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A boycott ensued afrer Beck called Obama a racist. AP Photo Evan Agostini
As the year ends it is time to reflect on the top 10 Glenn Beck Moments of 2009. Beck has certainly provided a fair share of entertainment this year as he has become the most prominent Obama administration opponent.
For story #9 in which Jon Stewart does his own Glenn Beck impersonation click here.
For story #7 in which Beck's panel is left speechless by one of his conspiracy theories click here.
For story #6 involving Beck's screaming tirade against radio caller "Kathy" click here.
For story #5 in which Beck misspells a key acronym in his conspiracy theory click here.
Click here for story #3 which details the Glenn Beck and Van Jones saga.
For story #2 discusinng Glenn Beck's conflict of interest in gold click here.
Story #1 invovles Beck's allegation that President Obama is a racist. I remember watching Fox & Friends live when Glenn Beck called President Obama a "racist with a "deep-seeded hatred for white people." I obviously disagreed with Beck and thought the statement a bit crazy but in all honesty I had no idea it would become the defining quote of Beck in 2009. I actually believe Beck made many other more controversial statements but for some reason this particular quote became the focus of a media frenzy.
If Beck's intention was to increase his viewership and become known as the number one critic of President Obama he succeeded admirably. Following the "racist" quote his audience actually increased and many conservatives loved Beck's willingness to speak the truth (or at least what they viewed as the truth) to the Obama administration.
Liberals of course had a different reaction. They argued that Beck was essentially trying to use Obama's race to turn white people against him. Some criticism of the President's comments toward the Cambridge Police Department and his time in Jeremiah Wright's church seemed warranted but to call the President a racist (a bold accusation that Beck did not appreciate being brought against himself) seemed reprehensible.
As a result a group called "Color of Change" organized a boycott of Glenn Beck's sponsors and urged them to drop Beck from their advertising list. Other liberal organizations joined in the fight and individuals also used Facebook and Twitter to make appeals to the companies. Before the boycott Beck had some big name sponsors like Bank of America and Wal-Mart but the boycott succeeded in making many of them abandon Beck. To this day over eighty sponsors have reportedly either stopped advertising with Beck or pledged not to advertise on his show.
Beck has never fully apologized the comment saying he regretted "the way" he called the President a racist but not regretting the actual accusation. His ratings continue to be very high but his sponsor list has grown smaller and more partisan. Now an average Beck program features three of four Goldline commercials (which coincides with the conflict of interest story), a couple of political advertisements against health care reform, and three or four promotions for Fox News. So despite his audience of millions Beck is still struggling to bring in the kind of revenue which could be generated from larger sponsors.
In the end each side ended up claiming victory. Beck has gained a loyal following and now is undoubtedly the king of the Obama opposition movement. Liberals proved that they have the ability to fight back with the same kind of organization and citizen activism that helped elect President Obama.
Comments
How a dare a 'conservative' call a 'liberal' a racist!!!
That's a word that only applies to those who are not 'democrats'. It is a tactic of the left and nobody on the 'other team' is going to hijack it and get away with it. Evidence can be recited until doomsday and it doesn't matter! It will not be tolerated!
Some Obama quotes:
'I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites.'
That hate hadn’t gone away,' he wrote, 'blaming' white people — some cruel, some ignorant, sometimes a single face, sometimes just a faceless image of a system claiming power over our lives.'
'It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.' While in college, Obama wrote (he) disapproved of what he called other "half-breeds” who gravitated toward whites instead of blacks.
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