Is Glenn Beck committing treason?

[pimpbot]

I got home early and have heard his show is batshit crazy.. So I turned it on. Hes talking about Lennon Stalin and Hitler. Hes saying we might be headed in the same direction as Russia and Germany were under those leaders. Lots of double speak and "hinting" at rioting against the government.

Weren't these the same yahoos who said we all had to support the president in a time of war? I swear some of the things he is hinting at would get a normal person locked up.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

1. John Lennon? nt

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

6. He and Paul Stalin were two famous British revolutionaries.

Plus George Tse-Tung and Ringo Castro.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

9. I remember them. Didn't they sing Can't Buy Me Capitalist Pig Love? nt

[Igel]

32. Ah ...

And here I thought that Lennon Stalin y Hitler was just a Spanish kid with a really, really unfortunate name.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

33. I guaran-damn-tee you that somewhere in The Dominican Republic there is a kid with that name. nt

[Earth Bound Misfit]

36. ROFL....SNORT....

That's the funniest thing I've read all day.

[H2O Man]

10. I think that

Groucho Marx played on the "Let It Be" sessions with them.

[robertpaulsen]

19. True.

Little known fact, Eric Trotsky had a solo on George Tse-Tung's "While My Proletariat Gently Weeps". Absolute classic.

[lpbk2713]

20. Wasn't he on the cover of Cpl Hitler's Lonely Hearts Club Band?

:think:

[robertpaulsen]

28. You betcha.

Right next to that famous silent film comedian Pol Hardy.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

37. Wasn't that the "flip-side" of

The Continuing Story of "Bourgeoisie Bill"?

[geardaddy]

12. And Che Best?

And Stu Chi Minh?

[cali]

2. no. the asswipe is not committing treason.

for pity's sake, can we cut it with the treason charge for every despicable wingnut. Sounds exactly like freeperville used to.

[pimpbot]

13. Maryland State Troopers followed around war protestors

Yet wackos like Beck are protected somehow.

[cali]

29. uh, how does a blatant wrong such as that possibly

justify other blatant wrongs?

that's really lousy reasoning.

[lpbk2713]

3. It was Cheney who wanted to do away with the Constitution.

Beck is full of shit.

But then, what else is new?

[Snotcicles]

14. Sedition yes. Treason maybe not. nt

[av8rdave]

4. He may be nuts, but I think it's first amendment protected

As it should be.

I think he has to advocate violent overthrow of the government to cross the line. I'm no Constitutional Law expert, but I would assume the standard for that requires it to be pretty blatant, and probably requires him to be giving specific instructions.

I'm no Fan of Beck (won't watch him), but he's one of the costs of free speech.

[WeDidIt]

7. He's pushing it up to the line

but he ain't crossing it...

Yet.

[pimpbot]

11. I just get the feeling they are trying to stir up the crazies

Like the guy that shot up that church because it was "a bunch of liberals". Who had a great collection of right wing nutjob books.

The stuff Beck is saying really is all over the place, but the one common theme that I could pick out was that he is trying to stir up the nutjobs to the tipping point. He was showing clips from old movies with the "town mob pitchforks in hand" themes.

[av8rdave]

24. I have a friend that is a Beck faithful...

The crap that guy (friend) believes is downright scary!

[FatDave]

31. Of course he is.

It's blatantly obvious.

[robertpaulsen]

17. I wonder if Chuck Norris crossed that line on Beck's show.

Here's what he said:

Norris claims that; “Thousands of cell groups will be united around the country in solidarity over the concerns for our nation.” The right wing cells will meet during a live telecast, "We Surround Them," on Friday March 13 at 5 p.m.

He closes with the words of Sam Houston followed by a plug for his next martial arts event.

“We view ourselves on the eve of battle."

http://www.examiner.com/x-2071-DC-Special-Interests-Examiner~y2009m3d9-Chuck-Norris-claims-thousands-of-right-wing-cell-groups-exist-and-will-rebel-against-US-government

Doesn't sound like he's advocating non-violent overthrow of the government to me.

Then again, if March 13 was the battle, it went over like a lead zeppelin, to paraphrase Keith Moon.

I wonder if Beck thinks Moon was a commie.

[nashville_brook]

40. you can't advocate armed insurrection, or violence against the president -- not protected

beck is a moron (and this isn't the best argued OP), but he's using the airwaves to call for violence against the president via "the Bubba Rebellion." that's not protected. at the very least, the FCC should be threatening their license the same way Skinner would be called to the carpet if he allowed posters to advocate violent revolution.

[av8rdave]

41. I agree with you in principle...

I might be wrong, but I have a feeling they have a staff of lawyers that tell them just how far to the edge they can go.

I wonder if there are any constitutional law experts here that can shed some light on it. It seems to me that the question is whether or not someone is talking philosophy/theory vs. specific actions. I imagine, like most lines, it's a blurry one. My guess would be that the standards for going after someone are pretty high.

If Beck isn't over the line, he is toeing it all the time.

[nashville_brook]

42. you are very correct about the army of lawyers -- i think they are playing a game, tho...

i think they WANT a legal fight, b/c that would give them the "injury" or the "spark" to really rile up the masses. so, i don't think they are playing this in order to AVOID legal battles -- they're going at it as if they want a legal battle.

nothing would benefit "the Bubba Rebellion" more than being able to point to the evil Obama Administration's restricting their freedom/s. without this, they got nuthin.

[Siwsan]

5. He commits stupid, every day

[damntexdem]

8. Is he ever not?

But if America really prosecuted treason, Dubya, Darth Cheney, and company would all be behind bars -- and I don't mean in gated communities.

[valerief]

15. Oh, fer crissakes, it's a comedy show! nt

[onenote]

16. no, he's committing stupid

its not against the law.

[SammyWinstonJack]

18. Pity it's not

:dunce:

[rhett o rick]

21. YES. Next question. nm

[Fuzz]

22. Freepers were comparing Obama to Pol Pot

It's crazy and getting crazier.

[rhett o rick]

23. Please define "normal person", as you can see from the responses, not many here

self included.

[rhett o rick]

25. To remain relevant the righties are trying to out treason each other. I think you will see it

become much worse. They will challenge free speech.

Edit for spell check. Wasn't sure about "they".

[RavensChick]

26. No.

Just tinfoil hat stupidity.

[arcadian]

27. Who cares? He's only doing it for ratings

and he knows that his audience is al talk and zero, zilch, nada action.

[Towlie]

30. Maybe he's not committing treason, but he's not committing reason either.

[Prophet 451]

34. Technically, probably not

Your constitution defines treason very, very narrowly; far more narrowly than most other nations (including my own England).

The tendancy of teh right to describe any and all criticism as "treason" during the Long Night was always bullshit, of course. It was just using a convienient snarl word. Beck's rhetoric is distasteful and deeply inflammatory, I agree but I suspect the fact that he's hinting (however unsubtlely) probably means he's just about on the right side of the law.

That said, I am pretty sure that the recent post on Hannity's site asking what kind of revolution you'd like was on the wrong side of it.

[Occam Bandage]

35. As Lennon read a book on Marx, the quartet practiced in the park, and we sang dirges in the dark. nt

[Earth Bound Misfit]

38. Nah, he's just the latest member of the SFHMB** at Fux Snooz

** Shit-Flinging Howling Monkey Brigade

I stole SFHMB from another DUer, can't recall who it was, however.

[deaniac21]

39. Who is Lennon Stalin?