# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/41 "2009-09-24T19:36:54Z")
I’ve long since pegged Beck as a _sejanus_. Sejanus is a term I use in honor of[Lucius Aelius Sejanus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sejanus), the most powerful man in Rome under Tiberius and best known today perhaps for being played by[Patrick Stewart in _I, CLAUDIUS_](http://images.google.com/images?q=sejanus%20patrick%20stewart&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi). The real Sejanus was a soldier who who rose through the ranks and by manipulation and luck and ruthlessness to become in many ways more powerful than the emperor himself and the most feared man in the Roman empire. The patricians he’d resented (he was equestrian, not plebeian, which probably made him resent them more since he was _almost_ but not quite one of them) soon accepted him as their equal- reluctantly- and then came to tremble at the mention of his name. Nobody could touch him. Then, just as quickly, he fell from grace. Big time. One day he was as powerful as he’d ever been, a week later he and his entire family were killed. A _sejanus_ as I use the term- lower case- is somebody who rises to ‘absurdly-beyond-their-abilities-and-intellect’ power and wealth, usually rapidly, and believe themselves untouchable and perhaps are for a season, but then they do something so arrogantly stupid or crazy that they crash and burn just as quickly and splendidly. There are many many many celebrity sejanuses, but those with power (other than the namesake) would include Thomas Cromwell (Henry VIII’s chamberlain), Ernst Roehm (Hitler’s henchman), and Joe McCarthy. Beck is more celebrity than public figure but has aspects of both; unlike Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter however he doesn’t have the intelligence or the sanity to hold onto it. Like Phaeton with the reins or James Dean in his Spider he’s a really bad wreckage waiting to happen. To answer the OP though: I think he’ll slip and use a racial slur or sexual slur on live TV, and or he’ll get involved in a major drug scandal. Limbaugh, Coulter, Hannity, O’Reilly, et al, who I think already resent him for getting more popular, will be only too happy to watch him sink back into obscurity, perhaps giving “Poor Glenn” comments on air while secretly making sure he falls further, whereupon he’ll do something really obscene and pathetic to get attention- a botched suicide attempt perhaps. He’ll end badly, probably broke and deeply in debt and completely absorbed in self pity. He’s a whale shark swimming with the Great Whites. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/42 "2009-09-24T19:39:31Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > I just want to confirm that there was a girl who couldn’t kick his ass into next week. My parakeet could probably whip his ass. ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/43 "2009-09-24T19:46:46Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I’ve long since pegged Beck as a _sejanus_. > > Sejanus is a term I use in honor of[Lucius Aelius Sejanus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sejanus), the most powerful man in Rome under Tiberius and best known today perhaps for being played by[Patrick Stewart in _I, CLAUDIUS_](http://images.google.com/images?q=sejanus%20patrick%20stewart&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi). The real Sejanus was a soldier who who rose through the ranks and by manipulation and luck and ruthlessness to become in many ways more powerful than the emperor himself and the most feared man in the Roman empire. The patricians he’d resented (he was equestrian, not plebeian, which probably made him resent them more since he was _almost_ but not quite one of them) soon accepted him as their equal- reluctantly- and then came to tremble at the mention of his name. Nobody could touch him. > > Then, just as quickly, he fell from grace. Big time. One day he was as powerful as he’d ever been, a week later he and his entire family were killed. > > A _sejanus_ as I use the term- lower case- is somebody who rises to ‘absurdly-beyond-their-abilities-and-intellect’ power and wealth, usually rapidly, and believe themselves untouchable and perhaps are for a season, but then they do something so arrogantly stupid or crazy that they crash and burn just as quickly and splendidly. There are many many many celebrity sejanuses, but those with power (other than the namesake) would include Thomas Cromwell (Henry VIII’s chamberlain), Ernst Roehm (Hitler’s henchman), and Joe McCarthy. Beck is more celebrity than public figure but has aspects of both; unlike Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter however he doesn’t have the intelligence or the sanity to hold onto it. Like Phaeton with the reins or James Dean in his Spider he’s a really bad wreckage waiting to happen. > > To answer the OP though: I think he’ll slip and use a racial slur or sexual slur on live TV, and or he’ll get involved in a major drug scandal. Limbaugh, Coulter, Hannity, O’Reilly, et al, who I think already resent him for getting more popular, will be only too happy to watch him sink back into obscurity, perhaps giving “Poor Glenn” comments on air while secretly making sure he falls further, whereupon he’ll do something really obscene and pathetic to get attention- a botched suicide attempt perhaps. He’ll end badly, probably broke and deeply in debt and completely absorbed in self pity. He’s a whale shark swimming with the Great Whites. Bravo! Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/44 "2009-09-24T19:47:09Z")
> [@](#): > > My parakeet could probably whip his ass A spokesman for parakeets said he was pleased that no parakeets were involved. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/45 "2009-09-24T19:51:34Z")
I got a better question: what happens if Glenn Beck goes sane? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/46 "2009-09-24T19:53:00Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > I got a better question: what happens if Glenn Beck goes sane? He’ll say “My God… what have I done?” and fall on the detonator. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/47 "2009-09-24T20:03:59Z")
Man, Patrick Stewart looks really weird with hair. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/48 "2009-09-24T20:04:09Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > I got a better question: what happens if Glenn Beck goes sane? Again, Oily Taint gets his time slot. He’s damned if he does, and damned if he doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/49 "2009-09-24T20:08:31Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > My parakeet could probably whip his ass. I have some goldfish that might leave a mark. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/50 "2009-09-24T20:15:57Z")
“And what kind of goon bait believes in an archangel named Moroni? _Moroni_, for Chrissake! Somebody bring me a cuppa coffee, a shot of whiskey and a doobie! Almost forgot: Rush, you really _are_ a big fat idiot…” ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/51 "2009-09-24T20:17:26Z")
What’s sad is that even Sejanus probably would have had more class than to call up a rival’s wife to mock her miscarriage. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/52 "2009-09-24T21:00:01Z")
> [@Fritz](#): > > Glenn Beck raped and murdered someone? I hadn’t heard that. Is that true and if not, has he denied this yet? It’s not being covered by the mainstream media. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/53 "2009-09-24T21:08:39Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > It’s not being covered by the mainstream media. Figures. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/54 "2009-09-24T21:14:19Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > What’s sad is that even Sejanus probably would have had more class than to call up a rival’s wife to mock her miscarriage. What is this about? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/55 "2009-09-24T21:18:59Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > The really sad part is that once he’s totally insane and permanently in the psychiatric ward,… …he’ll host a talk show with his inner voices as guests. … he’ll star in a new show of a new genre called Unreality Programs. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/56 "2009-09-24T21:22:27Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > What is this about? When Beck was a “shock jock,” he once called the wife of a competing morning show host two days after her miscarriage to [mock her on the air](http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/09/22/glenn_beck_two/index2.html) about it: > [@](#): > > The animosity between Beck and Kelly continued to deepen. When Beck and Hattrick produced a local version of Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” for Halloween – a recurring motif in Beck’s life and career – Kelly told a local reporter that the bit was a stupid rip-off of a syndicated gag. The slight outraged Beck, who got his revenge with what may rank as one of the cruelest bits in the history of morning radio. "A couple days after Kelly’s wife, Terry, had a miscarriage, Beck called her live on the air and says, ‘We hear you had a miscarriage,’ " remembers Brad Miller, a former Y95 DJ and Clear Channel programmer. “When Terry said, ‘Yes,’ Beck proceeded to joke about how Bruce [Kelly] apparently can’t do anything right – about he can’t even have a baby.” > > “It was low class,” says Miller, now president of Open Stream Broadcasting. “There are certain places you just don’t go.” > > “Beck turned Y95 into a guerrilla station,” says Kelly. “It was an example of the zoo thing getting out of control. It became just about pissing people off, part of the culture shift that gave us ‘Jackass.’” Among those who were appalled by Beck’s prank call was Beck’s own wife, Claire, who had been friends with Kelly’s wife since the two worked together at WPGC. I don’t even think the freepiest freeper can defend that one. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/57 "2009-09-24T21:26:58Z")
In addition to the miscarriage story the salon article mentions that Beck had sabotaged a rival’s wedding with a stunt, slapping bumper stickers on every car there. When caught he got in his car and made a run for it. (This is from the same Kelly whose wife’s miscarriage he later mocked on air.) > [@](#): > > “Beck saw me standing in the way of the exit and gunned right for me. I threw a landscaping rock on his windshield and blocked him,” says Kelly. When his old friend demanded he roll down the window, Beck reluctantly obliged. Kelly then unloaded a mouthful of spit in his face. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/58 "2009-09-24T21:32:52Z")
Doesn’t sound like Kelly was all that classy a guy either, but there was definitely no call to bring his wife into it. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/59 "2009-09-24T21:40:35Z")
Beck also has stated _repeatedly_ on air that his mother committed suicide in 1977 when he was 13, leaving a cruel note. His mother in fact died in 1979 when he was 15 along with a friend; she drowned in a boating accident. It has never been proven to be suicide and the death was recorded (for both) as drowning. Beck has said repeatedly since becoming nationally famous that it was the most important event in his life and led him to drugs and his “other demons”. His ex-wife says he never once mentioned to her or anyone else that his mother’s death was a suicide or that there was a note until he became famous, which sounds a bit suspicious. (One option is that it was so painful he repressed it, the other is that he suspected it was a suicide, but decided a definite suicide was a lot more sympathetic and even moreso at 13 than at 15.) He has a daughter with CP, yet made fun of Obama’s Kenyan aunt on air for having a limp. Repeatedly. [QUOTE=Bosstone] Doesn’t sound like Kelly was all that classy a guy either, but there was definitely no call to bring his wife into it. [/QUOTE] They were shock-jocks, not a breed known for being sweet. And Beck had disrupted his friend’s wedding and then, per Kelly, tried to run him down. Not defending the spit, but I think it’s more defensible than mocking the miscarriage, which I don’t care how many drugs he was on or what personal problems he had, that’s the act of a remorseless narcissistic asswipe. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367/60 "2009-09-24T22:03:45Z")
Jesus Marimba, you mean to tell me he’s even more of an asshole than I thought he was? We’re approaching theoretical limits, here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-happen-when-glenn-beck-finally-goes-nuts/511367.md?page=4)