One of our favorite people to annihilate in the pages of The Daily Banter is Alex Jones. But there’s one thing I’d offer up as a compliment: at least Alex Jones is original. He’s a psychonaut and an exploitative matchstick man who’s making millions on the paranoid naivete of his gullible, mentally unbalanced disciples. But he’s kind of the first big-time household name in the universe of broadcast conspiracy theorists.
I can’t say the same about Glenn Beck. Anyone who’s been familiar with Beck and Alex Jones over the years has always known that Beck is a knockoff of Alex Jones. Of course Beck tosses in dashes of morning zoo deejay stuntcasting, comedy bits and witty goofballery simply because that’s his broadcast background. But the right-wing evangelical paranoia and conspiracy theory marketeering is 100 percent Alex Jones. Not surprising considering how most right-wing talkers are radio careerists who are conservative as a career move (as personality-driven FM radio declined, the AM right-wing entertainment complex ascended).
This is all to say that Glenn Beck is a more successful, more accessible version of Alex Jones. And there’s no doubt that Beck is a conspiracy theorist. He’s a purveyor of wacky, purely fabricated gibberish leading to the ultimate conclusion that there’s an unholy cabal composed of the Obama government and “fascist” progressives out to destroy us all.
So it’s with significant amusement that I watched a clip from Beck’s show yesterday in which he complained about being tagged with the “conspiracy theorist” label. [continue reading here]