A Folksy Guy, in Recovery, Is About to Land Millions - New York Times:
On his daily radio talk show, Glenn Beck portrays himself as an average guy, a recovering alcoholic and a comedian who regularly injects humor into his conservative politics.
This week he can add another description: very wealthy.
Premiere Radio Networks, a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications, is expected to announce today that it is extending Mr. Beck’s contract. Two sources with knowledge of the deal said it was valued at $50 million over five years, through a combination of salary and profit-sharing from syndication.
I can't believe anyone takes this asshole seriously.
Mr. Beck’s contract symbolizes the contrast between the folksy personalities and personal fortunes of high-profile radio hosts.“It’s one of the ironies of our culture that people are able to hold two truths in their minds at one time as fans,” Mr. Harrison said. “They like the image of a person, and relate to them as a regular guy, knowing all along that these so-called regular guys are megarich multimillionaires.”
He's just further proof that Americans will buy anything. Substance is of little importance as long as you package properly. Glenn Beck and George Bush are identical in this sense: rich jerks pretending to care about the plight of the average worker. American workers will blindly cheer any asshole as long as he takes on a "common man" stance despite the content of his faux populism.
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