Thomas Frank on Glenn Beck

You've probably never heard of Thomas Frank. He's a "real" journalist--I think. I read him in the WSJ. He also writes for Huff and Puff and NYT, all their opinion all the time. He's really pissed at Glenn Beck, who has a fatter subscription list than the NYT. It's that red phone shtick-- doesn't set well with him, because it's only for the White House and not for Frank's progressive sources. Why not attack the black boards or blue curtains? So he spouts the White House mantra. Beck is odious, Beck is a panic peddler. Beck is (play scary music here) Fox! Through some mysterious, closed-minded reasoning that infects many liberal writers/journalists/bloggers/entertainers, Frank suddenly gets a revelation that "ideas have consequences," which is exactly what Beck says too, but better, and with higher ratings. So here he is, on that side of the fence where only warm fuzzies for Obama grow, lobbing stones at a guy who actually uses the investigative methods that journalists could be, but aren't. Guys like Frank have to play it safe. If they don't, the White House will come after them like they did Fox.