Perhaps this is going to be a common theme of CNN Headline News “The Joy Behar Show.” For the second night in a row, two out of two shows – Behar went after the former CNN Headline News host, now Fox News host Glenn Beck as a head of the conservative movement.
On her Sept. 30 show, Behar guests included HBO “Real Time” host Bill Maher and conservative author and columnist Ann Coulter. One had a favorable view of Beck, and the other – not so much.
On Behar's first show, [1]Bette Midler contended Beck would lead to a Rwanda-style civil war in the United States. Behar posed a similar question to Maher on her second show.
“What do you make of all this sort of hate speech going on?” Behar asked. “I don't want to mention names but Glenn Beck is watching my show right now and it's possible that he's trying to think of new ways to yell at Obama and cause people to be raging and angry. What do you make of all of that?”
Maher gave a predictable response, branding Beck as “part of the Republican Party” as an effort to tear at it as an institution. However, he wasn't quite as eager to embrace the Democratic Party – which he could as easily be identified as being a “part.” Amazingly, the HBO host labeled that political party as being “center-right.”
“Well, you know, I keep saying that we don't really have a progressive party in this country,” Maher responded. “Glenn Beck is part of the Republican Party. You know, the Democrats as – if you take away the few people I just mentioned before, you know, that's a center-right party.”
Maher's claim was the modern Democratic Party is too connected to private industry, whereas the GOP is just a bunch of lunatics.
“They're a great party if you want to – a party to represent the pharmaceutical companies and the health insurance industry and big agriculture and all that kind of stuff,” Maher continued. “And then you have the Republicans which are just a bunch of religious lunatics, Flat Earthers, Civil War re-enactors and bimbos.”
Maher took it a step further with his attack on Beck with his usual hyperbolic shtick.
“It's not an ideological difference,” he said. “They just don't know anything. They're bimbos. [Beck]'s a bimbo and he's a crazy one. I'm telling you – it is not that long before we're going to find Glenn Beck dressed as a woman or playing with his feces or something.” Behar laughed in response said she hoped he would melt down on air, adding “that would be so much fun to watch.”
However, Coulter later appeared in Behar's show and identified a possible reason those on the left were fixated on Beck. She contended it's the mission of the left to identify a leader of the opposition party and tear them down with character assaults. Behar repeated her assumption Beck was the face of the GOP.
“And also Glenn Beck, the thing with him is, now he's become the face of the Republican Party,” she said.
Coulter said she “loved” Glenn Beck, despite Behar's contention he's hate-mongering. Behar asked Coulter if she was jealous of Beck. Coulter explained some of the resentment of Beck coming from all directions, [2]including the right.
“A little bit jealous,” Coulter responded. “And I think you get that with many conservatives attacking him but he isn't our leader. Rush Limbaugh isn't our leader. Michael Steele isn't our leader. Sarah Palin isn't our leader. I love them all. But we don't have a leader. A - we are a party without leaders and moreover, it's weird, this liberal obsession with tell us who your leader is and you realize why liberals want to know is because this is they argue. They find who the leader is and destroy him from Newt Gingrich to Tom Delay to Sarah Palin.”
As Coulter explained – the conservative movement doesn't have a leader and the entire discussion of who the leader of it is manufactured so the left won't have to debate issues, but instead attack the character.
“So we decided we are not going with a leader this time so you are going to have to argue with us on the facts, on the issues,” Coulter said.
Like this article? Sign up for "Culture Links," CMI's weekly e-mail newsletter, by [3]clicking here [3].