Monthly Archives: January 2009
Glenn Beck Moving to Fox
Glenn Beck is rapidly becoming more libertarian and he’s treated people like Ron Paul and Bob Barr with the greatest of respect. He’s moving from CNN to Fox News. Here’s the low down:
Glenn Beck goes on the air with Fox News for the first time Monday afternoon, and he’s got a surprise for you: He’s not a conservative anymore.
”Every day that goes by, I’m more and more libertarian,” says Beck, whose new show (titled, coincidentally, Glenn Beck) will air from 5 to 6 p.m. weekdays. ‘I’ve always been a conservative. But every day I find myself believing more and more in states’ rights, individual rights — let people alone, get the government out of everybody’s lives, let everybody rule themselves.”
That might seem startling news from somebody who’s built a multimillion-dollar one-man media conglomerate out of jauntily acerbic conservative commentary. In nine years he’s gone from a rookie talk-show host on a puny Tampa radio station to a syndicated powerhouse heard on more than 300 stations (including Miami’s WIOD-AM 610). And the program he did on CNN Headline News from 2006 to 2008 raised the network’s ratings 200 percent — in both its live 7 p.m. time slot and as a 9 p.m. rerun.
But Fox News, which hired Beck away from CNN in October (CNN took him off the air until his contract expired), doesn’t seem concerned about his political evolution.
”I’m not so sure that he was ever a conservative to begin with,” says Bill Shine, senior vice president for programming at Fox News. “He’s one of those guys it’s hard to put into a corner or give a label to. I think that’s what makes his show interesting. I think that’s what makes it unpredictable.”
I’ve not been watching much FNC for some time because of the way they damned near treated Bush like the Messiah, but I think I’ll tune in and check out Beck’s program, though.
New Freedom Website
There’s a new freedom-oriented website out there: Freedom Politics. From their initial blog posting:
Lovers of liberty, rejoice. Today, we’re launching FreedomPolitics.com, a site dedicated to the pursuit and protection of freedom.
We’re not the only ones who think freedom needs a hand, but as a Freedom Communications site, we follow the model of an exceptional defender of liberty, R.C. Hoiles. [snip]
With the support of more than 25 newspapers across the country, including that flagship, FreedomPolitics.com will be a hub of news and commentary dedicated to spreading R.C. Hoiles’ vision and the ideas of liberty of liberty he loved.
Right now we’re just getting started (consider this our soft launch), and the website still has more features to come. We might bring in some website builder experts to help us along the way. So please don’t hesitate to let us know if something goes awry so we can iron it out. The site will go fully operational on Inauguration Day with a slate of commentary from the top minds in the freedom movement.
The first set of articles are great. My fave is from former co-worker Doug Bandow, who writes about our “Return to Liberal Interventionism.”
Barack Obama is nothing if not a unique politician. Despite his liberal background, he rushed to the center after the election.
Indeed, his foreign policy is starting to look like a slightly more reasonable version of Bush-McCain neoconservatism. The result may be promiscuous military intervention, but only after Washington takes the usual diplomatic steps and rounds up the usual allies.
The most disconcerting sign of the future is the appointment of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. True, when testifying before the U.S. Senate she sounded like the model of responsibility: “We must build a world with more partners and fewer adversaries. Foreign policy must be based on a marriage of principles and pragmatism, not rigid ideology.”
I’m bookmarking the site and will be checking it out from time to time.
Why Are the Feds in My Little Hometown?
Here’s some embarrassing news from my small hometown:
The Hartselle Police Department has teamed up with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to figure out who put a Confederate flag on a church building earlier this week.
On Monday, Hartselle Police responded to Mt. Pleasant C.M.E. Church, in the 500 block of Bethel Street, in reference to a Confederate flag hanging on the church property. Officers removed a flag from the church buildin[g]. There were no other items with the flag.
Police assigned investigators to the case, who are currently looking for the person or persons who put the flag there. Police say they consider this a crime and will pursue charges.
“The City of Hartselle is a great place to live and we do not endorse or condone this type of behavior from individuals,” said Chief Ron W. Puckett. “We are a community of citizens united by our strengths in faith and love for each other. We do not threaten or treat others with disrespect and we will not tolerate desecration of our churches.”
Chief Puckett is correct in that the overwhelming majority of folks in Hartselle are very decent folks who (almost) always treat others with a great deal of respect. Aside from alcohol prohibition at the county level, it is a most wonderful place to live.
Hopefully they will find the person or people who placed a Confederate battle flag on church property and charge them with the appropriate crimes. Charge the suspect(s) with trespass, vandalism and perhaps some desecration charge which might be in the law books.
What I don’t understand, based on the information presented so far, is why the FBI should be involved. It seems to be a local matter that local police should be able to handle. In the meantime, there are much more serious crimes (i.e. kidnapping, corruption on Wall Street — or DC for that matter) that the FBI could be investigating instead.
Perspective
David Harsanyi nails it, in both paragraphs:
Yes, two important historical events transpired Tuesday: The first was the peaceful transfer of power from one freely elected politician to another (an uninterrupted streak we often take for granted). Then there was the first presidency of an African-American, which proves we can transcend our unsightly past.
After that, what we had was just another election. We conduct one every four years. For those of you not shouting hosannas, it might have occurred to you that we are suffering from a rampant sickness in American life that casts government as the author of your dreams and an Illinois politician the linchpin of your hopes.
There is a part of me that is celebrating Barack Obama’s election. The historical significance of this is not lost on me.
But that wears off quickly. Barack Obama may be the first black President, but is still just another President. The true test of the historical significance of his election is that we treat him like just another politician. That means — when it comes to his policies — no quarter will be given. The problems this country faces haven’t changed in the last two days, and the nature of government (and its rightful place in our lives) has not changed, despite Obama’s historic inauguration.
The inauguration is over, and the Inaugural Ball-induced hangovers are fading. It’s time to get back to the fight for liberty — a fight for Change that I can believe in.
