In the upper regions of Greater Wingnuttia ( where everyone in this video apparently resides ) the air can get quite thin. It becomes rather difficult to concentrate, speak coherently, and use basic and essential reasoning skills.
Once these residents make there way to the grande towers of Fox"News", the journey must have tired them out to such a degree that they just simply don't have the mental capacity to do any type of pre-show prep - including doing a basic internet search to find out when Alaska was purchased and why.
William H. Seward, secretary of state under both Lincoln and Johnson, was an ardent expansionist. He was committed to the spread of American influence throughout the Pacific as a means of enhancing the nation’s trade and military standing.
Russia had been interested in selling Alaska for a number of years. The region seemed to have little value and was remote and hard to defend. Negotiations with the United States were opened during the Buchanan administration, but came to a halt with the opening of the Civil War.
Seward actually began negotiations with the Russians before receiving authorization from Johnson. Nonetheless, when the outline of a deal was presented to the cabinet, Seward was surprised to find little opposition. The agreement was signed in March 1867 and transferred Alaska to the United States in return for a payment of $7.2 million, amounting to a price of about 2.5 cents per acre for an area twice the size of Texas.
The treaty was ratified by the U.S. Senate by a single vote.
Criticism in the press was harsh, portraying the newly acquired wasteland as “Seward’s Folly,” “Seward’s Icebox” or Johnson’s “polar bear garden.” It was not until the 1890s with the discovery of gold that public attitudes regarding Alaska began to change.
Also, from Wikipedia:
Sumner made a major speech advocating the treaty, and covering in depth the history, the climate, the natural configuration, the population, the resources—the forests, mines, furs, fisheries—of Alaska.
It was until 1959 that Alaska officially became a state:
1955 - Alaskans elect delegates to constitutional convention.
1955 - Constitutional Convention opens at University of Alaska.
1956 - Territorial voters adopt the Alaska Constitution; send two senators and one representative to Washington under the Tennessee Plan.
1958 - Statehood measure passes; President Eisenhower signs statehood bill.
Jan 3, 1959 – Alaska becomes the 49th State in the Union.
One has to wonder - do people like Beck seriously think that people lack the ability to research the things that they are talking about?
The problem is that those who follow Fox"News" as their primary ( or only ) source of news tend to be within the demographic that refuse to do any research. They are more than willing to be spoonfed lies, conjecture, and misinformation in order for them to feel comfortable with their canted ideological point of view.
And Beck wants to talk to Donald Trump? Why would Trump let Beck fumble at his brain like a freshman attempting to undo a bra? Donald certainly has better things on his agenda to attend to.
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