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Why Did Beck Lie About George Washington Inaugural Address?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Media, Partisan Hacks

Listen, it’s not like I’m necessarily surprised, but to make such a dumb lie?

Here’s what he said…

“I have been going to Mt. Vernon,” he explained. Holding out his hands for emphasis, he declared with emotion, “I went to the National Archives, and I held the first inaugural address written in his own hand by George Washington.”

So what really happened?

Well, he was near George Washington’s inaugural address…but that’s about it…

Beck did receive a special VIP tour of the archives, arranged by an as-yet unidentified member of Congress. During that tour, he did get a peek inside the “legislative vault,” which isn’t open to ordinary visitors. But Archives spokeswoman Susan Cooper insists that Beck didn’t lay a finger on any precious documents, much less George Washington’s inaugural address. That would be a major violation of policy. “Those kinds of treasures are only handled by specially trained archival staff,” she explains. Cooper acknowledges that someone at the archives did show the document to Beck, but that was the extent of it.

Examples like this just makes me more and more convinced that while these folks are getting plenty of attention now, this is not a sustainable path. They’re obviously liars and will say and do anything to get people to pay attention…which will ultimately result in the the wrong type of attention and their credibility imploding.

And that’s why I put that picture of one of the rally attendees up on this post. Not because I want to pick on her, but because folks like her actually need to be educated about what people like Beck are doing to them. These media personalities don’t really care about the country. And yes, I will say that I think Beck is pretty much craven and self-serving here. Because when you so easily lie to tens of thousands of people about something like the above…on the anniversary of MLK jr’s historic speech…and on the exact same spot…it’s not hard to draw a straight line between the lie and the motives for that lie. Glenn Beck cares about Glenn Beck being famous…and that’s about it.

But hey, feel free to disagree and convince me otherwise. I double dare you.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 and is filed under Media, Partisan Hacks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

17 Responses to “Why Did Beck Lie About George Washington Inaugural Address?”

  1. Bonnie Says:
    September 2nd, 2010 at 6:08 am

    You’re right. I’m sure you saw the article in Forbes Magazine in the spring. Beck openly admitted he’s only in it for the money.

  2. Tillyosu Says:
    September 2nd, 2010 at 7:28 am

    Oh give. me. a break. Look I’m no Beck fan, I think the guy is an idiot. But this post makes him look moderate and logical by comparison.

    You have no conclusive proof that Beck lied in his speech. You have the word of this woman, which you gladly accept without skepticism. I mean, if it’s her word vs. Beck’s, she must be telling the truth right? Because Beck is a LIAR (since you don’t agree with him politically), and because she was there…or was she? Oh well, no matter, because you need this assumption to indict an ENTIRE POLITICAL MOVEMENT as liars, and predict their impending implosion. Sheesh. I don’t know about anyone else, but to me that falls into the category of “rhetoric, bomb-throwing, and partisan hackery.”

    But I wonder, Justin, when Obama lied about the march in Selma, Alabama leading to his conception (a demonstrable lie, unlike here), what conclusions did you draw about him, and the people who support him? What conclusions do you draw now? After all, if you are truly an independent who is uninfluenced by partisanship, your conclusions should be the same right?

    So which is it? Will you condemn Obama, or admit your partisanship?

  3. Chris Says:
    September 2nd, 2010 at 8:24 am

    Beck is a complete liar and it would be extremely easy to go through his years of tv and years of radio to pick out hundreds if not thousands of examples. Here I have an example at hand:
    http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201009010042

    I’m still floored by what a douche he is.

    The entire political movement aren’t liars, they are misinformed as to the intentions of those leading them.

    And Justin, being a moderate, has too high of expectations of people. This crap isn’t going to end because there are huge powers behind it, mostly being News Corp and the Koch brothers. They’ve been working up to this for the past 30 years.

  4. Tully Says:
    September 2nd, 2010 at 8:35 am

    Heh. Echo what Tillyosu said (and I never thought I’d type those words).

  5. Chris Says:
    September 2nd, 2010 at 9:27 am

    We also have logic, it doesn’t logically make sense that they would let people handle super old, and super important documents.

    But I know conservatives don’t let logic get in the way.

  6. JimS Says:
    September 2nd, 2010 at 1:59 pm

    But I wonder, Justin, when Obama lied about the march in Selma, Alabama leading to his conception (a demonstrable lie, unlike here), what conclusions did you draw about him, and the people who support him? What conclusions do you draw now? After all, if you are truly an independent who is uninfluenced by partisanship, your conclusions should be the same right?

    So which is it? Will you condemn Obama, or admit your partisanship?

    Snopes says it’s not as clear as your rant makes it. Not surprising for a Becky.

  7. Tillyosu Says:
    September 2nd, 2010 at 2:53 pm

    Actually, JimS, why don’t we look at Obama’s exact quote:

    “There was something stirring across the country BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENED IN SELMA, ALABAMA, because some folks are willing to march across a bridge. So they got together and Barack Obama Jr. was born. So don’t tell me I don’t have a claim on Selma, Alabama. Don’t tell me I’m not coming home to Selma, Alabama.”

    The statement is demonstrably false, and I’m just waiting for Justin to condemn him and all who support him. (No, I’m not holding my breath)

    Oh, and if you had bothered to read my entire post, you would see that I’m not a “Becky.” I don’t watch or listen to him, and I don’t particularly like him. Not because I think he’s a liar, just because I think he’s a melodramatic idiot.

    Next time, why don’t you do your homework instead of using Snopes.com as a proxy for research.

  8. Trescml Says:
    September 2nd, 2010 at 3:30 pm

    Many people don’t care about casual lies anymore. This type of overstating isn’t going to dent Beck’s popularity one bit and I don’t think there will be a long term impact either. A lot of people are scared and fed up and a few exaggerations isn’t going to change people’s opinion. Given the polarizing environment, Beck would have to do something on the order of giving money to Hamas to have people move away in droves. Look at Michele Bachmann and the stuff she says and she keeps getting support.

  9. WickedWays Says:
    September 2nd, 2010 at 5:34 pm

    “‘”‘They’re obviously liars and will say and do anything to get people to pay attention…which will ultimately result in the the wrong type of attention and their credibility implodin”"”"

    Yep.

    Pretty much like the left did to George W. Bush during his presidency. The proof is in the pudding.

    When Obama took office, all of those evil, evil policies were kept in place by Barak Obama.

    Liars all. Everyone of them. Truth is no longer even recognizable in politics or in blogs about politics.

  10. JimS Says:
    September 2nd, 2010 at 6:16 pm

    Actually as a good Becky, you apparently have a problem getting things quite right. The actual quote is not what you pulled out of some unknown site, probably the same one that Snopes pointed out as having it wrong.

    It’s because they marched that we elected councilmen, congressmen. It is because they marched that we have Artur Davis and Keith Ellison. It is because they marched that I got the kind of education I got, a law degree, a seat in the Illinois senate and ultimately in the United States senate.

    It is because they marched that i stand before you here today. I was mentioning at the Unity Breakfast this morning, my — at the Unity Breakfast this morning that my debt is even greater than that because not only is my career the result of the work of the men and women who we honor here today. My very existence might not have been possible had it not been for some of the folks here today. I mentioned at the Unity Breakfast that a lot of people been asking, well, you know, your father was from Africa, your mother, she’s a white woman from Kansas. I’m not sure that you have the same experience.

    And I tried to explain, you don’t understand. You see, my Grandfather was a cook to the British in Kenya. Grew up in a small village and all his life, that’s all he was — a cook and a house boy. And that’s what they called him, even when he was 60 years old. They called him a house boy. They wouldn’t call him by his last name.

    Sound familiar?

    He had to carry a passbook around because Africans in their own land, in their own country, at that time, because it was a British colony, could not move about freely. They could only go where they were told to go. They could only work where they were told to work.

    Yet something happened back here in Selma, Alabama. Something happened in Birmingham that sent out what Bobby Kennedy called, “Ripples of hope all around the world.” Something happened when a bunch of women decided they were going to walk instead of ride the bus after a long day of doing somebody else’s laundry, looking after somebody else’s children. When men who had PhD’s decided that’s enough and we’re going to stand up for our dignity. That sent a shout across oceans so that my grandfather began to imagine something different for his son. His son, who grew up herding goats in a small village in Africa could suddenly set his sights a little higher and believe that maybe a black man in this world had a chance.

    What happened in Selma, Alabama and Birmingham also stirred the conscience of the nation. It worried folks in the White House who said, “You know, we’re battling Communism. How are we going to win hearts and minds all across the world? If right here in our own country, John, we’re not observing the ideals set fort in our Constitution, we might be accused of being hypocrites.” So the Kennedy’s decided we’re going to do an air lift. We’re going to go to Africa and start bringing young Africans over to this country and give them scholarships to study so they can learn what a wonderful country America is.

    This young man named Barack Obama got one of those tickets and came over to this country. He met this woman whose great great-great-great-grandfather had owned slaves; but she had a good idea there was some craziness going on because they looked at each other and they decided that we know that the world as it has been it might not be possible for us to get together and have a child. There was something stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Alabama, because some folks are willing to march across a bridge. So they got together and Barack Obama Jr. was born. So don’t tell me I don’t have a claim on Selma, Alabama. Don’t tell me I’m not coming home to Selma, Alabama.

    I’m here because somebody marched. I’m here because you all sacrificed for me. I stand on the shoulders of giants. I thank the Moses generation; but we’ve got to remember, now, that Joshua still had a job to do. As great as Moses was, despite all that he did, leading a people out of bondage, he didn’t cross over the river to see the Promised Land. God told him your job is done. You’ll see it. You’ll be at the mountain top and you can see what I’ve promised. What I’ve promised to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. You will see that I’ve fulfilled that promise but you won’t go there.

    We’re going to leave it to the Joshua generation to make sure it happens. There are still battles that need to be fought; some rivers that need to be crossed. Like Moses, the task was passed on to those who might not have been as deserving, might not have been as courageous, find themselves in front of the risks that their parents and grandparents and great grandparents had taken. That doesn’t mean that they don’t still have a burden to shoulder, that they don’t have some responsibilities. The previous generation, the Moses generation, pointed the way. They took us 90% of the way there. We still got that 10% in order to cross over to the other side. So the question, I guess, that I have today is what’s called of us in this Joshua generation? What do we do in order to fulfill that legacy; to fulfill the obligations and the debt that we owe to those who allowed us to be here today?

    In other words, let’s put it in its full context and realize that, just as Snopes said, while the speech was jumbled, calling it an outright lie is asinine. In addition it is hardly only this incident that shows Beck to be a liar. Here’s one lie. Another one. Oh, what a shocker. Yet another lie. They are numerous enough to not be hard to find and some of them are real doozies. Yet we are supposed to take his word over someone who is trusted with caring for some of our most valuable historical documents. Nah, I believe her before believing Beck.

  11. lewis Says:
    September 2nd, 2010 at 6:49 pm

    Beck learned this from David Barton who lies almost always about this sort of thing. It is an attempt to establish themselves as true scholars and experts on US history.

  12. SpkTruth2Pwr Says:
    September 2nd, 2010 at 9:17 pm

    Beck demonstrates his self-serving nature all the time. Most recently, he did so by having this event on the same day as the MLK I have a dream speech anniversary when he KNEW it rubbed some Americans the wrong way.

    I posit this because earlier in August, when he was talking about the mosque in NYC debate, he was talking about how it is unwise to build the mosque when you KNOW it is inflammatory and disrespectful to people.

    I found it interesting to see how his advice on not stepping on toes in order to exercise a “right” only applies when other people are exercising rights that run contradictory to his own beliefs.

  13. Jim Satterfield Says:
    September 2nd, 2010 at 9:51 pm

    The truthiness of Beck.

  14. Chris Says:
    September 3rd, 2010 at 9:18 am

    Why are we arguing about Beck being a liar, we all know he is. Well those of us who aren’t completely delusional.

  15. lewis Says:
    September 3rd, 2010 at 11:44 pm

    There is no argument every one agrees.

  16. Jim Satterfield Says:
    September 6th, 2010 at 1:11 pm

    Except Tillyosu and Tully. That’s why the conversation went on.

  17. political forum Says:
    October 4th, 2010 at 10:53 pm

    I don’t think Beck’s ratings will ever go down and his influence will probably remain roughly the same. Beck’s audience is roughly the same as Limbaugh’s. People like that don’t care that the host is a college dropout who admittedly couldn’t even get good grades in a dance class. They will always believe the the Democrats are communists who are trying to surrender the country to Al Qaeda. The center is not listening to Beck now and they won’t later.

    Slarti

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