Rolling Stone: Glenn Beck Rips Off Alex Jones
Infowars.comMarch 4, 2011
Rolling Stone Magazine has posted a part two to follow up on its profile of Alex Jones earlier this week, a feature that also appears in the print edition of the publication.
In this article, writer Alexander Zaitchik asks if Glenn Beck has been ripping off Alex Jones by using Jones’ information but then injecting it with his own lies and spin. After listing seven different aspects in which Beck is charged with ripping off Jones, Zaitchik concludes that the Fox News host has indeed borrowed Jones’ material to create “bastardized versions of theories and facts originally found on the Alex Jones Show.”
This is unsurprising given the fact that we have been told directly by people inside Fox News that one of the primary roles of Beck’s researchers is to monitor the Alex Jones Show in order to later rip off our material.
Read excerpts from the article below or click here for the full story.
Glenn Beck’s Shtick? Alex Jones Got There First
‘He rips me off and spins the information, often injecting lies into the truth,’ says Jones
Alexander Zaitchik
Rolling Stone Magazine
Friday, March 4, 2011
Long before he inadvertently brought an end to a popular sitcom by hosting last week’s mega-viral interview with Charlie Sheen, talk-radio host Alex Jones established himself as a giant in America’s conspiracy subculture. The godfather of the 9/11 Truth Movement, Jones is the most popular chronicler of what he believes is a New World Order plot to enslave the global population.
Until recently, he was a lonely and little-known voice in the short wave and Internet radio wilderness. But as his audience has grown, other talk show hosts have taken notice — and cues. Among his most ardent imitators is Glenn Beck, whom Jones has accused of stealing his ideas, guests, and research. Last week, Jones posted a video clip on his site, InfoWars, offering evidence of this theft.
“He rips me off and spins the information, often injecting lies into the truth,” says Jones.
So, is Alex Jones really the invisible senior writer of Beck’s TV and radio shows? If the below is any indication, the answer is “Yes.”
1. “Inside-Job” Terror
Alex Jones was the first 9/11 Truther. Two months before the attacks took place, in July of 2001, Jones warned that the U.S. government was planning to blow up the World Trade Center and blame Osama bin Laden. More recently, Jones and his websites have been sounding the alarm, based on mainstream press clippings, that the Obama Administration might find political gain in the tragedy of a “new Oklahoma City Bombing” or a 9/11-style attack. Jones had been making this argument for several months when Beck began to hit a very similar note shortly after the midterms last year. “They are setting up an Oklahoma City. They are claiming that one is coming and they’re already marked the one who caused it,” Beck said in November, referring to himself. Unlike Jones, however, Beck continues to harshly criticize those who entertain or believe similar actions could have occurred during the Bush Administration or past governments.
Scorecard: Rip-off and redirection. Beck takes a page from Jones in discussing state-sponsored terror, but twists it for use against Democrats — ignoring Jones’ more radical theory that both parties are historically capable of heinous acts against their own people.
2. Martial Law, Food Riots & Pentagon Planning for Domestic Unrest
For the past several years, Glenn Beck echoed Alex Jones on the Doomsday themes of looming economic disaster and subsequent societal collapse. What’s more, Beck often relies heavily on guests who first appeared on the Alex Jones Show to discuss the same topics. For example, on October 13, 2008, Beck discussed the “threat of martial law” with frequent Alex Jones guest and former Senate candidate Peter Schiff. During the same program, Beck went on to discuss what he considered “coercive” and “manufactured fear” — classic Jones themes. Similar echoes can be found on Beck’s website, The Blaze, which often cover subjects shortly after Jones, such as the Pentagon’s plans for civil unrest and a possible food crisis triggering martial law.
Scorecard: Beck is caught red-handed here — stealing ideas, language and guests. Incidentally, the more Beck has incorporated themes of social collapse into his show, the more his online advertising roster resembles that found on Jones’ site, which has featured survivalist gear and products for more than a decade.
3. New World Order & Global Currency
If any one term defines the career of Alex Jones, it is the New World Order. Beck, who used to make fun of N.W.O conspiracy, now covers it frequently and has incorporated the term into his show. This began while Beck was still on CNN. On Oct 9, 2008 he declared, “New world Order is the endgame.” That February, he hosted longtime Alex Jones guest Ron Paul on his Fox News show to discuss world government. He has also borrowed language from Jones when expressing his fears about the creation of a global currency and sterilants in the water.
Beck’s Scorecard: The mother of all rip-offs by Beck. He again leans heavily on Jones’ trademark New World Order language, but deemphasizes or ignores the role played by corporations, which are prominent in Jones’ more sweeping critique.
The Glenn Beck Secret