First of all, let me preface my remarks by stating that I really don’t like Glenn Beck. It’s nothing personal. I have nothing against the way he combs his hair or against his success. I’m happy for anyone who is successful in the United States (if they have done it lawfully). The problem that I have a Glenn Beck is that he is a pseudo-intellectual. He has this chalkboard shtick that he does in which multiple non sequiturs are tied together. His whole deal, to me, seems to be manufactured to deceive instead of illuminate.
Now, with that as the background, Glenn Beck stated on his radio show yesterday how he wanted to set the record straight. Here’s what he said (making transcripts is much harder than it looks):
Beck: So I just want to make that clear. Cops, firefighters… I have no problem with teachers. Who doesn’t want their teachers to make the most amount of money? But, in a realistic, free enterprise sort of way.
Sidekick: We want to take care of our teachers, our cops are firefighters (crosstalk)
Beck: Absolutely. the American and I am no different than the average American. The average American wants to take care of their teachers, their cops, their firemen and police and their arghh, soldiers. That’s who they want to take care of. They protect us and they teach our kids. We want to protect them, take care of them. Not a problem with that. Never, never, have I had a problem with that. But it must be realistic. And we haven’t had to have this conversation, ever. Because the problem was going to be… It’s not just the firemen and everything else. It’s you. As well. You. Every taxpayer is going to go broke, or going to lose their 401(k)s or whatever you have if the United States and state after state goes bankrupt you lose everything. (audio courtesy of Media Matters)
Just for a second, let’s remember that Glenn Beck is a multimillionaire. He’s not one of us. Glenn Beck is not sitting at home trying to figure out how he’s going to pay the rent, pay his car note and keep food on the table. So, it is clear that he is different than every other American. Let’s move past this. I applaud him for saying that teachers, firefighters and police officers should get paid more. Then, though, he goes on to qualify his statement by saying that they should only get paid more in a “realistic” manner. What does that mean? Is he stating that these folks are now getting paid in an unrealistic manner? Is he stating that somehow collective bargaining is not a free enterprise system? By ending his statement with this apocalyptic “everybody’s going broke” type of statement, is he saying that teachers, firefighters and police officers should get paid less?
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Let’s be honest, the thought that America is broke is permeating the conservative airwaves. The Conservatives cannot stop talking about how broken and out of money the dederal and individual state governments are. They don’t seem to mention that unpaid-for tax cuts to the rich have sapped our cash supply. America has the money. The money is residing in the pockets of people like Glenn Beck.
