An Open Letter to Assha…I mean Glenn Beck.

Hey Glenn,

How you been? Family OK? The world seems to be treating you well. I mean, you have that whole “show” thing going on and that seems to be working out well. Plus, you’ve no doubt boosted your ratings in the last week or so thanks to various rants regarding video games in general, and Grand Theft Auto IV in particular. Now Glenn, can I call you Glenn? So anyway, I really could care less what opinions someone holds who, in a nationally broadcast tv program, ponders whether or not Barack Obama is the Antichrist:

Obviously, you’re either an asshole, or an idiot. Or both. Doesn’t matter to me. And, by the way, leave the comedy to the professionals.

So, like I said, I’m more or less indifferent to you. I get the sense (like I do from most right leaning “pundits”) that more then half of what you say/do is baseless fear mongering to boost ratings. It’s cool. I can respect that, actually. Nothing like a little fear get people to listen to you…just ask our current president.

But then you keep beating this horse…which is dead, by the way:

And when your guest, basically, contradicts what you hope she will say you start going into how you don’t care what bloggers write about you (meh), and that video games are just one part of the larger problem.

Well, that would be a fair assessment, I guess, if you weren’t hammering away at this like a man trapped in a cave. Aren’t you supposed to be on the side of family values? Wouldn’t those values include parents taking a proper amount of interest in the lives of their children? Didn’t your guest say as much (though, her point that parents are scared of video games is crap…if you don’t know how to use an XBox, have your kid show you damn it, call it family bonding)? If we were all holding up our end of the bargain as parents and decent members of society, then it wouldn’t matter what kind of crazy ass shit you could do in GTA because wouldn’t the children already be protected?

And don’t get started on the ratings, Glenn, alright. You think that The Godfather, or Casino shouldn’t be available at Wal-mart? Aren’t you also supposed to be on the side of free enterprise?

Oh, wait. I get it…it all comes back to the ratings…right? OK, fine. But how about you start bashing something else for the next few months, OK, because like it or not, the more you talk about GTA and video games, the more I have to see you and listen to you while I’m surfing the interwebz and, frankly, I’m sick of seeing you.

Love,
kilian

Guttermouth – What Then