THE SUNDAY TIMES: The caller introduced herself as Cathy from Massachusetts. She had a couple of modest points to make about the benefits of a national health service but Glenn Beck, one of America’s most ferocious right-wing broadcasters, was in no mood for a discussion about “socialist medicine”.
“Cathy, get off my phone,” he yelled, his voice rising several octaves. “Get off my phone, you little pinhead. Get off my phone . . . I’m losing my mind today.”
An audio clip of the exchange was duly posted online where it was heard by several million listeners, one of whom likened Beck's outraged shrieks to “a cartoon mouse being stabbed in the scrotum with knitting needles”.
Americans have long been used to airwaves filled with wild political rants. But with President Barack Obama in the White House and Democrats in control in Washington, the gates have been opened to what some are describing as a new age of conservative rage.
The angry white men, whose voices were largely silenced by the excitement and pride that greeted Obama’s election last January, are back with a vengeance. >>> Tony Allen-Mills in Washington | Sunday, July 19, 2009
