It's no surprise that advertisers are running for the hills after Glenn Beck's idiotic remarks about President Obama. Fox should now take the appropriate step and fire him.
It's one thing to attack a president's policies. It's another to brand the president a racist and say that his decisions are motivated by a secret loathing of more than half the country:
This president has exposed himself as a guy over and over and over again who has a deep-seated hatred for white people ... this guy is, I believe, a racist.
This is the sort of rhetoric and attitude you might expect at a bigoted religious revival or KKK meeting. It's not the rhetoric or attitude you expect from the host of a talk show broadcast by one of the world's largest media companies.
To be clear: There's nothing wrong with Glenn Beck thinking that Obama's decisions are motivated by a secret hatred of more than half the country (many of his fans no doubt agree with him). There's nothing wrong with him saying it in his own forum it on his own time as long as it doesn't embarrass his employer (freedom of speech). But there is everything wrong with his being paid millions of dollars a year to say it by a company whose customers and viewers include a broad majority of the country's population.
Fox did respond to Beck's remark. Specifically, it said he was just "expressing a personal opinion... And as with all commentators in the cable news arena, he is given the freedom to express his opinions."
Unfortunately, that's B.S.
Fox clearly would not employ Beck if his "personal opinions" were that all black people should be deported or that child prostitution is just fine. If Beck were to express those opinions, he would almost certainly be relieved of his contract before he stepped off the set. By standing behind Glenn Beck this time, therefore, Fox is standing behind this particular opinion.
Beck's "hatred for white people" remark is every bit as inappropriate and offensive as Imus's "nappy-headed hos." Imus got sacked for that remark -- as he should have. So should Beck.