was all about understanding how progressives had been operating:
You say you want a revolution.
Well you know,
We all want to change the world.
But how — how — do you go about changing the world, without waking up too many people who don't want your kind of "change"?
Beck goes on to try instill some fear in his listeners by quoting the next several lines, from "You tell me that it's evolution" to "You ain't gonna make it with anyone anyhow," then says, "You can't just jump from Point A to Point Z without revolution. But you can evolve from A to B to C to D to E and so on. And if progressives had continued to follow that playbook, we may never have known what we were up against."
Up against what? Whatever your political leanings, you know President Obama faced an immediate crisis when he took office that needed to be dealt with now. That Beck ties the Beatles to his little sermon is just a way to snag his listeners. If you have a crisis, you need change right away, Glenn baby, not gradually.
But, of course, this is all part of the game playing by political pundits like Beck. Don't get it right. Just be sure everyone gets it, even if it's wrong. (You can read his full rant here.)
Funny thing about the lyrics to "Revolution" Beck mentioned, though. He quotes a couple of lines and ignores the ones that didn't fit his rant. Like this (emphasis ours):
You tell me that it's evolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know that you can count me out
John Lennon and the Beatles have always been staunch proponents of non-violence. Somehow, Beck forgot to mention that.
And then there's this. Read it closely, Glenn. We think Lennon might have been talking about you when he originally sang "Revolution":
But when you want money
for people with minds that hate
All I can tell is brother you have to wait
Don't you know it's gonna be all right
As Lennon sang back then, it's gonna be all right, Glenn. Really.
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Comments
I mean come on, the man is brilliant! Next week he will show the connection between the one eyed one eared flying purple people eater and the ACORN.
Glenn Beck is as much a propagandist as Goebbels. Name Calling? That's Glenn Beck's specialty. A deeply dangerous man. Pure Agitprop through and through. He has no shame and no decency.
I knew that the Beatles were up to no good in 1968...and it took Mr. Beck all this time to find out.....WTG Glenn.
Typical Beck. I went on to read his full rant and it reminded me of a quote of John Lennon's I recently read: "In Europe, it's a joke, you know. I mean, we laugh at America's fear of communists. It's like, Americans aren't going to be overrun by communist. They're going to fall from within, you know." If Americans continue to mindlessly follow behind Beck, Limbaugh and all the other right-wing talking heads, John Lennon just may have a point.
When the right wing makes noise about the ludicrous Defense of Marriage Act, and calling for an amendment to the constitution to ban same sex marriage, I can't help but think, 'You say you'll change the Constitution, well you know... we all want to change your head!'
With connections to Acorn and Reverend Wright, I would think that rather than Revolution , Fool on the hill fits better.
All we had was rotten apples in 2008, Obama,Biden,Palin,McCain and Nadar, no wonder our country is a laughing stock.
Can't wait to hear Obama ask us to join him and attacking the devil who took Saint Kennedy's seat, this is an out-rage,how can we allow a Republican to replace a great man as Ted Kennedy ?
Ted Kennedy is so much missed, maybe we should just march and protest this out-rage anyone with me (crickets chirping).
C'mon lib fans shut up, your day has come to an end!
Actually, Beck and the song did mention the non-violent revolution, which is clearly stated as, "Evolution". He spent alot of time on the progressives use of "evolution", not "revolution" as a way of attaining change.
Pay attention. You are hearing what you want to hear.
To deny that the radicals of the 60's, took over our schools and Universities, and implemented a neo-progressivism, somewhat peacefully over a 40 year period, and that these same progressives are now entrenched in the power structure of Washington, is to deny reality.
It's still a great song, I don't know who constructed the lyrics, but if it was John, it fits his M.O. of that time..
Most hippies of the 60's were anti-establishment as is every new young generation.
As to what extent The Beatles comprehended and fully bought into to the progressive movement, who knows?
The Beatles were capitalists to the full extent. They lived very well from the fruits of their labors, as they should have.
Yada yada yada. I have not and never will watch Glen Beck...but I listen to the Beatles every day.
Marinucci, leave the "political analysis" to the sickos at the Huppington Toast and Daily Kraz. Obama is a serial liar and progressives are just the New Left from the 1960's in business suits. Lennon also wrote in Revolution "if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao, you ain't going make it with anyone anyhow". Beck has tied Anita Dunn and Van Jones to Mao as well as the fact that Obama's Christmas tree had a ornament with Chairman Mao on it. The White House is infested with Communists so get used it. They'll be voted out soon enough.
Don't be ridiculous and don't feed your own hatred for Beck by inference and innuendo on your own part. Beck is not encouraging destruction just because he left out those lines. He most certainly is talking about change in a legal, peaceful way. He is not full of a mind that hates, but a mind that is no different than yours, a proponent of "That which is wrong must be changed". Obviously his opinion is different from yours. We all have that right. Our opinion of the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman differs from yours too.
I am in complete disbelief. I simply do not understand how one can enjoy the music of the Beatles AND be a right wing fascist at the same time. No question, that has got to be the smallest portion of any Venn diagram that has ever been made.
Also: calling people a communist as a scare tactic in 2010? SERIOUSLY? What, are you in elementary school? Bill Maher said it best: "The rest of the world hates us because we don't know why they hate us."
Keep up the fear mongering, the hate spewing & the "anti-communist" diatribes. You should be proud of all the energy you've invested on such worthy pursuits.
I cannot defend Beck on this one. I am a solid conservative and listen to Glenn Beck and a few other talk shows on the radio. I also watch Beck on FOX News as often as possible.
I like Beck because he presents verifiable facts in most of his presentation, something you rarely get from other cable news shows, and almost never from MSNBC.
I do however feel the need to turn the channel whenever Beck tries to tie the progressive movement to a freaking Beatles song, or tries to expose a communist plot using artwork at Rockefeller Center.
Beck would hand over less rhetorical ammunition to his opponents if he would just stick with the afore mentioned facts and avoid the theatrics.
God, what an idiot. Why do we even pay attention to anyone from Fox News, or should I say Faux News?
Well, faux news is better than no news. Just ask Rupert.
Bravo, Steve! You are exactly right on the money with your eloquent comments re: Beck and "Revolution."
And btw, what is wrong with Revolution? It doesn't MEAN killing and violence necessarily. But we wouldn't have had the United States of America without one. And revolution can also mean change...and don't you think change can be for the better? We used to have slavery in this country, for example. I'd say that kind of progressive change to FREEDOM was a GOOD thing.
Oh, and COMFORTABLY NUMB, judging by your comments, your brain apparantly is.
Well technically Lennon was ambivalent about being counted "out" or "in" on the destruction thing, wasn't he? He recorded at least one version of Revolution in which he says both "out" and "in" in response to the line about destruction. And in the early 70s, he aligned himself with several violent-leaning activists and convicted criminals. Lennon isn't as pure on this count as Yoko and his biggest fans would have us believe.
That said, Glenn Beck is still a nut job.
"we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." - Declaration of Independence.
I can run my own life a lot better than some pencil dick Marxist social scientist in Washington D.C. who thinks that because he has a Ivy League degree he knows better than me. If that makes me right wing and a hater, then I am in good company with Jefferson, Franklin and Adams. I'm no fascist, just leave us alone and get out of our pockets.
Well, most of the time Beck is quite sentimental about the American Revolution, and all the "liberals" that got that going. And isn't the whole tea party thing promising some sort of counter-revolution?
Beck is quixotic, irrational, emotional, and not nearly as intellectually interesting as an O'Reilly, Limbaugh, or even Hannity. And of course he's dead wrong about the interpretation of Revolution. Although Lennon went through a crazy-leftist agitator period (and it was mostly for the sake of art and pacifism), he seemed to know better than to sing the praises of Mao and call for outright revolution.
You want Revolution? Try these words from the Declaration: "That whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and Happiness."
We are calling for Revolution, to stop uncontrollable spending that is bankrupting our country, to remove from office those whose credo is "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" and allow all people to take responsibility for their own lives and not be dependent or be manipulated by government for its ends. We are free people, not socialists or wards of the state. If you disagree with that then you haven't found the freedom that stares at you in the mirror every morning.
Glenn Beck is a shock jock drama queen who cry's like a baby at the drop of a hat..crocodile tears. And I listen to the Beatles everyday. :)
Steve, that is a week analysis backed by clueless opinions...kind of reminds me of our learn by doing leader and his cabinet. The Fools on the Hill...
Power to the People...Not Power to Political People.
BTW I suppose it was Bush's fault that Favre threw the game ending interception on Sunday...and I'm not talking Reggie Bush. Stick with the Beatles, Dawg.
Beck is brilliant.
He understands that the Constitution is the glue which has held this Republic together for over two hundred years. No other free society has ever lasted this long.
He also understands the nature of all men is to control others for their own gain. Without the checks and balances enshrined in our Nations sacred documents, by our Founding Fathers, this Country would have fallen long ago.
History is not taught anymore. A few years ago a school in Lousiana took the name George Washington off their school, because they thought he was too offensive...Score one for the radical progressives.
Beck is reawakening America as to why the Constitution and the founding Fathers matter, and why Stalin, Hitler, Che, Castro, Wilson etc., and modern day progressives should be scorned.
The Beatles tried on many political hats in their day, remember their times in India? In the end, they were capitalists and not progressives at heart. Their music is still brilliant.
I cannot BELIEVE the comments I'm reading from Beatles fans. It's about peace and love not ignorance and stupidity.
Don't forget that in Revolution I and the semi-live version of Revolution that the Beatles did for video distribution, Lennon sings "But if you talk about destruction, don't you know that you can count me out -- in."
That's right Glenn, the Beatles wrote the blueprint for a Liberal revolution, and if you play "Piggies" backwards, it says "Glenn Beck is a lying, deranged Republican tool". How could they have known?
Unfortunately, the Revolution has been canceled, as Obama is not the socialist, or even liberal, leader some have hoped/feared he would be.
To all those who fear Obama's supposed socialism, try spending some time with real, self-proclaimed liberals, progressives and socialists (I dare you to lurk and read some of the postings at Daily Kos or Democratic Underground). Obama and his bankster minions are NOT popular with the far left, and the rants, criticisms and anger far outweigh any support remaining in the true progressive community. How can he be a socialist when the socialists have disowned him?
Power To The People,
Give Peace A Chance,
All You Need Is Love.
Give me a break Bryan. This time last year the Huffington Post and the Daily Kos were all over the guy. They were hanging around waiting for Obama to walk on water. Do you deny it? You're too cleaver by half to think that because the Leftists are crying like babies that Obama hasn't swung the country any faster to the left that Leftists don't like him. Obama is their guy. He wears their uniform.
There is no denying that Obama is a disciple of Saul Alinksy who wrote the Leftist playbook "Rules for Radicals". Obama spent years as a "community organizer" a job created by Alinksy. The objective of the Radical Left is to undermine the U.S. government, create chaos and anarchy in the culture and prepare it for a "savior" like Barry to "take charge".
Problem is BO can't do anything but read from his teleprompter at a 6th grade school room. He can't administrate, he can't lead anywhere because he doesn't know which way he wants to go.
Brown was the 1st in the counter-revolutio
That's right Glenn, the Beatles wrote the blueprint for a Liberal revolution, and if you play "Piggies" backwards, it says "Glenn Beck is a lying, deranged Republican tool". How could they have known?
Unfortunately, the Revolution has been canceled, as Obama is not the socialist, or even liberal, leader some have hoped/feared he would be.
To all those who fear Obama's supposed socialism, try spending some time with real, self-proclaimed liberals, progressives and socialists (I dare you to lurk and read some of the postings at Daily Kos or Democratic Underground). Obama and his bankster minions are NOT popular with the far left, and the rants, criticisms and anger far outweigh any support remaining in the true progressive community. How can he be a socialist when the socialists have disowned him?
Power To The People,
Give Peace A Chance,
All You Need Is Love.
Give me a break Bryan. This time last year the Huffington Post and the Daily Kos were all over the guy. They were hanging around waiting for Obama to walk on water. Do you deny it? You're too cleaver by half to think that because the Leftists are crying like babies that Obama hasn't swung the country any faster to the left that Leftists don't like him. Obama is their guy. He wears their uniform.
There is no denying that Obama is a disciple of Saul Alinksy who wrote the Leftist playbook "Rules for Radicals". Obama spent years as a "community organizer" a job created by Alinksy. The objective of the Radical Left is to undermine the U.S. government, create chaos and anarchy in the culture and prepare it for a "savior" like Barry to "take charge".
Problem is BO can't do anything but read from his teleprompter at a 6th grade school room. He can't administrate, he can't lead anywhere because he doesn't know which way he wants to go.
Brown was the 1st in the counter-revolutio
Comfortably Numb,
You poor guy. You sound like you've been listening to the Rush Limbaugh and Fox News propaganda machine to much. I feel sorry for you.
Please stop using the words "lefty" and "liberal" as if they are bad things. There's nothing wrong with liberalism. The founding fathers were radicals and liberals. That's how we got such a great country like America. We had founders with new radical ideas that changed the world.
Stop hating America so much.
Bravo, Steve, for standing up to Glenn Beck. Hope you don't get more criticism for doing so.
You failed to finish the lyrics. The Bealtes make an important point in the last verse. They didn't like what they were hearing from the progressives.
"You say you'll change the constitution
Well, you know
We all want to change your head
You tell me it's the institution
Well, you know
You better free you mind instead
But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao
You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow
Don't you know it's gonna be all right...all right..."
Change the Constitution? Celebrate Mao? Who does that sound like? Its the Progressives who want to change the Consitution. And wasn't there a Chairman Mao ornament on the White House Christmas tree? They aint gonna make with anyone anyhow...The American Spirit is strong and in the end its gonna be all right.
Come on, Steve... save the political crap for elsewhere.
Chris
This is your website Steve, so I suppose you are entitled to your opinion. The trouble is...we come to you for information, not your political views. So keep them to yourself, please.
If you don't see some of what is happening that goes WAY beyond trying to turn around the bad economic times, then you've been spending way too much time listening to those remasters. Take off the headphones, wake up, and realize how you are slowly (actually not so slowly) losing your country and your rights.
Just to spare my bloodpressure, I didn't read any of the previous comments, so if I repeat something, pardon me. There are just such a number of Fux "news" junkies parroting Fux's bile on the net AND unfortunately here on Beatles Examiner - Just don't wanna read anymore.
Glenn Beck is a very bad actor / far-right syncophant who wants to make people live in fear by exagerating any molehill that can scare his sad, fact-ignoring audience into listening for another day. His concern is not the US or its' citizens, but rather lining his own pockets while the new McCartheism lasts. It's pointless to address any of his mob with contrary information - they are always right and facts mean nothing. Kudos to you Steve, for having the courage to expose this, knowing what you'd face from the mob. Don't let any attacks against you sway you one iota!
I'm 100% with inherownright; the display of radical, reactionary uninformed bullshot here from alleged Beatles fans is disgusting and disappointing.
And why are some of the posts printed multiple times?
Anyone who takes Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Keith Olbermann, or any of these other over-the-top/insane political "pundits" seriously in any way has mental issues.
MSNBC and Fox News are not "News Networks," they're comedy networks. Crazy personalities flipping out over every single issue as if the world is about to end, and the worst part of it is how many people actually listen to these guys.
Right when somebody tells me they watch MSNBC or Fox News, I pretty much stop listening to them. Brainwashing at its worst, pure and simple.
Wow, Comfortably N(D)umb, that was impressive. Quote the Declaration of Independence. Since you like quotes so much, here are a few for you:
"Read my lips: no new taxes" - George H. W. Bush, 1988
Here's another:
"The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. An evil soul producing holy witness Is like a villain with a smiling cheek." -
Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice i. iii. 93, 1596
Stick them in your Bartlett's. : )
Donald, if that's your best shot then go do your homework, those chigger bites were terrible.
David, I don't hate America. Why do you say I do? Is it because I oppose a government centered society that inhibits personal freedom? Mao was a Leftist, Che was a Leftist, Lenin and Stalin was a Leftist. I don't identify with those people. They were murderers and imprisoned innocent people.
I admire Hubert Humphrey, who although I disagreed with, I respected his stand on principle. I respect Harry Truman who was a principled liberal.
You say I should be ashamed to listen to Limbaugh and Beck and Fox news. Why? I have held my political views since the 1960's and even in the flower power days, I felt a deep and abiding love for my country and have worked to conserve the values I quoted from the Declaration of Independence. I didn't find that in Bartlett's, I found it on my desk where it sits everyday. I talk about it everyday and live it everyday. I am not fake or insincere about
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.
(sigh)
Comfortably Numb,
You should be ashamed to watch Fox News because it is not real news. It is a propaganda machine for the Republican party. Keith Olberman is no better. All these guys distort the facts. Do you remmber Walter Chronkite? That was real news. He reported what was happening in the world with very little bias.
Again you are trying to make Leftist sound like a bad term by bringing up Mao, Lenin and Stalin. You negelected to respond to my comment about the founding fathers being liberals. You're making outrageous statements like Glenn Beck to derail the argument.
Both sides are trying to do whats best for the country. We need two partys so that neither party gets out of line. You had George Busch for 8 years and now we have Obama. It's called taking turns. Do you want the entire country do be run by Republicans til the end of time? Do you want a multiple party system to die? That doesn't sound very American to me. It sounds like a dictatorship.
Sorry for the misspellings. I was typing fast and I negelcted to proof read what I wrote.
Sorry David, but Walter Cronkite was not "real news".
From his 1968 declaration that the Vietnam War was "unwinnable" to his 2004 Larry King interview - just before the Presidential Election: when an Osama bin Laden tape was released; he stated that Karl Rove "...probably set up bin Laden to this thing".
Cronkite was even removed as Anchor at the 1964 political conventions because of his slanting the news to the left. Critics said his bias was evidenced not so much by Cronkite's words as by his choice of what stories CBS covered, and by his habit of raising his eyebrows and scowling to show his disapproval of statements made by conservatives and Republicans.
None of these guys are impartial.
Chris
Sorry, but Steve missed the point completely. That's what happens when your mind is clouded and you look at the world through Obama-colored glasses.
Be careful Steve; don't mix this site with politics. Lyrics are for interpretation and as we are seeing... This administration is having it's issues; major issues. We have to make sure we do not lose our freedoms in the name of a crisis. The Presedicent slammed the Supreme Court, threatened to do an executive order to circumvent and still wanrs to ram a failed health care plan when 1/2 of his own party hates it. It seems he just sdoes not like to be challenged and his word must be taken as Gospel. I can see where Beck can have the fun he had with the song.
reayx5,
I didn't say Chronkite was perfect, but he was much more real than anything we have today. Also, I wouldn't discredit him because of anything he may have said to Larry King. By 2004 Chronkite wasn't an anchorman any more. He was allowed to give any opinion he wanted in an interview at that point. Do you see the difference?
As for his declaration that the Vietnam war was unwinnable; he said that after many, many, many years of NOT giving his opinion. To compare that to what Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Keith Olbermann, Glenn Beck and Rachel Maddow do on a daily bases is absurd. Fox News and Limbaugh complain about a Liberal bias in the media while they themselves are bias. That's why they are discredited by most people. Hannity goes on and on about the bias in the media all the while pretending that he's not the media. Huh?
Of course all newscasters and reporters show there opinion sometimes, but the older newscasters showed an incredible amount of restraint.
reayx5,
What would you say IS real news?
Del Train,
A lot of people want free healthcare. I know I do. That's why a lot of people voted for Obama. My dad was Canadian and he and all of his relatives love the Canadian healthcare system! I think that Americans can come up with something as good or better than that system. What we have now isn't fair to people who can't afford it. I'm lucky that I have a good job with excellent coverage. But what happens if I'm layed off and unable to find work? I would love to pay into a system that helps anyone who falls on hard times.
What do you say about all of the rights that we lost under the Bush administration?
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