Not just me

We've all heard the reports detailing how dangerous, deadly, and out of control America's police officers are behaving today. But, according to Manhattan Institute Fellow Rafael Mangual, the ACTUAL numbers show an entirely different story. For example, only .003 percent of all interactions between a resident and a cop results in the use of deadly force. And of the over 10 MILLION interactions with police officers every year, only 1000 of them involve deadly shootings. So while there ARE some bad apples in the bunch, the narrative that illegal actions within a police force should characterize the policing institute as a whole is a completely unsubstantiated claim.

https://www.glennbeck.com/radio/police-brutality-statistics-only-003-of-interactions-with-a-cop-result-in-use-of-deadly-force

...A collection of progressives, whom Beck has referred to as "Crime Inc.", comprise what Beck contends is a clandestine conspiracy to take over and transform the United States.[129][130][131] Some of these individuals include Cass Sunstein, Van Jones, Andy Stern, John Podesta, Wade Rathke, Joel Rogers and Francis Fox Piven.[129][132] Other figures tied to Beck's "Crime Inc." accusation include Al Gore, Franklin Raines,[133] Maurice Strong, George Soros,[134] John Holdren and President Barack Obama.[130] According to Beck, these individuals already have or are surreptitiously working in unison with an array of organizations and corporations such as Goldman Sachs, Fannie Mae, ACORN, Apollo Alliance, Tides Center, Chicago Climate Exchange, Generation Investment Management, Enterprise Community Partners, Petrobras, Center for American Progress, and the SEIU; to fulfill their progressive agenda.[130][134] In his quest to root out these "progressives", Beck has compared himself to Israeli Nazi hunters, vowing on his radio show that "to the day I die I am going to be a progressive-hunter. I'm going to find these people that have done this to our country and expose them. I don't care if they're in nursing homes."[35] Beck compared Al Gore to the Nazis while equating the campaign against global warming to the Nazi campaign against the Jews.[135]

Progressive historian Sean Wilentz has denounced what he describes as Beck's progressive-themed conspiracy theories and "gross historical inaccuracies", countering that Beck is merely echoing the decades-old "right-wing extremism" of the John Birch Society.[136] According to Wilentz, Beck's "version of history" places him in a long line of figures who have challenged mainstream political historians and presented an inaccurate opposing view as the truth, stating:

Glenn Beck is trying to give viewers a version of American history that is supposedly hidden. Supposedly, all we historians – left, right and center – have been doing for the past 100 years is to keep true American history from you. And that true American history is what Glenn Beck is teaching. It's a version of history that is beyond skewed. But of course, that's what Beck expects us to say. He lives in a kind of Alice in Wonderland world, where if people who actually know the history say what he's teaching is junk, he says, 'That's because you're trying to hide the truth.'[136]

Conservative David Frum, the former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, has also alleged Beck's propensity for negationism, remarking that "Beck offers a story about the American past for people who are feeling right now very angry and alienated. It is different enough from the usual story in that he makes them feel like they've got access to secret knowledge."[35]

In 2020, Beck argued that the election of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders could lead to "another Holocaust."[137]

Barack Obama and the Obama administration
Beck promoted numerous conspiracy theories and falsehoods about President Barack Obama and the Obama administration.[138] [139][140][141] Beck suggested that Obama was building FEMA concentration camps to put opponents in,[142] that Obama was planning to fake a terrorist attack such as the Oklahoma City bombing in order to boost the administration's popularity,[143] and that Obama was the "puppet" of George Soros.[144] He frequently likened Obama and his administration to Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich.[142] Beck falsely claimed that the John Holdren who led the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Obama administration "proposed forcing abortions and putting sterilants in the drinking water to control population."[145]

Beck argued in 2009 that Obama has repeatedly shown "a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture", saying "I'm not saying he doesn't like white people. I'm saying he has a problem. This guy is, I believe, a racist."[146] These remarks drew criticism, and resulted in a boycott which resulted in at least 57 advertisers requesting their ads be removed from his programming.[147][148][149][150] He later apologized for the remarks, telling Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace that he has a "big fat mouth" and miscast as racism what is actually, as he theorizes, Obama's belief in black theology.[151] In November 2012, Beck attempted to auction a mason jar holding an Obama figurine described as being submerged in urine (in fact, submerged in beer). Bidding reached $11,000 before eBay decided to remove the auction and cancel all bids.[152][153]

In a 2016 interview with The New Yorker, Beck said of his commentary on Obama: "I did a lot of freaking out about Barack Obama." But added, "Obama made me a better man." Beck said that he regrets calling Obama a racist and is a supporter of Black Lives Matter. He said, "There are things unique to the African-American experience that I cannot relate to. I had to listen to them."[139]

Van Jones
In July 2009, Beck began to focus what would become many episodes on his TV and radio shows on Van Jones, special advisor for Green Jobs at Obama's White House Council on Environmental Quality. Beck called Jones, "an avowed, self-avowed, radical revolutionary communist". PolitiFact rated Beck's claim "mostly false", noting that Jones, who has open about his past as a communist during the early 1990s, had since expressed firmly capitalist beliefs.[154]

Beck also criticized Jones for his involvement in STORM, a Bay Area radical group with Marxist roots,[155] and his support for death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal, who had been convicted of killing a police officer. Beck spotlighted video of Jones referring to Republicans as "assholes", and a petition Jones signed suggesting that George W. Bush knowingly let the September 11 attacks happen. Time magazine credited Beck with leading conservatives' attack on Jones.[90]

In a move attributed by The New York Times as a response to the controversies by the White House, which had not seen Jones' position as senior enough to warrant a full vetting, and Jones' decision that "the agenda of this president was bigger than any one individual," Jones resigned his position in September 2009.[156] Jones characterized the attacks from his opponents as a "vicious smear campaign" and an effort to use "lies and distortions to distract and divide".[155]

Cass Sunstein
Cass Sunstein, Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Obama White House, was a frequent target of Glenn Beck's conspiracy theories.[157][158] Beck led opposition against Sunstein's nomination to the position.[159] Beck described Sunstein as "the most dangerous man in America."[160] Beck suggested that Sunstein was plotting ways to "ban" conspiracy theorizing.[161]

ACORN
In 2009, Beck and other conservative commentators were critical of Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) for various reasons, including claims of voter registration fraud in the 2008 presidential election.[162] In September 2009, he broadcast a series of alleged undercover videos by conservative activists James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles, which portrayed ACORN community organizers offering inappropriate tax and other advice to people who had said they wanted to import "very young" girls from El Salvador to work as child prostitutes.[163][164] Following the videos' release, the U.S. Census Bureau severed ties with the group while the U.S. House and Senate voted to cut all of its federal funding.[90]

On December 7, 2009, the former Massachusetts Attorney General, after an independent internal investigation of ACORN, found the videos that had been released appeared to have been edited, "in some cases substantially". He found no evidence of criminal conduct by ACORN employees, but concluded that ACORN had poor management practices that contributed to unprofessional actions by a number of its low-level employees.[165][166][167][168] On March 1, 2010, the District Attorney's office for Brooklyn determined that the videos were "heavily edited"[169] and concluded that there was no criminal wrongdoing by the ACORN staff in the videos from the Brooklyn ACORN office.[170][171] On April 1, 2010, an investigation by the California Attorney General found the videos from Los Angeles, San Diego and San Bernardino to be "heavily edited",[172] and the investigation did not find evidence of criminal conduct on the part of ACORN employees.[172][173] On June 14, 2010, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its findings, which showed that ACORN evidenced no sign that it, or any of its related organizations, mishandled any federal money they had received.[174][175] In March 2010, ACORN announced it would be closing its offices and disbanding due to loss of funding from government and private donors.[176]

According to a 2010 study in the journal Perspectives on Politics, Beck played a prominent role in media attacks on ACORN.[177]

Satire website
In 2009, lawyers for Beck brought a case (Beck v. Eiland-Hall) against the owner of a satirical website named GlennBeckRapedAndMurderedAYoungGirlIn1990.com with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The claim that the domain name of the website is itself defamatory was described as a first in cyberlaw.[178] Beck's lawyers argued that the site infringed on his trademarked name and that the domain name should be turned over to Beck.[179] The WIPO ruled against Beck, but Eiland-Hall voluntarily transferred the domain to Beck anyway, saying that the First Amendment had been upheld and that he no longer had a use for the domain name.[180]

Jewish Funds for Justice
In January 2011, in protest against what they saw as inappropriate references to the Holocaust and to Nazis by Beck (and by Roger Ailes of Fox News), four hundred rabbis signed an open letter published as a paid advertisement in The Wall Street Journal. The ad was paid for by Jewish Funds for Justice (JFFJ), which had previously called for Beck's firing. The JFFJ have claimed on their website that Beck seems "to draw his material straight from the anti-Semitic forgery, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion".[181] The letter states that Beck and Fox had "... diminish[ed] the memory and meaning of the Holocaust when you use it to discredit any individual or organization you disagree with. That is what Fox News has done in recent weeks." In response, a Fox News executive said to Reuters that the letter was from a "George Soros-backed leftwing political organization".[182][183]

George Soros conspiracy theories
Beck is a prominent proponent of conspiracy theories about George Soros, a Jewish philanthropist.[184] Beck falsely claimed that Soros as a boy helped to "send the Jews to the death camps."[184] Beck frequently referred to Soros as a puppet-master and repeated the unsubstantiated conspiracy theory that Soros caused the 1997 Asian financial crisis.[184] In 2010, Beck was accused of being anti-Semitic due to his smears against Soros. The Anti-Defamation League said Beck's remarks about Soros sending Jews to the death camps were "horrific" and "totally off-limits."[185]

On February 22, 2011, during a discussion on his radio show about the controversy surrounding his earlier comments about Soros, Beck said "Reform Rabbis are generally political in nature. It's almost like radicalized Islam in a way where it's less about religion than it is about politics." He was quickly criticized by other conservatives, rabbis, and others. The Anti-Defamation League labeled Beck's remarks "bigoted ignorance". On February 24, Beck apologized on air, agreeing that his comments were "ignorant".[186][187]

In 2016, Beck, a friend of actor and director Mel Gibson claimed he and Gibson shared a conversation in which Gibson claimed Jewish people had stolen a copy of The Passion of the Christ before its official theatrical release, and that Jewish people were assaulting him in the streets.[188]

2011 Norway attacks
Beck condemned the 2011 Norway attacks,[189] but was condemned for his comparison of murdered and surviving members of the Norwegian Workers' Youth League to the Hitler Youth. He said, "There was a shooting at a political camp which sounds a little like, you know, the Hitler Youth or whatever, you know what I mean. Who does a camp for kids that's all about politics? Disturbing."[190] The statement was ill-received in Norway, prompting political commentator and Labour party member Frank Aarebrot to label Beck as a "vulgar propagandist", a "swine" and a "fascist",[191] and Torbjørn Eriksen, former press secretary to Norway's prime minister Jens Stoltenberg, to describe Beck's comment as "a new low", adding that "Glenn Beck's comments are ignorant, incorrect and extremely hurtful".[192] Commentators pointed out that groups affiliated with the Tea Party movement and the Beck-founded 9–12 Project also sponsor politically oriented camp programs for children.[191][192][193][194][195]

Trump comments and 2016 SIRIUS XM Suspension
Beck opposed Donald Trump during his 2016 campaign for president, comparing him to Adolf Hitler and describing him as "an immoral man who is absent decency or dignity."[196][197]

Sirius XM suspended Beck on May 31, 2016, for remarks made during an interview a week earlier. During an interview with author Brad Thor about a hypothetical situation where Trump was abusing his power as president and Congress was unable to stop him, Thor asked "what patriot will step up and [assassinate him] if, if, he oversteps his mandate as president?"[198] Thor and the show's general manager both denied that the comments were a call for his assassination.[199] Beck's radio show was moved from the SIRIUS XM Patriot channel to the Triumph channel soon after.[200]

Beck's opposition to Trump did not sit well with many Trump supporters and hurt his businesses and viewership.[201] [202] On May 18, 2018, Beck stated on his radio program that he intended to vote for Trump in the 2020 presidential election, calling Trump's record "pretty damn amazing".[203] Beck said Trump's defeat in the 2020 election would be "the end of the country as we know it."[196]

Positions
Statements about nuclear plant emergencies after March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan
Beck launched an effort to discredit concerns about the cascading failures of the nuclear plants in Japan in the wake of the 9.0 quake and tsunami in March, 2011. In a genuinely shocking and callous segment on his radio show, Beck literally laughed off concerns about the potential nuclear meltdown, and then proceeded to blame any concerns about fears on well-respected public interest groups, like Plowshares and the Union of Concerned Scientists, based on his continuing effort to smear philanthropist George Soros, who helps fund legitimate scientific and policy analysis of nuclear energy (as opposed to those groups funded by nuclear energy to promote nuclear energy). Beck blames Soros for fears over nuclear meltdowns, not radioactive material. Beck's dismissal of well-founded concerns about the catastrophic dangers of nuclear energy flew in the face of the real news of the serious dangers of multiple meltdowns and of potential winds contaminated with deadly Cesium-137 in Japan. [15][16]

Embedded Content for the Dark Money Non-Profit Freedom Works
According to Jane Mayer in Dark Money,

"Freedom Works, it was later revealed, also had some hired help. The tax-exempt organization quietly cemented a deal with Glenn Beck, the incendiary right-wing Fox News television host who at the time was a Tea Party superstar. For an annual payment that eventually topped $1 million, Beck read "embedded content" written by the Freedom Works staff. They told him what to say on the air, and he blended the promotional material seamlessly into his monologue, making it sound as if it were his own opinion. The arrangement was described on FreedomWorks' tax disclosures as "advertising services.""[17]
Conspiracy theories
Much of Beck's promotion of conspiracy theories and views on race can be attributed to his admitted ideological debt owed to Cleon Skousen, a controversial and discredited Mormon anti-communist "historian," far-right speaker, author and racist.[18] Skousen authored more than a dozen books and pamphlets on the Red Menace, New World Order conspiracy, Christian child rearing, and Mormon end-times prophecy.[18]

A former FBI clerk, fired chief of police, and Brigham Young University teacher, Skousen was disavowed or disowned by nearly every organization he was affiliated with, including the FBI, the city where he served as chief of police, the American Security Council, and the Mormon church. On the subject of Skousen's anti-communist scholarship a 1962 FBI memo said "During the past year or so, Skousen has affiliated himself with the extreme right-wing 'professional communists' who are promoting their own anticommunism for obvious financial purposes" and Skousen's "The Naked Communist, ... another example of why a sound, scholarly textbook on communism is urgently and badly needed."[18]

In September 2007, a year after Skousen's death, Beck began touting Skousen's book "The 5,000 Year Leap" on his radio and television shows, through his websites and at his speaking engagements. The 5,000 Year Leap is Skousen's attempt to "explain American history through an unspoken lens of Mormon theology." Going beyond mere endorsement, Beck played a central role in seeing a new edition published, and wrote the foreward for the edition, writing "I beg you to read this book filled with words of wisdom which I can only describe as divinely inspired." In Beck's announcement of introducing the 912 Project he called for all 912 members to buy the book, saying "The first thing you could do," he said, "is get 'The 5,000 Year Leap.' Over my book or anything else, get 'The 5,000 Year Leap.' You can probably find it in the book section of GlennBeck.com, but read that. It is the principle. Please, No. 1 thing: Inform yourself about who we are and what the other systems are all about. 'The 5,000 Year Leap' is the first part of that. Because it will help you understand American free enterprise … Make that dedication of becoming a Sept. 12 person and I will help you do it next year." The result was that more than 250,000 copies have been sold in the first half of 2009. The book's publisher says Beck "has done more to bring the work of Dr. Skousen to light than any other individual in America today."[18]

Another of Skousen's works, a slavery revisionist history titled "The Making of America" is the subject of daylong seminars to 912 chapters conducted by Dr. Earl Taylor Jr. president of the National Center for Constitutional Studies, which was founded by Skousen. Salon described it as "filled with factual errors, Skousen's book characterized African-American children as "pickaninnies" and described American slave owners as the "worst victims" of the slavery system" and Skousen as "a right-wing crank whom even conservatives despised."[18]

Obama is 'a racist' statements

Glenn Beck calls President Obama a racist
During a guest appearance on the July 28 2009 broadcast of "Fox & Friends" morning show Beck stated he believed President Barack Obama is a racist, stating "This president has exposed himself as a guy over and over and over again who has a deep-seated hatred for white people ... this guy is, I believe, a racist.[1][2]

In the resulting backlash over 80 Fox advertisers, including AT&T, Subaru, Walmart, CVS Caremark, Clorox, Sprint, Lawyers.com, Procter & Gamble, Progressive, S.C. Johnson, GEICO, Men's Wearhouse, and Sargento directed that their commercials not air on Beck's show.[3][4] Colorofchange.org was one of several groups which urged advertisers to withdraw their support of Beck and Fox.[5] As of September 2009 Beck had neither acknowledged nor apologized for the statement, but instead went on air to with Bill O'Reilly to claim that he was the victim of liberal "loons" bent on violating his "freedom of speach."[6] Beck is airing free ads from other Murdoch properties, such as the Wall Street Journal, to fill the empty slots.[19]

This incident was part of a string of racially-charged claims about Obama made by Beck on his show throughout July 2009.[7] He alleged that Obama's agenda is driven by "reparations" and a desire to "settle old racial scores." In regards to the distribution of stimulus funds and selection of advisers, Beck said of Obama's agenda "His goal is creating a new America, a new model, a model that will settle old racial scores through new social justice." Beck also commented, "Obama is no dummy. He knows that you would never pass reparations. He knows you would never pass any of this stuff. This is all affirmative action." Earlier, he said, "[T]his is what he said on the campaign trail -- he's not for reparations because they don't go far enough. We need health care. We need everybody to go to college, et cetera, et cetera. So, we have no reparations. We also have no capitalism, which leads him, in his mind, to justice -- to justice. That is what we're changing to."[8] Much of the imagery used in the posters of Beck's The 912 Project revolves around equating the Obama administration with the Nazi party or portraying Obama as Hitler. Former President Jimmy Carter points to protesters who have compared Obama to a Nazi as evidence that racism plays major role in their opposition to Obama.[20]

Beck says Obama's policies for America are as bad as being burned alive
True, on his tv show Beck pretends to pour gasoline (probably water) on another conservative and states that Obama's polices are as bad for America as being burned with gasoline. [21] Another incident that has made people wonder not just about the politics of Mr. Beck but his mental health.[citation needed]

Climate change
Beck is a vocal denier of the scientific opinion on climate change. His CNN Headline News May 2 2007 hour-long special, Exposed: The Climate of Fear, was described by Media Matters as "dominated by industry-funded "experts," serial misinformers." [9] Not one climate scientist concerned about man made global warming has appeared on Beck's program.[citation needed]

Pro-war statements
"In the build-up to America's 2003 war on Iraq, Beck countered anti-war protests by using his radio show to organize dozens of pro-war rallies across the nation, and he has promised he will never question the cause, 'no matter how unpopular this war gets.' He has described Jimmy Carter as 'a waste of skin', Cindy Sheehan as 'a pretty big prostitute', and fantasized on the air about strangling to death Michael Moore."[22] No record of Glenn Beck while the Bosnian/Kokovo conflicts were going on, having pro-war rallies. While he was not a big name at the time, he was a popular local talk show host at the time.[citation needed] There seems to be then a direct connection in these so called "rallies for America" rallies and wars that Mr. Beck supports. One can obviously take the conclusion that these rallies are dependent on whether Beck supports the war or not and not to "support the troops." This is not surprising because numerous hosts such as Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh opposed the Bosnian wars but now state or imply opposition to the Iraq war is less then patriotic.[citation needed]

Goldline controversy
Beck often promotes buying gold on his Fox show as protection against an economic collapse. This became problematic because it has been suggested that Beck is a paid spokesman for Goldline International, a company which sells gold coins. Joel Cheatwood, senior vice president of development for Fox News, said that the legal department sent a letter to Beck's representatives to better understand his involvement with Goldline; Beck's representatives sent back a response that he is not a paid spokesman.[23]

However, according to the New York Times: "Fox News stressed that it was not aware that Mr. Beck was listed on the Internet as a paid spokesman. But he definitely was, until very recently. On cached editions of the Goldline Web site over the last week to 10 days, a photograph of Mr. Beck was accompanied by an asterisk which led to a line at the bottom of the site that read: “paid spokesman.” That ad (which is also linked to from Mr. Beck’s personal site) was changed, so that the words “paid spokesman” were replaced with “radio sponsor.” [24]

On December 10, 2009, Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" covered the story, but Cheatwood said that the letter from Fox had already been sent and that the broadcast had nothing to do with Fox's actions. The next day, Beck made a video in response to the allegations.

Mark Albarian, the president of Goldline, said that the company had been a longtime advertiser for Beck and that there was a misunderstanding about the "paid spokesman" designation because Goldline did not specifically pay Beck on an individual basis to speak on its behalf. [25]

Analysis / Bias

In review, The Blaze reports news with a far-right bias that utilizes strong loaded words such as New Jersey Democrats propose gerrymandering plan that would give them a permanent majority. This story, as an example, is sourced properly to credible mainstream media outlets. Story selection almost always favors the right on The Blaze and there is a heavy Christian bias as well. Again, The Blaze typically sources information appropriately but is selective in the stories they run and how they are presented to favor the right.

A 2014 Pew Research Survey found that 7% of The Blaze’s audience is consistently or mostly liberal, 8% Mixed and 85% consistently or mostly conservative. This indicates that they are strongly preferred by a more conservative audience.

Failed Fact Checks

A factual search reveals two failed fact checks directly attributed to The Blaze, here and here. However, the founder of The Blaze, Glenn Beck, has an abysmal track record with 6 Pants on Fire claims from Politifact alone. Since The Blaze is run by Mercury, and not directly by Glenn Beck and his poor record with facts, we will rate The Blaze based on these two failed fact checks.
Overall, we rate The Blaze strongly Right Biased based on story selection that almost always favors the right and Mixed for factual reporting due to a few failed fact checks and loaded emotional headlines. (7/19/2016) Updated (D. Van Zandt 10/08/2019)

It's a conspiracy to post a commentator who claims this?

"But, according to Manhattan Institute Fellow Rafael Mangual, the ACTUAL numbers show an entirely different story. For example, only .003 percent of all interactions between a resident and a cop results in the use of deadly force. And of the over 10 MILLION interactions with police officers every year, only 1000 of them involve deadly shootings. So while there ARE some bad apples in the bunch, the narrative that illegal actions within a police force should characterize the policing institute as a whole is a completely unsubstantiated claim."

Instead of claiming I am a 'conspiracy theorist" - why not just refute the numbers and the comment?

The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research (renamed in 1981 from the International Center for Economic Policy Studies) is a conservative 501(c)(3) non-profit American think tank focused on domestic policy and urban affairs, established in New York City in 1977 by Antony Fisher and William J. Casey.[1][4][5] The organization describes its mission as to "develop and disseminate new ideas that foster greater economic choice and individual responsibility". Its message is communicated through books, articles, interviews, speeches, op-eds, and through the institute's quarterly publication City Journal. In general, the Manhattan Institute promotes free-market economics.

"But, according to Manhattan Institute Fellow Rafael Mangual, the ACTUAL numbers show an entirely different story. For example, only .003 percent of all interactions between a resident and a cop results in the use of deadly force. And of the over 10 MILLION interactions with police officers every year, only 1000 of them involve deadly shootings. So while there ARE some bad apples in the bunch, the narrative that illegal actions within a police force should characterize the policing institute as a whole is a completely unsubstantiated claim."

In 2016, 623,471 legal induced abortions were reported to CDC from 48 reporting areas. The abortion rate for 2016 was 11.6 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years, and the abortion ratio was 186 abortions per 1,000 live births.

Compared with 2015, the total number and rate of reported abortions fell by 2%, and the abortion ratio decreased by 1%. Additionally, from 2007 to 2016, the number, rate, and ratio of reported abortions decreased 24%, 26%, and 18%, respectively. In 2016, all three measures reached their lowest level for the entire period of analysis (2007-2016).