Teo Conned, the Beckinization of Tea Partiers

Apparently, this week's attack on Debra Medina was not as random as Glenn Beck would have liked for it to appear. Those following the Republican gubernatorial race between Perry, Hutchison and Medina will know that Debra Medina was sideswiped by a question regarding a September 11th "conspiracy theory" during her first nationally televised interview. Medina, who states that she was "blind sided" by the question has issued an official statement regarding her beliefs that 9/11 was perpetrated by terrorists and not a government plot. However, she has also made it clear that she supports the Constitutional rights of Americans to hold unpopular opinions and ask uncomfortable questions even if they differ from her own.

This is in stark contrast with Beck who now appears to have had good reason to derail Medina's upsurge in the gubernatorial race. Apparently Beck, Pat Gray and talk radio station KSEV in Houston have quite a powerful political connection. Gray was a long-time morning talk show host at KSEV before joining Beck at Fox. Gray shared his talk show turf with Republican Texas Senator Dan Patrick, who is no stranger to the Fox network himself. When it comes to "Big Gubment" encroachment and sleazy, right wing politics, Patrick is the ADHD equivalent of his buddy, Beck.

Patrick has made a name for himself in conservative Republican circles by filing a pre-emptive bill that would make abortion automatically illegal in Texas should Roe v. Wade be overturned. However, like Beck, Patrick cannot stop anywhere within the boundaries of "reasonable". His extremist views can be seen during a 20/20 interview in which a 19 year old male was charged with sexual assault and forced to register as a sex offender because of having sex with his 15 year old girlfriend. Patrick's response; "While it seems unfair, he was 19, she was 15," 'says Patrick', "That's the price you pay. Even if you end up getting married." Perhaps even more interesting is Patrick's efforts to have Bill Maher banned from the airways. Maher had made a statement that he was "mad at his country" for not having done more to prevent the 9/11 attacks. Patrick, in typical Fox/Beck fashion went neurotic and pressed the issue far beyond any sort of reasonable discussion. Bob Somerby of the Howler summarized the situation quite succinctly with this:

Indeed, in the Age of Limbaugh and the Age of Stern, we’ve learned to tolerate dimwits quite nicely. But now, we’re in a state of near war; we need intelligence more than ever.

Patrick, Gray and Beck are the nerdy, obnoxious equivalent of Howard Stern and Rush Limbaugh. Patrick is known to have painted himself blue, risen from a coffin, and had a vasectomy on air. When Gray and Beck came together in Baltimore in 1990, they were like geeks on steroids. They created a "mascot" named "Gerry the Gerbil" which Beck sent through the air tube to a bank teller with a known fear of rodents. Another of their on air antics was an elaborate hoax which deceived irate travelers into driving in search of "Magicland", a non-existent theme park. It seemed there were no limits on Gray's and Beck's willingness to push the envelope in order to generate ratings. Beck was also well known for his narcissism and vengefulness. One of his own co-workers described him as a "sadist, the kind of guy who rips wings off of flys".

Meanwhile, back in Texas, Dan Patrick, the third Amigo is busy with his own pied-piper crusade. On FollowTheMoney.com, after Patrick's own broadcasting and advertising companies, his largest financial supporter is Robert J. Perry. According to SourceWatch.com, Perry, a construction and real estate tycoon,  has long standing ties with George W. Bush Republicans. In fact, in 2006 Bob Perry surpassed George Soros in GOP donations, contributing over $9 million. Many of Perry's contributions contributed to smear campaigns against leading Democrats, the most notable of which was the "swift boat" campaign launched against John Kerry. Perry even went so far as to sponsor a ballot initiative in California that reapportioned the state's presidential electors on a district by district basis rather than statewide which gave Republicans a decided advantage in that state. Bob Perry has close ties to such Bush notables as Karl Rove and Tom DeLay. Perry is also a strong financial backer of Rick Perry although there is no known familial relationship between the two.

It now appears that the attack on Medina was indeed orchestrated by someone. Michael Landauer, the editor of Dallas Morning Views' Opinion Blog reported that a post was made in the comments section supporting Medina as a 9/11 truther. However, the same IP address had four other postings strongly supporting Rick Perry. E-mail excerpts along with Beck's reaction to requests for a Medina appearance reveal irritation by both Gray and Beck. On Beck's Politics page he states, "Please don't, don't try to bully us or intimidate us into having a candidate on." One can almost hear the nerdy little plot being cooked up by Beck and Gray as they set out to teach this political upstart a lesson. Another interesting note is that Rick Perry's camp was already sending out robo calls from the hijack an hour after the broadcast.

One thing is certain, Beck's ties to Dan Patrick and Rick Perry put him right square in the center of the Karl Rove Republican camp. These guys are hard core Neo Conservatives carbon copied from the previous Texas-run presidency. Most tea partiers, if they haven't forgotten by now, were just as angry with the Bush administration for its betrayal of the American people as the newly elected Obama administration. Beck, Gray and Patrick represent the extremities of the extreme. They make Medina's association with Ron Paul look like a Sunday school picnic.

It is no secret that Ron Paul's antiestablishment, pro Constitution message resonates with all types of freedom loving individualists. Many of these do not trust the current Republican or Democratic parties. Instead of throwing the "conspiracy theorists" under the bus, Medina stood up for their right to speak. For Beck, however, to throw stones at Medina for entertaining truthers is like Bush blaming Obama for the Iraqi war.

Beck, Gray and Patrick are selling the voters of Texas "Magicland"  and having a blast at the same time. They pay no heed to the Debra Medina's who happen to get in their way. The tea partiers are simply tools to be used. These guys are on a mission. That mission is to bring the GOP up front and center. And make no mistake, we are talking about the Monsanto backed, more troops needed, imprison illegal aliens, expand the Patriot Act, increase Homeland Security, spy on the people GOP. No wonder these guys don't like Truthers!