Glenn Beck, the popular Fox News host and radio broadcaster, is promoting his new book, “Arguing With Idiots.” When I read the title, it reminded me of H. L. Mencken, the 20th Century American social critic and humorist , who defined a demagogue as “one who will preach doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots.”

The term demagogue is derived from the Greek language, demos “people” and agogos “leader.” Aristophanes probably used the word first in his satire against Cleon, an Athenian leader known for his antiintellectualism. A demagogue gains political power with impassioned appeals to the prejudices, emotions, fears and expectations of the public – often using populist, nationalist or religious themes.

Demagogues are not a new phenomenon in United States history. Two men in the 20th Century became famous because of the power of their oratorical attacks and their skillful use of the media to reach millions of citizens. Father Charles Coughlin, a Roman Catholic priest was one of the first political leaders to use radio to reach a mass audience as more than forty million listeners tuned into his weekly

broadcasts during the l930s. At first, he was an avid supporter of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal proposals. By 1935, he had changed into a bitter opponent of FDR, ranting against Roosevelt, capitalists and “Jewish conspirators.” After the l936 election, Coughlin increasingly expressed admiration for the

fascist policies of Hitler and Mussolini. He began publication of the magazine “Social Justice” in which he printed the infamous anti- Semitic hoax, “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” After Kristallnacht on November 20, l938, Coughlin’s anti-Semitic diatribes reached a fever pitch and his programs were cancelled by leading radio stations across the country. The Vatican finally ordered him to cease broadcasting in l941.

Senator Joseph R. McCarthy donned the mantle of demagogue after World War II when he began his relentless crusade to find and root-out Communists and “Commie sympathizers” within the United States. This was the era of the Cold War with Russia, and McCarthy served as the Republican junior senator from Wisconsin for ten years, l947 to his death in l957. He gained the public’s attention in l950, making sensational claims that there were large numbers of Communists and Soviet spies inside the federal government and the military. He claimed to have a list of “members of the Communist Party and members of a spy ring,” which he never produced. In the following years with McCarthy at the forefront, thousands of Americans became the subjects of aggressive investigations and questioning before government or private industry panels, committees and agencies. The primary targets were federal employees, educators, union activists and members of the entertainment industry. Many suffered destruction of their careers and reputations.

With the Army-McCarthy hearings of l954, McCarthy was revealed on television making accusations of disloyalty, subversion and treason without evidence. His tactics entered our language as “McCarthyism – reckless, demagogic attacks on the character or patriotism of political opponents.”

Glenn Beck has emerged as the leader of the phalanx of conservative radio and television commentators who are fiercely opposed to President Barack Obama and his programs for change. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Laura Ingraham, Michele Malkin and Ann Coulter have millions of admirers who agree with their harsh assessment of the Democratic Party and President Obama. Ingraham is asking political candidates to sign a ten-point pledge on her Web site. Hannity on his afternoon radio program and prime time Fox News show is promoting “Conservative Victory in 20l0.” Limbaugh has told his millions of listeners and viewers that the president is a socialist, his health care program will bankrupt the country, and he wants him “to fail.” They have presented a daily drumbeat of caustic criticism of President Obama almost from the day he was inaugurated.

The distinction that Glenn Beck has earned, in addition to his skyrocketing ratings, is that he has gone beyond the days of calling Obama a “fascist, a Nazi and a Marxist” and floating conspiracy theories that there is a secret network of government-run concentration camps. On November 21, at a campaign-style rally in The Villages, Florida, Beck announced that he wants to promote a mass movement that would involve voter registration drives, training in community organizing, and a series of seven conventions across the country. The conventions will produce a “100- year plan” for America to be read from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at a mass rally on August 28, 2010.

Beck declared that he wanted to go beyond broadcasting his opinions and start to rally his base to take political action. His rationale was made clear on his Web site, where he wrote, “I know that the bipartisan corruption in Washington has brought us to this brink and it will not be defeated easily. It will require unconventional thinking and a radical plan to restore our nation to the maximum freedoms we were supposed to have been protecting . . . All of the above will culminate in The Plan, a book that will provide specific policies, principles and, most importantly action steps that each of us can take to play a role in this Refounding.”

A careful reading of Beck’s ambitious statement reveals deeply negative assumptions about the state of our nation and both political parties, combined with vague rhetoric about what a “radical plan” will encompass. One suspects the details had not been worked out at the time he introduced the concept. The final word “Refounding” has an ominous ring to it. Is it possible that Glenn Beck envisions an audacious challenge to our founding fathers and The Constitution? And one wonders how he will organize and produce the voter registration drives and conventions in the months ahead – a monumental task of coordination and funding.

Two important conclusions are clear. Glenn Beck is launching an initiative into national politics beyond his contracts with Rupert Murdoch’s network of radio and television programs. Will Murdoch draw the line and cancel his programs as the Vatican cancelled Father Coughlin? And Beck is challenging the Republican Party that appears bereft of strong leadership since the November 2008 election. What will be the reaction of Michael Steele, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Tim Pawlenty and Sarah Palin as Beck steals the limelight? With the millions of viewers and listeners he has gathered behind him and a wide-open agenda crafted for the future, Glenn Beck can surely qualify as the first full-fledged demagogue of the 21st Century. We will watch and see how high the arc of his popularity and influence reaches before it crashes to the ground. Like Icarus, he may find he believes his own pronouncements and has flown too close to the sun.

Joyce S. Anderson is the author of “Courage in High Heels,” “Flaw in the Tapestry,” “If Winter Comes” and “The Mermaids Singing.” She can be reached at JSAWrite@aol.com.