Glen Beck's red phone.

[FromTheSouth]

The Director of Communications for the White House, Ann Dunn, went on CNN and accused Fox News of constant lying. Now, say what you will about their party affiliations, there is a deeper part to this story.

Conservative commentator and conspiracy theorist, Glen Beck responded in a most interesting manner. He installed a red phone in his studio. He left a message with her office to call him and get a secret phone number to the red phone and just go ahead and call into live television anytime he tells a lie about the shady connections of Barack Obama (notice that this is the theme of his show, not any kind of commentary from me).

I don't want this to devolve into a debate about Fox News. We've done that enough. I want to ask some specific questions, and I hope that they can frame the debate.


1. Glen Beck is batshit crazy, but I honestly think he is an idiot savant. How he managed to get a conspiracy show on at 5 pm in the East coast on a major network by hiding behind the veil of a political talk show. He is Alex Jones to the right, and makes just enough sense to maintain an audience. I say that, so I can ask this.....Did Glen Beck call the ultimate bluff? Is this not brilliant.


2. How damaging would it be if she called and Beck could imperatively prove, through video evidence or signed document, some indisputable evidence that he was telling the truth, how damaging would that be in the press (because it would become overblown) to the credibility of the administration?

3. If she catches Glen Beck, is his career over?

4. How awesome would it be to catch the first confrontation live?

 

[Dexter]

Beck is good at being sensational. He says just enough to get people to say "wait... what the fuck?" without saying so much that people change the channel. It's, of course, a publicity stunt... a good one. I don't see anyone actually calling that red phone though. So of course a couple of days of the phone sitting there will lead to the inevitable "see, they know I'm not lying" when obviously they're just not stooping to his level.

People that don't think it through will buy it. Everyone else will have a good chuckle. I don't find it particularly offensive or anything, but it's pretty transparent.

 

[Loveless]

1. Did Glen Beck call the ultimate bluff? Is this not brilliant.

Some people who watch might think so, everyone else will see right through it as a cheap stunt.
If you're Ann Dunn, all you do is take control of the game and address this through the media of your choice. You never willingly walk into the Colliseum of your enemy.

2. How damaging would it be if she called and Beck could imperatively prove, through video evidence or signed document, some indisputable evidence that he was telling the truth, how damaging would that be in the press (because it would become overblown) to the credibility of the administration?

If he could do that, I'm quite sure he would have done so already.

3. If she catches Glen Beck, is his career over?

She wouldn't catch him. The conversation would go in much the same way as the Democrat/Republican arguments on this board.

4. How awesome would it be to catch the first confrontation live?

It would be annoying to everyone as no-one would come out the winner.

 

[Razor]

1. Glen Beck is batshit crazy, but I honestly think he is an idiot savant. How he managed to get a conspiracy show on at 5 pm in the East coast on a major network by hiding behind the veil of a political talk show. He is Alex Jones to the right, and makes just enough sense to maintain an audience. I say that, so I can ask this.....Did Glen Beck call the ultimate bluff? Is this not brilliant.

Glenn Beck is batfuck crazy. This bluff would have worked with everyone else who isn't batshit crazy if...we didn't know he was so batfuck crazy. If she never calls, it's her doing what every sane person does. Ignoring Beck when he gets jumpy. He does this every now and again. Like that frog shit. What a dumbass.

2. How damaging would it be if she called and Beck could imperatively prove, through video evidence or signed document, some indisputable evidence that he was telling the truth, how damaging would that be in the press (because it would become overblown) to the credibility of the administration?

Yeah. Okay. If he could do that, he would be doing it every news cast. It'd be nothing but "Look! Signed documents?!?!?!?!" But no. He's got a lot of extrapolation, and a bunch of conspiracy theories. Which, with them being conspiracy theories, they are almost characteristically without merit.

But hell. If he can somehow prove that Obama really is a Kenyan born Anti-Christ sent here to turn God-Loving America into a nation of Socialist Zombies, I'll eat my dick. No lie. I will pull a crazy German dude and eat my own penis.

3. If she catches Glen Beck, is his career over?

No. We all know he's batfuck crazy and has no credibility. The people who actually watch and believe him will just make excuses, something along the lines of "Nuhuh! No you!"

4. How awesome would it be to catch the first confrontation live?

Will Glenn Beck cry again? Probably. Or maybe he'll just throw some frogs at the fucking phone. "See?! The frogs are the generic American citizen who just wants some answers! Why aren't they answering the call from the White House?!? Because they don't trust the White House for answers!!!!!" Instead of, you know, someone telling him that Frogs lack the proper appendages to answer a phone.

...But then again, Glenn Beck is batfuck crazy. He might go on a anti-Socialism, God-fueled rampage and become the Second Coming of Christ for a few people. You never know with the batfuck crazy crowd.

 

[gd]

I think it's just stupid. Obviously she is never going to call. The White House and the whole Obama administration has more important things to worry about than someone like Beck, or at least I hope they do.

She isn't going to call, that'd just be stupid, but if she does, I doubt that Beck will be able to provide evidence that Obama is racist against white people, or anything like that.

 

[2012isbs]

I would just like to say that Beck isn't crazy, just overenthusiastic, but that's how you grab viewers' attention. Beck's best hope for catching her is that she misdials, the odds of that happening probably 4% at most. Beck's carreer will never end uness he loses his voice permanently, or teh fcc shuts him done because one of his conspiracies is right, I'm republican, I watch Beck a lot of teh time he goes over the top, but I'd rather watch that than a boring regular newcast. A little off topic, but I'm reading one of his books Glenn Beck"s common sense, it's not actually righ twing more jsut exposes how corrupt our governemnt has become.
All in all Beck will be caught and neither will Dunn, and Beck isn't crazy jsut a good salsesmen.