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Glenn Beck was trying real hard yesterday to convince people that his running theory -- that Barack Obama is secretly a Marxist who intends to radically transform America into a communist state -- just might be right.

He compared his theory to the early stages of the Monica-baiting of Clinton in 1998, when everyone was in denial -- because, you see, he thinks eventually he'll be proven right. OK, whatever.

Then he blurted this out:

Beck: I mean, at this point, you have to try to not pay attention. I mean, you have to be working to miss the pattern here. There's so much anti-free-market rhetoric from Obama and his top officials, you'd either have to either be living in a cave in Afghanistan next to Obama, and you can't hear anything that Ob -- uh, Osama is saying because of the goats going, ah-ah-ah, or you're so deeply in love with Obama that you can't detect a single flaw in him.

This is what we'll call a Beckean Slip: An apparent slip of the tongue that is most likely intentional, and at the bare minimum clearly exposes the desire to confuse the public.

It isn't the first time Beck has slipped and mixed up Osama bin Laden's name with President Obama's. And it certainly won't be the last.

However, it does tend to undermine Beck's subsequent claim to having this high-level, all-seeing mind that is "right" about a whole host of things (that he's actually been wrong about). Indeed, it reveals a confused mind incapable of clearly distinguishing between the president of the United States and a cave-dwelling terrorist.

Beck also adds that "I could be wrong" but "I haven't been before"? Um, yeah, except for the dozens of times he actually has been wrong. (Remember when he was predicting that Americans would eventually go for McCain at the polls? That prediction turned out well, didn't it?)

Clearly, his fans are hoping that he'll be proven right, because then they'll be justified in subsequently mounting a violent assault on the White House or something. But with a mind like Beck's concocting the theories, you might have better luck putting a bagful of cats in a roomful of word processors and hoping that Shakespeare's collected sonnets somehow emerge.

All of which raises a question that Glenn Beck should ask himself: What if you're wrong?

Because then, all you have done is smear a boatload of innocent and decent people, dragged their names through the mud, and ruined their careers.

But hey, that doesn't matter, because Glenn Beck is all about values, right? Like the value of his new mansion in Connecticut ... those are the values that matter to Glenn Beck.

Basic decency? Not so much.

Another excellent offering from The Full Ginsburg.

BTW I love the term "full Ginsburg," which means appearing on all five Sunday News programs on one day, named after William H. Ginsburg...Monica Lewinsky's lawyer. Cool trivia.

Open thread below.

Monica Crowley on The McLaughlin Group is just the gift that keeps on giving. She says that the downside of Obama's internet juggernaut is that "bloggers" use his platform to plant "reverse racism" (huh?) on his website. But "God love" John McCain for trying to use the internets because he's of a different generation.

Download | play Download | play h/t Heather

Monica? Maybe sometime you'd like to talk to my dad, who is six months older than McCain. Call him on Skype anytime, except when he's busy photoshopping. Geez.

The Brad Blog: Open season on liberals continues. It was always more important to link the attacks to Islamic terrorists than look for the truth. Consider: Anthrax attacks = Patriot Act. There are still a lot of questions and too many easy answers around this matter.

Happy Valley News Hour: Monica Goodling's Super-Secret Guide to interviewing potential job applicants.

Truthdig: BUSHCO stonewalling congress on sexual assault in the military

Vox Verax: The conservative juggernaut is cracking up

Economist's View: It was the Republicans who called for a "change" in the face on our currency, and they aren't kidding.

Download | play Download | play (h/t Heather)

On The McLaughlin Group, host John McLaughlin asked his panel their view on the pundit-driven "come from behind" Hillary Clinton win in the New Hampshire. Monica Crowley takes the cake for her analogy that is offensive on so many levels. Nothing like painting Hillary Clinton as a unhinged, dangerous killer for winning an primary.

McLaughlin: "What did you think of Hillary's performance?"

Crowley:"Well, you know, she's like Glenn Close at the end of Fatal Attraction - you think she's dead and then she just bolts upright in the tub!"

Is that so? Well, I don't think it would be out of line to say that Ms. Crowley is like Ann Coulter, except not so much "class," ahem.

Thanks to Nicole for her assistance.

Download | play Download | play (h/t Heather)

The McLaughlin Group did the expected Year In Review episode. Panelists Pat Buchanan, Eleanor Clift, Monica Crowley and Clarence Page give their nominees for the Biggest Winner, Biggest Loser, Best Politician and Worst Politician. Question: who do you see as the biggest partisan political hack in the bunch?

CQ Homeland Security: Iraq intelligence horror stories shouldn't be old news

Mercury Rising: Former US Attorney, Tom Heffelfinger, is reacting to Monica Goodling's testimony

TPMCafe: No website, no employees, a disconnected phone and a lapsed corporate registraton. Without the 990s, you would be hardpressed to know the GOP funneled $2.8 million through the Free Enterprise Coalition to fund election-related legal expenses between 2004 and 2005.

Secrecy News: An unidentified Republican Senator placed a 'secret hold' on the Open Government Act. I'm not joking...

Norbizness: Ax Da President, remixed by The Left

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: "friday-lunch-club", The Populist,  Hard To Port,  African American (Black) Opinion Blog,  The Truly Absurd Debate

About a week ago, Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick noted a tidbit that the rest of us missed: TV preacher Pat Robertson’s Regent University boasts that 150 of its graduates, including former top DoJ aide Monica Goodling, are serving in some capacity in the Bush administration. Lithwick noted that this is “a huge number for a 29-year-old school.” That’s certainly true; it’s also a huge number for a small right-wing college led by a radical televangelist who believes Americans brought 9/11 upon themselves.

Lithwick knew about the 150 Regent grads because, as she put it, the school’s website “proclaims [the number] proudly” on its About Us page. That is, until this past week.

Reader J.S. alerted me to an interesting observation: shortly after Lithwick’s piece was published and the 150 figure quickly drew national attention (and a Paul Krugman column), Regent edited its About Us page — and removed the reference to the 150 Bush-hired alumni.

According to Google cache, as recently as April 12, Regent’s “facts” page included seven bullets noting graduates in various political positions, with the seventh noting, in all bold letters, “150 graduates serving in the Bush Administration.” As of yesterday, the same page is identical, except the seventh bullet has been deleted. Regent stopped bragging about staffing the administration almost immediately after someone from the media noticed.

I’m open to suggestion, but it seems to me there are two possibilities: either Regent is suddenly embarrassed to be associated so closely with the Bush administration, or the administration is suddenly embarrassed to be associated so closely with Regent.

Monica Goodling is resigning...

Monica Goodling, the counsel and White House liaison to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, says in a letter that she will resign, effective Saturday. Goodling has been on a leave of absence. Her lawyers have told Congress she would invoke the Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination if called to testify about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys.

Like Monica Goodling, I plead the 5th.