Glenn Beck - Rapist/Murderer?

Nah, Beck didn't kill or rape anyone in 1990 (well, he wasn't caught raping or murdering someone....).

What did you infer from the parenthesis? Well, that's how satire works. Isaac Eiland-Hall just finished up a legal battle with Glenn Beck over the name of his satirical website glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com. The name alone is a play on Glenn Beck's gimmick of loosely relating unrelated people to a certain event (i.e. Obama, Obama sounds like drama, Gladiator was a drama movie, in the movie there was thunder, thunder = bad weather, weather and Weather Underground, William Ayers was in the Weather Underground, Weather Underground = terrorist - OH MY GOD! OBAMA'S A TERRORIST!!!!!).

Now let's remember, Glenn Beck works for a "news" station. Satire in a cable news setting should include a disclaimer to prevent any kind of confusion. I don't remember Fox News imposing any disclaimers on Beck's show. But then again, I don't watch his program normally so I wouldn't know of any recent moves that weren't included in the news.

Funny how Mr. Eiland-Hall's website has as part of the title,

The Official Parody Website About The Controversy

Why does Isaac Heiland-Hall have to use a disclaimer in case of litigation but Glenn Beck doesn't? We'll let the law students answer that one. But Heiland-Hall took advantage of the Information Superhighway to do the same thing Beck does every weeknight - flex his First Amendment rights.

After beating Beck in a legal fight over the domain name, Heliand-Hall wrote to Beck:

It bears observing that by bringing the WIPO complaint, you took what was merely one small critique meme, in a sea of internet memes, and turned it into a super-meme. Then, in pressing forward (by not withdrawing the complaint and instead filing additional briefs), you turned the super-meme into an object lesson in First Amendment principles.

It also bears noting, in this matter and for the future, that you are entirely in control of whether or not you are the subject of this kind of criticism. I chose to criticize you using the well-tested method of satire because of its effectiveness. But, humor aside, your rhetorical style is no laughing matter. In this context of the WIPO case, you denigrated the letter of First Amendment law. In the context of your television show and your notoriety, you routinely and shamelessly denigrate the spirit of the First Amendment. The purpose of the expressive freedoms embodied in the First Amendment is not to simply permit the greatest possible scope of expression, but also, in doing so, to also strive for excellence in the conveyance of ideas. Rather than choosing to strive for excellence and civic contribution, you simply pander to the fears and insecurities of your audience. And in the process, you do them, and all of us, a great deal of harm.

Shame on you Mr. Beck.

The website is no longer running at the disputed web address, but can be found here. It has some interesting clips of Beck exercising his First Amendment rights over the last 3 years, as well as some more satire lambasting him.