Bizarre Glenn Beck Video Interview From Hospital Raises Eyebrows

GLENN'S WORLD

Beck's Latest Oddity Leaves Us Baffled





*** NEW: O'Reilly Denies Shoving Match ***


Let us first get one thing out of the way: the media business is full of eccentrics. For the well- adjusted among us, the industry's inherent insanity just isn't very appealing.

For a certain mindset, however, the lure of the spotlight proves too much to overcome. The lion's share of broadcast professionals find ways to hide their rough edges, at least shielding them from the audience, if not the newsroom.

In a class of his own, unfortunately, is Glenn Beck. On the one hand, he's a nationally syndicated radio and cable television host, with a recent book that has sold well. He considers himself conservative, but his odd public behavior has long made some on the right nervous.

Here at the Radio Equalizer, we've long considered Beck a liability to the conservative movement and have endured angry comments and emails from his fans as a result. This site has wondered out loud why some on the right continue to defend him.


Until now, however, this debate has mostly flown under the radar. Without a front- burner reason to address the issue, many conservatives have simply chosen to pretend he doesn't exist. Lefties have pounded away, but it hasn't impacted his career one bit: he recently signed a fat renewal deal.

With the ill- considered release of a bizarre YouTube video, everything has now changed. Beck has instantly become a high- priority topic and conservatives must now decide what to do with him.

Featuring an unshaven Beck rambling away from a hospital bed, there for a procedure he refuses to reveal, the host talks about medical malpractice and how close he recently came to committing suicide.

So far, it has been viewed by nearly 300,000 people, more than generally tune into to his CNN:HN television news program.

Watch this freakshow for yourself, if you dare:

BECK: By Saturday night, if they would have come into the room with a handgun and said, 'okay we can give you some more medication or we can give you this handgun, and you can go ahead and blow your brains out' I would have honestly taken a handgun at that point and ended it.

Reaction has so far been predictable: liberals are ripping him, while conservatives tread lightly in public and exchange baffled emails in private.

That said, the right is overdue for a public debate on how to deal with Glenn Beck and his baggage. Because he presents a generally conservative viewpoint, Beck speaks for the movement, whether we like it or not. That means the potential for damage is real.

The easy out is to write off Beck's behavior as a series of publicity stunts. With some personalities, that might be the case, but not this guy: it's real.

Ignoring him isn't working anymore, so it's time for a new approach. Will conservatives prove as stubborn as their lefty counterparts?


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