Faux Republicans Make Me Sick Too, Glenn

Radio and TV pundit Glenn Beck engaged in a rather tasteless act last week. Reviewing a video of a skin cancer awareness ad featuring Sen. John McCain’s outspoken daughter Meghan, who displayed bare shoulders in the clip, Beck feigned vomiting into a waste basket. Of course, this brought a lot of righteous indignation from McCain and her parents, and leftists everywhere.

If Beck doesn’t like McCain’s views, I get that. She is to the left of her “maverick” dad on most issues, yet still considers herself a “Republican.” Having a big tent is one thing; but having someone with McCain’s liberal views on gay rights and illegal immigration be an insistent part of the party is like having a Democrat operative stirring up dissention behind enemy lines.

What’s surprising even in today’s shallow media coverage is that no one—not even Beck himself—is pursuing this angle as to why the fake vomiting. It all seems to be centered on McCain’s physical appearance. Although she may be on the plump side when compared to many female celebrities, she’s not even close to obesity. Why Beck would gag over this attractive young woman’s looks is a mystery to me. So although I certainly can’t read his mind, it would seem that her politics had at least something to do with it. Still, the fake vomiting while watching a decent act of public service is just over-the-top regardless of the reason.

However, there’s certainly reason to express dismay over so-called Republicans like Meghan McCain—and her father—who spend far more time lambasting the supposed shortcomings of their own party than those of the opposition. Like the hockey player who took out his teammate in a violent collision last week, the McCains are often the best players on the opposition’s team. And that’s why the lamestream media love them and use them like they do. And why whenever that media have anything nice to say about a Republican politician, it’s time to get nervous about that individual.

We may be reaching a tipping point in the infancy stages of the 2012 campaign season, in which conservative talk show hosts, if they’re not careful, might actually start living the stereotype that the lamestreamers have saddled them with for years. That is, the idea that certain hosts’ outrageous statements and behavior could be detrimental to Republican candidates. For too long, the hosts have carried the water in the battle while legions of linguini-spined Republican politicians refused to speak truth to power. Human nature being what it is, at least a few of the hosts have gotten used to the idea that they, not the politicians, drive conservative political thought and strategy in this country. But, now that the candidates themselves are actually speaking boldly about the failures of the Obama administration, they may need the radio and TV guys and gals to back off in their zeal just a little. While I agree that RINOs and flat-out Democrats pretending to be Republicans are enough to make me sick, we’ve all got to do a better job of picking our spots to show our displeasure.