Profiles in douchebaggery

It's been a long time coming in adding Glenn Beck's name to our not-so-venerable list of world-class douchebags. I ignored his questioning the loyalty of an elected U.S. representative based on the Congressman's religion. I rolled my eyes at his smearings of Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama. I've even kept mum on his stupid, ill-informed racism. Not because his on-air statements weren't egregious enough for inclusion in the first place (they certainly are), but because, quite frankly, Beck isn't that great of a douchebag. Let's face it, in a media-world filled with shrieking right-wing outrage-aholics, you've got to really step up your game to be noticed by this little-read left-wing blog!

Well Mr. Beck, your time is now!

On the February 28 edition of his CNN Headline News program, Glenn Beck once again made sexually suggestive comments toward a woman when he hosted US Weekly's Dina Sansing to discuss racy photographs of American Idol contestant Antonella Barba. After Beck claimed that "[y]ou can't take stupid photos and expect those to be ... locked away forever," Sansing responded that it was "possibly" true and that "it depends." As the weblog Crooks and Liars noted, Beck then asked: "Dina, I've got some time and a camera. Why don't you stop by?" Sansing did not respond and, after several seconds of silence, Beck stated: "No? OK." As Media Matters for America has noted (here, here, and here), in each of the first three episodes of his CNN Headline News show in May 2006, Beck made sexually suggestive comments to CNN Headline News anchor Erica Hill, who was then giving daily news updates on Beck's show. Hill no longer appears on Beck's program.

You'd think that in the latter half of the first decade of the twenty-first century, "journalists" wouldn't be stooping to making sexually degrading remarks to their on-air guests. You, of course, would be wrong. Congratulations, Glenn - you're a certified, grade A, sexist douchebag.