Internet Finally Discovers Glenn Beck Photoshoot Video, Freaks Out
By Jason Linkins
Your interwebs are blowing up today at a YouTube clip that documents a Glenn Beck photo shoot, where the Fox News host has a substance, presumably Vicks VapoRub, applied to his face so that he can manufacture some tears for the photographer.
Depending on your point of view, this is either the object demonstration of a time-tested photographer's trick, or the SMOKING GUN THAT WILL BRING DOWN GLENN BECK'S EMPIRE OF FAKE TEARS! As you might surmise, I am opting to err on the side of calmness and serenity, because Gawker posted this video about two weeks ago, and the Republic survived.
WATCH:
Nevertheless, here's a point well worth underscoring again: let's note that the photographer you see in the video is the controversial Jill Greenberg, who got in trouble after she shot John McCain for The Atlantic, after which she talked a lot of smack about purposely making McCain look bad and posting Photoshopped versions of those images on her personal website, which further lampooned the senator. Beck said this, of Greenberg, way back when:
The Atlantic is sending a letter of apology to McCain. They will not be paying [Greenberg], and they're considering a lawsuit. Good, they should. Greenberg said that, since some of her artwork was anti-Bush, quote, "Maybe it was somewhat irresponsible for them to hire me." Wait a minute. Let me see if I have this right. She does a horrible job and then she blames her employer? That's right, I forgot. She's a liberal.
By the way, this isn't the first time this photographer has been in the middle of controversy. In 2004, to describe her political helplessness, she took a series of supposedly artsy photos of toddlers crying. How did she get this shot? Well, she gave the kids candy, and then she snatched it away from them. They'd cry uncontrollably, and she'd just click away. Isn't it just fantastic art? Nothing more beautiful than a child being terrorized.
You'd have thought that the candy-snatch technique would have been sufficient to bring tears to Beck's eyes as well.
Link to Jason Linkin's blog entry from HuffPo
It's not news to me and, if you've frequented my blog, it's not news to you, either. The White House has grown tired of his antics even the GOP is disowning him. Lindsay Graham who is running for the position of McCain's new wife actually said something that rings genuine to ME:
"Only in America can you make that much money crying," Graham said of Beck. "Glenn Beck is not aligned with any party. He is aligned with cynicism and there has always been a market for cynics. But we became a great nation not because we are a nation of cynics. We became a great nation because we are a nation of believers."
More on that and a video clip of Graham Lindsay here: Link
There's a time and a place for sarcastic criticism and political humor. Even acting or whatever it is that Glenn Beck does on Fox News, as inappropriate as that is. But there should be a disclaimer that says that he is disingenuous. That he doesn't even believe what he's saying because it's not true. In the current climate, his antics are dangerous.
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