Just a Minute!

Mount Vernon's fuss over Glenn Beck misses the key point (9/22/09)

    Mount Vernon Mayor Bud Norris has every right to give Glenn Beck a key to the city on Saturday.

     And protesters have every right to question Norris’ sanity in honoring a TV/radio entertainer whose shtick-in-trade is spreading fear and fomenting hatred.

     The larger story being missed here is the mayor’s decision to honor someone from Mount Vernon simply for being famous. (Norris has said emphatically his decision has nothing to do with Beck’s conservative extremism, though I’m not sure I buy that.)

     If indeed the mayor wants to honor Beck because a lot of people now know Beck’s name and recognize his face, it’s evident that Norris has been sucked into the same celebrity-worship vortex now controlling most of the mainstream media. One would expect a little more sagacity from an elected official, but maybe he’s been blinded by his own celebrity.

     My guess is there are plenty of inspiring teachers, heroic firefighters and innovative tulip growers who deserve a pat on the back, a shake of the hand and a key to the city of Mount Vernon. By choosing to perpetuate a skewed measure of achievement, Norris does them all a great disservice and he caricatures himself as shallow, shortsighted and simplistic.

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