from CNN.com
RadarOnline today has a Q&A with Glenn Beck, a self-proclaimed "recovering alcoholic rodeo clown with limited education, who's conservative" but also one of CNN's new rising stars on Headline News (where those seeking a nightly dose of evil can also find Nancy Grace). Beck, a controversial radio host who was hired last January and whose show debuted in May, was brought on in specifically as a countervailing conservative voice on CNN (though he stresses that he's not news, he's opinion, and Headline News isn't CNN per se). Whatever he is, his viewership incresed by 85% last month (116% in the all-important 25-54 demo), and is giving MSNBC's "Hardball" a run for its money in the 7pm timeslot.
He also created a controversy when he interviewed first-ever Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison , asking him to "prove to me that you are not working with our enemies," which was a charming welcome on par with that of Virgil Goode. Here's the Radar exchange, with interviewer John Cook:
RADAR: You¹re a Mormon. Explain to me the difference
between you asking Keith Ellison that question and me asking you to prove
you¹re not a polygamist.GLENN BECK: It was a poorly worded question, and if I could take anything
back I would take back the wording of that question.Because what the question really was is: Do you understand that there is a feeling among Americans when you are faced with a Muslim, especially a Muslim who is, in my view, soft on military action, that--okay, are you a part of the good Muslims or the bad Muslims?
Beck clarified by saying that he wasn't talking about Ellison personally here, but all muslims. His point: A few bad apples are spoiling the bunch, so how is he to know where Ellison stands unless Ellison proves it to him? (Not just tells him, proves it to him.) Here's his analogy: " If I were a Catholic, and I knew this priest for years, before I leave him with my 10-year-old son, I would at least want to say, You're one of the good priests, right?" (However in this analogy, the priest gets to go on his word).
Cook also presses Beck on his claim to have been "accepted" at and "studied" at Yale. Turns out that isn't quite the case: Beck was a "special student," took one introductory course and was never admitted for the purpose of obtaining a degree. According to Cook, Beck's bio says he "studied theology and philosophy for a semester at Yale," Beck andwered that he was "going for self-education" and had intended to stay for longer, which didn't really answer Cook's question, which was about the misrepresentation of his educational qualifications.
Nothing on how a hurricane could whip New York City into shape, however (presumably the interview occurred before that remark), but plenty of other interesting questions and answers in a remarkably frank exchange. Read the rest here.
