Glenn Beck on the Cover of TIME: Mad or Glad?

"the first rule of debate on the Internet is, Always assume your opponent is arguing in bad faith" - so very true isn't it. Thats really the heart of the problem with the tone of public discourse lately. It seems that most people just assume the worst in people's motives, that applies to both sides of the debate.

Which brings me to Mad or Glad...i'm neither, put me in the Sad category. I truly abhor some of the things that Beck says and represents. But at the end of the day, I try to believe that he's not trying to rile up people or stir up hate, he's likely just doing his job, same as Rush, Olbermann, O'Reilly, et al. They are all guys that are doing their jobs, get as many people to watch as they can, they just have found their own avenues to do this. (assuming he's out for ratings probably isn't assuming the best in his motives, but its also not assuming the worst, its a process people)
So when Time puts him on the cover, i'm not angry, because he's a legit story, but I am sad because it will validate the means he's used to become a more visible media persona, and perhaps encourage him to be even more outspoken/outrageous.

Look, whatever you all need to do to move some more copies at the supermarket checkout is fine with me. (Joke linking this cover to a competitor's from last week removed in the interest of civility)

Husband is a doctor of pharmacy and has had a subscription to Time for over 40 years and CANCELLED THE SUBSCRIPTION TODAY!! I applaud his decision to take a stand against Time that has turned into a liberal rag .
Your cover calling Glenn beck a "madman" convinced him to cancel and proved were your loyalties lie. You should have stayed neutral but you didn't and you will pay for it by losing subscribers!

Hilarious, and classic, that you would cancel a subscription of Time without even reading the story, which was sympathetic at best and wildly sycophantic at worst. If you don't understand what those words mean, just so you know, the profile of Beck was positive--in fact, far more positive than I would ever expect from a mainstream news outlet that insists upon being taken seriously. The author's attempt at "balance" veered into a characterization of actual facts as "liberal propaganda."

It's incredibly bizarre to me that Time would want to tone down Beck's mental illness and make him seem cuddly, and correct about his conspiracies. It makes his racism seems almost "cute." What a repulsive article to those seeking real insight or journalism--there's certainly none to be found here.

Scully,

Beck may be crazy, but he's not a racist. Every time you Libs play the race card you injure our nation. Jimmy Carter may have made the greatest political mistake of his career this past weekend. He set race relations back twenty years and hurt the Obama administration badly. People are tired of having their legitimate concerns written off as racism. Race has nothing to do with the health care debate.

The backlash against Obama's ideas would have been just as severe had the DEMS elected Clinton or Edwards to carry them forward.

"travelbizcash"....I'm sorry, I'm having trouble even TYPING that with a straight face. P.S.- pretty sad attempt with that post there, hoss.

I'll throw out the disclaimer now: I haven't read the article yet. However, I do subscribe, so I'll most likely receive it tomorrow. I expect to be disappointed by it, considering scully70's reaction above. I'm already wishing Matt Taibbi had written it.

Anyways, acting like a nut and mock-emoting are Beck's stock in trade; TIME is simply throwing a jokey title on the yutz.

Great big ewww. The problem isn't Beck. The problem is the MSM's validation of him with stories like this. There's no one left to hold the line.

The simple fact of the matter is this bi polar simpleton is only a well paid corporate puppet making millions lying to people for FOXs benefit..the rights ability to continue to play the fear card and the publics stupidity to soak in it is the sad reality of the dumbing down of America. Talk about flip flopper....

"The inevitable question is, How much of this industry is sincere? Last year, shortly after the election, Beck spoke with TIME's Kate Pickert, and he didn't sound very scared back then. Of Obama's early personnel decisions, he said, "I think so far he's chosen wisely." Of his feelings about the President: "I am not an Obama fan, but I am a fan of our country ... He is my President, and we must have him succeed. If he fails, we all fail." Of the Democratic Party: "I don't know personally a single Democrat who is a dope-smoking hippie that wants to turn us into Soviet Russia." Of the civic duty to trust: "We've got to pull together, because we are facing dark, dark times. I don't trust a single weasel in Washington. I don't care what party they're from. But unless we trust each other, we're not going to make it."

I have no problem with puting Beck on the cover -- he is newsworthy, and pretty much belongs there.

My problem is that the story itself is an atrocity -- Beck spreads lies and hate, and deserves absolutely no respect.

IMHO, James' piece on Beck (http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2009/09/11/dont-tell-me-what-912-means-glenn-beck/) should have formed the core of the article -- and everyone at Time but James should be embarrassed to be associated with the magazine today.

I guess this is the end of the line for me and Time magazine. I subscribe to both Time and Newsweek. Glenn Beck on the cover of this week's Time . . . especially in comparison to the cover story and rich reporting regarding same for my most recent Newsweek ("The Case for Killing Granny") pretty much separated the chaff from the wheat. I read the Newsweek issue pretty much cover to cover. I need information . . . I don't need to be entertained, enraged, or dumbed down!

Very clever of Time and WordPress to lure readers and add subscribers to their "free" service, which one cannot delete after signing up.

The incendiary Mr. Beck, who talks more shtick out of his rear than his head, is not just another clown to make it to the cover of TIME. He provokes genuine disgust, disbelief, and revulsion from people who have witnessed his lunatic rants. At a time when America truly needs clarity and unity, Beck dishes out the complete opposite in generous portions: sensational lies, hatred, conjecture, and fear. Beck is the "deranged conspiracist", the self-deprecating Joker, and the desperate little voice of your gut indulging your worst doubts and suspicions.

The industry that funds and promotes the likes of Beck is not sincere. It's a ratings shark and it is driven by sheer opportunism and personality theater.
When Bush was elected for a second term, most Americans were convinced that "SOMETHING JUST DOESN'T FEEL RIGHT." And where were the enraged voices of the Right? For a guy who claims he is a recovering alcoholic, a Mormon, and an Independent... nothing Beck says rings true.

This Time cover feature is a sad and disheartening commentary of American culture and its grossly misguided priorities. It champions the worst in every one of us and does a terrible disservice to the public at large. In these times of enormous peril, loss, fear, and uncertainty, we need to experience what clowns do best: make us laugh.

Time magazine is a silly, irrelevant rag. They put Beck on the cover to move some product. He is their worst nightmare. He will continue to KICK THE LIVING $#%^ out of CNN.

hehehehehehehehehehe!

I did read the article and think that it is one of the most poorly written pieces of garbage I have seen in a long time. I have been reading and enjoying Time for many years but this one really stunk up the place. Based upon the title I was expecting it to bash Glenn in a professional manner of course. But it was neither pro or con and basically tried to infer than Glenn is just another outspoken radical in a long list of paranoid politics that has been occuring since 1798. Anyhow the article is loaded with meaningless adjectives and adverbs with little actual analysis of topics that Glenn has discussed on his show. No offense but I see a lot of same mindless dribble in these comments maybe even my own. THE BIG QUESTION THAT NEEDS TO BE ANSWERED IS WHY IS GLENN THE ONLY ONE RAISING THE POLITICAL ISSUES WITH THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION??? For example I would be happy to see even one response to why hasn't anyone else raised an issue with Acorn? Cheers

Please help me understand something?

Does Time need to "chum" the water? I mean you really wrote as if Glenn Beck made legitimate points?

Do you really think he has legitimate arguments?

I mean really Time help me understand how a "serious" news magazine writes a story like this one and not investigate the things that he's said and prove them to either be True and correct of False and a pack of lies.

I've been very disappointed in the "mainstream" media I know you've all been bought and paid for and you really are no longer independent journalist who form your reporting out of Facts.

In fact nowadays facts seem to be optional.

I really and truly believe that the dumbing down of the American educational system has been done deliberately.

At first I thought it was to harm solely minorities and the poor now I see it was to be able to control the American people.

If you are stupid and uneducated as Beck is and you have mental deficiencies like ADHD and alcoholism, you are easy to dupe.

Beck lucked up on a career and now because he's famous he's suppose to be taken as a serious commentator on the news?

No really Time why did you do that or are you NOT to be taken seriously?

I want an answer.