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News & ArtsThursday, December 10, 2009
Media Glenn Beckwatch: Racism on a Rampage
Posted by Paul Constant on Thu, Dec 10, 2009 at 4:49 PM
Thus, within the span of a few minutes, Beck implied that there are no quality medical schools in India; implied that medical care in India is a shoddy imitation of real health care; implied that the entire nation is an undeveloped backwater without even so much as indoor plumbing; and compared the Ganges River, a holy body of water for one of the world's oldest and largest religions, to a disease.
India says fuck you, Glenn Beck.
1
he could say the exact same thing a 1000 days in a row. there are no consequences for conservatives lying or slandering on television or radio (as long as they stay away from Rachel Maddow).
4
Well, the Ganges IS pretty dirty.
Though that's really irrelevant, because Glenn Beck has anything but the well-being of the Indian people in mind when he criticizes the conditions of their environment.
Though that's really irrelevant, because Glenn Beck has anything but the well-being of the Indian people in mind when he criticizes the conditions of their environment.
5
Glenn Beck is a fucktard beyond words, and if he's not really a racist - I have no idea, but it seems unlikely he could act so much like one without actually being one - then he definitely plays one convincingly on TV.
That said, the Ganges may be sacred but it's also incredibly filthy and somewhat dangerous, so he's more or less right about that. People don't get a pass on stupid religious behavior just because they're polytheists. Stepping into the Ganges, much less bathing in it or drinking from it, is just... not sane.
But yeah, fuck Beck with a splintery two-by-four anyway.
That said, the Ganges may be sacred but it's also incredibly filthy and somewhat dangerous, so he's more or less right about that. People don't get a pass on stupid religious behavior just because they're polytheists. Stepping into the Ganges, much less bathing in it or drinking from it, is just... not sane.
But yeah, fuck Beck with a splintery two-by-four anyway.
8
And if you caught Barbara Walters '10 Most (In)consequential People of the Year', you realized that Beck could have been a prototype for Mealymouth Melanie. Ghee butter did not melt in his Calcutta hole as Barbara lobbed deep-fried mushroom puffballs to this Noxious Nosebleed.
9
So because the Ganges is filthy that entitles Beck to cowardly disregard a nation of One Billion people and countless other Indian Americans who make this country great? He's a fucking feckless coward who should have drank himself to death when he had the chance.
10
I've actually seen the Ganges in person, and it is a filthy cesspool, despite its religious importance.
Beck is nevertheless an asswipe of the first order.
Beck is nevertheless an asswipe of the first order.
11
I agree with SLOG...healthcare in India is great!
I would model our healthcare on India's
India spends only about 5% of GDP in medical care. Of this spending only one fifth is public spending.
http://healthcare-economist.com/2009/04/…
Go India...Go Private Sector!
I would model our healthcare on India's
India spends only about 5% of GDP in medical care. Of this spending only one fifth is public spending.
http://healthcare-economist.com/2009/04/…
Go India...Go Private Sector!
13
Yeah I think like, Beck doesn't realize India is a poster-child for much of his ideology: it's democratic, has an long history of a brutally stratified economic system, and has had very little by way of enforceable government regulation. It also overthrew an imperialist power whose own government is socialist, no less.
And considering all that, it's actually doing quite well as a country. Or at least, it's one of the world's fastest "emerging economies" on the global stage.
You think he'd be able to look past whatever prejudices he carries around to realize it's arguably a textbook example of how his otherwise absurd ideology could be effective at improving quality of life. But unsurprisingly, he's too invested in how "brown people don't have toilets" to notice that.
And considering all that, it's actually doing quite well as a country. Or at least, it's one of the world's fastest "emerging economies" on the global stage.
You think he'd be able to look past whatever prejudices he carries around to realize it's arguably a textbook example of how his otherwise absurd ideology could be effective at improving quality of life. But unsurprisingly, he's too invested in how "brown people don't have toilets" to notice that.
19
@16, 17 & 18: but that was done by white industrialists smelting heavy metals for profit, and flushing pcb's far, far away... gah! it's not even comparable, 'cause you know we're better 'n stuff than that.
20
Glenn Beck is talking to people who have a categorical fear of anywhere that is not America. At least in his book India is a charity case rather than somewhere to be bombed.
26
See, you can change your picture all you want, but you can't change the fact that you're John Bailo. You have my condolences.
27
It's like Beck's brain doesn't work.
"I had to go to this other country to get healthcare because it's unaffordable here."
"OMG ANY COUNTRY THAT IS NOT THE UNITED CHRISTIAN STATES OF JESUSLAND AMERICA (tm) IS A GOD-FORSAKEN HELLHOLE AND NATIONALLY THEY ARE RELATIVELY IMPOVERISHED AND WE ARE SO WONDERFUL BECAUSE WE HAVE SARAH PALIN *cries a literal river*"
"I had to go to this other country to get healthcare because it's unaffordable here."
"OMG ANY COUNTRY THAT IS NOT THE UNITED CHRISTIAN STATES OF JESUSLAND AMERICA (tm) IS A GOD-FORSAKEN HELLHOLE AND NATIONALLY THEY ARE RELATIVELY IMPOVERISHED AND WE ARE SO WONDERFUL BECAUSE WE HAVE SARAH PALIN *cries a literal river*"
28
I've spent 4 years of my life in India--and I love India and not a fan of Beck. That said:
India has a horrible medical system. I know Indians at the lower end of the economic scale who have had children die because of medical malpractie--and have seen shocking medical practices like not washing hands or wound before treating them. There are some new splashy hospitals for the rich though.
Most rivers, including the Ganga are filthy and polluted beyond imagination
Many people in India do not have indoor plumbing, however my guess is that most do.
Most of India is undeveloped and there is a huge gap betwen the rich and poor. Many people live on a dollar or two a day.
In other words, not his biggest exaggeration ever.
India has a horrible medical system. I know Indians at the lower end of the economic scale who have had children die because of medical malpractie--and have seen shocking medical practices like not washing hands or wound before treating them. There are some new splashy hospitals for the rich though.
Most rivers, including the Ganga are filthy and polluted beyond imagination
Many people in India do not have indoor plumbing, however my guess is that most do.
Most of India is undeveloped and there is a huge gap betwen the rich and poor. Many people live on a dollar or two a day.
In other words, not his biggest exaggeration ever.
29
@28
You know someone is absolutely full of shit when the couch their comment with "I love India and I am not a fan of Beck." but...
My guess is the closest you ever been to India is that National Geographic special that you have on your TiVo. Nice try there Skippy, thanks for playing.
You know someone is absolutely full of shit when the couch their comment with "I love India and I am not a fan of Beck." but...
My guess is the closest you ever been to India is that National Geographic special that you have on your TiVo. Nice try there Skippy, thanks for playing.
30
I know what the Ganges tastes like and @28 ain't to far off for a thumbnail sketch.
Mr. Beck you're a sister fucker.
Mr. Beck you're a sister fucker.
31
@29, I'm guessing it is you that has never been there. I've spent a couple months in India (not 4 years as @28). But 28 is correct.
India is beginning to develop a middle class, but there is still a huge divide between rich and poor. While parts of India are modern and beautiful, other parts of India are still basically third-world. There are still large numbers of people who are subsistence farmers with no plumbing or electricity. There are modern clean hospitals in Delhi. But there are also medical clinics in small towns that look like something out of a horror movie. Garbage and sewage has been dumped into the Ganges river for centuries before the USA even existed, and they are just now contemplating environmental regulation, so of course it is polluted as hell. None of this would be news to anyone who has ever been to India for more than a few days.
Beck is an insane asshole, and he is trying to paint India in its worst light, but there is a small grain of truth beneath his contemptible insinuations.
India is beginning to develop a middle class, but there is still a huge divide between rich and poor. While parts of India are modern and beautiful, other parts of India are still basically third-world. There are still large numbers of people who are subsistence farmers with no plumbing or electricity. There are modern clean hospitals in Delhi. But there are also medical clinics in small towns that look like something out of a horror movie. Garbage and sewage has been dumped into the Ganges river for centuries before the USA even existed, and they are just now contemplating environmental regulation, so of course it is polluted as hell. None of this would be news to anyone who has ever been to India for more than a few days.
Beck is an insane asshole, and he is trying to paint India in its worst light, but there is a small grain of truth beneath his contemptible insinuations.
35
Hey Bobby Jindal, ready to defend Beck for your political career or not?
I don't think many Indian Americans, even if conservative leaning, would appreciate Beck's comments here. Like Palin, the acerbic gift to the Dems that keeps on giving.
I don't think many Indian Americans, even if conservative leaning, would appreciate Beck's comments here. Like Palin, the acerbic gift to the Dems that keeps on giving.
36
To me it seems like Beck was talking about the NAME of the Ganges, not the state of it's filth. Either way, he's an IDIOT.
37
@11, c'mon dude. SequitUr. There was even a comic with the same name in the papes, doncha remember? If yr gonna be a douche, at least do it right.
38
The irony behind all of this is that if we had followed Beck and his crowd's recommendations for the past 100 years (no regulations, no clean water act, no governmental wastewater treatment, no medicare, no medicaid, etc., etc., etc.), it's likely that our rivers and health care systems would be just like Dickensian England's--i.e., India's: pretty good for the rich elite, and pretty damn bad for the rest of us.
39
I remember when it got so bad with George W that I simply could not stand to listen to the guy - I have reached that point with Glenn Beck. Since I refuse to watch actual clips of his insanity, I appreciate this type of reporting where I can at least stay current on his asswipery without actually experiencing it first hand....
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