Glenn Beck's Overton Window Ch 27-34

You'll remember that Beck left us with the promise of hearing Kearns' life story.

But that was a fake! I swear this novel reads like a first-draft written by a 15 year old and never revised.

Chapter 27

This chapter starts out as if we're going to hear all about Kearns, but instead Beck abruptly quits that story, when Danny demands to stop at a bar/brothel. He wants a beer, he says.

Kearns goes along with this, letting Danny go into the bar by himself to get a beer (Kearns doesn't drink, obviously). Only a few chapters ago he basically took Danny hostage. Now he lets him wander off into a bar by himself.

Where Danny borrows the phone from a stripper and sends a text message to Molly, warning her to keep everyone away from Las Vegas, since that's where the Big Job is going to go down.

Chapter 28

Noah wakes up, after being kept unconscious for almost two days, by someone, to find himself in his father's custody. And his father wants to see him.

I can see that Beck means this to be a scary moment. I can see that Beck wants us to see Noah's daddy as an evil monster. Frankly, though, he's the most boring villain I've ever met. The meanest thing we've seen him do so far is fire someone for checking her watch. Ooo, scary.

Also, all he does is talk and give lengthy presentations to people in boardrooms about the eeevil plan they have to take control of America. Beck has us watch this presentation three times. It never gets more convincing or more interesting.


Chapter 29

Back to Danny and Kearns. They're driving out to meet the terrorists again, and maybe actually sell them the bomb this time. Kearns can't use Mapquest, so he gives Danny access to internet. He also conveniently leaves the room so that Danny can send out another warning out, this time to the whole group of Freedom Fighters. Why didn't he send this last night? Who knows.

He also sends them the location of the meeting with the terrorists. I guess he couldn't have sent that the night before.

Whatever. Kearns has a casual attitude toward security for a high-caliber spy, is all I'm saying.



Chapter 30

Noah meets with his dad. Also, his dad's doctor gave him a bottle of methadone pills, to help him "come down" from whatever he was drugged with by Molly's team. This seems unlikely to me, but okay.

Noah's daddy tells him they found him by tracking his cell phone. Which took 40 hours. Okay.

Also, Noah is shocked to find that you can find people by tracking their cell phones. This is what I mean by inconsistency of character.  Noah is suddenly a naive idiot again, despite being a mastermind ninja fighter only a few chapters ago.

Noah's daddy has a big reveal for him -- Molly is not what she seems.

Apparently this is news to Noah, even though we just spent several chapters establishing that Molly is part of a secret cabal of freedom fights. But Noah's daddy gives him a lengthy presentation (of course) establishing that Molly has been to college, that she shoots guns, that she goes to political rallies with her mother and Danny Bailey.

Then Noah's daddy drops the bombshell: Molly got the job in the mailroom to spy on them.

Now I think even less of Noah's daddy than I did before. He's running an evil empire, but he doesn't bother to do security checks on the people who have access to his files? Okay.

Also, and this is really queasy-making, Noah's daddy establishes that Molly deliberately cut her hair and wore clothing to make herself look like Noah's mommy. Because she knew Noah would find that hot.

I know now more about Glenn Beck's kink than I really wanted to, frankly.


Chapter 31

Noah and his daddy have a private meeting. This is so Noah's Daddy can explain his plan yet again, though once again he doesn't explain it, just talks endlessly about how America is a big mistake, people aren't equal and can't be treated as if they're equal, and how most people are "useless eaters," not to mention evil. A story about a Turkish girl being buried alive by her family in an honor killing is put forth of proof of this.

Noah's daddy points out that in most cultures this girl would have been raped by the time she was sixteen. He means most other cultures, not America, where girls and women never get raped. But in any case, what this has to do with his point or the plot of the book, I don't know. Maybe Beck just wants us to see why Noah's daddy would think he should run the world? Because "most people" are useless eaters who rape and kill children?

I have no idea. This chapter is really incoherent.

Noah's daddy ends by saying that America's government is corrupt, so it's time to overthrow it and establish a new government.

The new government starts tomorrow, Noah's daddy says dramatically, and it will not fail.

Noah's daddy reminds me of those guys who corner you on long bus rides to tell you all about the dangers of vaccinations and drinking diet sodas. But we're supposed to believe he's a super-intelligent evil villain who is about to take over the country.


Chapter 32

Noah, appalled by his father's behavior, flees the building (after first asking several people where he can find Molly, because that won't leave a trail for his father to follow). Someone tells him Molly's mom is in the hospital. So he heads there.


Chapter 33

Luckily Noah used to date a neurologist at the hospital. Luckily.

She gets him in to see Molly's mom, who has just awakened and is asking to see him.


Chapter 34

Molly's mom has been beat up and also poisoned. By Noah's daddy's people, we're meant to assume, I guess? That's never made clear. She's dying, but first she needs to tell Noah some important things.

(1) He needs to find Molly and protect her. That's his job.
(2) Also, he needs to read Ephesians 6:12
(3) Also, Molly's mom knew his mom, before he was even born. So she knows what his mom would want him to do, which is save the world by protecting Molly. At least, I think this is what this part means. Who knows.

Noah rushes off to find Molly.

Ephesians 6:12, in case you're interested:

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

I guess this is meant to refer to Noah's daddy? Or maybe the US Government in general. Obama was president, remember. A dark ruler.

Who knows. Sometimes Beck acts as if the US Government is important and worth preserving, sometimes he acts as if the government is literally Satan, and we need to kill it with fire.

I guess he means people like the Freedom Fighters, who are the true heirs of the Founding Fathers, should be running the government, instead of those terrible corrupt elected officials, who pass things like tax codes and business regulations, and insist on funding public schools.

You know. People who actually govern.


I've skimmed ahead, by the way, and no, we don't get to the concentration camps in this book. Apparently there's a sequel, if you can believe that. Aargh.