Glenn Beck Declares Victory; Critics Declare Him a Loony

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Earlier this week, and partially in response to the alarmist segment he did on how the Federal Government was spying on citizens though its cars.gov website, the Obama Administration indicated that it was going to remove and revise the terms and conditions that threw Beck and the right-wing blogosphere into apoplectic fits of paranoid delusion.

While most would see this as an attempt to protect a highly successful stimulus program from the ill effects of a lone crank with a radio show, Beck interpreted it as a sure sign of his own correctness. “Apparently, we must have a decent point,” Beck said, “otherwise why would the government remove the old statement?”

Ignoring the rather obvious and benign explanation of “clarity,” Beck and his guest Andrew Napolitano plunged straight down the rabbit hole and into their own right-wing-wonderland.

“They are hacking our computers” Napolitano asserted, noting that such action is perfectly legal without the disclaimer thanks to the PATRIOT Act. “How do we know they’re not doing it?” Napolitano asked, “all we know is they took… the warning down.”

Of course, therein lies the absurdity of Beck’s self proclaimed victory. Leftists have been saying for years that the surveillance of the American people without notice is among the most dangerous and concerning aspects of the PATRIOT Act. Based upon the statements and policies enacted by the Obama Administration thus far there is little reason to believe that much if any of this security apparatus has been dismantled. No knock warrants are still being served, phone calls intercepted, and other more extreme liberties taken in the name of national security.

As under George W. Bush, these actions are being taken in the shadows without disclosure, without notice, and certainly without a click-through agreement on a government website.

For Beck the presence of the disclosure text is apparently just as damning as its absence.   Beck conveniently forgets that the overwhelming majority of his prior complaints focused, not upon the government’s claim of temporary ownership, but upon the enumerated liberties and monitoring rights staked out by the disclosure.

No administration statements have revised those claims or denied those liberties, yet Beck seems too think that this minute clarification somehow validates his entire paranoid fantasy.

Were Beck’s viewers to emulate his  fanatical obsession with things absent they might infer a few things from the presence and absence of information his own program. Beck has now devoted two full segments of his show to the cars.gov “issue” and the questions he has asked are not nearly as interesting as the ones he has not.

Thus far Mr. Beck has interviewed or discussed the issue with a conservative judge, a conservative pundit, a forensics expert, and a Fox News anchor. Beck, his staff, and Fox News with its nearly unlimited resources, have not attempted to reach the White House for comment nor have they attempted to speak to a car dealer who can show them what exists behind the login page that once played host to the disclaimer text.

Yet for all his bluster and fear mongering, Beck did manage to squeeze out a single cogent point on the subject. “I think that [being conspiratorial] hurts us as a nation. We must be rooted in the truth! But when nobody is asking the questions that seem logical, of course you’re gonna get conspiracy theories.”

Glenn, I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Author’s Note: A tip of the hat to News Hounds for their coverage of Beck’s response and linking/citation of this column.