Glenn Beck, Rodeo Clown

He said so himself. "I'm a rodeo clown."

Tonight I saw a car with a sticker on the back with the "Don't Tread on Me" flag. Beck's followers are using this as some sort of symbol of their rebellion - so I got the point, they were an example of a Beck disciple.

With this in mind I began to wonder what these people should be called, with Beckites coming to mind. But upon further thought I think we should start referring to these people as Beckys, or Bekkies. I'm letting it rhyme with Trekkies on purpose, although I do feel a twinge of conscience for doing it to the Trekkies, who are a harmless bunch. I don't think that about the Beckys.

But getting back to the clown, I find it interesting that Beck likes the metaphor. Ever been to a rodeo? They have them on TV. We took the kids to one once in the old Astrodome. One of the events that you see is bull riding. A rider tries to stay on this big, strong, surprisingly quick and flexible bull with one hand for something like eight seconds - which ain't easy and probably feels like an eternity. But should the rider get bucked off before the eight seconds or jumps off after, there's a real possibility that the bull, pissed off because this animal was on its back, sees it now on the ground and takes off after it, intending to do some damage to the source of its discomfort. So it's been called, "the most dangerous eight seconds in sports."[

This is where the rodeo clown jumps in. It's his job to get the attention of the bull and direct it towards himself and away from the rider so that the rider can scoot to safety. The clown then scoots his own butt to safety before the bull can do him some damage. He's there to save the rider's life and limb from harm.

If Beck's the clown, then it seems the American people are the bull he's trying to get the attention of, away from the rider who is the source of the irritation, the ones causing our discomfort, the big money boys.

OMG. I've Gone Viral!

Holy smoke! Check it out. The Oldguy's tete-a-tete with his congressman, Jack Kingston, over health care has hit the bigtime:

Here I am at ThinkProgress.

Then Huffington Post picked it up.

Rock on!

Single Payer Now!