Meredith Vieira Lobs Softballs at Glenn Beck

Yesterday, Glenn Beck emerged from his Tea Party bulwarks for a mutual admiration chinwag and book-pimping session with Today Show's Meredith Vieira.  Beck was accompanied by Keith Albow, conservative pal and co-author of his new self-help tome, The 7: Seven Wonders That Will Change Your Life.  (Check out WalMart's low prices on fine literature!)  Like the pundit's recent paranoid novel The Overton Window, "7" wasn't really written by the Fox News shill/hate radio host; he hired lackeys to create and bang out the actual sentences. 

In the following video clip you won't see Beck shed any patriotic tears (his stock in trade), but you'll hear him talk about weeping - which is almost as satisfying.  You'll also witness Ms. Vieira's predictably lame attempt to confront Mr. Hate concerning his incendiary language and how that might have related to the Tuscon tragedy.  Needless to say, Vieira flubs this golden opportunity.  Beck's insane conspiracy theories go unmentioned.  Same thing with his loathsome attempts at character assassination.  At one point Beck laments that in the past he "was a guy that I would've hated. I was a very bad man."  (Was?)  Meredith has her consoling big sister vibe going, and the entire interview is instantly forgettable - but it does demonstrate how major TV networks lend credibility to the nation's most dangerous crackpots.

.