Let me state this: I can’t stand Glenn Beck or the Glenn Beck program, but I am still able to appreciate his genius.  He is one of the brightest men on television today. Whether he is viewed as a lunatic or a speaker of truth, millions of people tune into his show each night at 5pm on Fox News Channel to hear what this blond, slightly overweight “everyman” has to say about the goings on in America and abroad. Rhetorically, Beck has his message down to a science, just as Aristotle, Aristophanes, and Plato noted of men like him thousands of years ago. Beck is able to mix together a pinch of fact and a generous helping of emotion into a delectable combination that promotes credibility, fear, anger, and anxiety to an American audience that is looking for answers to a confusing political system.  Glenn Beck is the perfect modern example of a demagogue: a unique type of person among the ranks of Hitler, McCarthy, Chavez, Ahmadinejad, and ancient Athenian statesman Cleon, who was able to rile the masses and overthrow the government.  Will late-afternoon Fox News viewers rise up and insurrect against Washington in the near future? A difficult stretch to make, but what is clear is that Glenn Beck is the classic example of a demagogue: a manipulative genius that takes hold of a nervous public for his own gain.

Nearly two hundred years ago, American writer James Fenimore Cooper (remember The Last of the Mohicans?) noted in his essay “On Demagogues” that all of these rhetorical masters share four aspects that make them true demagogues: (1) they pose as a “common man,” who opposes the “elites;” (2) their politics depend on this primitive connection to the public; (3) this connection is manipulated as the popularity allows for their own benefit; and (4) they “threaten or outright break established rules of conduct, institutions, or law.”  By watching just one single episode of the Glenn Beck Program, a person can observe all four qualities; by watching an entire week or month (pity you) it is clear that Beck fits these criteria.  It also must be understood that the “Demagogue” scale is also not one-size-fits-all; Beck is not a dictator bent on forcibly taking control of the White House, although he is in favor of voting the majority of Congress out of power.  Rather, demagoguery is a sliding scale, with some ranging from poor T.V. ad salespeople (see the Magic Bullet) to evil dictators (see Hitler).

But how or why would Beck act as a demagogue?  So far, Glenn Beck is not running for political office.  I would argue Beck is competing for a position with just as much power: a commanding voice in today’s media.  Money is not everything (although a recent Times’ article showed Beck was expected to bring in over $23 million in 2009) but it may be a large part of the motivation.  The sheer number of people following his thoughts and beliefs is enough; imagine having a #1 bestselling book on the New York Times list (Arguing with Idiots, appropriately titled), a #1 viewed nightly television program on a major news network, a bi-annual comedy tour, and a radio program that reaches over 6 million listeners.  Beck has also started the 9/12 Project, which is aimed at millions of other Libertarian/Conservative followers and protestors across the country.  That is enormous power over opinion and attitude.

But Beck is nothing new.  There have been other “Glenn Becks” in history without television shows, most notably the first, Cleon, in around 400 BC.  Cleon used his power of personality to take control of military situations as a young statesman and soldier in the Peloponnesian War, painting himself as a “common man” of a simple family background.  “Lack of learning combined with sound common sense is more helpful than… cleverness,” Cleon stated, while knocking “high-class intellectuals” as poor governing leaders.  This process went on as he and his followers targeted well-known, intellectual politicians and statesmen, such as Athens’ ruling general, Pericles.  Sound similar to Beck’s complaints about “elitist” left-wing media and politicians?  Cleon was also known for being extremely “clever at simplifying things…which readily made its way to incontrovertible deductions.” Please look at the Glenn Beck Program. Within a week, on 2.17.10, Glenn was able to boil down the 9^th and 10^th Amendments to 15-second blurbs before explaining how they relate to government revolt; on 2.15.10, Beck the “everyman” was able to dumb down a paragraph from John Adams in the 1700’s into a single sentence defining “our” right to liberty. Oversimplification is a rhetorical trademark of Glenn Beck and other Demagogues.

Remember when Glenn famously wept in front of millions on his television show?  That was not only a pathetic showing of emotion; that was the genius at work, appealing to public sentiments. Just before the fall of Pericles, Athens was struck with numerous problems that brought it to its knees (see United States, circa 2010).  Athens had been attacked by Sparta, plagues were striking the countryside, and the economy was on the verge of collapse.  Cleon took full advantage of the public’s fear to appeal to its emotions.  Cleon was able to rile up the people of Athens and convince them that its government was corrupt, citing “misuse of public funds” against those in power.  Conspiracy theories? Rabble-rousing?    These belong on Glenn Beck’s chalkboard.  Look at the US in 2010; we have many of these same exact issues going on.  Please just look at some of the titles of Beck’s segments: “Think the Unthinkable: Be Prepared,” “Who Really Owns America?” “Qualities You Need When Everything Falls Apart,” “What You Need to Know About Iran.”  Even the titles of these shows are exaggerated, trying to reach out and grab the viewer’s attention.  Beck often uses phrases like “when things made sense” and “you can choose… at least NOW it’s still your choice” to imply that “Big Brother” is lurking around the corner, out to take away all freedoms.  Inflammatory language? You bet- a tool of emotion to appeal to fears of the masses, used by Beck, Cleon, and any other great Demagogues looking to seek power. Although I doubt Cleon cried on command in front of millions.

We the people (another of Beck’s favorite phrases) have the intelligence, and frankly the responsibility, to call out demagogues, in this case Glenn Beck, as they generate; look back to Cleon in ancient Greece.  His reign over Athens finally began to erode when the people of Greece were (repeatedly) warned by Aristophanes, the ancient playwright.  Although he was mocked as a snobby “elitist” who was tarnishing the image of his countrymen, Aristophanes knew the dangerous power in the language of the demagogue, and was able to step out of the “brainwashed” (or in Aristophanes’ words, the middle-class Demos, listening with “gaping mouth”) public and view Cleon’s rhetorical argument from outside the intended audience. Aristophanes can still teach us a lesson: maybe us “dummy, dumb, dumbs” should think for ourselves as well.

The Ohio State University

Winter 2010