Bold & Fresh Tour

[Maxel]

Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly are joining for a tour in 2010. Kind of crazy, as I never thought they meshed well (O'Reilly's much calmer and tempered in his approach). More information here.

Thoughts?

[Connie]

Maybe they'll balance each other out???

[sixpacktr]

As Monty Burns so eloquently puts it:

Ehhksellent!

[Moksha]

Maybe they'll balance each other out???

Sort of like Godzilla and Mothra

or

Heckle and Jeckle,

Duncan Hines and Sarah Lee,

Aunt Jemimah and Log Cabin syrups,

Certs as both a breath mint and candy mint,

Billy the Kidd and Jesse James,

Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan,

Laurel and Hardy.

I suspect these two will have a multiplicative effect that might

result in enough hot air to temporarily suspend the laws of reality,

allowing both Boss Hogg and Droopy Dog to guest host in their

absence.

Edited November 17, 2009 by Moksha
... adding Heisenberg Compensators

[john doe]

Your hate is showing again.

[prisonchaplain]

Who knows, with so much conservative passion compacted into such shows we just might see the resurrection Reaganesque optimism. Whatever one's politics, we could sure use some hopefulness from our media outlets, instead of the relentless ideological sniper fire.

[Elphaba]

O'Reilly will be lucky to have Beck along. After all, if O'Reilly gets a cold, I'm sure Beck will let him borrow his Vicks Vaporub.

Elph

[Elphaba]

Whatever one's politics, we could sure use some hopefulness from our media outlets, instead of the relentless ideological sniper fire.

The two of them won't have a show if they stop their relentless ideological sniper fire against the left.

Elpha

[Guest Godless]

I still find it hard to dislike O'Reilly lately. I may disagree with him on just about everything, but at least he's sensible for the most part. My guess, his participation will make Beck look like a fool. Either that or the tea-baggers will turn on him (O'Reilly) for not being conservative enough.

[Ammonite]

My mother-in-law is a huge fan of Glenn Beck so I DVR'ed a couple episodes, fully expecting to like him because he's Mormon and conservative, only to be shocked. I watched his doomsday-scenario episode and one where he ranted over and over about the Moa role-model reference. I was very disappointed that he appeared to be soliciting the Republican equivalent of Jerry Springer fans. Have Beck's shows always been this extreme? I got the impression from MIL that he was more logical and considerate than O'Reilly.

[Carl62]

My mother-in-law is a huge fan of Glenn Beck so I DVR'ed a couple episodes, fully expecting to like him because he's Mormon and conservative, only to be shocked. I watched his doomsday-scenario episode and one where he ranted over and over about the Moa role-model reference. I was very disappointed that he appeared to be soliciting the Republican equivalent of Jerry Springer fans. Have Beck's shows always been this extreme? I got the impression from MIL that he was more logical and considerate than O'Reilly.

He acted a lot more tamer when he was on CNN. But now since he's been of FOX, he's going for a little bit more of a "goofy shock" edge with a smatter of "Armageddon-is-about-to-happen-anyday-now" excitement thrown into the mix. It must be working because his ratings are going through the roof.

[sixpacktr]

As a 'tea bagger' (which is a term used by lib in a 'wink-wink, nudge-nudge, know what I mean' type of way to marginalize people that are using their constitutional rights to protest and make their voices heard by referring to them with a word that is an act that homosexuals do) I wish that I could go see the Bold and Fresh tour.

Those of you that make fun of Beck and call him a 'doomsday' prophet just don't watch enough of him or listen to him enough to understand just what in the hell you're talking about. And personally, I find it offensive and a little alarming that so many are taking what is happening to this country so lightly, particularly among LDS.

But no matter. The sifting has begun, both in the world and in the church. And if you think you can separate what happens to our freedoms with what happens in the church, you're sadly mistaken.

[john doe]

I've never watched Beck on TV, the whole job thing gets in the way of that, but his radio show is entertaining. You just need to remember his motto: the fusion of entertainment and enlightenment. The problem is those who hate him listen to him so little they can't tell which part is the entertainment and which part is the enlightenment, so they choose to hate him when his words hit close to home.

[Elphaba]

As a 'tea bagger' (which is a term used by lib in a 'wink-wink, nudge-nudge, know what I mean' type of way to marginalize people that are using their constitutional rights to protest and make their voices heard by referring to them with a word that is an act that homosexuals do)

I agree the left-wing media used the word during last summer's tea party rallies, knowing its sexual connotation. I had never heard the term, and was shocked when I discovered what it meant. It was completely inappropriate and obscene for these particular left-wing commentators to use the term the way they did. I even wrote a post about how outrageous it was for them to do so.

FYI, the act is not limited to homosexuals. Heterosexuals do it too.

Elphaba

[sixpacktr]

Folks,

Get on your knees and repent! The 2nd coming is TOMORROW!

How do I know?

Elphaba/Emma and I agree on something! :)

I think that sign is in Revelations 15:24 (or something like that)...

[Elphaba]

I was very disappointed that he appeared to be soliciting the Republican equivalent of Jerry Springer fans.

Good one!

Elphaba

[prisonchaplain]

The two of them won't have a show if they stop their relentless ideological sniper fire against the left.

Elpha

Let me paint the picture for you:

O: Glen, you are an up and coming righteous dude.

B: I am, aren't I? But you...you are simply Awesome, Bill.

O: True that...but then again...the way you bring in the younger conservatives--just so truly inspirational!

B: Well, I can't deny such praise, coming from one as insightful as you. Then again, Bill...you sure bring in those blue dog Democrats.

O: Right you are friend...but your humor...can't touch THAT.

Don't you see it. The love, the optimism, the mutual admiration...it's enough to make you wanna cry, and try hugging a Democrat to see if love cannot truly conquer all.

[Elphaba]

Renouncing Islam: To the Brink and Back Again

by Johan Hari

Hari is an expert in the jihad movement in Britain. Recently he has discovered a new trend: A move by some Muslim jihadists--away from jihad. According to Hari:

But then, a year ago, I began to hear about a fragile new movement that could just hold the answers we journalists have failed to find up to now. A wave of young British Islamists who trained to fight – who cheered as their friends bombed this country – have recanted. Now they are using everything they learned on the inside, to stop the jihad.

Seventeen former radical Islamists have "come out" in the past 12 months and have begun to fight back. Would they be able to tell me the reasons that pulled them into jihadism, and out again? Could they be the key to understanding – and defusing – Western jihadism? I have spent three months exploring their world and befriending their leading figures. Their story sprawls from forgotten English seaside towns to the jails of Egypt's dictatorship and the icy mountains of Afghanistan – and back again.

Here Hari provides some insight into what turns a British Muslim into an extreme Islamist:

But once they had made that leap to identify with the Umma [one of the Muslims denouncing jihad] – the global Muslim community – they got angrier the more abusive our foreign policy came. Every one of them said the Bush administration's response to 9/11 – from Guantanamo to Iraq – made jihadism seem more like an accurate description of the world. Hadiya Masieh, a tiny female former HT organiser, tells me: "You'd see Bush on the television building torture camps and bombing Muslims and you think – anything is justified to stop this. What are we meant to do, just stand still and let him cut our throats?"

. . . .

Britain's foreign policy also helped tug them towards Islamism in another way. Once these teenagers decided to go looking for a harder, tougher Islamist identity, they found a well-oiled state machine waiting to feed it. Usman Raja says: "Saudi literature is everywhere in Britain, and it's free.

When I started exploring my Muslim identity, when I was looking for something more, all the books were Saudi. In the bookshops, in the libraries. All of them. Back when I was fighting, I could go and get a car, open the boot up, and get it filled up with free literature from the Saudis, saying exactly what I believed. Who can compete with that?"

He says the Saudi message is particularly comforting to disorientated young Muslims in the West. "It tells you – you're in this state of sin. But the sin doesn't belong to you, it's not your fault – it's Western society's fault. It isn't your fault that you're sinning, because the girl had the miniskirt on. It wasn't you. It's not your fault that you're drug dealing. The music, your peers, the people around you – it's their fault."

One of the reason that persuaded these former jihadists to reject the hate a violence was all of the Westerners who came out against the violence against Muslims, including the huge protests against the Iraq war, and demonstrations against torturing Muslims.

But the converse was – they stressed – also true. When they saw ordinary Westerners trying to uphold human rights, their jihadism began to stutter. Almost all of them said that they doubted their Islamism when they saw a million non-Muslims march in London to oppose the Iraq War: "How could we demonise people who obviously opposed aggression against Muslims?" asks Hadiya.

. . . .

Just as their journeys into the jihad were strikingly similar, so were their journeys out. All of them said doubt began to seep in because they couldn't shake certain basic realities from their minds. The first and plainest was that ordinary Westerners were not the evil, Muslim-hating cardboard kaffir presented by the Wahabis. Usman, for one, finally stopped wanting to be a suicide bomber because of the kindness of an old white man.

Currently there are only 17 ex-jihadists that have come out, but Hari insists there are more who are afraid what will happen to them if they come out as well. So while their numbers are not great, could it be a start?

Elphaba

[Dravin]

You know as somebody who hasn't really watched any of the famous political commentators, right or left, it is kinda amusing to see the passion they inspire.

[Moksha]

Your hate is showing again.

Ironic isn't it, considering the love and understanding of O'Reilly and Beck.

:)

[john doe]

Ironic since you make no effort to understand their positions and instead merely turn to hate in an attempt to marginalize their views.

[Moksha]

What's with this hate stuff anyway? Have you guys never read your own Obama posts? Its like many of you have brought a harpoon to fish for trout, while I have brought a knitting needle and a pork pie.

[john doe]

Good queston. Why do you turn to hate talk when you talk about certain radio and TV commentators? Do they scare you with their ability to speak clearly? Why is it that people who disagree with the left's political positions and policies are labeled as hatemongers, and worse? Why are the messengers of opposing messages being attacked personally instead of their concerns being addressed? Why is it that those who claim the right is engaging in hate speech are the ones who are actually the ones foaming at the mouth with hate toward those who don't think like them?

[prisonchaplain]

My eyes look out and see the folly and hypocrisy of others. In the mean time, others look out at me and see the same.

[bytor2112]

Good queston. Why do you turn to hate talk when you talk about certain radio and TV commentators? Do they scare you with their ability to speak clearly? Why is it that people who disagree with the left's political positions and policies are labeled as hatemongers, and worse? Why are the messengers of opposing messages being attacked personally instead of their concerns being addressed? Why is it that those who claim the right is engaging in hate speech are the ones who are actually the ones foaming at the mouth with hate toward those who don't think like them?

Because the left's positions are indefensible, so better to trash and belittle the questioner than to answer the questions head on with their supposed superior intellect and progressive ideology.