Glenn Beck’s Demise and the Rise of Ethnopolitics by Gregory Hood
No longer a nation and more than an idea, America must become a religion. Its martyred savior is MLK. Its sacrament is “Holocaust Remembrance.” Its crusade is to save, convert, and redeem the powerless, colored masses yearning to be brought into the Light.
The profit . . . er, prophet . . . who will lead us on this sacred quest is none other than the avatar of the Third Great Awakening, the chosen one indwelt by the Holy Founders, Glenn Beck.
Beck’s self-image as an Incarnation of the American Creed was spectacularly revealed when he recently endorsed Ted Cruz. As part of his speech, he asked Cruz, “What is the oath of office you have to take?” For once, the sociopathic, calculating Cruz looked utterly nonplussed and remained silent, eliciting a “What, what?” from Beck.
But when Beck asked again, Cruz, one hand stuffed in his jeans, another raised as a pledge of his sacred trust, dutifully responded, “I pledge to honor and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.”
The crowd cheered.
Beck beamed.
But it wasn’t the Oath of Office.
No matter. The incident is a perfect example of Beck’s approach. His entire career has been to create a fantasy version of U.S. history and identity, which has proven powerfully resonant among confused White Americans. As every traditional institution and moral authority turns against the White people who created them, Beck assures them that this is simply a kind of test. He styles himself as a legitimate American authority in exile, even to the extent of creating a full Oval Office set and giving mock State of the Union addresses from his television studio.
Beck provides a comforting alternative to the hard realities of demographic dispossession, arguing that it is not American ideals that have failed but simply our collective adherence to them. Beck is calling us to repent and believe, not just in God, but in an idiosyncratic political creed that seems to exist only in his ever shifting imagination.
It wasn’t long ago that Beck was being denounced by the American Left not just as crazy but positively dangerous. One could even see glimpses of Beck playing footsie with the the emerging Alt Right and Liberty movement, by investigating certain premises of the Establishment consensus, including Franklin Roosevelt’s efforts to get America into World War II, the role of the Federal Reserve, and the legality of secession. Beck’s habit of educating his audience via his famous chalkboard gave the impression that he was operating as a political autodidact in real time and his ideological evolution could take him in any direction.
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