Stephen Colbert in the Zeitgeist: The Glenn Beck Takedown Edition
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Stephen’s smackdown of Glenn Beck in Tuesday night’s show sent quite a few ripples out into cyberspace yesterday. Beck’s emotional weeping over his 9.12 Project apparently got under the skin of plenty of people who enjoyed the thorough skewering that Stephen gave him. Here’s a round-up of some of the reactions from around the web (all internal links omitted).
- Stephen Colbert Rips Apart Glenn Beck: Building His Career on 9/11 (Video) – Huffingtonpost.com:
“Stephen Colbert ripped apart Fox News host (and New York Times cover boy) Glenn Beck Tuesday night, mocking his 9-12 project, meant to conjure the spirit of compassion and comaraderie Americans felt on September 12, 2001.
Colbert went on to mock Beck’s now infamous tendency to cry, and to launch his own “democratic experiment, the 10-31 project.”
“It will be scare and balanced!” he joked.”
- Colbert Went Where the New York Times Feared to Tread on Glenn Beck – Greg Mitchell on Huffingtonpost.com:
“Colbert … expressed (albeit with his usual twinkle and silly Halloween coda) all of the passion, and skill, shown by Stewart when he went after Cramer. He was not just foolin’ around.
Something obviously got to him. Perhaps it was a part left out of the Times’ piece, which covered Beck’s new “9/12″ movement without mentioning that Beck had attacked 9/11 families and said he was sick of hearing about it and them. The punch line: ‘The 9-12 project is not for families directly affected by 9/11 — just people building their careers on it.’”
- Colbert Tearily Unveils his new “1031 Project” – Crooksandliars.com:
“As the folks at “Morning Joe” were sharing guffaws over Glenn Beck’s keerazee schtick the other day, some of them were speculating that Stephen Colbert might have to give up his parody-of-a-right-wing-talker act, since Beck had reached a level of self-parody that Colbert couldn’t hope to match. (Hee hee. – Ed.)
Au contraire.
Obviously, Beck is quickly becoming the most flavorful grist for Colbert’s satirical mill. Witness the “1031 Project” unveiled last night — inspired by Beck’s “912 Project” lunacy.”
- Glenn Beck’s Insanity Matched by Stephen Colbert – Gawker.com:
“Insanely weepy Glenn Beck will probably cry over what it means for our country, but Stephen Colbert’s thorough Tuesday-night takedown of the Fox News Host is, in one way, a compliment.
If nothing else, all this attention from Comedy Central’s designated right wing newswatcher marks Beck as, in his own very twisted way, a rising star.”
- Colbert Weeps for Glenn Beck’s Sanity – Rawstory.com:
“Colbert helpfully explained that Beck is attempting to get us to move “beyond the fear we felt on 9/11 to the compassion we felt on 9/12. And hopefully, we’ll all eventually get to the way Glenn felt on 9/9 of 2005.”
On that date, Beck said, “You know, it took me about a year to start hating the 9/11 victims’ families. … When I see a 9/11 victim family on television or whatever, I’m just like, ‘Oh, shut up!’ I’m so sick of them because they’re always complaining.”
“I’m sorry,” Beck apologized during another of his bouts of weeping. “I just love my country — and I fear for it.”
This heartfelt declaration choked Colbert up as well. “I’m sorry,” he gasped. “I just love Glenn Beck’s sanity — and I fear for it.”
Colbert then announced his own forthcoming 10.31 Project — which apparently involves ghosts, witches, jack o’lanterns, and bats in the belfry.”
- Stephen Colbert: “I’m Sorry. I Just Love Glenn Beck’s Sanity, and I Fear for It.” – Bravenewfilms.org:
After relentlessly mocking Beck’s War Room a few weeks ago with the “Doom Bunker,” Colbert was at it again last night, crying phony tears of patriotism for Beck’s phony tears of patriotism. Watch him counter Beck’s asinine 9/12 Project with The 10/31 Project. We’re going to need sugary treats and costumes to surround the “them” who are watching us!”
That’s just a sampling of the reactions. Stories and the video of the segment were also featured prominently in The Nation and EW.com’s Popwatch.
Glenn Beck does seem to be Stephen’s favorite new piñata. When the target of your satire practically hands you the material ready for use, it’s hard to resist. I’ll be waiting to see if this develops further, and if Beck has any response to it.
(h/t Ms. Interpreted)
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13 Comments
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:57 am
Oh, this is great! I was wondering if there had been any mainstream attention paid to Stephen’s *magnificent* satire of this so readily made-fun of Fox icon. I agree, Beck is practically handing Stephen material to work with! I thought it was great. I’m not very fond of Mr. Beck, but I’m very grateful for all the kickass material he’s giving Stephen!
p.s. I’m assuming this is the new Zeitgeist feature? I like it! It gives you a snapshot of all the articles, it’s really handy. =D
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April 2nd, 2009 at 9:47 am
Ahh, the Doom Bunker. I was hoping that would come up somewhere — probably some of the best writing for the show thus far this year. Methinks I’ll have to go relive that hilarity right now. : ) Nice round-up!
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April 2nd, 2009 at 10:56 am
This is great! Long live Stephen and his hilarious TRUTH!
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April 2nd, 2009 at 10:57 am
Glenn Greenwald weighed in briefly on the segment, too. I’m always slighly gleeful when he mentions Jon or Stephen, because he’s such a bright guy and because his analysis is generally so impressive. I quite love it when the people I hold in high regard seem to approve of one another, as well.
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April 2nd, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Greenwald’s an interesting read. When he sticks to his facts and cuts down on his how-many-ways-can-i-call-you-a-sycophant rants, he’s definitely very informative. I just think he gets carried away sometimes.
Back on topic, Stephen bringing up Beck’s words on the 9/11 families was absolutely deadly.
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April 2nd, 2009 at 3:48 pm
He can get pretty heated on the subject of media “access” and unsourced quotes, I grant you, but what I adore about him is that he cites the heck out of his posts, so you’re being very openly invited — almost challenged — to follow up on your own. I respect that more than I can say, particularly in this age of “truthiness”.
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April 3rd, 2009 at 10:01 pm
Greenwald, along with Amy Goodman, appeared on Bill Moyers Journal tonight to discuss their Izzy awards. They spoke briefly about what Stewart and Colbert represent in media. You can watch the interview at http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04032009/watch2.html
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April 4th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Love those three. Such a treat to see them all together, and how much cooler that they were talking about Jon and Stephen!
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April 4th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Excellent interview, thanks for posting about it!
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April 2nd, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Love it. Keep up the hard work.
My Dad has listened to glenn beck for a while on the radio and he says he wasn’t this crazy on radio.
Crying really.
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April 2nd, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Yeah Stephen ripped him a new one.
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April 3rd, 2009 at 7:46 am
Have you actually watched Glenn Beck for more than this few minutes. I admit he sometimes gets a little emotional (some might call it crazy)but that is because he actually cares. His comments about the 9/11 victims families is being taken out of context. He said that about maybe 10 of them that were over saturating the airwaves and continuously harping on their need to be the focus of attention. (the “poor me” mentality) Please put stuff into context for your readers. Truth is that Glenn even says himself not to just blindly follow anything he’s saying, read for yourself what the founding fathers said and you judge. It’s amazing what happens when you educate yourself. (which you should try doing about your subject before you cast that stone)
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April 3rd, 2009 at 8:34 pm
I can’t believe some of the emotions that this bit has stirred up in the viewing population. Many people really were touched by Beck’s sentimental display and are willing to acquiesce to his proposal. But I honestly can’t see how people aren’t put off by the shroud of mystery that surrounds the “projects” that will apparently take Beck a grand 6 months to complete. It really does make me fear for the future and I do fear for Glenn’s sanity as well. If taking matters into our own [the people's] hands is really what needs to be done (which I don’t think it is- I don’t think things have fallen to that point just yet) , I’m not sure Beck is going about it in the best manner. I hope people show some discretion…
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