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David Beck is insane.
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Glenn Beck is just trying to draw attention to himself. This is what people in the media do best. He is playing to the core of his audience and using this to keep in the spotlight.
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Glenn Beck is a little nutty and paranoid. Obama is not a racist, but sometimes can't see past race.
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No I don’t think he is, what I think he does is pander to a certain audience that is told they benefit from white privilege and yet don’t see it in their own lives, and some of those people are racist but as far as Beck goes I would have to say no. now if you ask me about Limbaugh then maybe I would say yes because it is not just his Barack the Magic Negro skit but he would play the Jefferson’s theme song every time he referred to Carol Mosley Braun, I do think that we have a lot of over zealous law enforcement and they like to cite officer deaths but most officer deaths are from auto accidents, they want total obedience and do not want their authority questioned at all, the reality is too many of them whine and are paid well for a job that is not as dangerous as they claim, I can show lots of jobs that are far more dangerous such as construction and the city does not shut down when one of those workers die. Contrary to what the president said the black experience is unique and the Latinos do not have the same history, blacks were brought here against their will and even after the end of slavery they were still subject to Jim Crow laws and other discrimination and this really did not end largely until very recently and the professor with his educational background should not have reacted so angrily but he has probably had many negative experiences with law enforcement and because of this every innocent experience becomes racism to him because of his past experiences, I don’t think a lot of people realize that the history of blacks and law enforcement means they are not going to see it the same as say a white person does because to many have had negative experiences to the point where you cannot trust cops at all. While I generally like the president it does make me cringe when he tries to lump Latinos into the black struggle because it is just not the same.
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I don't think Glenn Beck is insane, but I do think he is trying to be purposefully controversial. I also think HE is the racist. He is the one whose goal seems to be to divide people and continually bring race into the picture.

What sense does it make to call Pres. Obama racist when he himself is biracial and his own mother is Caucasion (in addition to the grandparents who helped raise him). I am not even sure what the point is that Beck is trying to make, but it's obviously ludicrous.
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Obama is not racist:
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/07/30/beer-obama-racial029.html
Glenn Beck is clearly insane:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2391622/glenn_beck_on_obamas_change_socialism/
Source(s):
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/07/30/beer-obama-racial029.html
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2391622/glenn_beck_on_obamas_change_socialism...

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Glenn Beck is absolutely correct, "...this guy is a racist..." Until he gets caught, then he backslides out like the recent "Gates matter." He was wrong about the police...and would not apologize...to the white officer...then he sits down and drinks a beer and says dialogue beneficial...I say BALONEY!
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Source(s):
Experience

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glenn is insane first black president so everybody gotta make him go down but lets hope he keeps his head up
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Glenn Beck is the king of insanity.

Take this example, here he is debating health care with a woman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEwGMKSb_9k
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Gates is a racist.

This article basically sums it all up.
www.capenews.net

Is Henry Louis Gates Jr. a racist?

I’ll give you a second to digest that admittedly incendiary question, and hopefully you will read the rest of this post before any of you start flaming me.

Racism is most broadly defined as one person treating another differently (usually poorly) based on nothing more than skin color or ethnic origin. That’s the “easy” racism, the kind anyone can spot and identify and quickly condemn as unacceptable in an intelligent, educated, and cultured society.

Yet there is a more insidious version, one that many practice without ever consciously realizing it: it’s jumping to a conclusion about an individual or group of individuals based on nothing more than their ethnicity.

That is the standard Professor Gates is using in his complaint against Cambridge police sergeant James Crowley, the man who arrested Gates on the porch of his own home; he claims Sgt. Crowley engaged in racial profiling and should be called to the carpet for it — and in doing so, Gates himself is engaging in racial profiling, but no one seems interested in pointing this out.

Consider the situation: a neighbor saw Gates — who had just returned home from a trip abroad — and his driver at the front door of Gates’ home, trying to physically force the door open (Gates later said the door was jammed). The witness did, in my estimation (and as you’ll see, in Gates’ estimation) the right thing, regardless of the race of the individuals involved: she called the police to report what she thought might have been a break-in attempt.

Here is where the stories diverge and the specter of racism of very similar persuasions — yet drawing much different levels of scrutiny — enters the picture. Gates claimed that he showed Sgt. Crowley proof of his identity and status as owner of the home, which the officer flagrantly ignored, along with Gates’ requests for the officer’s name and badge number. Sgt. Crowley claimed he told Gates upon arrival that he was investigating a break-in report, to which Gates replied, “Why? Because I’m a black man in America?” The officer also said he asked for identification, which Gates initially refused to provide.

(If true, then one point against Gates; if a cop asks you for ID and you refuse, you’re giving him absolutely no reason to believe you’re on the up-and-up. Just saying.)

Sgt. Crowley claimed that Gates became unruly and belligerent, telling the officer “You don’t know who you’re messing with,” and started tossing out accusations of racism on the officer’s part.

(Again, if true, another misstep on Gates’ part; suspects with any modicum of authority or standing, real or imagined, who use their status as a “get out of jail free” card are flushing any goodwill he might otherwise engender right down the toilet.)

The police report stated that Gates refused multiple requests (or orders) to calm down, and that his behavior was causing a disturbance. Arrest was threatened and then executed, prompting the professor to exclaim as he was being taken away, “This is what happens to black men in America.”

During an interview with CNN’s Soledad O’Brien, Gates made several comments in that vein, including:

(After asking for Sgt. Crowley’s name and badge number) “He wouldn’t say anything. He was just very upset. He was trying to figure out who I was. He was looking at the ID. He didn’t say anything. And I said, why are you not responding to me? Are you not responding to me because you’re a white police officer and I’m a black man?”

(In response to a question about his arrest) “What it made me realize was how vulnerable all black men are, how vulnerable all people of color are and all poor people to capricious forces like a rogue policeman. And this man clearly was a rogue policeman.”

(Referring to the report to the police): “Two black men with backpacks were breaking and entering into my home. And when he sees me, he just presumed that one of them was me.”

(Responding to a question as to whether he harbored a grudge against the neighbor who called the police): “It wasn’t her fault. It was the fault of the policeman who couldn’t understand a black man standing up for his rights right in his space. And that’s what I did.”

Could his response have blinded Gates to some more objective realities of the situation? A cop has responded to a report of a break-in, and has no information to go on other than the location and a vague description of the suspects, provided by the witness. He arrives to find someone matching that description standing in the house.

Ask yourself: What is the next logical step in the thought process?

There’s a saying: when you hear hoofbeats, you do not immediately think “zebra,” you think “horse.” A cop is told a black man is apparently breaking into the house and arrives to see a black man in the house…why would his first thought be “homeowner” and not “suspect”? If a cop arrives at a possible crime scene and sees an individual matching the description provided, even passingly, he’ll approach the situation appropriately. That’s how they’re trained, and that’s the kind of training that keeps them from getting killed in the line of duty.

(An aside: If Sgt. Crowley made a definite misstep, and even this is subject to debate, it’s in threatening arrest on a charge of disorderly conduct. When faced with a rowdy individual, police can either attempt to “de-escalate” the situation so that both citizen and officer can go their separate ways satisfied with the outcome, or the cop can take the route Sgt. Crowley followed. Having worked alongside cops for 11 years now, I’ve heard differing opinions, and it all comes down to the invididual officer, the suspect, the situation — there is no universal formula for successfully dealing with someone who is flying off the handle.)

A review of Gates’ remarks during and following the incident suggest that he was looking for racism where it perhaps did not exist. By his own admission he immediately assumed the white cop was there to give him grief simply because of his race: “Are you not responding to me because you’re a white police officer and I’m a black man?”…”Crowley couldn’t understand a black man standing up for his rights right in his space.”

If it is proven Sgt. Crowley was letting prejudicial feelings toward an African-American man indeed guide his actions, he should absolutely be held accountable. He should be held up as an example of all that is wrong in society in general and law enforcement in particular, and Gates should be lauded for having the courage to confront this issue head-on.

The sticking point is that, in lieu of an overtly racist action or statement by Sgt. Crowley — and Gates has not indicated that there was — we’re being asked to look inside a man’s heart and gauge his motivations based on nothing more than first-hand accounts by just the two people involved. And I cannot help but feel that in lieu of convincing evidence one way or the other, the suspicion will by default fall on Sgt. Crowley because he’s white.

(Recent revelations that he was johhny-on-the-spot in 1993 when he administered CPR to Celtics star Reggie Lewis following his collapse I suspect will do little to mitigate this.)

Despite the fact we have an African-American man in the White House, the pendulum of racism is still hanging very much in favor of Americans of color and it’s going to stay that way for many, many more years; Caucasians as a whole have a lot of contrition ahead of us.

There are people reading this now who were alive to see a time when whites and blacks couldn’t ride the same parts of a bus, attend the same schools, or drink from the same fountains, and that kind of ignorance does not repair itself quickly or cleanly. Gates’ statements do not contribute to healing the rift. He said on CNN, when asked if he had spoken to Sgt. Crowley since the incident: “I haven’t heard from Sergeant Crowley. I would be prepared to listen to him. If I were convinced that — if he would tell the truth about what he did, about the distortions that he fabricated in the police report, I would be prepared as a human being to forgive him.”

So: Sgt. Crowley can either be a suspected racist or a confirmed racist, even if that’s not truly how he feels. Not exactly win-win.

Now, in case you hadn’t twigged to this based on the photo topping this blog, I am very much of the Caucasian persuasion — a white dude, a cracker, a “Honkey American” if you will. I’ve never been on the receiving end of racism as it is typically perpetrated in our society. I do not at all have the same points of reference as any person of color who has been unjustly harrassed, discriminated against, threatened, or attacked. I have seen obvious and explicit displays of racism, but I’m certain I have many times missed the more subtle and pervasive versions, either because I was not there to witness them or, if I was there, I did not recognize them for what they were.

That said…

The reason I would ask if Gates is a racist is because, as said at the beginning of this post, he is making knee-jerk assumptions about Sgt. Crowley based on nothing but his skin color. Strip away the details and that much is plain, and I don’t see why it cannot be called racism if it meets the same metrics as “conventional” racism; that the traditional positions have been reversed should not matter. Intolerance is intolerance, ignorance is ignorance. Why should we as a society tolerate that from anyone?

Sgt. Crowley has thus far steadfastly refused to apologize. That places the ball firmly in Professor Gates’ court, which gives him the opportunity to turn this issue around far more effectively. His anger may prove to be fully justified, but if he could rise above it and forgive Sgt. Crowley — regardless of his guilt or innocense, regardless of his true feelings — he would provide a powerful example to all by showing that the way to confront racism is with an open hand, not a closed fist.

“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.” - The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Source(s):
www.capenews.net

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I realize that I'm not going to answer the original question, I simply don't know too many details about the case to give an informed opinion.

However, what I DO want to comment, is an observation as a non-US resident. to me, I find it very remarkable that racism and the black-white controversy is still such an issue in the USA.

I am amazed by the sensitivity of the subject, and the fact that racism is still so wide-spread in the US. I followed the elections pretty closely, and saw many interviews with republican voters, who very very, very clear about why they would never vote of Obama: they actually were scared of a black man in the white house!

As long as this type of reactions still exist, and both opposites calling 'racism' at each and every possibility (true or not), the USA is far from 'United'...
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Glenn Beck is a genius

Let look at the issues which Beck has been right about

1. The financial market melt down
2. The risks associated with government bailout
3. The rise of socialism
4. Weakness in the immigration program
5. Political criticism of the administration
6. The Tax costs for a National Health system
7. A return to Constitutional fundamental rights
Source(s):
Beck is a strong supporter for local activism and public scrutiny of public programs and officials.

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I think Glen Beck is a racist ...we often see ourselves in others.
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President Obama referred to his grandmother as a "typical white woman" (Huffington Post). If I had a African Grandmother and referred to her as a "typical black woman," you would consider me a racist. On those ground alone, President Obama is a racist.

President Obama assumed without enough information that the cop acted stupidly in arresting a shouting, raving man who had attracted a crowd by his behavior (Police report). Does that make Obama a racist or a "jobist"? Maybe he just doesn't trust cops, and it's not the fact that the cop was white. That I don't know.

What I do know is that if Officer Crowley had not be a highly-respected officer with a clean track record, he would have been forced to resign because of this this whole Gates incident, and maybe that was Professor Gates' intent by publicizing his arrest. If we wish for an orderly society, then people in elevated positions (presidents, professors) need to encourage respect for those who keep the peace, not slander their attempts to protect our property.
Source(s):
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/20/obama-grandmother-was-a-t_n_92587....
http://www.popdecay.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Henry-Gates-Arrest-Repro...

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Is Glenn Beck insane? No
Is Glenn Beck being controversial? Of course
Is Obama racist? I can only echo what some others have said and add my two cents. If I said my grandmother was a typical black woman (if she were black), I would be called a racist. If I said a black police officer acted stupidly, it is very possible I would be called a racist. So is he or isn't he one?

Think about this: He attended and studied with a church that strongly promotes and believes in Black Liberation Theology. Take a few minutes to read up on what that doctrine is really about. I think the true answer lies in this doctrine and Obama's religious past.
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I don't believe Obama is a racist, but I do strongly believe that Glenn Beck likes attention and doesn't care about what he says or does. He seems to have no conscience and is very impulsive! He needs help!
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