My friend Chris Rodda has been having some fun with Glenn Beck, who has begun devoting his Friday shows to spreading misinformation about the founding fathers — with the help of David Barton, of course. She’s begun putting out a series of videos called “No, Mr. Beck” where she debunks the false claims made on those shows.

The first installment corrects the claim that Congress purchased Bibles with tax money for use in schools. Here’s the video she put together on that claim:
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As Media Matters notes, Glenn Beck has been talking up all these books he’s been getting from listeners and viewers, older books about American history and such. One such book he praised the other day for exposing the communist menace in labor unions — an old slur pushed by those who profited by preventing unions from forming and who cheered on while corporations sent in thugs to beat and sometimes kill those who tried to organize them — was called The Red Network: A ‘Who’s Who’ and Handbook of Radicalism for Patriots.

This book, he says, proves that McCarthy was correct. What he neglected to mention about the book was its author, Elizabeth Dilling, a virulent anti-Semite and Nazi sympathizer. Because remember, having compassion brings on Nazi concentration camps; citing actual Nazis who want to exterminate the Jews is just fine. Here’s audio of him praising the book.
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Glenn Beck continues his bizarre, incoherent rants about the evils of anyone who is the least bit concerned about social justice. Like this person:

In a Washington Post op-ed last month, Simon Greer — the president and CEO of Jewish Funds for Justice, an organization that helps people achieve social and economic security by investing in healthy neighborhoods — bluntly rebuked Glenn Beck for his war against social justice.

“Mr. Beck, you are a con man and America is not buying it,” Greer wrote. “When churches, synagogues, mosques, and other houses of worship across this country advocate for social justice, advocate for the common good, advocate for America, they, and we, walk in God’s path.”

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Glenn Beck, somehow finding a tiny morsel of near-sanity floating around in his largely aqueous cranium, has now managed to piss off one wing of the wingnut brigade — the birthers.

“There’s always games being played behind the scenes at a talk radio show,” Beck said. “Rush has always called them seminar callers. But instead of being coy with the seminar callers or with you, I’m just going to expose the game that is going on. Today there is a concerted effort on all radio stations to get birthers on the air.”

“I have to tell you, are you working for the Barack Obama administration?” Beck scoffed. “I mean, that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

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If you didn’t see this brilliant takedown of Glenn Beck on the Daily Show, you have to see it. Beck has a clear conflict of interest here, being a paid spokesman for a company that makes money when the price of gold goes up while simultaneously telling his listeners to buy gold. And as is often the case, comedy tells the story far better than a media article could.

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Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh on the same show together? Doesn’t that risk creating some sort of critical mass of bullshit and demagoguery that could swallow up the planet? Beck did his job to bring the crazy:

Will President Obama “seize power overnight” in a move to consolidate White House control of the U.S. government?

That’s the fear of Fox News anchor Glenn Beck who discussed the issue at length today with another broadcasting powerhouse, radio’s Rush Limbaugh.

“I fear this government, this administration has so much framework already prepared, that they will seize power overnight before anybody even gives it a second thought,” Beck said.

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Jon Stewart has a little fun with some of the more ridiculous comments from cable news last week, especially Glenn Beck’s claim that Obama has a “deep seated hatred of white people” and then, a minute later, that he doesn’t think Obama dislikes white people. Humpty Dumpty would be proud.

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Michelle Bachmann continued her legacy of lunacy on the Glenn Beck show recently. Matthew Yglesias has the transcript of her ridiculous ruminations about a global currency.

BACHMANN: Let me tell you, there’s something that’s happening this week in Congress that could be the eventual unravelling for our freedom, and it’s this. I had asked the Treasury Secretary and Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve Chair, if they would categorically denounce-

BECK: I know.

BACHMANN: -taking the United States off of the dollar and putting us on an international global currency. Because as you know, Russia, China, Brazil, India, South Africa, many national have lined up now and called for an international currency, a One World currency. And they want to get off the dollar as the reserve currency.

BECK: Most people don’t understand what that means.

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In a battle between James Dobson and Glenn Beck, and between right wing fundamentalists and right wing Mormons, who exactly am I supposed to root for? This post at Pam’s House Blend tells the story of how Focus on the Family put up a video promoting Glenn Beck’s new book – until some of their followers threw a fit about promoting a book by a Mormon and they took the video down.

The fundies and the Mormons seemed to get along just fine when they were trying to forcibly divorce gay people in California. Now they’re at each other’s throats. I’m heartbroken by it. Really I am.