Glenn Vs. Evel

Glenn Beck is the modern day equivalent of Evel Knievel. They are both showmen offering the empty enticement of spectacle. Evel Knievel wore a cape and a star emblazoned jumpsuit and fed red meat to the lowest most primitive urges churning in the fans that flocked to his shows like vultures to a perilous stretch of road. He performed record leaps over cars and buses undeterred by fear, to the mindless delight of his fans.

Glenn Beck wears a suit, wraps himself in the stars and stripes, and feeds red meat to the lowest most primitive urges of his fans, who drawn to his performances like vultures to a dangerous stretch of road. He performs record leaps of logic, undeterred by facts, to the mindless delight of his fans.

But even Evel Knievel was honest about who he was - a showman, a daredevil, nothing more. He didn't masquerade as a thinker, or prophet of and for the people. He knew and accepted the limits and the price of his chosen profession. He realized the crowds would cheer when he cleared the jump and landed safely on the other side. However, it must have kept him awake at night knowing that the crowds would cheer just as loud or even louder if he crashed and burned and didn't walk away. Maybe, it is the burden of this truth - of a possible public crash and burn, to the delight of his detractors and maybe even his followers, combined with a liberal dose of carnival theatrics that causes Glenn Beck to cry in public so uncontrollably and so often looking and sounding like a child denied a Happy Meal.