This is weird. Last Monday, Glenn Beck told us that blaming anyone for acts of violence other than the “nut jobs” is “crazy.”
But in the following on-air conversation, it sounds as though Beck and O’Reilly are blaming Jeff Zucker and NBC News (read that: Olbermann) for apparent threats of violence against them. Even worse, Beck and O’Reilly are claiming that NBC News is responsible for terrorizing their families.
O’REILLY: Because Immelt and Zucker, the two villains at NBC, have directly ordered this. They’ve hired the guys to do this. And they’ve done it because they have no other way to compete.
Now, both of those men are in trouble. They could be fired at any time, because the performance of General Electric and NBC is so abysmal. But they did it, so then, “Let’s see if we can drive Beck and O’Reilly to do something crazy. Let’s see if we can do — hurt them personally. Terrorize their families.”
BECK: Can I tell you something? When you have to explain to your 5- year-old why you have two police cars in front of your house for days. […]
O’REILLY: That’s driven by two elements. Internet haters, all right, and the General Electric Corporation.
What about the “nut jobs,” Beck? I thought they were the only ones to blame. Then again, I suppose in an age when wingnuts the world over are attacking liberals and the president for the very same things the wingnuts enthusiastically supported during the Bush years, it’s asking too much to hold Beck and O’Reilly to their own words and standards from, you know, five days ago.
Incidentally, I received an e-mail the other day from an angry troll with the subject line: “I hope your kids die of bone cancer you lying censor piece of shit.” The e-mail referenced the Huffington Post’s comment policies, etc, etc. So suck it up and deal with it like a man, Beck.
CORRECTION: I wrote “their own words and standards from, you know, five days ago.” This is incorrect. It’s more accurate to say “their own words and standards from the exact same conversation.” Media Matters posted the whole segment and yes, Beck and O’Reilly begin the segment by claiming that it’s crazy to hold them accountable for their inflammatory rhetoric:
