# What will happen when Glenn Beck finally goes nuts? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 24, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367 "2009-09-24T13:55:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Camus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ba8739/32.png) [@Camus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Camus)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/281 "2010-02-21T21:27:51Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > And guys, one of these days, you might learn that ad hominem attacks are simply an open admission that what was said was correct and can’t be refuted, so you attack the person saying it. And it is painfully obvious that all you’re bitching about is his barking. [QUOTE=Clothahump] [Arianna Huffington](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=550563) What an total douchebag. I just watched a couple of clips of her and I have to wonder if she really is that stupid or is it an act? [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Clothahump] My impression of her then was that she was a passingly cute airhead. She’s still an airhead and that can’t be fixed. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Clothahump] As usual, the fools at the Huffington Post woke up and decided that the world was not aware of how fucking stupid they are, so they posted crap like this. And other fools read it. [From this thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=11654787#post11654787) [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Clothahump] They are definitely an odd couple. Not just on politics; she’s smart as a whip and he’s as dumb as a box of rocks. [RE: James Carville and Mary Matalin.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=532881) [/QUOTE] So, according to your own standards, James Carville, HuffPost and Huffington specifically are correct in whatever they say and can’t be refuted? Or were you just full of shit? ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/282 "2010-02-21T21:30:43Z")
Of all the talking heads, Bill is _closet_ to being a fucking nutcase. Rush and Hannity are relatively sane. Could he go nuts? > **[Documents | The Smoking Gun](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/happy-anniversary-bill-oreilly)** > > Public Documents, Mug Shots I dunno. You ever try to convince someone they should have sex with a falafel? (I think he means loofah, to be honest.) ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/283 "2010-02-21T22:13:10Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Jeez, **Hump** … you know you don’t have to do \*all \*the work for me… Apparently I do. > [@](#): > > hy·per·bo·le >    /haɪˈpɜrbəli/ Show Spelled[hahy-pur-buh-lee] > –nounRhetoric. > 1. > obvious and intentional exaggeration. > 2. > an extravagant statement or figure of speech not intended to be taken literally, as “to wait an eternity.” ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/284 "2010-02-22T14:29:35Z")
You see, when \*\*Clothy \*\*does it, it’s hyperbole. When Democrats do it, it’s ad hominem. I call it the “Rush-Limbaugh-Retard-Satire-Syndrome.” ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/285 "2010-02-22T14:39:48Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > You see, when \*\*Clothy \*\*does it, it’s hyperbole. When Democrats do it, it’s ad hominem. > > I call it the “Rush-Limbaugh-Retard-Satire-Syndrome.” Or Clothahumpin’ for short. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/286 "2010-02-22T17:09:04Z")
On a personal note, I hate the posting of dictionary definitions as if they prove some sort of point. Its like a Retardo Digest Word Power, except that every reader already knows what the fucking word means! Tremble and obey! ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/287 "2010-02-22T17:28:25Z")
e·lu·ci·date    /ɪˈlusɪˌdeɪt/ Show Spelled [ih-loo-si-deyt] Show IPA verb,-dat·ed, -dat·ing. –verb (used with object) 1. to make lucid or clear; throw light upon; explain: an explanation that elucidated his recent strange behavior. –verb (used without object) 2. to provide clarification; explain. Use elucidator in a Sentence See images of elucidator Search elucidator on the Web Origin: 1560–70; \< LL ēlūcidātus (ptp. of ēlūcidāre) enlightened, equiv. to ē- e- + lūcid(us) lucid + -ātus -ate1 —Related forms e·lu·ci·da·tor, noun ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/288 "2010-02-22T20:03:34Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > You see, when \*\*Clothy \*\*does it, it’s hyperbole. When Democrats do it, it’s ad hominem. > > I call it the “Rush-Limbaugh-Retard-Satire-Syndrome.” Give it up, Jack. You can’t win this one. Was Obama literally giving Biden a handjob? No. Hyperbole. Are liberals making an issue out of Beck’s barking and calling him crazy instead of listening to the points that he was making and debating him on those points? Yes. Ad hominem. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/289 "2010-02-22T20:04:36Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Or Clothahumpin’ for short. > > -Joe Thanks for chipping in and supporting what I said. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/290 "2010-02-22T20:12:54Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Give it up, Jack. You can’t win this one. > > Was Obama literally giving Biden a handjob? No. Hyperbole. > > Are liberals making an issue out of Beck’s barking and calling him crazy instead of listening to the points that he was making and debating him on those points? Yes. Ad hominem. So if I said in Great Debates that “ **Clothahump** blows goats”, that would be hyperbole and not an _ad hominem_ attack? That makes Great Debates a whole lot more interesting. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/291 "2010-02-22T20:43:00Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > So if I said in Great Debates that “ **Clothahump** blows goats”, that would be hyperbole and not an _ad hominem_ attack? _Ad haedum_, I think. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/292 "2010-02-22T21:27:09Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > So if I said in Great Debates that “ **Clothahump** blows goats”, that would be hyperbole and not an _ad hominem_ attack? That makes Great Debates a whole lot more interesting. To be snottily pedantic, yes. An _ad hominem_ is an attack on the argument, to the effect that the person making the argument _cannot_ be making a valid case because of who (or what) he/she is. It is often confused with simple insult, but it is not the same. To be _ad hominem_, there must be the suggestion that the argument made is not valid due to the nature of the person making the argument. “ **Clotty** is a Cretan, and Cretans always lie, therefore his argument is a lie.” I am personally unfamiar with **Clotty’s** sexual predilections, and will do my very utmost to remain so. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/293 "2010-02-22T22:38:54Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Are liberals making an issue out of Beck’s barking and calling him crazy instead of listening to the points that he was making and debating him on those points? Yes. Ad hominem. Why bother? Everything he says boils down to the same thing really… Evrything is terrible. We’re all doomed. The bad people are gonna get us. Be afraid. Beck is a freak show. So why even pretend to take him seriously? There are far better commentators, and far more skillful hacks even, on both sides of the aisle. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/294 "2010-02-22T23:13:18Z")
The dude is at least moderately convincing in the sense that I am unsure if he believes what he is saying. Hannity, for example, is just a salesman who knows what he is selling and likes the paycheck. He’s a nihilist mercenary, with no real values driving his actions. Beck (as seen in that CPAC speech) may actually believe the shit that he is shoveling. I understand from watching him how people could find him compelling, and I find that a little bit frightening. I imagine it’s how Beck’s fans look at Obama from a strictly presentational perspective- he seems an effective presenter, though of course I think that Obama has some substance behind his rhetoric and is not simply looking only for an all-purpose populist effect (at least, not anymore). I don’t know what to think of Beck anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/295 "2010-02-22T23:35:57Z")
I think Beck thinks he’s the next Benjamin Franklin, when in reality he’s the next Morton Downy, Jr. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/296 "2010-02-23T22:50:24Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I think Beck thinks he’s the next Benjamin Franklin, when in reality he’s the next Morton Downy, Jr. Maybe the next Howard Beale, but with a lot less class and style? ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/297 "2010-02-24T19:19:13Z")
Looks like Beck is starting to ruffle a few feathers that don’t take kindly to being ruffled. Click [here](http://www.mediaite.com/online/strange-bedfellows-rush-limbaugh-and-jon-stewart-slam-glenn-becks-cpac-speech/) to find out who said the following about Beck’s CPAC speech: > [@](#): > > I would not have said that the only people who can stop Obama should be excoriated for being just as bad…It would never occur to me to say that. I don’t know what the objective would be. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/298 "2010-02-25T00:15:51Z")
I thought the rodeo clown had already gone nuts & that’s what we’re watching. Beck isn’t pre-meltdown Howard Beale, he’s post-meltdown, right? Right? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/299 "2010-02-25T02:48:37Z")
Beck’s still at the top of his game in ratings and popularity, but I think he’s also at the apex of his fame and he’s more likely to take a topple down the [Gemonian stairs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemonian_stairs) than descend leisurely down the hillside. Rush speaking against him, even if not that vehemently yet, is a precursor. No question that Rush is even more of a Nazi than Beck but he’s also more intelligent (Goebbels as opposed to Streicher) and a lot more sane and very jealous and the second he sees Beck as a threat to his popularity or a liability he’ll give the signal. His fall may not come this year but I doubt it will be that far away and it’s gonna be a good 'un. Ideally: He makes a comment so stupid and so openly racist or otherwise offensive on air that not even Fox can spin it and they suspend him and bring him back only as a commentator. He tries to regain his popularity by being even more incendiary, essentially appealing to the KKK element of his fanbase, and even Fox disowns him and the Mormon Church excommunicates him (especially since his tithe isn’t what it once was). An IRS problem and a headline making divorce deplete his fortune. He ends up as a morning DJ in Guam until he’s fired for sexually harassing a desk chair. Ends up on _Celebrity Rehab_ where he cries and says “Sometimes I just want to cut my wrists” and Dr. Drew says “Trust your feelings Luke” while Erin Moran pees on his lap and Danny Bonaduce bitchslaps him for taking airtime from him. Well it probably won’t go down that way, but I can dream. And he is going down, you can mark my words on that one. Sejanus sejanus sejanus… ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/300 "2010-02-25T03:58:54Z")
Or if you want the short version of what **Sampiro** said : _Sic transit gloria mundi_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367.md?page=16)