Glenn Beck 1990: Politics of retribution

September 8, 10:30 PMPortland Progressive ExaminerMichael Stone

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    Glenn Beck

"Glenn Beck 1990" is an exercise in the politics of retribution - a spoof of Glenn Beck's outrageous assertions and obfuscations - an Internet meme engineered by those seeking justice - a theater of the absurd.

"Glenn Beck 1990" is short for "Glenn Beck raped and murdered a girl in 1990", a web site dedicated to tracking the meme questioning Glenn Beck's guilt in 1990. Glenn Beck is not pleased, and is taking legal action against the website tracking the meme.

tech dirt reports:

It turns out that Glenn Beck isn't happy about this either. He's filed a domain name dispute over the domain name, claiming that it violates his trademark.

The Internet meme apparently began with a question on Fark: "Why haven't we had an official response to the rumor that Glenn Beck raped and murdered a girl in 1990?"

The idea, which seems plain to many involved, is not to actually suggest that Glenn Beck did such a thing -- but to highlight this tactic of making a totally bogus rumor into "news" by stating it, and wondering why there hasn't been a denial. A bunch of folks have picked up on this claim and run with it (apparently greatly upsetting some loyal Beck fans), turning it into one of those Internet memes with legs.

Associated Content reports:

But lately, Glenn Beck's brand of rabble-rousing rhetoric and baseless inflammatory theories have begun to be aggressively met and countered. Like when Color of Change went after him for labeling President Obama a racist on the Fox News show "Fox and Friends."

Last week this Examiner was one of the first reporting on the story:

In a fast moving, developing story, shocking allegations have come to light that Glenn Beck is responsible for the rape and murder of a girl in 1990. Are these allegations true? Is Beck guilty? Various websites are offering conflicting points of view. Some claim it is a hoax. Many are suspicious because Beck has remained silent on the matter.

The topic is setting the blogosphere on fire, and threatens to go viral.

Questions remain. While Beck has issued no formal response, he is apparently taking legal action against the web site. Beck is not claiming defamation, nor libel, but a trademark violation. It looks like the story is not ending.

Indeed, perhaps it is just the end of the beginning, as we go down the strange rabbit hole that is Glenn Beck, in search of the politics of retribution.