NH-Gov: Jack Kimball's Hero, Glenn Beck

The answer is-- (0.00 / 0)

a) Republicans don't really listen to other people, so they don't know what they are saying;

b) government is just another group of people to attack, now that so many other groups are "protected classes."  It was startling to read the argument from the Department of Justice that a prosecutor, who falsified evidence that was used to convict two inoffensive men and imprison them for twenty-five years, should not be held to account because people don't have a right to be protected from fraudulent prosecution--they're not in a "protected class."  If our agents of law enforcement have bought into the notion that the Constitution only serves to protect a limited menu of rights belonging to "protected classes," then it's quite logical for a Glenn Beck to assume that he, as a private citizen, has a right to heap abuse on anyone he likes--as long as he doesn't actually kill anyone and make him a victim (another despicable class).

The case,                  
POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY,
IOWA, ET AL.,
Petitioners
v.
CURTIS W. MCGHEE, JR., ET AL.

in which an individual's right to have his rights protected from prosecutorial malfeasance was discussed by the Supreme Court was settled because the oral arguments indicated that the SC decision would throw out the blanket immunity that was being claimed for the prosecution.  It's an interesting read if only because it seems to give immunity to police from being held liable for false evidence/information because only conviction at trial is presumed injurious and at trial the responsibility for the accuracy of the evidence falls to the prosecution which is not, however, responsible for its collection.  That's how we end up with nobody in the justice system being responsible for anything.
Immunity is a central issue.  It's the other side of the coin of accountability.

Glenn Beck as a private individual enjoys unqualified immunity as long as he does no palpable injury that benefits himself.  We expect better from our agents of law enforcement.  Which is why immunity is being considered by the Supreme Court.

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by: hannah @ Fri Jan 15, 2010 at 05:30:20 AM CST

Tea Party People (0.00 / 0)

The "Tea Partiers", "Intelligent Design -Creationism", "Climate Change Deniers", and the rise in popularity of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and hundreds of lesser lights are all facets of the same social phenomenon.

I like to call it America's "Ignorenaissance" (Stephen Colbert - you have my permission to use that word on your show). The fear and hatred of immigrants, fear and hatred of a black President, fear and hatred of intellectuals - they are all well documented parts of the mix. These people have always been around, however, they've rarely possessed the kind of media echo chamber/sounding board that exists today via the Internet and Fox News.

Whether it was voting for the President you'd most like to have a beer with, or burning Dixie Chicks effigies, or showing up at political rallies with Hitler signs and loaded guns - over the course of the past decade a sizable portion of the population has decided to embrace a political philosophy who's touchstones are not really Ayn Rand or Thomas Jefferson but who more closely resemble Archie Bunker and perhaps an alcoholic serial domestic abuser.

The rise of the Internet and of Fox News show a direct correlation to the rise in the ability of ignorance and misinformation to compete and thrive in the marketplace of ideas. I know correlation and causation are not the same, I'll let you draw your own conclusion.

Ironically, think about where Fox News would be now without Bill Clinton - and since we know that Al Gore practically invented the Internet - I suppose much of the "credit" ultimately goes to them for establishing this New American Ignorenaissance. Something to ponder.

(edited repost from NPR "On Point" story on Tea Party Activists)

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by: randall drew @ Fri Jan 15, 2010 at 11:27:12 AM CST