Brody's Scribbles... Media Matters' Ben Dimiero: Glenn Beck's Dangerous Game

Ben Dimiero graduated from Middlebury College in May 2006 with a bachelor's degree in English. He has previously worked as an intern at Focus Features. He began working at Media Matters for America as an intern in August 2007 and is currently serving as Senior New Media Associate.

By Ben Dimiero (Washington DC) July 31 | On July 18, an apparently deranged ex-convict named Byron Williams packed his truck with guns and allegedly set out to kill employees at both the ACLU and the Tides Foundation in the hopes that his actions would "start a revolution." Williams' mother indicated that her son was angry because of his unemployment and "what's happening to our country." According to her, Williams watched television news and was upset by "the way Congress was railroading through all these left-wing agenda items." Sound familiar?

While the ACLU has long been a bogeyman for conservatives, the Tides Foundation is far more obscure and hasn't earned nearly as much attention from the right-wing media. There is, however, one media figure who has made the little-known Tides Foundation a focal point of his attacks: Fox News' Glenn Beck. 

Beck has repeatedly demonized the Tides Foundation on his Fox News program - referencing the organization at least thirty times by my count. [Media Matters] Beck often includes Tides in his bizarre conspiracy theories, and has referred to them as a "shady organization" that is a "major source of revenue for some of the most extreme groups on the left" and wants to "warp your children's brains." 

In the wake of the attempted attack, Beck has stood by his attacks on Tides, going so far as to brag about "turning the light of day" on Tides while also pointing to their inclusion on his blackboard as "the first time that I really realized its success."

Beck's denial of any responsibility for this incident is complicated by his almost-daily use of overtly violent rhetoric. Among many, many other examples, Beck has:

• Suggested Obama is pushing America toward civil war and deliberately "trying to destroy the country."
• Capped two weeks of violent fear mongering about progressives by warning that when their attempts at a "soft revolution" fail, eventually progressives "just start shooting people."
• Said the "people around the president" support "armed insurrection" and "bombing."
• Repeatedly insinuated that the Obama administration will kill him.
• Used a quote from Jefferson to launch into a warning about coming "rivers of blood."
• Compared himself to "Israeli Nazi hunters" and announced that "to the day I die, I am going to be a progressive hunter."
• Included in his advice to Liberty University grads that they should "shoot to kill," and that graduates "have a responsibility" to speak out, or "blood...will be on our hands."
• Informed viewers that the "world is on edge" and said that "those who survive" will "stand in the truth" and "listen."
• Said that some progressive groups don't have "a problem with blood in the streets."

And just yesterday, Beck claimed the present day will seem like good times "when we're behind barbed wire and just eating rock soup."

Despite the fact that he routinely suggests progressives are going to kill or imprison his viewers and listeners, Beck tries to thread the needle by urging his followers not to resort to violence.

As Media Matters' Matt McLaughlin asked this week, what does it say about Beck's rhetoric and his audience that he feels it necessary to tell his followers not to kill people?