During CNN Appearance, Al Franken Calls on CNN To Fire Glenn Beck

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/12/franken-fire-beck

During CNN Appearance, Al Franken Calls On CNN To Fire Glenn Beck

Appearing last night on CNN’s Larry King Live, Al Franken said that firing Don Imus was the “right decision,” but pointed out that CNN has its own anchor who regularly spews hateful and bigoted remarks.

“CNN has Glenn Beck on,” Franken told King. “Glenn Beck asked my congressman, Keith Ellison, who is the first Muslim to be elected to Congress, you know, I just want to ask you, how do I know that you’re not working with the enemy? … I don’t know why that wasn’t grounds for CNN thinking, well, maybe Glenn Beck shouldn’t be on. I mean, how dare he say that to a congressman who has just been elected?”

Franken added, “I hear this kind of thing a lot of time. I monitored a lot of right-wing radio when I was doing my show and before it. And I’ve heard Rush Limbaugh say things that are worse than this.”

Some recent low-lights from Glenn Beck:

The anti-gay slur “faggot” is nothing more than “a naughty name.” <1/23/07>

“ the stereotypical bitch.” <3/15/07>

“What happened to the Duke lacrosse team was practically a lynching without the rope. And for the first time in my life, Mr. Oreo Cookie without the chocolate on the outside can understand why people celebrated when O.J. Simpson was acquitted.” <1/15/07, using a racial slur for African-Americans that refers to “being black on the outside and white on the inside>

“I wonder if I’m alone in this — you know it took me about a year to start hating the 9-11 victims’ families? Took me about a year.” <9/9/05>

“And that’s all we’re hearing about, are the people in New Orleans. Those are the only ones we’re seeing on television are the scumbags.” <9/9/05>

MORE + VIDEO AT LINK

I turn on the TV and see his smug doughboy face and just turn the channel. Ugh.

it is a completely discredited propoganda outlet

I swear, they now have the silliest lineup on cable TV ... "The Giggling O'Briens" in the morning (Soledad could not be more silly or annoying if she tried) ... Kyra Phillips, spouting the Bushco line in Iraq (look at all the wuuuuunderful things that are happening here!) ... Larry King, who is just a d*ck ... Anderson Cooper, who did great work during Katrina, but who has gotten more tabloidy and silly as he goes along (and PLEASE PLEASE keep him off 60 Minutes -- every one of his segements is SILLY! Those Simon Cowell and Kenney Chesney interviews were EMBARRASSING!). And Wolf Blitzer ... oh PLEASE!

CNN sucks. Even without Glen the Hater.

he will go only after the Revolution (In an org like the CIA there are often two main factions -and if the other faction finally gets the reins, BLitzer is out.)

sad, sick, F'ing joke.

I'll give them the O'Brien firings, but what is up with giving Beck air time.?

Glenn Beck. It is real hard for them to comment on others when they sign that creeps paycheck.

Glenn Beck should be GONE...from the radio, from CNN...I think the Oreo Cookie thing is worse than the Nappy thing. I think the worse thing about what IMUS Said was the HO thing, but who cares about women getting dissed? If he had just called them HOs, no one would have said SHIT and he'd still have a job. THAT is what pisses me off about this situation.
Duckie

Of course, following the "9/11" victims "scums" comment.

:hi:

:applause:

Beck needs to be shown the door.

I didn't always agree with what he said on AAR, but many times he was spot on - and this is one of those times.

Unlike Imus who is just a pompous blowhard jackass.

Yeah they need to fire him... CNN Headline News used to be worth watching...get the hard news in 30 minutes. Now it's been loaded down with hateful crap like Glenn Beck, entertainment news gawking a la the Enquirer on Show Biz Tonight and the Nancy Grace holier than thou hour of her pontificating and passing judgement on people based on the shallowest of information.

CNN/HN has gone down the toilet and I no longer bother to watch it.

:bounce:

I'm with you on this one, Al!

Glenn Beck is a disgusting pig.

conversation has burst wide open and it's got to stay that way.

Limpballs, Beck and Savage.

He was talking about a "failed radio host who went bankrupt"!
:rofl:

http://mediamatters.org/items/200703010005

On the February 28 edition of his CNN Headline News program, Glenn Beck once again made sexually suggestive comments toward a woman when he hosted US Weekly's Dina Sansing to discuss racy photographs of American Idol contestant Antonella Barba. After Beck claimed that "ou can't take stupid photos and expect those to be ... locked away forever," Sansing responded that it was "possibly" true and that "it depends." As the weblog Crooks and Liars noted, Beck then asked: "Dina, I've got some time and a camera. Why don't you stop by?" Sansing did not respond and, after several seconds of silence, Beck stated: "No? OK." As Media Matters for America has noted (here, here, and here), in each of the first three episodes of his CNN Headline News show in May 2006, Beck made sexually suggestive comments to CNN Headline News anchor Erica Hill, who was then giving daily news updates on Beck's show. Hill no longer appears on Beck's program.

to CNN Headline News, I refuse to watch it.

I'm baffled as to who their target audience is. People who think FOX News is too heady and high-brow?

Imus was deliberately nasty to just about everybody. Never listened to him, but that's the impression I'm getting in the aftermath of the firing.

I've seen Beck on video clips and he literally makes me ill with his comments. There was something he said while he was on the radio a couple years ago, can't remember what it was, but the content was horrid and vicious. I bet there's a tabulation somewhere of all his comments.

I've been saying ever since the Imus thing erupted that if Imus goes, Beck should go, too. Same with Coulter, Limbaugh, and the Savage Weiner.

GREAT ANOTHER FAUX NEWS IDIOT

Brought to you by the American Corporate Pimps.

while paying an equally reprehensible person to make the same kinds of racist, sexist, homophobic comments is fascinating, in a macabre way.

It seems they believe the public cannot connect the dots and, in truth, if no outrage is expressed re Beck, CNN would be right.

Kudos to Mr. Franken for raising the subject of Beck.

This political correctness fest is starting to get to me and it is not in a positive and American way either.

OK I don't listen to Beck, but I do like Dobbs and I've heard some claim he is a racist because of his views on illegal immigration. There are others who could claim things about all kinds of people they don't like. They make the judgments and others lose their jobs.

I take words for what they are worth and how much they physically hurt which is nothing. Now hit me with a brick or a stick and that's something different.

Maybe I'm too liberal.

Freedom of Speech has with it accountability and no freedom for incitement

Beck and Savage, more than Limbaugh spew speech that incites folks. It goes beyond the Comedian Rush Limbaugh who simply lacks a soul or social graces. He should go as well, but Beck and Savage are more vile--mainly because their audiences are so miniscule.

As with censorship of books, media or opinions, it becomes a slippery slope. Who makes the call?

This country is about diversity of opinions, not just Al Frankin's or Rush Limbaugh's. I respect that everyone has a right to an opinion and the right to say it any way they wish, even though I might not agree and some might consider it vile. Some might but others might not.

Edited to Add; When it comes to public airwaves I do believe we need a "Fairness Doctrine" concerning balance of opinions.

the eradication of ideas, voices, etc.

Imus' firing does not involve censorship, but rather society speaking up in the discourse and saying your voice is causing damage and we will not support it any more.

He still can say whatever he wants to, be as hateful and iconoclastic as he desires-- he just has to support himself in that endeavor.

Radio is a limited and regulated commodity. It belongs to all of us. Broadcasters and right wing fatheads who abuse it can and should bear the consequences.

display a modicum of professionalism.

In Rwanda, for weeks before the killing began, the radio waves were filled with newscasters who referred to Tutsis as "cockroaches."

Same thing in the former Yugoslavia.

When it's acceptable for celebrities to spew hate, it's acceptable for anyone. The hate spewers obscure their targets' humanity. And yes, that can lead to other forms of discrimination and violence.

I will leave it to someone else to discuss with you whether physical hurt is the only hurt that matters.

There is no doubt in my mind that the media is used regularly to manipulate us. What I find disheartening is how easy our opinions are to bend, twist and manipulate......so you make a good point. There are some that say that the principles written by Edward Bernays are still being used.

"In Propaganda, his most important book, Bernays argued that the scientific manipulation of public opinion was necessary to overcome chaos and conflict in society:

The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. ...We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. ...In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons...who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_%28book%29

edited to add: It is the most important rationale for a fragmented, unconsolidated and uncontrollable media.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200505180008

if that is not incitement I don't know what is. All rights granted in the Constitution come with responsibilities. You can't make death threats on commercial airwaves and not expect any retribution for it by dismissing it as "free speech". These hate mongers have poisoned this country long enough turning Americans into a bunch of violent uncivil thugs. Not all Americans of course just about, oh say, 33% polled. But they're the ones who get all the press and put a bad image on us reaffirming our status as the most hated nation on Earth. It's time to silent them once and for all.

that the pendulum now beginning to swing could swing too far.

What if Hillary, Barack, John, or Al says "Ho Ho' during the Christmas season.

You don't think that the Right Wing is gonna play the tape of that over and over insisting that it was a slur? Tit for tat. That if Imus is history becuase of "Ho" so should Santa Claus get the boot out the door.

It is a perverse world we live in. And we need to be careful.

There's that old saying about the baby and the bath water. And in this case it is the First Amendment that is the baby.

the difference between Imus' "ho" slur and Santa's "ho-ho-ho?"
You know the difference, don't you?

But the pendulum in America always swings from one extreme to another.

A big :thumbsup:

Al Franken has pointed out Glen Beck's hatred, and is showing himself as a class act.

By the way, if you have not read it yet, you might want to check out this thread here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=636071&mesg_id=636071">Taking aim at Glenn Beck ... contact the sponsors.

Thanks for this link! :hi:

I thought I heard the words "Ann Coulter" when my alarm clock radio, which is tuned to a college station, woke me up this morning. Then I heard the word "objectionable," and I realized I was having the opposite of a nightmare--they were acutally doing a story asking if other the other political "shock jocks" be held to the same standard as Imus. In other words, maybe this isn't over--or maybe they're using it's an excuse to stop talking about the War Czar and Gone-zales. Way to go, DU and Keith!

:bounce:
rocknation

to see if they can help.

Would be a lot of mumbling.....

I used to like Headline News as TV's equivelent of Newsradio...give 'em 30 minutes, get the news. Those days are long gone.

Jon Stewart really reamed Grace last night over her playing inqiusitor, judge and jury regarding the Duke case, and how can we forget her interegation of a missing child's mother that was aired despite the mother committing suicide. Her advocacy crosses the line of both opinion and taste as she has gained wide media exposure and rarely has ever been held responsible or accountable to the wrong and hurtful things she says.

Beck is a total asshat, but is a mid-level polluter. He recites the talking points, he doesn't originate them. He is mild compared to a Savage/Weiner or Rushbo or anyone on Salem Radio. But I give Al props for bringing up the hypocrisy of CNN discussing the Imus affair without discussing their own malicious hosts.

I hope he becomes Sen. Franken

...I believe that Sen. Franken will lead the charge in reinstituting the Fairness Doctrine (with new found teeth).