David S. Meyer
I'm a professor of sociology and political science at the University of California, Irvine. I've been thinking, and writing about, protest politics for almost ever. This site offers comments on contemporary events, informed (I hope) by knowing something about history and about the academic study of social movements.
Tag Archives: Glenn Beck
Politics as product placement
We now learn, thanks to a great piece by Kenneth P. Vogel and Lucy McCalmont (Politico), that political groups are not only buying ads, but product placement as well–at least on the right end of the political spectrum. The largest … Continue reading
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Tagged advertising, Americans for Prosperity, FreedomWorks, Glenn Beck, Heritage Foundation, media, radio, Rush Limbaugh
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Beck & Piven III
NPR’s All Things Considered has come to the Beck/Piven saga, a story we discussed a while back [see (II) and (I)]. Maybe this is getting to the tale late; on the other hand, once crazy provocative charges reach a few … Continue reading
Beck and Piven
Glenn Beck has spent a lot of air time over the past year attacking Frances Fox Piven, a distinguished professor of political science at the City University of New York. Beck’s spotlight has brought Piven to the attention of a … Continue reading
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Tagged Frances Fox Piven, Glenn Beck, poverty, Richard Cloward, violence, welfare
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The Uses of History
It’s not that those who don’t know history are condemned to repeat it. Rather, those who don’t know about the past become victims of the waves of enthusiasm perpetrated by others. History provides context for the present; it’s not that … Continue reading
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Tagged Brinkley, Dallek, demonstration, Glenn Beck, history, Huey Long, Populism, tea party
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Billions for Civility?
Stephen Colbert proclaimed that Comedy Central’s weekend rally drew 6 billion participants. He may believe this; he is not to be believed. (In the same way, Rep. Michele Bachmann’s estimate of one million at Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally shouldn’t … Continue reading
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Tagged Comedy Central, demonstration, Glenn Beck, michele bachmann
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What Glenn Beck knows (part II)
Again, it’s not American history. Beck does know, however, that people like to find authorities who agree with them. The fact that people who like what Glenn Beck, uh, teaches, can log onto Amazon and find real books (bound and … Continue reading
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Tagged creation science, experts, Glenn Beck, ideas, science, tea party
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What Glenn Beck knows
It’s not what he says he knows: American history or the Constitution. The factual errors in his history lessons appear routinely, draw criticism or correction, and then vanish into the ether. They don’t appear to bother him, audience, or his … Continue reading
A March is not a Movement
Fifteen years after the Million Man March, it’s hard to find any kind of substantial effect. At The Root, Jon Jeter writes that Black community is more divided than it was in 1995, and that, as a group, Black men … Continue reading
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Tagged 9-12, bonus march, demonstration, Glenn Beck, Louis Farrakhan, million man march, promisekeepers, tea party
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The Numbers Trap
Well, yes, size matters, but it’s not the only thing. Large labor unions, the NAACP, and hundreds of other groups from the center to the left of American politics, staged their demonstration, a March for One Nation Working Together, Saturday. … Continue reading
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Tagged Comedy Central, demonstration, FreedomWorks, Glenn Beck, media, numbers
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