澳彩开奖

There鈥檚 stupid, and then there鈥檚 really stupid. Finally, there鈥檚 blind, leaden stupidity, a quality personified in great detail by the loathsome Glenn Beck last week.

Beck has long been aware of his own ridiculous qualities, telling The New York Times for a major 2009 profile that he was a mere 鈥渞odeo clown,鈥� not really a serious kind of a fellow. But that鈥檚 letting the one-time Fox News host off the reality hook a little too easily. The plain truth is that Beck has done as much as anyone to inject complete falsehoods, conspiracy theories and demonizing propaganda into American political discourse. Facts mean nothing to the rodeo clown.

Neither, it turns out, does any kind of taste or judgment.

Last Wednesday, Beck went one further, mocking an FBI warning of a dangerous radical-right movement of 鈥渟overeign citizens鈥� in this country 鈥� a movement that produced Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols and is responsible for the murder six law enforcement officers since 2000 鈥� and suggesting that it was really a subterfuge to steal away Americans鈥� freedoms.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe a word of that, do you?鈥� he asked viewers of his Internet TV show. 鈥淟et鈥檚 call a spade a spade. Let me tell you what this is, I believe, all about. It is deflection, again, to set the American people up. It goes right back to, 鈥榊es, but can I scoop American citizens up and hold them without trial?鈥欌��

Then, to drive his point home, Beck got personal.

鈥淵esterday,鈥� he said in a voice dripping with sarcasm, 鈥渢he FBI gave this example of why sovereign citizens are so scary.鈥� And he referenced the May 20, 2010, murder of Brandon Paudert and Bill Evans, two West Memphis, Ark., police officers shot down by a father-son team of sovereigns during a routine traffic stop. (Sovereigns believe authorities have no right to require driver鈥檚 licenses, vehicle registrations or insurance, an ideology that has led to many traffic-stop confrontations.)

鈥淭here鈥檚 something more to this,鈥� Beck said in his tirade. 鈥淚 believe we鈥檙e being set up. The FBI now says they鈥檙e concerned about the threat that sovereign citizens pose. 鈥� Are these guys a concern? Maybe, I don鈥檛 know, maybe there鈥檚 one crackpot there that鈥檚 gonna do something there 鈥� maybe. But you鈥檝e got a whole buttload of crackpots on the streets right now and some of 鈥檈m are hanging around the president of the United States. This, I believe, allows the government [an excuse] to start cracking down on all types of 鈥榚xtremists.鈥欌��

The incident Beck refers to so lightly became infamous, in part, because it was shown in some the most awful dashboard camera footage ever, video that showed Paudert and Evans being murdered in cold blood. Beck may not know it 鈥� he doesn鈥檛 seem to know much 鈥� but Brandon Paudert鈥檚 father, Bob Paudert, was then the West Memphis chief of police, Brandon鈥檚 boss. Minutes after the double murder, Chief Paudert, accompanied by his ailing wife as they headed out of town for a weekend away, drove up on the mutilated body of his son. Since then, Chief Paudert has travelled the country, warning of

He wasn鈥檛 too thrilled to hear of Beck鈥檚 latest.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know Mr. Beck and I don鈥檛 watch the news that much, but I can tell you from firsthand experience that the sovereign citizens are dangerous. They killed my son and Bill Evans,鈥� Paudert, a good and generous friend, told me today. 鈥淭hese extremists do advocate killing police officers, judges and politicians. That鈥檚 a serious problem for me, even though I鈥檓 a conservative person. I take exception to those who say they鈥檙e not dangerous. They鈥檙e extremely dangerous.鈥�

But none of this, it seems, would sway the penetrating analysis offered by Beck, a man who demands certain facts in order to be convinced. 鈥淭he FBI doesn鈥檛 even have an actual number of how many of these guys are even here in the U.S.,鈥� he said, his voice rising with incredulity. 鈥淲ell, that narrows it down!鈥�

Presumably, it鈥檚 not known how many bank robbers there are in the U.S., or white-collar criminals or serial killers or child abusers or even Internet bloviators. But that hasn鈥檛 stopped each of these categories from presenting some serious problems.

Beck鈥檚 rant was provoked by an FBI press conference on the dangers of sovereign citizens. To Beck, that event apparently proved that the FBI was part of a nefarious Obama Administration plan to attack mainstream Christians. But to Chief Paudert, it was a welcome moment. 鈥淚 have been very critical of the FBI for not [warning] about sovereign citizens鈥� in the past, he said. 鈥淣ow, they鈥檙e taking a proactive approach and I commend them for their actions.鈥�

Not Beck. 鈥淚鈥檓 in the news business,鈥� he said in one of his more dubious recent claims, 鈥渁nd I don鈥檛 even know who they are. Sovereign citizens?鈥�