Caroline Glick on Glenn Beck
Caroline Glick writes about Glenn Beck's rally in Jerusalem on Wednesday. Beck is rare, because he refuses to bow to the intellectual intimidation and groupthink that plagues the discourse on Israel in Israel itself and throughout the world. He refuses to play by the rules in which friends of Israel are castigated as messianic crazies and extremists and Israel's enemies are praised as friends and great artists and courageous dissidents. He is an exception to a demented rule.During the week, someone, I think it was Barry Rubin, wrote that all of the people who are opposing Beck haven't even listened to or read what he said. I believe that's accurate. If I took Beck's name off it and published it, most of my readers would be cheering (except for the Leftist trolls). What those who agree with what Beck says about Israel, but feel uncomfortable hearing it from a religious Christian, are missing, is summed up by Caroline.
Israel's media didn't come to their hatred of Beck on their own. Most of it is fueled by American Jewish leftists. Beck ran afoul of the liberal American Jewish establishment through his outspoken attacks on George Soros. In January, Beck ran several shows on Soros, the extremist leftist anti-American and anti-Zionist global financier who has given more than $100 million to radical leftist groups.
...
The Left's attacks on Beck are fueled by the fact that he is a Christian Zionist. The Left's default mode is to accuse Christian Zionists of a hidden agenda to convert Jews and a secret desire to see us killed in an Armageddon.
But in truth the media's embrace of Israel's enemies, their rejection of Beck, and most importantly Beck's refusal to bow to their conventional wisdom that Israel's enemies should be praised and its friends should be condemned all reveal the reason that Christian Zionists can be trusted and embraced by Israelis.
Christian Zionists - like Jewish religious Zionists - are unmoved by the media's intimidation because of their faith in God, and their reliance on scripture. Their faith provides them with a means of judging reality that is independent of the largely post-religious intellectual commissariat that runs the media and the cultural elite in the Western world. They don't seek or care about receiving the accolades of the New York Times or other post-religious totems for their actions. And Beck's message to Israelis is that we shouldn't care either.
For most Israelis, this message rings powerful and true. But for the media, in Israel and throughout the West, it is dangerous sedition that must be marginalized and destroyed.
Unlike the leftist public intellectuals such as New York Times columnist Tom Friedman who are celebrated and obsessively covered by the Israeli media, Beck exerts real influence on public opinion in the US. His calls for action are answered by hundreds of thousands of people. His statements are a guidepost for millions of Americans. Aside from radio host Rush Limbaugh, no media personality in the US has such influence. [Emphasis mine. CiJ]Beck has influence over millions of Americans - mostly Christians. Many of those Christians read this blog and others like it. The fact that Beck is telling people to support Israel and that they will listen to him and demand nothing of us in return is something we should find comforting.
Read the whole thing.
Labels: Caroline Glick, Glenn Beck, Restoring Courage rally in Jerusalem
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:38 PM
5 Comments:
Beck has influence over millions of Americans - mostly Christians.
His influence declines, he has none amongst the younger crowd. His followers who do remain are from the tea party crowd, who are older, low income, poorly educated.
Quantity does not equal quality.
The fact that Beck is telling people to support Israel and that they will listen to him and demand nothing of us in return is something we should find comforting.
if anyone needs Beck to tell them what they need to support.. well you have to wonder what kind of support are you so desperate for?
..you mean a person who cannot make a decision for himself/herself?
Pornography is a hugely popular , but nobody wants anyone they care for to become a porn stars or even be associated with the porn business.
Similarly, the millions who thrive on Glen Beck porn are just as irrelevant. They do not influence where it matters.
If I took Beck's name off it and published it, most of my readers would be cheering (except for the Leftist trolls).
The leftist's and not Glen Beck's crowd, will be setting the agenda, deciding the future, and pulling the strings.
Leftists hold the power.
an example of this idiot Beck's followers..
Did Saudi Arabia have Glenn Beck Fired from Fox News?
http://johngaltfla.com/wordpress/2011/04/08/did-saudi-arabia-have-glenn-beck-fired-from-fox-news/
By John Galt – April 8, 2011
Glenn Beck Embraces A Kahanist
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201108250019
August 25, 2011 4:41 pm ET by Jeremy Schulman
Glenn Beck is promoting the organization of a far-right Israeli extremist who has ties to the late Rabbi Meir Kahane's terrorist Kach movement.
So which is it? Glen Beck is losing influence and becoming unimportant? Or Glen Beck increasing in influence? 4 posts in 71 minutes would argue that someone is worried about Glen's increasing influence.
"...right wing tea partiers"
"...the tea party crowd, who are older, low income, poorly educated."
"...Pornography is a hugely popular, but nobody wants anyone they care for to become a porn stars or even be associated with the porn business. Similarly, the millions who thrive on Glen Beck porn..." (Beck's views are the same as pornography? Quoting the Constitution is on the same moral level as, for example, referencing Playboy or Hustler?)
"...The leftist's and not Glen Beck's crowd, will be setting the agenda, deciding the future, and pulling the strings. Leftists hold the power..." (That idea seems to please this commenter, or am I mistaken in drawing that inference?)
I'm going to guess that this commenter really doesn't like Tea Party people, whom he states are old, poor and ignorant. I'm also going to guess that the commenter is a "progressive", as he considers Beck's politically and socially conservative views, and his forceful, impassioned pro-Israel, pro-Zionism views as "porn". This being the case, he can dismiss all the specific political and social points of view that Tea Party people and Beck share, without the inconvenience of having to cite them and refute them with a thought-out, coherent, logical counter-argument.
Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion but it strikes me that all this commenter has written, besides his own links to left wing blogs and articles, are just repetitious variants of the ad Hominem pseudo-argument, attack and label the Messenger, rather than work at logically debating and refuting the Message.
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