These are difficult days for conservative media host Glenn Beck whose once brightly shining star has dimmed considerably.  It wasn’t at all long ago that his chubby face adorned the cover of Time magazine and he had a hugely popular show on Fox News along with a legion of ardent fans. But at some point Beck went from being a superstar personality to a megalomaniac with a personality disorder.

He left Fox to form his own media empire and build a sanctuary in Texas but in doing so lost his national stature along with most of his marbles. He also lost many of his fans with his frequent forays into religion and even more when he staked his credibility helping to defeat Donald Trump before he was able to seize the GOP nomination. That didn’t turn out as planned so now it is looking as if Beck is trying to reinvent himself as a liberal by embracing the Black Lives Matter hooligans.

The Beckster penned a column for the New York Times entitled “Empathy for Black Lives Matter” in which he made the case for what many – including this author- have called a racist group:

In a recent speech to a group of conservatives, I made what I thought was a relatively uncontroversial point about the commonalities between Trump supporters and Black Lives Matter activists. I thought this was a simple idea, but the criticism was immediate and sharp: How dare I try to understand the “other side”?

But as people, wouldn’t we all benefit from trying to empathize with people we disagree with?

AND

After the horrific shootings of five police officers in Dallas this summer, I had the opportunity to watch an interview with the parents of the gunman by Lawrence Jones, a contributor at The Blaze, of which I am the founder. I was able to see their heartache and sorrow as parents, as Americans and as human beings.

I also saw a lot of hate online. People were shocked that The Blaze portrayed these grieving parents as human beings. It is sad that I feel the need to state the obvious, but my heart bleeds blue for the men and women of our police forces. But what happened in Dallas should be a reminder that we as a nation do not have to riot; we can (and must) come together.

After the massacre, I invited several Black Lives Matter believers on my show. I got to know them as people — on and off air — and invited them back again. These individuals are decent, hardworking, patriotic Americans. We don’t agree on everything, certainly not on politics; but are we not more than politics? I refuse to define each of them based on the worst among them. No movement is monolithic. The individuals I met that day are not “Black Lives Matter”; they are black Americans who feel disenfranchised and aggrieved; they are believers; they are my neighbors and my fellow citizens.

What appears to a heartfelt appeal to reason to many is in actuality a slick and calculated move by Beck to change his political stripes. Let’s face it, a Trump win in November will essentially cook Beck’s goose as a conservative who along with many others – including blowhard Erick Erickson – will have staked their careers on opposition to Trump and lost. Ever the smooth operator, Beck is going to follow the money and there are few better forums to appeal to liberal snobs than the New York Times.

It is without a shred of irony or self-consciousness that Beck writes:

Each movement is made up of at least three factions: believers, political insiders and instigators. I saw these divides emerge in the Tea Party, where self-serving “leaders” — but really just insiders — tried to take control of the movement to their own benefit.

As the man himself once said, by their fruits ye shall know them.