Glenn Beck Declares War on the Progressive Movement

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Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 05:04 pm

On his radio show today, Glenn Beck took his tactics to a whole new level when he announced that he has declared war on the progressive movement. Beck said, “We’re declaring war, and not on Obama, but on the progressive movement.” Beck, much like al-Qaeda, has now declared war on American citizens.

Here is the audio courtesy of Media Matters:

Beck said, “Remember last week, I told you these are the times that try men’s souls. We’re declaring war, and not on Obama, but on the progressive movement, and when you declare war on these people, it is going to be till the last person standing. These are revolutionaries, very, very bad movement.”

Besides the political strategy that Glenn Beck is using here, which is to demonize the progressive movement in order to make his own tea party movement more legitimate, Beck is also tapping into an old time stream of American conservative thought.

Liberal and progressives are dangerous, because they try to change things. Conservatives always believe that things were better way back when. The common frame that use is that things were better when they children. Conservatives are afraid of progress, because that means change, and change represents another step away from the, “good old days.”

The conservative definition of reform or progress is always based on looking backwards. Glenn Beck is playing on the conservatives’ fear of progress, and natural need to always feel persecuted and have an enemy. This is actually a very clever political maneuver by Beck designed to both elevate him and his cause. Progressives should that this seriously because this is the direction that Beck is trying to move the GOP towards.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

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