Posted on 09/07/2009 5:04:24 AM PDT by kingattax
Mount Vernon, Wash. -- As dozens of companies pledge not to advertise on Glenn Beck's Fox News Channel show after he called President Barack Obama a racist, and as his controversial on-air behavior draws more scrutiny, the mayor of Mount Vernon, Wash., is presenting him with a key to the city.
Mayor Bud Norris announced that Beck, who grew up in Mount Vernon, will be on hand to accept the award Sept. 26, which Norris will also proclaim "Glenn Beck Day." Tickets for the Saturday evening event are $25.
Beck's advertiser abandonment has snowballed since he called Obama a racist on July 28, adding that he believed the president has "a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture."
Which makes Norris' timing provocative, to say the least. Critics say his announcement amounts to an endorsement of that and other extreme views of the television and nationally syndicated radio commentator -- which have also included ruminations on killing filmmaker Michael Moore and poisoning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as well as barking like a dog over a Hillary Rodham Clinton audio clip and perpetuating the "death panel" claim about Obama's proposed health-care reform.
"That's certainly their preference if they choose to view it that way," Norris said Wednesday. "This isn't about his political views. It's about recognizing someone who has a history with our city."
Norris, mayor since 2004, said he had been planning the Beck event for "six months to a year." Beck also has a Seattle speaking engagement that day.
Not only was it Norris' idea alone, but when he asked City Council members if they wanted tickets, six of the seven declined.
And if people view it as support for Beck's views, Norris said, "there are a lot of his that I definitely agree with, and there are some things he said that I disagree with."
Specifically, what about the Obama "racist" one? "That's not something that I would have said, but he's entitled to his opinion."
Why hold the event in the first place?
"Because I think he's a person who's gained a level in his profession of national recognition and notoriety, and it's nice to recognize a native son that has done that well," Norris said.
According to Beck's Web site, he began his radio career in Seattle when he was 13 and worked as a disc jockey at various radio stations around the country after graduating from Sehome High School in Bellingham, Wash. He began his career in talk radio in 2002, and "The Glenn Beck Program" now airs on more than 350 stations. His Fox News show debuted in January, after he had hosted a nightly show on CNN Headline News for the previous two years. Beck, 45, now lives in Connecticut.
The Mount Vernon honor already has begun drawing a landslide of attention. The mayor's office was besieged by so many phone calls Wednesday that his assistant rerouted them to a different city office.
And members of the Young Democrats of Skagit County were protesting outside City Hall with signs reading "Change the locks," KOMO-TV reported.
"The timing is probably unfortunate with everything that's going on," said Kristen Whitener, director of Mount Vernon's Chamber of Commerce. Her phone had been ringing, too.
"We've gotten phone calls from people who are very upset. People are threatening not to shop here, things like that," she said. "I think it's unfortunate that some of the phone calls we're getting from people are being negative to Mount Vernon because of it. I hope they would understand that one decision by one person doesn't reflect everybody.
"I hope that it won't put us in a negative light," she said of the city, about 60 miles north of Seattle with a population of about 33,000.
Neither Beck nor his producer immediately responded to e-mails asking for comment.
Beck's detractors -- most visibly on Fox rival MSNBC -- accuse him of cheap and inaccurate demagoguery and florid insanity; they ridicule his inability to spell "oligarchy" on a recent show and his on-air weeping breakdowns.
The advertiser boycott, organized by Color of Change, a black political-advocacy group, secured pledges from at least 36 companies -- including Wal-Mart and Sprint -- not to advertise on Beck's Fox show. Some of the companies were not Beck advertisers to begin with.
Despite the advertiser exodus, Fox has said that many advertisers have simply moved to different time periods on the network and that Beck's viewership has been rising.
Did anyone see the segment on Beck’s show about this?
A news crew drove from CA to cover it, talking about the “Protest”. There were maybe seven people.
The look on Beck’s face after the segment was priceless.
It was a silent pause at the sheer moronic thought of a crew driving from CA for seven people with signs.
I laughed so hard.
“Some of the companies were not Beck advertisers to begin with.”
It took them to the END of the article to admit this. The Main Stream Mob at work again!
There were 4 people and one of them was the cameraman. It was hilarious.
That is funny. I didn’t see that segment but I can imagine his expression. This is just a ploy from the left where his ratings are 3-4 times higher than the next highest rated show in his time slot. Pure hatred and jealousy. I’d be laughing too if I were Beck.
I hope nearby FReepers and conservatives flood that city with well-wishers and some cash on Beck’s special day.
But what about Van Jones? Doesn’t he get a day too?
LOL
But there is an off button on can push for Beck. Can the same be said for the radical extremists Beck is exposing? Doesn't that fact bother some of you fools???
since when did PMSNBC become a FOX NEWS rival? LOL I thought to be a rival you had to at least be in the same arena
Those companies that bailed on Beck need to decide if they support Beck or Van Jones.
Confirmed a thought that most of the people in Washington State have wet brains from all that rain.
Poor timing on the newspaper’s part to apply the typical mix of insignificant snipes and outright lies to the Beck/Jones smackdown.
The phrase “wrong side of history” comes to mind.
So the Seattle Times thinks it’s a bad idea to honor Glenn Beck? So what? Has the Seattle Times looked into Van Jones background, before or after he resigned? Well, no. But they have enough time to do a hit piece on Beck. The news media is not, nor has it ever been, objective reporters of news. The purpose of this article is to force the cancellation of the honor, plain and simple.
Congratulations to Glenn for getting well-deserved awards! The liberal media is after him all over this country.
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“Express-Times Editorial Staff Calls Glenn Beck a ‘Pompous Little Troll’”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2333826/posts
>>There were 4 people and one of them was the cameraman. It was hilarious.<<
You are absolutely correct!
I guess I was just laughing too hard to get it all.
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