Vancouver, of course, is the host of the 2010 Games that begin Feb. 12.
Oops. On his radio program today, Beck said he misspoke, meaning to say Calgary, host of the 1988 Winter Games. Is the White House going to do another reality check?
Organizers of the Calgary Games initially claimed they made from $90-$150M on the event, though a 1999 Toronto Star piece said that figure omitted $460M in federal and provincial subsidies. Calgary was a loser, but the city lost far less than a billion smackers. Following the nonsense of Beck would surely keep White House staffers working 24/7 on corrections and rebuttals.
The Obama administration says it took on Beck because he is part of a Fox News smear campaign lodged against the administration.
“In the past, hosting the Olympics has been a source of pride and unity for the country, but once again Fox News' Glenn Beck program has shown that nothing is worthy of respect if it can be used as part of a partisan attack to boost ratings,” says the sanctimonious White House PR machine.
What's new here? Those old sunny days of baseball, mom and apple pie are over in the current wired to the hilt electronic information world. Fox News doesn’t hide its partisanship. The president has the right to stiff Fox, as he did in denying Chris Wallace face time in the recent round of Sunday healthcare chats. Wallace ridiculed the White House as a bunch of "crybabies." Touche!
The White House needs to get over Beck. It should ignore him like the rest of the Fox gang. Beck makes no claims as to being either reporter or pundit. He is a self-proclaimed showman. His site pitches the "Glenn Beck Program" as a "fusion of entertainment and enlightenment." Enlightenment is a dubious claim indeed. Beck is hot because he is a fresh face in the tired old dreary crowd of windbags like Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh.
Beck is enjoying his 15 minutes of fame. Wasting precious time and resources on a buffoon like him belittles the Office of the President. For instance, Beck said upon finding out that the White House is reality-checking him: "I got a thrill up my leg and a chill down my spine. They met somewhere in the private area and it ..."
Mercifully, Beck was interrupted so he could not complete his train of thought.
Does the White House really want to give this guy any more exposure?