A Very Disturbing Story About Glenn Beck
So, Glenn Beck has rented several rooms in a Salt Lake City hotel to display an "Independence Through History" exhibition. Here is a brief description of some of the material, from Alexandra Karl, writing in the Salt Lake Tribune:
I certainly have to second Ms. Karl's feelings here. Glenn Beck is one of the most influential figures in the American right today. He is held in the highest regard by the entire Tea Party movement, and is in a position to influence the thinking of millions. What can it possibly mean that he has acquired the personal belongings of Hitler and Goering, and paid to have them displayed under the title of "Independence Through History?"
This is just one more sign of the pervasive sickness which exists on the American right- an evil harbinger of what will be our fate if they ever manage to come to power again. Beck's open adulation of the worst monsters in human history shows how easy it is to gain a platform to spread the most vile kind of hatred and violence in this country.
I have talked about the right's romance with fascism many times, and I am sure that many of my readers thought I was way over the top.
I don't think so.
"The adjoining room contained objects from Glenn Beck’s personal collection. This included a hooded KKK cape and a swastika banner which had been used at Nuremberg. Underneath was an illuminated vitrine containing a copy of Mein Kampf signed by Adolf Hitler, a stack of love letters by Hermann Göring, and a satin handkerchief browned with Hitler’s blood...I can’t help wondering what prompted Beck to collect such macabre objects and include them among his personal belongings. What are the virtues of owning Göring’s love letters, Hitler’s signature or a few drops of his blood?"
I certainly have to second Ms. Karl's feelings here. Glenn Beck is one of the most influential figures in the American right today. He is held in the highest regard by the entire Tea Party movement, and is in a position to influence the thinking of millions. What can it possibly mean that he has acquired the personal belongings of Hitler and Goering, and paid to have them displayed under the title of "Independence Through History?"
This is just one more sign of the pervasive sickness which exists on the American right- an evil harbinger of what will be our fate if they ever manage to come to power again. Beck's open adulation of the worst monsters in human history shows how easy it is to gain a platform to spread the most vile kind of hatred and violence in this country.
I have talked about the right's romance with fascism many times, and I am sure that many of my readers thought I was way over the top.
I don't think so.
Comments
I think you should have quoted this bit of the article too:
"The proximity of the bloody handkerchief with Anne Frank’s diary was deeply offensive, and insensitive to Salt Lake City’s Jewish community. Among them are Holocaust survivors and their descendants, including myself, who found this profoundly distasteful.
Just imagine exhibiting Osama bin Laden’s blood together with an item belonging to a 9/11 victim. The thought turns the stomach and is the very zenith of ignorance.
Anyway, is Glenn Beck really a Nazi sympathizer? He wouldn't be the first on the right (Pat Buchanan, for example.) Amazing how large numbers of Americans can't put two and two together on that subject.