As a broadcaster who has encouraged ordinary Americans to wake up, stand up and start making their voices heard, Glenn Beck should appreciate the hours Matt Sky is putting in to participate in the democratic debate.
Since Monday he has been spending between five and eight hours a day stamping his feet in the chill October air in Manhattan's Sixth Avenue outside the headquarters of News Corporation, home of Fox News. In his hands he has a stars and stripes flag and a poster he has made himself that says: "Glenn Beck hates America."
Meet Beck's lone protester. It can't be an easy life, attempting singlehandedly to have one of America's most popular rightwing commentators taken off air. But that is what Sky, a 26-year-old web developer, is trying to do.
He explained to me why: "I really do think Beck hates America. His greed and his wish for power is overriding the people of this country, who he is making paralysed with fear.
"We need to call out these types of hateful individuals. They love to say that those who disagree with them are traitors, and that makes people scared to say what they think. We are being held hostage by them."
Sky says he has generated quite a bit of interest. Passersby stop and engage him in discussion. Some are fans of Beck, and berate him;. others just want to find out what all the fuss is about.
William Diggs stops to talk. He tells Sky he objects to the use of the word "hate" in connection with Beck. "That's a very strong word," he says. "I hear people on the left side saying that Beck hates America; I hear people on the right side saying liberals hate America. Why can't you just all get on?"
.png?w=600)
