Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
The execrable Glenn Beck, who is actually calling on his listeners to waste as much energy as they can in order to make up for the positive steps the Democratic National Convention is taking to reduce the environmental impact of the event. No, I'm not making this up:
And what we're trying to do is to erase all of the carbon offsets for the Democratic party. What we'd like to do is we would like to raise 70 million pounds of carbon. Now, this is going to take a Herculean effort, it really is. I don't know if we can do it. We can't mandate it. I can't say, hey, you've got to do this as a listener. What I'm just, I'm asking you to participate because it's for the children. You go to the website. Now, how many, how many extra miles can you pledge? Can you drive five extra miles a day? Can you take the long way home, the long way to work? Can you just warm up your car? I know it's August. Can you cool down your car? Can you get up like you do in the winter and just start your car? You know, it's hot or it's tepid when I get into my car. I would like it to be ice cold. Can you get up, start your car 15 minutes early and just let it run so it cools down. You know what I'm saying? Do your part. It's for the children. Why do you not care about our planet? Can you give me an extra day of increased garbage, maybe two, maybe three? Can you throw away some stuff that you don't really need to throw away? Can you not recycle? Can you throw your cans into the nonrecycling bin just for this week?...Can you turn your thermostat down unnecessarily? I know you probably like it at a nice 70 degrees, maybe 72 degrees. Can you turn it down to 68 just this week. Can you take an extra long shower. How many loads of laundry can you do? Can you pledge just a few extra minutes in the dryer, after your clothes are dry, just let it go a couple of extra minutes. Do you have any fluorescent light bulbs? Can you would you pledge, would you pledge just to replace one of your fluorescent light bulbs with an incandescent light bulb today, just one. That's all we're asking, just one. We're trying to raise 70 million pounds of carbon and it's not going to be easy.
Can you possibly be any more of a fucking moron? Even if you think the environmental movement overreacts and pushes policies you don't like, only someone with the IQ of a turnip and the charm of an ebola virus could possibly think that generating more garbage, using more fossil fuels, putting more carbon into the air, producing more pollution is a good thing.
Politics
Comments
But...but...Glenn Beck is a thinker. We know this because he tells us. I think this is his idea of a joke, one that makes one of those amazing points that only professional thinkers like him can make that are lost on the rest of us.
Posted by: Dave S. | August 27, 2008 9:50 AM
I call enviroPOE.
I hope.
Posted by: Jason Failes | August 27, 2008 9:50 AM
I think this is an example of Beck's hamhanded way of trying to be satirical, and as usual, failing badly.
He is neither funny nor clever nor insightful when it comes to any topic. I still have no idea why CNN cuts Beck a paycheck to do anything.
Posted by: CHV | August 27, 2008 9:52 AM
It'll be funny when some of his listeners start up their cars to warm them up, go inside to get a cup of coffee or something, and come outside to find their car stolen.
Posted by: dkw | August 27, 2008 9:58 AM
When I saw this on his site, I couldn't believe it. It's like reacting to the Adopt-A-Highway program by getting all your friends to throw more garbage on the street.
Since he thinks America should be more reliant on Middle East oil, can we call him a terrorist sympathizer and a traitor?
Posted by: Shygetz | August 27, 2008 10:35 AM
I think it's funny that when one -- one! -- actual liberal (Rachel Maddow) gets a show, everyone wrings their hands over MSNBC turning into a radical liberal network. And yet no one gives a crap that Glenn Freaking Beck has one of the only shows on Headline News.
He's a moron, and as CHV said, not even a particularly entertaining one.
Posted by: Jeff Hebert | August 27, 2008 10:37 AM
Why am I reminded of this (NSFW!) song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXTN3h-b9nU ...In particular, the rant starting at 2:45.
Posted by: Nothing Sacred | August 27, 2008 10:41 AM
Well, MSNBC is a radical liberal network - that's why they are reality based.
In all seriousness though, at least up to now I haven't seen Maddow being more crazy then Obermann in terms of style at least. It should be a good show.
Posted by: Coriolis | August 27, 2008 10:44 AM
CNN: The most trusted name in news...
Glenn Beck is alternatively either the master of the obvious, or a complete blowhard. Between him and Nancy Grace, watching CNN in the evenings is only for masochists.
Posted by: darek | August 27, 2008 10:45 AM
I suppose we could call on people to worship Satan during the Republican convention or something.
What about asking people to have gay sex during the Republican Convention? Nah - enough of that gonna be going on in the bathrooms there anyways.
Posted by: libarbarian | August 27, 2008 10:54 AM
When did Glen Beck become one of the bad guys from "Captain Planet"?
Posted by: SpotWeld | August 27, 2008 10:55 AM
He wasn't being satirical and a lot of right-wingers will probably do it. There's a history of this sort of blatantly anti-environmental behavior dating back to at least the early 1990s, when newly influential right-wing talk radio hosts and TV pundits mocked Clinton's mere suggestion that recycling be encouraged. I worked with a right-winger at the time who would deliberately remove paper from the recycling bin, put it in the trash can, and pour coffee on it so it couldn't be recycled. At about the same time, huge trucks and SUVs were beginning to be bought by right-wingers, in part as a repudiation of environmental responsibility, and they were often explicit that were doing it to anger "the liberals." Such people are well aware that they're doing harm. They don't think they're doing "a good thing" with such antics. And, given the crises we face, environmentalists have never gone "too far," certainly not far enough to warrant large numbers of people actively trying to make the situation worse.
Posted by: deang | August 27, 2008 10:58 AM
They will learn. They are simply choosing the hard route. It is a shame they will drag us onto the same difficult route.
I find it extra amusing that all the things he suggested will end up costing them more money.
Posted by: Richard Eis | August 27, 2008 11:20 AM
If we start conserving, then the environmentalists have won.
Posted by: Dunc | August 27, 2008 11:23 AM
So what Glenn Beck is trying to say is that emitting carbon into the atmosphere, and the waste that entails, is not that big of a deal. At least that's what I got out of it when trying to listen past his shouting that he is a moron.
Incidentally, I'd like the feel that I'm personally responsible for the idiot of month being called the Robert O'Brien trophy. You see, I used to post on a message board discussing the LDS faith and apologetics. Robert O'Brien also posted there as "Calculus Crusader." I agree with Ed a great deal of the time and he focuses similar subjects to me. I generally enjoy his style of communication. From time to time, I'll quote Ed's blog to express a point that I think he has nailed. Most of this was over Intelligent Design-Creationism and William Dembski, which CC is a fan of, but sometimes also Roy Moore-esque social conservativism, which CC is also a fan of. At the same time, I'd also occasionally quote devastating arguments from pandasthumb.org along with praising the site. This prompted Robert O'Brien to go after PT and Ed, revealing himself to be worthy of having an idiot of the month trophy named after him.
Posted by: Jason S. | August 27, 2008 11:27 AM
I've said it before and I'll say it again, but it's clear that the only thing that unites the conservative movement and especially the Republican party is hatred of liberals. This isn't to say that there aren't principled conservatives, but as a political movement, the only thing that holds them together is pissing off liberals, no matter how stupidly.
Posted by: Ginger Yellow | August 27, 2008 11:34 AM
Excuse my density, but what is Beck's point exactly? I don't get what he's trying to achieve with this stunt. I understood Rush trying to muck up the Democratic primary perfectly, but this? I just do not understand his point. Help!!!
Posted by: Michael Heath | August 27, 2008 11:52 AM
Glenn Beck's point goes something like this,
"Carbon emissions aren't that big of a deal. Don't let enviornmentalist kooks tell you otherwise. They are trying to get us to change our lifestyles to match their granola ideals with false claims about environmental danger. Well I, for one, won't be intimidated by them. I'm going to emit even *more* carbon and you should too. Take that liberals."
And then we're left to contemplate the fact that this man is able to dress himself, much less head a TV show.
Posted by: Jason S. | August 27, 2008 12:04 PM
Michael, I've read it twice and as near as I can tell it's about teaching those liberals that no matter what they do they cannot win because conservatives will screw them. So liberals shouldn't even bother trying.
Posted by: Abby Normal | August 27, 2008 12:06 PM
Beck doesn't have the brains god gave bastard geese in Ireland. That might be ok if he was funny, but I'm afraid this lame attempt at satire represents the extent of his wit.
Posted by: Taz | August 27, 2008 12:29 PM
I wonder if this asshole would be as eager to help his audience with the added utility expenses - and gasoline costs of course.
Posted by: ZacharySmith | August 27, 2008 12:33 PM
My dog is shitting on the carpet less than he used to, so I am now shitting on the carpet myself. So there!
Posted by: mark | August 27, 2008 12:41 PM
Wow, what a fucking idiot.
Seriously, I have no fun, ranting to words. The only two that can come to are fucking idiot.
I suppose they'll have to do.
Posted by: JStein | August 27, 2008 12:55 PM
I'm sure Glenn was joking. C'mon guy what are you doing posting this "story"?
Posted by: Mark | August 27, 2008 12:55 PM
Well you people obviously didn't listen to the whole program you took these 2 20 seconds excerpts and twisted them to your liking. He was being sarcastic here! He was talking about something similar that the Dems. were doing in trying to undermine a good conservative movement. So you go ahead and believe things blindly and without question you little sheep. Maybe one day you'll think for yourselves.
Posted by: smilidon | August 27, 2008 12:56 PM
smilidon - And maybe one day you'll learn to read. Like many people here, I stated that Beck was being sarcastic. I also stated that, like all his attempts, it was pretty lame sarcasm. Only an idiot would find Beck entertaining.
Posted by: Taz | August 27, 2008 1:03 PM
Richard Eis:
Sadly, having reality on your side and being right in the long run is of little comfort once the "long run" is now. I remember conversations I had about the government promoting energy efficiency to reduce our dependence on oil years ago. The responses were almost always something like, "Eh. The market will take care of it."
Well, yes, the market will take care of it. The market will dutifully slam the price of oil up to a painful economic kick-in-the-balls fast enough that we can't react to it and cause a lot of misery. The same people who told me that the market will take care of it are now complaining about high oil prices. Well, that's how the market takes care of a shortage of a resource with inelastic supply and demand curves. This is what you wanted and you got it. Congratulations.
I'm learning that being right about predicting that things will go to shit is not as much fun as I thought it would be.
Posted by: Troublesome Frog | August 27, 2008 1:04 PM
smilidon - And let me add that when it comes to "believe(ing) things blindly and without question" (nice bit of redundancy there, genius), no one is more sheep-like than the right wing. Witness the knee-jerk reaction to anything with a hint of environmentalism. Beck's remarks may have been satirical, but they highlight a bizarre mindset on the part of a lot of conservatives that anything "green" is bad. Some go so far as to inculcate it into their religious beliefs. "God told us to use up the planet."
Posted by: Taz | August 27, 2008 1:12 PM
It sounds like y'all (Liberal, Conservative) hate each other quite a bit.
It looks like you only call each other names and don't pause to consider what others are saying.
America: the land of knee"jerks."
Posted by: Jerryan | August 27, 2008 1:15 PM
I don't think it was a joke. A few months ago a few morons suggested a Carbon Belch Day.
Posted by: oku | August 27, 2008 1:40 PM
I'm a little surprised Beck would make it so easy to compare Republican attitudes about the environment to their attitudes about the government. The reached the point some time ago where they are ideologically compelled to attempt to destroy both, and have succeeded quite well.
Posted by: Noturus | August 27, 2008 1:42 PM
Has brain death become a prerequisite to be a pundit in the United States?
Posted by: eeuropean2000 | August 27, 2008 2:21 PM
SpotWeld:
Yes, that's exactly what it looks like. It's like the entire Republican party is turning into this freakish cartoon caricature of itself, and they don't even notice how ridiculous they look.
I used to think the trouble with Captain Planet was that the villains weren't realistic. No one is really out to destroy the world just for the sake of doing so. At best a lack of caring about the consequences was the real problem. Looten Plunder came closest to a realistic motivation, he was just out for money and didn't give a damn what he destroyed in the process. But now I see these right-wing nutjobs, the "when the last tree dies, Jesus will return" madness, this reveling in being mindlessly wasteful, and they really do look like real-life Captain Planet villains! It's like they've made a conscious choice to destroy the planet just for fun, even knowing they'll hurt themselves in the process. People like that really do exist. No SANE person would behave like this, but then it's obvious these AREN'T sane people.
Posted by: phantomreader42 | August 27, 2008 2:28 PM
Well, this makes sense if you're one of those millenialist morons like James Watt (remember him?), who think that using up the earth's resources will bring on the Rapture.
Posted by: Bill Poser | August 27, 2008 2:56 PM
I'm sorry, but even though it would be entirely unconstitutional. if I became President my first act as leader of the free world would be to ban Glenn Beck from the airwaves for unrelenting and utter stupidity.
And the nation would rejoice.
Posted by: tacitus | August 27, 2008 3:30 PM
Man, I don't remember CNN being like this 5 years ago. What happened? Things are getting scary. I keep being reminded of that movie I just watched called "Idiocracy", which lampooned the entire customer base of Fox News, and now it seems, CNN as well. That's what we're becoming.
Posted by: dave | August 27, 2008 3:39 PM
And yet conservatives unceasingly scream "Think of the children!"
Posted by: Sadie Morrison | August 27, 2008 3:47 PM
just FYI I am atheist so the "God told us to" thing isn't an option. I'm glad to see name calling is still a revered commodity in the liberals these days. I know you (the author) said he was being sarcastic I was referring to the people in the comments that clearly only took what they wanted from the article. Besides wtf is wrong with trying to be funny? O and now i see you have people who want to ban radio personalities if they get in office. 1 more reason to be a libertarian. he obviously is pretty popular because he has more listeners than any NPR show. NPR wouldn't even be around if not for the millions of tax dollars wasted on it every year because they can't get advertising because they have no listener base. No one listens to that crap and they are way extreme but I guess you overlook that right.
Posted by: smilidon | August 27, 2008 3:51 PM
Hey... we have a Glenn Beck fan visiting us!
LOL! NPR extreme? And what part of "National Public Radio" don't you understand. They don't seek advertising.
In a nation where televangelists and snake-oil salesmen can become multi-millionaires almost overnight it comes as no surprises that Glenn Beck can make a good living in America.
If nothing else, he proves that stupidity sells.
Posted by: tacitus | August 27, 2008 4:04 PM
Urg -- I meant to say that NPR doesn't *sell* advertising.
Posted by: tacitus | August 27, 2008 4:05 PM
phantomreader42: It's like the entire Republican party is turning into this freakish cartoon caricature of itself....
...[I]t's obvious these AREN'T sane people.
And yet, they somehow win elections. I can't figure it out either.
Posted by: Chiroptera | August 27, 2008 4:21 PM
I'm not sure this tops Rush Limbaugh saying we - the U.S.A. - should consume more resources (and generate more pollution) because Michael Phelps eats 8-10 thousand calories a day.
Posted by: Hume's Ghost | August 27, 2008 4:26 PM
Below the transcript he has something about "Going Green = Killing Bats." Apparently because they're in his belfry.
This is really going to play well with the financially strapped Wal-Mart conservatives who are likely trying to choose between driving their cars or turning on a lamp.
There is something seriously wrong when I am tempted to hug Glenn Beck. (Bleh.) Go, Glenn! Make an ass of yourself. This is a television moment to go down in history so that future generations can see how the human dinosaurs formerly known as the GOP went extinct. I just wish we could harnass that windbag power!
If anyone viewer is so stupid as to follow his advice (and I'll probably be proven wrong, but I find that hard to believe), I hope they feel really satisfied with themselves this winter, when they want that energy/$$ back.
Posted by: Kristine | August 27, 2008 4:47 PM
Ha ha, very f*cking funny. You see, Glenn Beck is the biggest satirical visionary ever! That shmoe Swift only wrote about eating orphans to alleviate starvation, but Glenn Beck actually got people to set up the ovens and throw the little f*ckers in! See, it's funny because Glenn Beck would never REALLY want people to eat orphans, he just prompted them to do it for humor's sake.
Posted by: Shygetz | August 27, 2008 4:57 PM
He's not being sarcastic. Conservation is "bad for business," you know. It's the same as airing a commercial for this/that oil/electric company. I wouldn't be surprised if Exxon officials "suggested" this tactic to Glenn. (Remember Bush telling us to shop away terrorism.)
Besides, Beck and the cretins who prop him up are probably brain-dead enough to think that the Democrats will call for some similar, embarrassingly puerile action to counteract the moralizing at the RNC. (Yeah, let's Democrats have abortions en masse! Oh, I forgot to get pregnant. Drat.) These dorks don't have any identity apart from being not-liberals.
Posted by: Kristine | August 27, 2008 5:11 PM
Once again, Stephen Colbert proves that Poe's Law applies to right wing political pundits just as well, if not better, than it applies to creationists. On last night's Colber Report, he mocked the "Green" (his finger quotes) policies of the Democratic Convention and vowed to offset them by cooking styrofoam cups in his microwave for the duration of the convention.
Except when Colbert does it, it's obviously satire - and clever satire at that. Beck clearly means it, as much as he means any of the vitriolic idiocy he spews: Like all the wingnuttiest pundits and personalities in the media, he's a pathologically attention-hungry, tantrum-throwing twit with all the emotional maturity and intellectual insight one might expect in a toddler. He doesn't need or deserve a national media platform, he needs a stern talking to, a "time out," and a nap.
Posted by: G Felis | August 27, 2008 5:44 PM
"I suppose we could call on people to worship Satan during the Republican convention or something.
What about asking people to have gay sex during the Republican Convention? Nah - enough of that gonna be going on in the bathrooms there anyways. "
I think the equivalent would actually involve not cheating on your taxes; being civil to African-Americans and volunterring at yoru local homeless shelter.
Posted by: Ian Gould | August 27, 2008 7:15 PM
"just FYI I am atheist so the "God told us to" thing isn't an option."
Well, "Ayn Rand told us to" isn't any more valid here, buddy.
Posted by: Nothing Sacred | August 27, 2008 7:26 PM
"Besides wtf is wrong with trying to be funny? O and now i see you have people who want to ban radio personalities if they get in office. 1 more reason to be a libertarian. he obviously is pretty popular because he has more listeners than any NPR show."
Similidon: Popularity don't mean shit. Betcha Americans consume more greasy McBurgers than bananas each day. That doesn't make the burgers good for you.
Posted by: Delaware Dave | August 27, 2008 7:37 PM
Haha, I love Glenn Beck...
Posted by: Darren | August 27, 2008 9:08 PM
I can honestly say I never watched him and I can honestly say I never watched him for the wrong reasons. As shallow and prejudicial as this is for me to think, the first time I saw him, I just hated way he looked. I wanted to beat him up. Or, at the very least, I wanted to cheer as I watched some other bully beat him up. I know, it's bad for me to wish evil on anyone, but I'd sure like to see him in a prison cell with Bubba and Tyrone.
Posted by: Huck Mucus | August 27, 2008 9:30 PM
Unfortunately, they've invested every last ounce of their sanity into this "identity."
Posted by: Sadie Morrison | August 27, 2008 9:38 PM
Thank goodness there are more options than that!
Posted by: Gretchen | August 27, 2008 10:17 PM
smilidon-
The only "good conservative movement" takes place on a toilet.
Posted by: Mark C | August 27, 2008 11:26 PM
smilidon - Let me get this straight. In your first post you call the people here "sheep" and state that they can't think for themselves, and in your second post you whine about liberal "name calling". You certainly have the conservative (lack of) logic down.
Posted by: Taz | August 28, 2008 10:06 AM
'When did Glen Beck become one of the bad guys from "Captain Planet"?'
When Beck had on Jonah Goldberg to promote Liberal Fascism they talked about how Captain Planet was liberal fascist propaganda. Seriously.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0802/22/gb.01.html
Posted by: Hume's Ghost | August 28, 2008 2:28 PM
U Rock Glenn, we're burning incandescent light bulbs, driving our car, you name it. We're not going to be taken over by a bunch of idiots like Al Gore and his twisted thinking. He turns me GREEN. Alaska has been cold all summer, temps in Anchorage way below normal. Do you find any info in the news, NOT. Gotta support the socialist agenda on the mainstream media. Most of us are a little smarter than that. Al Gore inherited great riches from his father and Occidental Oil. Do you ever hear that? Now he's making a play for your money through green hedge funds. Time to wakeup America, the goal is to tax you more.
Posted by: dktagirl | August 28, 2008 9:30 PM
U Rock Glenn, we're burning incandescent light bulbs, driving our car, you name it. We're not going to be taken over by an idiot like Al Gore and his twisted thinking. He turns me GREEN. Alaska has been cold all summer, temps in Anchorage way below normal. Do you find any info in the news, NOT. Gotta support the socialist agenda on the mainstream media. Some of us are a little smarter than that. Al Gore inherited great riches from his father and Occidental Oil. Do you ever hear that? Now he's making a play for your money through green hedge funds. Time to wake up America, the goal is to tax you more.
Posted by: dktagirl | August 28, 2008 9:31 PM
dktagirl - clearly a certifiable moron - writes:
You forgot something in your argument - the part that logically leads to the conclusion that therefore it's a good thing to generate more waste, more pollution and more carbon in the atmosphere. What a fucking idiot.
Posted by: Ed Brayton | August 28, 2008 10:16 PM
To make his point more effectively, Beck should encourage Republicans to carry out his suggestions at the Republican convention. It would serve as a great educational tool for America, and especially for those in the host city; Leave it a steaming pile festering garbage. You know, kind of like we've done with the planet.
Niether political party is perfect, but then, at least, even stupid people could see the general direction in which the parties would like to take us.
Yes, let's paint the Republican Party with Beck, they way they like to paint the Democrats with some wingnut of the moment.
Posted by: Huck Mucus | August 29, 2008 9:18 AM