Tivo Alert: Jack Thompson on Glenn Beck Show Tonight

Tivo Alert: Jack Thompson on Glenn Beck Show Tonight

May 1, 2008

We've just had an e-mail from Miami attorney Jack Thompson (left) to say that he would be on the Glenn Beck program on CNN Headline News this evening at 7PM & 9PM Eastern (second one is a repeat)...

GTA IV will be the topic, along with, apparently, Thompson's issues with the Florida Bar.

Thompson will also be on NPR's Talk of the Nation at 2:40 PM Eastern.

UPDATE: It's on as I type this. Adam Sessler from G4TV is leading off... Now a guy who played GTA IV for 28 hours straight... Now Thompson, who says that he is portrayed in the game and claims that gamers vandalized his house last night.

Comments

If EA can step in on behalf of Bioware will Rockstar/TT demand the time and ability to counter claim all of this bullshit? Probably not. They just sit back and laugh and laugh while scrooge mcducking in their pools of money.
@ jadedcritic

That is all to common. Apparently the only way they are stop a game from selling is to make people tried of hearing about it. I have learned to hate games I never played just because even after the game stops being popular there will be some group that will bring it back up just to bash on it. Toss in JBT who never knows when to quit and.... well you can pretty much figure out the rest.
@potatojones

You forgot one thing:

11) I lost my train of thought.
I'm desparatly hoping for a repeat performance of Chris Matthrews, but this is Glenn Beck...
Glen Beck will probably just be incedulous when he finds out about the drunken driving stuff. He'll probably invite MADD to talk it about in a follow-up segment on his show next week. The guy loves to admit that he's a recovering alcoholic, as if it gives him some of 'been there, done that, turned my life around and found jeebus' cred. I think it just makes him look like even more of a toolshed.
Ken, we want JT to live a long and fruitless life. I'm actually hoping that GP takes down those posts. Right now he is the best thing to happen to the video game industry. It helps fo them to have a figure head that we can point to and say "See, he's nuts!"
It was a lopsided joke about how it is a murder simulator and nothing more. They didn't have any opposing side and were fixated on having sex with a hooker and then "beating her to death with a bat or whatever". They forgot to mention that you had this ability ever since Grand Theft Auto 3 and nobody cared then and there was no increase in violence.
lol cue the hilarity when JT explains the massive conspiracy against him to america.

also.. if he goes on tv and openly criticises GTAIV, and perhaps (predictably) calls for sales of it to be banned.. isnt hat infringing the agreement hehas with take two?

@GP

can you possibly attempt to record this and post a link to it when available?
First post.
@Gaddez,

Fail
You know, a lot of people say we should ignore him, like any other troll. This shows exactly why just ignoring him is insufficient: people not familiar with the issues - in other words, non-gamers - think he knows what he's talking about. We need to make sure he never gets enough credibility to be taken seriously by people who, by no fault of their own, don't know the game(s) in question.

Also, @Gaddez, you fail on multiple levels.
This is gonna be good....
WTH. I got eated by the spam blocker. I was even logged in.
The new "Grand Theft Auto" video game is out... projected to sell 9 million copies by the end of the year. That's possibly $450 million in revenue for a game that teaches our children to lie, rape, and murder. Glenn weighs in.

evidently Glenn Beck thinks GTA IV is a kids' game. Ironically enough, he wrote a book with this tagline:
Have you ever wondered why some of the biggest problems we face, from illegal immigration to global warming to poverty, never seem to get fixed? The reason is simple: the solutions just aren't very convenient. Fortunately, radio and television host Glenn Beck doesn't care much about convenience; he cares about common sense.
Glenn Beck and Jackhole certainly fit together perfectly.

This will be GREAT TV for "moral crusaders" everywhere.
Its That picture again. Dennis did we go something to offend you that you would show us that twice?

So he is likely ti discuss the Florida Bar eh? Figure he is going to try to make them look high handed or criminal. Show how Judge Tunis is against him and should be stripped of her robes (before she can do anything to him). Sad the things that draw news.
I am so watching this... I can't wait.
I'll save everyone some time. He's gonna go out and say so some of, if not all, of some form of the following.

1.) I was on 60 minutes.
2.) I wrote a book.
3.) Buy my book.
4.) I predicted Columbine.
5.) I represented families in Kentucky, Alabama etc.
6.) Cop-killing/murder simulators.
7.) These kids are are training, quite literally, to kill.
8.) V-Tech shooter was gamer/fan of Counter-Strike.
9.) These "murder simulators" are marketed to kids.
10.) The Florida Bar is persecuting me because I am a Christian/whistle blower/Batman "Christ" Revere in a briar patch.

There, that will be JT's "interview". Hope that saved everyone some time and brain cells.
I suggest we go to http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?69 and http://www.npr.org/contact/ and let them know the truth about Jack Thompson
I think I will watch this at seven...
As far as "news anchors" go, Glenn Beck is far from the worst, though I'm concerned how this will turn it. Though knowing JT, he'll just dig his hole deeper.
Can someone do a no tivo noob a favour and see this video makes it onto Youtube?
NPR?? What's that and how to I watch/listen? :|
National Public Radio Hitodama.
Glenn Beck, a wannabee Sean Hannity. Gah, I'm sorry, but I think seeing two folks I hate on one TV is one TV too much. I'm gunna skip this. Not that I watch Glenn Beck to begin with...
Is there a single story on this page somewhere that doesn't have to do with GTA? (sigh) Haven't even played it, and I'm already sick of it.
That's just great, Beck will probably break out the knee pads for the PTC again too in another clueless rant on the downfalls of morality in the USA while being a total ignoramus. While ignoring the fact that everything he says were the same arguments used about his generation.
Let me guess: Thompson will be on Nancy Grace next. The foxification of CNN continues...
Great two rather large morons, from the media's stand point, together! I need to just hide from my TV tonight.
@jadedcritic

You would think that if you had GTAIV, you would be playing it instead of reading this...

I don't own it myself, but it might interesting to see how this interview will turn out.
Let's get some quotes from Glenn ready so that we already know how he is approaching this subject:
...I mean, people standing in line for Grand Theft Auto, a game where you can have sex with a prostitute and then beat her to death with a baseball bat. I don't even recognize our society anymore...

You guys don't have any problem, you see no problem with this? You can take a cop and you can set him on fire?

Sarah, please, tell me you have a problem with this game. You're pregnant. Please tell me you're not going to let your children and you're not going to let your husband ??

What do you think about having your husband playing a game where he can have sex with a prostitute and then beat her to death with a baseball bat or take a chain saw and saw her in half?

There is no distinction between reality and a game anymore.

I'm looking them up because I'm having this discussion later tonight on television with some actual guests that, you know, study this stuff...
(so he already has no idea who JT really is.)
Stu: Sure. And this is why I would say it's not an appropriate thing for a kid, but the average video game player is over 30 years old and that shows how pathetic we are, but it also ??

Glenn: That shows you you're a loser.


Guys, this will be about as balanced and fair as the Alamo.
Okay, the page is bracketed at top and bottom with that pic.

Can we talk about something other than GTA IV now?

Seriously.
I'd love it if something like this happened:

JT: "Tunis recently asked for an extension on the deadline for her verdict. This is unfair because i won't be able to spend time with my wife. She has cancer you know.

???: "Didn't the proceedings end in December?"

JT: "......I was on 60 minutes."

???: "That's... nice, Mr. Thompson."
Does anyone have a link to that story a while back that showed kids were more likely to be able to purchase explicit movies and music than games? I'm probably the only person here who likes Glenn Beck, but that doesn't mean I agree with him all the time. Someone needs to write an intelligent letter explaining this, and if I'm the one who does it, so be it.
GP, do you really need to show that disturbing photo of him again?
Think Glenn will ask me to be on sometime soon for a more rational analysis of the game industry? Or Dennis? Or...well...anyone who isn't Jack Thompson?
I did a bit of research on this Beck guy and what I found don't give me a good image of him. His show seems like (like we say in Québec) garbage radio. He reminds me a lot about Jeff Fillion.

I can't see any serious peoples seeing this trash. Jack won't get any more audience that he got with Fox News.
Ah. Beck, the standard conservative pundit who thinks he's different from other pundits because occassionally he admits what he says is opinion rather than fact, and is paranoidly afraid of both parties rather than just one.
He's going to just ask JT questions out of the "Questions JT wants to be asked" handbook, agree with everything he says wholeheartedly, then claim afterwards that he asked tough questions and got real legitimate answers based on facts.
Andy,

I wrote a comment to him asking if he'll discuss the many John Bruce quotes available on his wikiquote page. Or if he'll mention that GTA IV was not designed for children etc. I was very respectful.
I agree with you, Andy. I like Back, but when it comes to culture, he can be a bit of tool. Jack Thompson, however, I despise. To paraphrase Roman Bellic, he has the "best line in bullshit."
@potatojones83

You forgot:
11) I drafted a law that unanimously passed.
Glenn Beck is garbage...
I'll have the chips ready to throw at the TV, the vomit bucket next to my bed, and a lot of pillows to yell into for how fucking stupid this is going to be.

It is important for us all to be paying attention to this. With the popularity of Second Life being a political arena now, the idea that video game releases are now being considered potential cinerama box office money siphons, and how much publicity that games are getting (TV shows, news segments, constant coverage on the interwebs etc), the importance of us watching this and respond is undeniable.

We have to speak up for our hobbies. As sad as it is that these people let so much fear, and snobbish attitudes rule their lives, we have to be able to listen.

I'll be tuning in.
@Sherlock,

He is kinda over the top when it comes to culture issues, but he's not as bad as Michael "Movies with smoking should be rated R" Medved. On politics, he really does have a lot of common sense, but seriously, if games really were training kids to visit prostitutes and then kill them, how come it never actually happens in real life? There are an incredible amount of gamers in the country. I don't know how many so I won't speculate, but if they really were "murder simulators", how come there isn't rioting?
The only people who would have Thompson on their show at this point have already made up their minds about videogames, gamers and the industry in general. I don't see the point in watching this.
Glenn Beck isn't "news," nor does he claim to be news. In fact, he says so himself he's an opinion guy. I hope Glenn Beck rips into Jack Thompson, because I know he will.
@ Malygris
I was just going to say that. The people that watch shows like Glenn Beck and have people like Jack Thompson on have alreayd made up their minds and will agree. There is nothing we can do to change their minds.

Secondly, In a few months when JT is disbarred who is going to want him on TV?
So "Fat" Thompson is gonna be on TV tonight?
@Thomas Prescott

no way glenn rips into him. Glenn totally agrees with jack. according to the discussion they put on glenn's website today. he things games alone are the single cause for the depravity of our culture.
Glenn Beck also had that charlatan John Edward (the one who pretends to talk to dead people, not the one who pays too much for haircuts) on his show and fawned all over him. Beck is a stupider version of O'Reilly or Limbaugh.
Odds he will dig the hole deeper in his disbarment case and violate the legal agreement between Take Two/R* and himself.
Jack does not have the balls to go on a call-in TV show because the switchboards will be jammed with pissed gamers who want to give him their two cents. Cue the censors.
Yet another couple of one-sided interviews with JT (the kind he prefers). I don't know anything about Glenn Beck, but I have the feeling he won;t be serving Jack any "hardball" questions like Chris Matthews did. Same goes for the hosts of NPR. Still, alerting Beck might be a wise idea.

In addition to what other have predicted he'll say, chances are he'll also talk about how all of us gamers are "morons" and that Dennis and the ECA are "industry shills."

Fortunately I take solace in the fact that Jack continues to lose credibility with each passing day and he won't be a lwayer for much longer. At this point, people are starting to get wise to Jack. People are now seeing that after several GTA games, civilzation has yet to collapse, regardless of Jack predictions of how the latest game will put people "in the ground." :P
@Andy and @Sherlock

Yes, please. Both of you write a letter to him. You can honestly say you were fans of his show and can couch the language in such a way that he will understand where you car coming from. I'm afraid that if I tried I would come off as being critical, contradictory, and offensive. Just reading his show excerpt on it I wanted to scream. There are three people and two of them think the game is fine, but of course it is the host who is sure he is correct even though he is in the minority.

For the record, I'll be giving this a pass. I think that watching that would give my blood preasure more of a rise then getting hit with three blue shells right before I would have finished Star Road with tripple starts on the 150cc class.
Looking at that picture reminds me of a quote by Homer Simpson, "There are only two types of men who wear Hawaiian shirts - gay guys and crazy party animals - and he doesn't look like a crazy party animal!"
I will personally see that my Tivo is completely incapable of recording that clown shoe even if that means setting it on fire.

I, personally, would love to believe that there is a conspiracy against him because then he would have something to do besides trolling all news sources for tragedies around the world he can blame on video games.

I am just waiting for something big to happen like a tornado hit a nuclear plant and it explodes. Jack Thompson jumps into action (on Fox, of course) and immediately starts blaming Sim City because it teaches people who to control the weather to destroy facilities like nuclear power plants and that it is a civilian killing simulator.

I am surprised we didn't see him on Fox talking about every hunting arcade game on the planet when Dick Cheney shot his friend while hunting. Maybe his wife wasn't sick at the time and had the strength to prevent him from looking like a complete ass.

I guess he will talk about all the violence in the history of the world and how it was all based on primitive video games and how the illuminati has plans to kidnap him to help increase their profit shares with the Take 2 EA deal and they won't stop prank calling him until he does.

Why anyone would give him a spot on national tv, let alone the time of day (looks a little pedo... ish in his picture there) to spread more propaganda is beyond me.

I can't wait to have him disbarred and have the Jack Thompson spam engine brought to a screeching (and probably kicking) halt. It will give him the opportunity to see what a real lawyer does during work hours.
@ken

he tried that once, and he couldn't explain it.
one time he called into a radio station, and got so angry he hung up at one other time :D
@ dmr9748

you leave Iron Man out of this. Him, Professor Xavier and their illuminati have nothing to do with J.T. looking like an ass....or do they?
Thanks for giving JT the publicity. Glenn Beck's ratings will go up tonite, and now he'll think JT wields magical influence. How about we try ignoring him for a while.
Okay, so here are my predictions:

1) Jack complains about GTA4, he gets some cable air time, and convinces some t.v. hosts with no real minds of their own that he is right.

2) A month goes by.

3) Everyone forgets what Jack was complaining about, GTA4 keeps breaking sales records, and nothing has changed.
10 min till the NPR broadcast...
oh god HIM! the satin of lawyers and the satin of news programs...my fellow gamers...this is gonna be one painful youtube video watching [im not watching glenn beck for jack!]
LOL Adam Sessler is on.
@GreatNocturn357

satin? Or Satan?

Cheater, I can't listen to it here, what's going on with Adam Sessler?
I'm a Brit so I had know idea who Glenn Beck is, that being the case I looked through his site to find out. I really wish I hadn't. Beck is reactionary and idiotic, Jack will be right at home on his show.

Nothing I'm interested in seeing or hearing.

Gift.
@GreatNocturn;

I'd love to be the satin of anything. Satin is nice, soft and shiny.

I think you meant Satan.
Listening to NPR right now. He's just saying the same stuff we've already heard: distribution to minors, graphic sex which he describes in detail, "I won't tell you" which law enforcement agencies he's working with, and then the host cut him off. Jack ended with "I'm done? Oh, well I'll go play the game now. *click*"
Unfortunately, I'll miss that one due to my inability to watch pompous cable "news" pundits bloviating on topics they have no understanding of. Whenever I see Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity, etc.,etc. come on, my bullshit filter kicks in to high gear and despite trying to watch them, all I can manage to do is wonder why they squint so much, and I spend any remaining time pondering the question that belongs to the answer 42.
Well, the host actually made some valid points, but I think he was a bit biased against the whole "violent games evoke violent tendencies in people" thing.
We know how this will go.
Glen Beck:Videogames are bad!
JT:Totally!
GB:Wow! We have so much in common!
JT:Let's take off our shirts and kiss!
GB:What?!
JT:Ugh...nothing, nothing...
his house was vandalized.....you can't do that in GTA
I won't watch the TV show, but I tried to listen to the radio station. There was supposed to be a strong channel around here, but I couldn't pull it in, other stations were around it, but not the one I wanted to here. I might listen to the story tonight, but I think I'll be too busy playing games to listen to that blow hard. The only reason I wanted to listen to the show was Adam Sessler being on. He isn't the best person to debate JT because he gets upset too easily.
@ xzero87
"Jack ended with “I’m done? Oh, well I’ll go play the game now. *click*”"
Not surprised by that one, everyone is running their mouths off without at least seeing what they are allegedly bitching about...
@ GP
"claims that gamers vandalized his house last night."
Oh, how is he sure it wasn't Rockstar or the Florida Bar? Even the government is out to get him, so maybe the FBI decided to have a little fun...
I am curious about a few things:
1. How does he knows gamers were the ones that vandalized his house? Did they do it in 1337 speak? Was it done with pixel art?

2. What does that ahve to do with the game? Does he feel the murder simulator made them vandalize his house?

3. Has anyone gotten to the supposed likeness of JT yet? Is it anything like him? I didn't see anything on the warning label about horrific imagery...
Oh wait, it can't be the Illuminati. He already had them hanged at his last trial that was not about video games and his own disbarring.

Oops, I forgot, that was in Jack's head along with other various stories like how he single handedly fought off Napoleon, Genghis Khan, Cobra, Skeletor, and a pack of evil Amazonian Pygmies while winning a poker championship match on a steamboat speeding out of control, upstream, on the river stix.
HAHAHA NPR links to jackthompson.org. They think it's his website? Even when they say they're not associated with him.
I can't wait to get home and listen to John Bruce make his false claims about gamers vandalizing his house. :D

Pathetic.

Truly Pathetic.

Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
I've been listening to NPR on my way home from work lately because it feels like the only place I can get real news anymore. I find that they're putting Jack on the air to be disappointing :/ .
*their
Yeah, Glen Beck is one of those "If you don't agree with me, I'll cut you off until you stop talking" hosts. Kind of a dick. Now Anderson Cooper, that's a different story. THAT'S THE GUY WE WANT AIR TIME WITH! FAIR AND BALANCED!!!
One thing I love about this, so far it isn't just Jack's word against no one else's.

Did the ECA get Adam to do this, or did he do it on his own? Or was it just Rockstar's doing? Whoever it is, they do need a round of applause for taking the incentive, especially if it is the ECA for putting someone with the facts against the lairs & misinformed.

Like the ECA admitted in the past, their problem was ignoring such issues and letting "massacre chasers" take over.
I chuckled when host Neil Conan (sp) asked, "What law enforcement agencies are you working with to accomplish your goal?"

Thompson's response was a petulant, "I'm not telling you."
Now Thompson, who says that he is portrayed in the game and claims that gamers vandalized his house last night.

SS or it didn't happen.

Seriously, SS, please. I just want to see it =)
I was reading the transcript of one of the CNN reports JT was already on. The host just walked all over the person defending games, cutting them off and asking loaded questions.

I don't think you will get fair and balanced reporting from any source that has made up it's mind about the story before they investigate it.
I am glad that Adam Sessler is working for the defendant. I love his soapbox online show.
Ugh, why is someone from G4TV on there? Last time JT "debated" them, they just ended up yelling at him and looking like retards. I guess that apple ain't got far to fall...at least get somebody who can actually debate him on there.
They need to get Wil Wheaton on against Jack!
I would like to applaud Adam for his continued efforts as a representative for our community and collective hobbies.
@ Nightwing

I also doubt the veracity of Jack's statement, as we all know he loves to play the victim/martyr card (as most Born Agains do) and will take any opportunity to make us gamers look bad.

If true, however, it only continues to demonstrate how dense Jack is. The notion that he has brought all this trouble on himself because he has acted like a total dick to just about everyone he has met continues to escape him.
As for Glenn Beck, John Stewart said it best: "yes, this man... has a show."
I guess he could tell they were gamers because they had controllers in their hands.

I know every time I try to spray paint graffiti on someone's house, that damn cord gets in the way.
no gamers vandalized his house last night....They were playing GTA
Jack Thompson for the EPIC Fail!
Any chance that the broadcast can be found somewhere online?
@Chris: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90102764

It should be available around 6pm EST today.
@ Chris, it will be on the NPR website around 6pm EST (I think EST).
Chris,
The NPR one will be posted on NPR's site around 6pm. I'd give ya a link, but prior posts where I've done such today are jammed in the spam filter.

Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
@PotatoeJones83

That list of 10 things you wrote, maybe you can turn it into a drinking game with GP buddies. Every time Jack Thompson does one of his "trademark quotes" you take a swig.
Someone should get the vid for this once it hits youtube or something so people who miss this can see it later. This is gonna be hilarious.
Hmmm...NPR.com says the audio will be up at approx 6:00 EST.
Sessler is an incredibly well-spoken guy, so I'm betting he was the only one coming off as sane in the whole thing.
"claims that gamers vandalized his house last night"

While I am in no way condoning the actions of anyone, gamer or non-gamer, who vandalize someone's house, I will be quick to point out that this is why you're completely retarded if you put your personal information out on the internet. Jack calls people cowards for not doing so.
wait... so is this being recorded right now? or did GP get the time wrong?
If gamers know where you live Jack, you better be watching your ass 24/7 because somebody will eventually take you out.
@JustChris

Wouldn't we die from alcohol poisoning?
@Ken

No they wouldn't. They're too damn calm and forgiving from playing videogames. :D
@ Grizzam

That's where you bring in escaped cons. They have nothing to lose, and they'd be doing us a favor by taking out Jack permanently.
If he didn't catch them, isn't he somewhat jumping to conclusions for a lawyer? Could have been Howard Stern fans, or lawyers, or maybe Strauss Zelnicks Mum?
@ Ken

Kindly stop proving Jack right about psychopathic gamers who want him dead.

Prince Humperdinck: First things first, to the death.

Westley: No. To the pain.

Prince Humperdinck: I don't think I'm quite familiar with that phrase.

Westley: I'll explain and I'll use small words so that you'll be sure to understand, you warthog faced buffoon.

Prince Humperdinck: That may be the first time in my life a man has dared insult me.

Westley: It won't be the last. To the pain means the first thing you will lose will be your feet below the ankles. Then your hands at the wrists. Next your nose.

Prince Humperdinck: And then my tongue I suppose, I killed you too quickly the last time. A mistake I don't mean to duplicate tonight.

Westley: I wasn't finished. The next thing you will lose will be your left eye followed by your right.

Prince Humperdinck: And then my ears, I understand let's get on with it.

Westley: WRONG. Your ears you keep and I'll tell you why. So that every shriek of every child at seeing your hideousness will be yours to cherish. Every babe that weeps at your approach, every woman who cries out, "Dear God! What is that thing," will echo in your perfect ears. That is what to the pain means. It means I leave you in anguish, wallowing in freakish misery forever.

Prince Humperdinck: I think your bluffing.

Westley: It's possible, Pig, I might be bluffing. It's conceivable, you miserable, vomitous mass, that I'm only lying here because I lack the strength to stand. But, then again... perhaps I have the strength after all.

[slowly rises and points sword directly at the prince]

Westley: DROP... YOUR... SWORD!

[mouth hanging open, drops sword to floor]
(ref mogbert's comment just above mine)
Is it just me or does that pic of JT have a ped-smile?
best educational pic ever: come on inside and I'll let you play this videogame.... uh-huh - remember kids don't get lured by strangers offering to show you their .. err... grand theft autoes
oh poor John, "This is the most graphic most incredibly sexual product ever distributed en masse to children."

Wow, I guess he never played Fahrenheit.

Also, priceless when they shut him down at the end and you can hear him actualy slams the phone down.
“This is the most graphic most incredibly sexual product ever distributed en masse to children.”

Riiight.

Better not tell him about all those adult games for kids coming from our friends in Asia....

Or maybe we should
Err wow, I mean to say adult games available to kids, not for kids.
@JustChris

"That list of 10 things you wrote, maybe you can turn it into a drinking game with GP buddies. Every time Jack Thompson does one of his “trademark quotes” you take a swig."

My only concern is that people would die from alcohol poisoning :o

@Waffles and cppcrusader

Arrgh! Can't believe I missed those two!! Well, let's tally it to twelve and if you're gonna do the JT Quote Drinking game please be safe about it :)
Hmmm...thought I had posted the link...oh well.

Seems that the audio is up.

If my previous posts appear later, I appologize for the double posts.
Its not on CNN the channel its on CNN Headline news.
I'm refering to the NPR audio, Talk of the Nation. Sorry for any con