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Radio Host Bill Press: Glenn Beck Is A 'Ticking Time Bomb' Who Will 'Explode In The Face Of Roger Ailes'

Ben Craw | November 30, 2009, 12:11PM

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On CNN's Reliable Sources Sunday, radio talk show host Bill Press had this to say about Glenn Beck and Beck's recent use of the term 'hooking' to describe Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu's role in the health care debate:

Look, I'm a talk show host, I am totally for talk show hosts almost getting away with almost anything they say, on the radio particularly. But I'm amazed at how much Fox lets Glenn Beck get away with. I think he is a ticking time bomb, and one day he's going to explode in the face of Roger Ailes, and they're going to be sorry they gave him that television show.

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35 comments

Recommend Recommend (2)

bogglesthemind

November 30, 2009 12:32 PM

So what?

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Rich in NJ

November 30, 2009 12:34 PM

If calling the POTUS a racist wasn't considered such an explosion, I'm not sure what would be.

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tonigo

November 30, 2009 12:41 PM in reply to Rich in NJ

The "Obama is a racist" comment did receive a lot of attention from the MSM. Unfortunately, it didn't do anything in terms of removing Beck.

I think it would take something like Beck having his "Macaca moment" or (more likely) Beck suggesting something like the assassination of Obama would be a good thing for America in order for the Beck Bomb to explode all over Ailes. Would Beck be stupid enough to say something like that? Who knows.

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Rich in NJ

November 30, 2009 1:15 PM in reply to tonigo

Maybe, or what if he said something that torpedoed Ailes's candidate of choice?

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jfields

November 30, 2009 2:11 PM in reply to tonigo

While I am also disappointed that Beck has not been summarily fired, it's not really true that the "Obama is a racist" comment didn't do ANYTHING to help remove Beck.

The fact is that Beck lost a lot of his advertisers as a result of that comment (and other comments), and this does put some pressure on.

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StefanoC

November 30, 2009 2:35 PM in reply to jfields

Beck lost advertisers for sure, but the "Obama is a racist" incident had little to no impact on his ratings. For Glenn Beck to feel any backlash whatsoever, one of three things would have to happen: he'd have to A.)actively promote the assassination of the President; B.)drop the N-bomb on his radio or television show (something that even Beck isn't stupid enough to do); or C.)upon the actual assassination of Obama, it comes to light that the assassin was a Glenn Beck enthusiast. Outside of any of these scenarios, there's no way Ailes gives up his biggest cash cow. (Especially considering the vitriolic garbage that Rush Limbaugh's been able to spew all these years.)

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Cal Gal

November 30, 2009 4:42 PM in reply to StefanoC

Are you saying Beck is Faux's biggest cash cow because of his ratings? Because losing advertisers would argue he's NOT a big cash cow.

I certainly agree, tho, that he is a big cow.

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StefanoC

December 1, 2009 8:15 AM in reply to Cal Gal

I'm strictly talking about the ratings, though you're right about the advertisers. I would be interested to know if Beck's advertising revenue is less than or equal to that of O'Reilly, Hannity, and (up until last month) Dobbs.

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tonigo

November 30, 2009 5:07 PM in reply to jfields

His show lost advertisers, but Fox didn't. They just moved their commercials to air during other programs. So the "boycott" didn't hurt Fox at all.

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Jaymay

November 30, 2009 11:11 PM in reply to tonigo

Clearly, you don't understand how advertising works.

Beck's racist comments cost Fox money. Period.

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The Commenter Formerly Known as NCSteve

November 30, 2009 4:13 PM in reply to tonigo

As if that's not the implicit message of a show watched by people who talk and think in code.

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tonigo

November 30, 2009 5:19 PM in reply to The Commenter Formerly Known as NCSteve

That's why he can get away with it. Perhaps hubris will cause him to slip up and forget about using code. We can only hope.

If there ever is an assassination attempt on Obama, I do sincerely hope the MSM sheep will finally start to call Fox on the incendiary bullshit they spread. I know I know - free speech. But it doens't extend to (falsely) yelling "Fire!" in a crowded movie house.

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lyleleander

December 1, 2009 12:39 AM in reply to tonigo

Not that I think Beck is incapable of publicly calling for the assasination of Obama in a moment of extreme weakness... I have no doubt he is capable of it.

But isn't his show on tape delay? I'd have to imagine if he was having a bad day and let it slip out, it would get scrubbed and not allowed to air.

He'd have to say it at a teabagging rally or something similar, for it to really sink him.

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bracken

December 1, 2009 10:21 AM in reply to tonigo

This is called pushing the envelope. Sometimes you push too hard, and the envelope springs back. BUT NEVER ALL THE WAY.

Glenn doesn't have to worry. Did Don Imus suffer all that much? Is Limbaugh laughing all the way to the bank? Does Roger Ailes care if Glenn Beck rises or falls? There's another Don, Glenn, Rush just waiting in the wings, hoping to stake out a little more outrageous acreage.

They keep moving the goalposts, and we keep thinking, "Okay, if it goes THAT far, we're taking action."

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mycomment

November 30, 2009 12:45 PM

i suspect name-calling is not what press was referring to...

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debbiedoesnothing

November 30, 2009 7:42 PM in reply to mycomment

What's going to blow up is Beck's brain when he points a gun at his head on live TV. The man is seriously disturbed.

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fsudirectory

November 30, 2009 1:06 PM

Way to state the obvious (again * 10000)

Too bad Ailes will never listen or care until its too late, just like the heart condition hell end up with for being so fat.

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jeffgee

November 30, 2009 1:20 PM

I'd love to see Roger Ailes with the fetid bits of Glenn Beck all over his fat face. Save some for the Aus-hole.

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November 30, 2009 1:33 PM

I bet Glenn Beck is contractually obligated to blow up in Ailes' face.

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Sambam

November 30, 2009 2:27 PM

Once again the difference is that Fox isn't really a news channel but a propaganda and entertainment channel, so it's not likely Roger Ailes will ever be embarrassed by over-the-top or even wholly fabricated stories from Glenn Beck.

Considering that Lou Dobbs got away with inflammatory rhetoric and scapegoating whole sections of our society every day for years on CNN, an allegedly neutral "news" channel, Glenn Beck could still be on Fox a decade from today.

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Cujo359

November 30, 2009 3:52 PM in reply to Sambam

Too right. Fox is crying all the way to the bank.

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JNagarya

November 30, 2009 9:05 PM in reply to Cujo359

The only thing that would hurt Beck with Ailes is the loss of audience.

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lousgirl84

November 30, 2009 2:51 PM

I doubt anything will blow up in anyone's face. The people who love Glenn Beck will never believe anything bad about him no matter what he says and this is basically the same bunch of folks who watch Fox so nothing will change.

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3star2nr

November 30, 2009 3:48 PM

and we dont want this to happen because....

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zonk

November 30, 2009 4:01 PM

It boggles the mind, truly it does...

Limbaugh and Beck, the twin towers of conservoyacker lunacy, are basically FM morning zoo DJs who just got too old to 'get' new music... so this how they get put to pasture?

Large swaths of America follow guys who made their living providing you with a sundry assortment of bathroom humor and bad taste prank phone calls.

That's your modern conservative movement.

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mary from TN

November 30, 2009 4:13 PM

Beck continues to rile up the fanatical ChristianTaliban, Palinbots. One of these days he will push it too far. It's only a matter of time. While legally, they may not be able to pursue Beck for incitement, it just may be enough to get him off the air.
Maybe someone from the left will have had it and send threats to Ailes.

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Cal Gal

November 30, 2009 4:44 PM

Love them showing the clip of the Manila Medea wondering what would happen if a Faux News talking head said the samething about a Democratic figure in Washington. Let's see HER challenged on that.

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ivy22

November 30, 2009 4:47 PM

If Beck actually blows up, will it stick to the inside of my TV screen? Can that goo be cleaned off? Will it start to stink?

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fitley

November 30, 2009 4:50 PM

To deny Beck and Limbaugh a voice is to deny millions of hillbillies, racists, inbreds, goomers, goobers, hydrocephalus headed,doctor killing,scabby,smelly,grotesque,bloated,ugly,insane,bible thumping,conspiracy minded,immigration fearing hicks, a source of misinformation. Censorship is not part of the American way of life , be it freakish or not.

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Joe Monster

November 30, 2009 5:03 PM in reply to fitley

Would they be able to maintain that degree of hyperfatuous contrarity without Fox & Co? How did they handle it before?

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wellstone

November 30, 2009 6:16 PM

Angry old white men have been a staple for the media forever: See Father Coughlin and what FDR endured from the Right in the 30's.

Victimhood, bullying, bedwetting cowardice, hatred, misogyny, racism, greed, selfishness, and xenophobia make an addictive cocktail for this demo. And their enablers know it well.

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theod

November 30, 2009 7:41 PM

Maybe the public will soon tire of him in the same way it did of Morton Downey Jr. Maybe he will explode in Ailes' face, but so what? Ailes can always get a new face (literally and talent-wise) to keep the Fox Noise Machine active. Beck is a savvy enough businessman now making >$20M/year through his website, books, and tours to eventually not need a nightly television performance anyway. He can morph into a Newt Gingrich Man of Gravitas or some such thing and do occasional guest spots or fill-ins. If he's only in it for the money and influence, he'll find a way to use the media for his own ends.

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fitley

November 30, 2009 10:16 PM in reply to theod

theod's right. Fox can replace Glenn as easily as a person can get fake testicles for a neutered dog. And I mean that literally. Real nuts, fake nuts, what's the diff, they look the same.

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fitley

November 30, 2009 8:00 PM

Larry Craig exploded in the face of another Republican in an airport restroom and he didn't step down. Why pick on Glenda over this? Let him do his crazy dance. It's kinda funny you have to admit. It's like watching a monkey jerk off at the zoo. It's funny, don't tell me you don't laugh.

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doid

December 1, 2009 6:17 AM

Beck was right (for once). Landrieu demanded - and got - pork for her in constituents in return for her vote on a policy issue. US institutions pretend to put nation first, in reality, many representatives seem to only work for their own back-yard - even when that is against national interest.

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