David Taintor

For the past month or so, I’ve decided to spend a good amount of time watching political talk shows on

MSNBC and FOX News. One reason is that the rhetoric was guaranteed to change on both networks given the results of the 2008 presidential election. The other was because my roommate and I enjoy pointing out the lack of equal representation of the opposing viewpoint on “Hannity,” “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” and other staples of cable news networks.

Sure enough, the “yes men” were out like Mr. Burns’ lawyers on “The Simpsons.” But the only host that almost convinced me to run to the store for a pitchfork and torch was Glenn Beck. I can’t decide if he’s funny or scary – or both.

As with any political shift in America, the party that suffers the most blows ends up the most bitter and critical of a new administration or Congress.

We all remember the cries of an impending dictatorship and voter fraud, marked by fear of conservatism, from liberals after the 2000 and 2004 elections. American elections are very similar to a Packers-Vikings game – the losers typically have a hard time coming to terms with the fact that their team is the lesser of the two; at least in that game.

So FOX News is obviously the place to go when looking for a healthy dose of conservatism, especially when it is the minority viewpoint. But the way Beck carries himself and his show is just as helpful to the conservative cause as Rush Limbaugh has been lately, if not worse.

Even people on Beck’s own network, such as Shepard Smith and even Bill O’Reilly to some extent, have questioned Beck’s motives and beliefs as his ratings and airtime continue to increase.

Beck likes to equate himself with Howard Beale from “Network,” because he’s “mad as hell” and has a show where he’s essentially allowed to say whatever he wants in the name of the common man. The irony is that Beale had a few screws loose and was protesting against corporations and television propaganda, whereas Beck is clearly a part of both.

He has been a strong proponent of fiscal responsibility and government accountability over the past few months, but I don’t recall Beck being as critical of the Bush administration’s $5.7 trillion debt increase over eight years. He also wasn’t as critical of Bush’s expanded use of executive orders and power, such as domestic spying and warrantless wiretapping on organizations that weren’t considered a national security threat.

On a daily basis, it is hard not to hear Beck use “fascism” and “Obama” in the same sentence.

Sometimes the rant is accompanied by photographs of Mussolini or Lenin and a cry to defend America against the impending FEMA concentration camps for dissenters against Obama’s impending “totalitarian regime.” He finally debunked that myth after perpetuating it over the span of multiple shows, but does that sound like the opinions of a knowledgeable pundit or someone who believes Sept. 11 was an inside job? Either way, I think we can take a look at the country’s opinion to describe Beck’s positions.

According to an April 14 Gallup survey, 71 percent of Americans have confidence in Obama’s ability to turn the economy around, compared to 51 percent for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and 47 percent for Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Likewise, a same-day Public Strategies Inc./Politico poll found that two-thirds of the country trusts Obama “to identify the right solutions to the problems we face as a nation.”

It’s probably a good bet that Beck knows where the majority of the country stands right now, and one word

can sum up his use of extreme rhetoric: desperation.

Beck’s ratings continue to increase with every tear he sheds, actor he douses in “gasoline” and 9/12 Project plug he does because crazy sells. Any MTV or Vh1 reality show can tell you that.

Overall, Beck’s rhetoric caters mostly to far-right wingers in the base of the Republican Party, just like Limbaugh.

In a time of needed party reform, do they cater to the paranoid base or take a more moderate stance to attract more voters, while alienating that core?

I believe any political party, as with most legislation, needs a balance in beliefs to succeed, but Beck’s rhetoric doesn’t help the cause he claims to promote.