Manipulative or Stupid? Both!

This is a typically interesting and well written post by Amanda on Pandagon. It's about the quandary of figuring out whether a right wing media nutjob is manipulative or stupid. Those being the two choices. It's clear that some people aren't true drinkers of the current right wing kool aid, with many once conservative pundits being left behind by the extreme opinions of the current right (Arizona Immigration, birthirism, 'forcible' rape etc.).

When reading her post, I immediately thought of Glenn Beck. I think he is in a special category all his own. He is both a manipulative non-believer, who seems to be stupid enough to be buying into his own con. One image jumped to mind:

For those of you who have not seen Tropic Thunder, go see Tropic Thunder. The premise of this scene is simple: Ben Stiller was an actor in a terrible movie, but in this isolated spot he has an audience that loves his re-enactments of this movie. In his audiences adoration for his performance, he loses his self identity.

To me, this happens to conservative pundits. They don't really believe what they're shilling at first. But, pretty soon the applause of their audience carries them away, and they actually believe it.