Actor Richard Belzer: Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck 'Fascist Stooges'; Fox News Called 'Racist,' 'Misogynistic'

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Ever since CNN HLN's "Joy Behar Show" has splashed on the scene, it has become little more than a show dedicated to bashing conservative, specifically former CNN HLN host, now Fox News host Glenn Beck.  

The Oct. 15 broadcast of host Joy Behar's show was no different. First it tackled the issues of the day, like Arianna Huffington's take on whether or not Vice President Joe Biden should resign based on what President Barack Obama does in Afghanistan. Then Behar and her two guests, actor and left-wing activist Richard Belzer and New York Daily News Columnist Liz Benjamin discussed Rush Limbaugh's failed effort to buy a stake in the NFL's St. Louis Rams and the feud between Fox News and the White House.

Behar made suggestion Limbaugh represents himself as someone who is not "in the mainstream" because he argued on his Oct. 14 show the backlash was in part generated by liberal activists threatened by the notion Limbaugh could be considered to be in the mainstream. That notion was one which Belzer lashed out at and called Limbaugh and Fox News host Glenn Beck "fascist stooges" (emphasis added):

Behar: Isn't Rush Limbaugh in the mainstream? He acts like he's not.
Belzer: This whole thing of conservatives saying they're not in the mainstream, you know, as we all know, it's the biggest crock. They have the courts, they had the presidency, they had the Congress, they have their own network.
Behar: But he's not a politician. I guess that's what he means - he's just a radio - just like Glenn Beck they're kind of like on the sidelines provoking and provoking.
Belzer: They're fascist stooges who in the true sense of that word, that's not hyperbole...
Benjamin: But why should he not own a team?
Behar: They don't want him.
Belzer: Well, because other businessmen...

Behar steered the discussion back in the direction of Limbaugh and his efforts to buy the Rams. She brought up a quote that had been drummed up by the left-wing noise machine, but was taken completely out of context by that same noise machine, as Limbaugh explained on his Oct. 14 program:

Behar: He said the NFL is like the gangs - the Crips and the Bloods.
Benjamin: He did say that. That's right.
Belzer: That's veiled racism.
Behar: That's very veiled racism.
Belzer: That's unveiled.
Benjamin: That's not veiled. Nevertheless the idea that this has not become -- it has become political. He's not sort of speaking out of turn to say that.

And Behar had credited perennial opportunist race-baiting extraordinaire Rev. Al Sharpton for being the force that ultimately forced Limbaugh out of the running for the Rams, an opinion Belzer disagreed with (emphasis added):

Benjamin: You're talking about Rev. Al Sharpton who was one of the loudest people crying for him not to have...
Belzer: Right.
Behar: I think it's because of Al Sharpton that he lost the bid to tell you the truth.
Belzer: The players were coming out. The [NFL] Players Association -- two of them.
Benjamin: Had a lot to do with it.
Belzer: You don't need Al Sharpton in a case like this. He was just as always showing up at the scene.

Earlier in the show, Behar inquired about Belzer's keen wisdom on the feud going on between the White House and the Fox News Channel that was provoked by comments from White House Director of Communications Anita Dunn, an admitted admirer of Mao Tse Tung.

"That was one example of the right wing taking on the whole left, in this case the NFL," Behar said. "But also Glenn Beck has been making statements that he is also a victim in this. And Fox news is the victim of the White House's attack, it's un-American, it's unpatriotic, et cetera. What do you think of all that?"

Benjamin questioned the attack on Fox News, but Belzer had no kind words for the network, calling it "racist" and "misogynistic" (emphasis added):

Benjamin: Didn't you just get finished saying there should be many parties and many voices, et cetera, but yet Fox is being - is not OK?
Belzer: You don't think that Fox lies continually - there are books written about it, they've made racist, misogynist, pro-war-mongering...
Benjamin: OK, they have, that's true. That's the allegations.
Belzer: They say they're attacking the conservatives. They had the President, the Vice President, the Supreme Court, the Congress and the Senate. And they're not mainstream?
Benjamin: Last time...
Belzer: They've ruined the country now they're complaining.
Benjamin: Last time I checked actually, we have a Constitution that protects - has a 1st Amendment that protects freedom of speech. You can actually say many sorts of misogynist and nasty things.
Belzer: So you're condoning what Fox does?
Benjamin: I'm condoning anything.
Behar: Wait a minute. Richie, she has a point.
Belzer: No, the White House is firing back at this thing that's been going on for years, that constantly lies, has veiled racism, misogyny, the most despicable things are said on that network every day...
Benjamin: Calling them out is fine.
Behar: They should be called out.
Benjamin: Doesn't mean they shouldn't exist.
Belzer: The White House isn't saying don't exist.
Benjamin: They're saying that they're a tool of the right. That's what they're saying.
Belzer: They're not? What are they? They're just a tool. They're just a tool.

This is a textbook example of what a recent Media Research Center study has confirmed - there was a concerted effort by the left-wing establishment to disparage the character of Limbaugh with three primary tactics - personal attacks, distortions of his quotes and the use of outright falsehoods and fabrications.