Is that a bomb in your pocket, or are you just on cable news?

Something I've always wondered about Glenn Beck and his CNN show is why the network has been advertising so much on outlets like Air America and Salon. I don't mind seeing them get the sponsorship dollars, but it's an odd strategy given that Beck is just one more member of the will-be-a-bellicose-reactionary-for-cash scene. I would've hoped we'd hit market saturation by this point.

On yesterday's show, he demonstrated his fitness to stand alongside Limbaugh, Savage/Wiener, O'Reilly, et al.

On the November 14 edition of his CNN Headline News program, Glenn Beck interviewed Rep.-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN), who became the first Muslim ever elected to Congress on November 7, and asked Ellison if he could "have five minutes here where we're just politically incorrect and I play the cards up on the table." After Ellison agreed, Beck said: "I have been nervous about this interview with you, because what I feel like saying is, 'Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.' " Beck added: "I'm not accusing you of being an enemy, but that's the way I feel, and I think a lot of Americans will feel that way."

I suppose it's fair to say that assuming your interlocutor's religion makes him a terrorist sympathizer is "politically incorrect," but I think I'd call it an understatement. It's nice of Beck to act as though bigotry requires great courage.