Sexist, Racist, Hateful - Beck. What should be done about this?
Submitted by kevin22262 on March 18, 2007 - 3:57pm.
ann coulter | CNN | glenn beck | hate | Media | misogyny | Racism | Sexism | Call to Action | Soapbox
Found the following diary at MyDD.com and feel that this is very important. Not just because of who said it and who it was said about, but because it is WRONG for CNN to be supporting this guy.. thing!
Tell me what you think and what we can do about this.
From MyDD.com
http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/3/18/142556/269
This is seriously unacceptable:
http://mediamatters.org/items/200703150011
BECK: I don't want to sound like the old ball-and-chain guy, but Hillary Clinton cannot be elected president because -- am I wrong in feeling, am I the only one in America that feels this way? -- that there's something about her vocal range. There's something about her voice that just drives me -- it's not what she says, it's how she says it. She is like the stereotypical -- excuse the expression, but this is the way to -- she's the stereotypical bitch, you know what I mean? She's that stereotypical, nagging, [unintelligible], you know what I mean? And she doesn't have to be saying -- she could be saying happy things, but after four years, don't you think every man in America will go insane? Is it just me? I mean, I know this is horrible to say, but I mean it not -- I would say this if she were Condi Rice and she sounded like that. Condi Rice doesn't have that grate to her voice. You know what I need to do? I need to talk to a vocal expert, because there is a range in women's voices that experts say is just the chalk, I mean, the fingernails on the blackboard. And I don't know if she's using that range or what it is, but I've heard her in speeches where I can't take it. [...]BECK: Am I alone? Dan [Andros, producer]? Have you noticed that about her?
ANDROS: Oh my gosh, she could be talking about how she's giving every American a million dollars, and I'm hearing, "Could you take out the garbage now, please?"
I strongly agree with Garance Franke-Ruta at TAPPED who notes that:
http://www.prospect.org/weblog/2007/03/post_3145.html#015892
"When Ann Coulter called heterosexual John Edwards a "faggot," the blogs erupted. But when someone calls the Democratic front-runner, who is female, a "bitch," we get total radio silence." This is just as offensive, just as revealing of a bigoted attitude toward women, probably even moreso. It is a clear attempt to imply that it's perfectly normal and justifiable to think that women have no place in politics because any time they grow powerful enough to be threatening, they must ipso facto be a stereotypical "bitch."That such misogyny can come out of the mouth of a prominent political commentator with no apparent consequences is, frankly, disgusting.
You may not like Hillary Clinton's politics much, but if you let them get away with smearing her because she sounds threatening to their masculinity, you are doing a huge disservice to Democrats, progressives, women, and men. We may criticize Hillary and we may or may not decide to nominate her, but she is part of our family, part of our society, a long-time and dedicated public servant, and an important example that women are powerful and meaningful political agents on their own terms. And we will absolutely not stand to have her slandered like this.
My comments that I left at MyDD.com:
http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/3/18/142556/269#2
I can NOT believe CNN Headline News (this station has changed for the worse) has this asshole on the air! They are legitimizing his racist, sexist and hateful ways! Whats next.. Sunday Hour with the KKK?
Sh_t...!
and...
I think this "guy" needs to be taken down. There needs to be a campaign against him like was done against Man Coulter!
Have you cross posted this to Dkos? I would like to see something take off but I do not have the "blog clout" to start this.
Your thoughts...?
Kevin
A blog post by a man about a pig of a sexist hater like glenn beck and I get one comment from a man and two rec'd from men.
I know there are lots of women here. If you don't care at least say why.
Kevin
-
I'm no Hillary supporter, but Beck needs to shut up - or be gagged.
I know some women are quite ambivalent about Hillary - it's obvious she's a very talented and intelligent person. It also seems obvious, though, that she wouldn't be a "front runner" if she was Senator Hillary Rodham from Illinois (or wherever) or even Governor Hillary Rodham from wherever. The reason she is a "front runner" is because she's married to President Clinton. Or so it seems to me.
This is really not about Clinton this is about scum like he and ann coulter. If ann can and should get smacked for her edwards comment then beck should also get smacked.
Kevin
-
Coulter's comment was libelous,
so far as we know.
Beck was expressing his opinion,
apparently. (I don't happen to
believe that his opinion is exclusive.)
Yes, it was a sexist remark
...in any case, you guys are handling
it just fine.
kudos
I see no difference between what coulter did and what beck did. Both of these people are vile human beings. Seems that in todays world it is OK to denigrate women or to use hateful slurs about women but not OK to do the same about gays or to use gay slurs. Why is this?
We have on the radio and TV everyday crap like this:
Drunk B_tch Fridays
Look at MTV
People like Beck and michael savage
I could make up a HUGE list just from local radio and I know that it is not as bad, here in the NW as it may be back east.
Kevin
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Kevin. I see a tremendous difference,
but I already explained my views above.
To be clear, I'm not defending Beck,
he is clearly a pig.
Truth is, Hillary IS verbally "discordant" and it does not improve over time. I do hope that is pc enuf for you considering that I'm saying this from a woman's pov.
:)
Not trying to be "PC" I am trying to be fair and it is a fact that people seem to be OK with gender slander and misogyny.
Kevin
-
Has the same complaint, although he puts it much more politely. Hillary comes off sounding irritating in a way that, frankly, only a woman can sound. And I'm a woman. It's unfortunate, and Matthews has repeatedly said that in person, one on one, she doesn't sound that way, and can't someone help her find a better pitch?
They'd better, because I, as a woman, HATE that tone, and hate that it's being extrapolated to women in general by others.
Bitch may be a sexist word, and the way it was phrased in this interview certainly was, but I can understand the feeling, in terms that her voice is off-putting.
That's MY story, and I'm sticking to it.
Joy
This is more about beck, the word and words and how society seems to not care.
People used the edwards thing to attack coulter.. whatever it takes is OK by me. Why can we not do the same for beck?
Kevin
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You have a point, of course. I'm not disagreeing with it. But male chauvinism is something many of us women have largely become deaf to, otherwise we'd be fighting it at every turn. It's one of those "pick your battles" things. If we jump on every little thing, then we start getting negative blowback.
Like it or not, Hillary's gender is a big part of this debate. I'd rather the idiots put it out front where we can all see it and wince, than whisper it behind closed doors.
Thanks for your defense of women as human beings, though. You've earned a special place in my heart for that.
Joy
Hillary's voice can be melodious and musical, but once she cranks up the rhetoric, it becomes thin and strident. Puts me right on the celiing.
Stan Davis
Lakewood, CO
If not us, WHO? If not now, WHEN?
BE THE CHANGE you wish to see in the world.
SHE SHOULD BE PRESIDENT!
Hillary is a virtual candidate 2D second dimension political consultant through pillow talk with husband for years (she never was accountable for the weight of her opinion) then crowned by the DLC to retiring Sen. Monyahan's (sp?) seat as a tactic to be positioned as a candidate for 2008 (all DLC planning ahead for continuity of itself;) did you ever look at the history of Nixon; the GOP published a classified ad for a person to fill a political position honest to GOP oops GOD look it up that is how Nixon started google it; Hillary is a straw person, a virtual politican her character ( does anyone know what that is we only really know her AMBITION ) and her gender have nothing to do with politics she is a political actor virtual representative media celebrity applying for job of president ( for the DLC board of directors ) you have to look at the insurance industries and banking industries so forth whomever the DLC is a 'broker' for to know who that would be - she is the face of THAT special interest collective....
Wes Clark - would represent the balance of interests of US(A) because he believes in democracy; Hillary is about aristocracy vs. democracy not the principles of democracy she goes where DLC goes and that is elitism of the oligarchy - plutocracy whatever label you want to use...
she is the face of DLC......
I know exactly what you mean. I started saying long before she announced her candidacy that she needed a voice coach. Whatever else you may think of her (and I don't think much) that's a big negative in her campaign.
I don't think any of us would be able to listen to the State of the Union. ;)
Joy
Kevin, and that is that people like Beck and Coulter have been getting away with this kind of hate-speak for years and many prominent Democrats and progressives have turned a deaf ear because it wasn't directed personally at them.
So this outrage over Edwards and Clinton is somewhat disingenuous, in my opinion. Where was Edwards when Ann Coulter wrote in her book, and repeated over the airwaves, that the 9/11 widows were glad their husbands were killed so they could get money and publicity? He and his people were not indignant and didn't wage a campaign against her then. In fact, Edwards waited until he could personally profit financially from her slurs, and then he took full advantage of it. And even then, I didn't hear him once defending the rights of gays -- the people she really slurred.
Where was Clinton when this Beck bonehead told a Democratic Congressman, Keith Ellison, that people should be afraid of him because he is Muslim? I didn't hear Senator Clinton or her people defending a fellow Democrat or expressing outrage over the disservice he did then to all progressives and Muslims.
What I'm trying to say that Democrats can't cherrypick their outrage when it suits them politically or financially. For 6 years, the Democrats have refused to adequately stand up to Bush or any of his minions, including Coulter, Beck and the Faux News crowd.
And Edwards and Clinton were so afraid of making waves by standing against these people 4 years ago that they went along with Bush's immoral war in Iraq for the sake of their own perceived political gain.
So perhaps that's why we are not so quick to jump to their defense when they get a little bit of it thrown in their direction. If our Democratic representatives had really been looking out for what's right for the past 6 years we might not have these horrible commentators to contend with, to the extent we do now. Our Democratic leaders could have led the charge against this kind of hatefulness years ago, but they didn't because they were afraid it wasn't politically expedient.
And people like Edwards and both of the Clintons have had a unique public platform for speaking out against the likes of Coulter and Beck for years now, and they have kept silent, until now. I say we start with our own people and demand accountability for why they have kept silent all these years. Then I would be glad to follow them as they lead the charge to get people like Beck off the air.
I understand all of what you say. But... sometimes it takes a graphic version of something bad to wake people up and make them do something!
If it took the edwards thing to spark a blow back and wake up the media... so be it. I have been talking about that woMAN for a long time. She/he should be in prison!
It is the same with beck, howard stern and other like them.
WHY do we as HUMAN beings put up with this shit? ESPECIALLY when it comes to women?
I have seen many here, at Dkos and other places that think howard stern is the greatest. He is a PIG! He deserves no more respect then gdub, coulter and others that denigrate women and others.
Someone PLEASE tell me why it is OK to denigrate women in all aspects of our lives but it is NOT OK to do the same when it comes to race, religion and being gay.
MTV, commercials, TV shows, hip-hop/rap, magzines, etc... What do you see?
So if it is now OK to use the word bitch on regular TV, the radio and by so called media personalities, then why is it not OK to use the N word and faggot?
By the way...
Patti Smyth had the N word bleeped from song
http://www.oceanstar.com/patti/lyrics/nigger.htm
during her latest appearance when she was inducted into the rock and roll hall fame.
My rant...
Kevin
-
We as human beings, ESPECIALLY us women have put up with this shit forever...
However happy I am that your consciousness has
been raised, Gram was a suffrogette
...just sayin'
As I have said to women that I know that hate the crap that is going on, it is bad but it is better .. but.. it is sliding backwards and women are excepting it. Some women, mostly younger, believe that by calling themselves bitches that they are "taking back" the word or taking "ownership" of the word. This is BS, they are only perpetuating negative stereo types. This is the same nonsense that some blacks use with the N word or the hip-hop version of it "nigga". This to is BS.
Kevin
-
why would you assume that I have ever been
"passive" for a single day of my everso-long
life?
It's not likely I'm about to jump thru hoops
at this point.
you have no freakin' idea...
But your words could lead someone to believe you are on this issue, even tho I know that you are a fire in the belly kind of person.
You seem like the kind of person to never take shit from anyone but you state that women have been taking this shit forever. I know that women have been having this shit tossed on them but I also feel that even tho you have to wade through the shit, you don't have to take it.
man.. what a ramble that is... shit! :)
Kevin
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The larger issue is not about edwards and clinton.
It is about the right wing a-holes getting away with crap like this and with the growing denigration of women.
If using the edwards and clinton things as a catalyst to WAKE people up off of their asses, then so be it... I don't care how or why, it just needs to be done.
Kevin
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What would you all be saying and doing had something like this been said about Clark?
this is ONLY an example:
he sounds like a girl, a gay or a f_ggot with his whiny little voice
Kevin
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It's when people from our own party call Wes a "war criminal" that it really gets to me.
That, to me, is inexcusable. And yet I see it repeated over and over again over at Kos, even though those people know better and have had the facts presented to them on numerous occasions.
Kevin, I don't like that anyone has called Hillary a "bitch" but she has plenty of supporters to fight her battles. She's got all the money and the publicity and the influence and her former President husband to defend her.
I'm too busy defending Wes Clark, mostly from people who claim to be part of my "family" as fellow Democrats. And I would like see my "political family" step up and defend and support him, and stop trying to marginalize him.
I don't have to defend Wes Clark to my Republican friends. They like him.
The only Republican I know who has ever said anything negative about Wes admitted that he was just mad at Wes for not being a Republican.
I understand that no one wants to "defend" hillary. That is not my point. It is a much larger point of shutting up and shutting down these rightwing hate spewers.
Kevin
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...but it's kinda like this.
Hillary and her people think that I will vote for her just because she's a woman and I'm a woman. She's using her womanhood as an issue.
It's not an issue to me. I'm not voting for her because I don't agree with her.
And so just because I'm a woman, I'm not going to take the time right now to protest stupid rightwing boneheads who call her a bitch. I'm too busy supporting Wes Clark right now.
I'm glad you support women, and I do hope that Beck is thrown off the air. He, and the people like him, do not deserve a public voice.
But it almost seems like you're angry with us -- almost to the point of saying we don't care. We do care, but we can't protest every single one of them 24/7.
indeed but if I don't give it a rest immediately, I might begin explaining why NOW (Nat'l Org. for Women for those who may have forgotten that NOW is not just a pbs show) nearly denounced HRC when she did NOT leave Bubba for fooling around with a young woman not all that much older than their own daughter - HRC is not the victim I'll go out on a limb for just sayin' - wrong victim - choose your battles carefully and live to fight another day - was that run-on or what?
he's caused me to nearly vomit several times and had nothing to with HRC. He's just one vile dude!!
Win with Wes in '08