What Are we to Make of Glenn Beck 2.0?

Glenn, your politics have shifted to the point where you even left the Republican Party. Yet the news of this show did catch people by surprise.

Beck: It’s interesting that it’s a big deal that two people who believe in some core fundamentals that are big, that are universal, that are human, and America goes, “Wait, what does this mean?” It means we’re people trying to be people. And trying to, I guess, model the way we’ve always been in the past. I’ll join Andrew’s party every day of the week, but I don’t want anything to do with the Washington parties, the political parties. The parties will be the death of our country. They gain strength by separating us.

Glenn Beck and Andrew W.K. on Their No-Rules Partnership
Paul Cantor, www.rollingstone.com

I used to make a big fuss about calling Glenn Beck a “Political Pornographer” whenever I got the chance. I thought it was more true than clever (but still pretty clever).

I loathed Beck’s politics and tactics. I loathed his divisiveness and fear mongering. The way he enriched himself by preying on people’s most vulgar emotions and exploiting their crass inclinations made me want to put my head through a wall. He was, for all intents and purposes, the political pornography kingpin for a time. The clarion leader of the most insulated and passionately ignorant political participants in America. Unabashedly so.

But, um, people change? Right? That question isn’t rhetorical. Has Glenn Beck changed or has he just found a new persona to monetize? A new popular ethos of post partisanship to exploit? Do we give people a second chance? Even though their past transgressions still contaminate our public discourse while they still sit comfortably atop the mountain of money and power they amassed? Even though their new paradigm actually kind of resonates? THESE ARE NOT RHETORICAL QUESTIONS! I NEED ANSWERS!

How do we reconcile these two dudes?:

Old Glenn Beck:

This president I think has exposed himself over and over again as a guy who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture….I’m not saying he doesn’t like white people, I’m saying he has a problem. This guy is, I believe, a racist.

New Glenn Beck:

What our country needs to understand now are the words of Martin Luther King on reconciliation. Right now the left and the right and the middle even, everyone is trying to win. Stop trying to win. Let’s reconcile with one another. Let’s reconcile to the truths, that way there are no losers.

Old Glenn Beck:

The violent left is coming to our streets, all of our streets, to smash, to tear down, to kill, to bankrupt, to destroy. It is will be global in its nature and global in its scope.

New Glenn Beck:

I don’t want anything to do with the Washington parties, the political parties. The parties will be the death of our country. They gain strength by separating us

And now he’s palling around with Andrew W.K., who just seems like just an absolutely charming and thoughtful fellow.

Perhaps the most compelling evidence that new Glenn Beck’s yearning for an American attitude of forgiveness and reconciliation is sincere, is that, it is Glenn Beck who needs those things more than any one else. Perhaps Beck furiously beating the pulpit for reconciliation is actually his confession of guilt.

If this is Glenn Beck’s version of an apology, I accept. Let the reconciliation begin. I’m glad you invited Andrew W.K. along for the ride.

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Congrats to Paul Cantor on the great interview with Glenn Beck and Andrew W.K. that inspired the post.

If you have good answers to my not-rhetorical questions, use the write a response feature below.