News Roundup for 9/2/10

Restoring Honor

-Headline of the Day-
"Glenn Beck's George Washington Whopper."

While Glenn Beck was Restoring the Lincoln Memorial's or Martin Luther King's or somebody's Honor last weekend, he spoke of a life-changing encounter with history he'd had recently. According to Mother Jones, Beck "invoked [George] Washington while describing the inspiring experience of visiting famous tourist destinations around the nation's capital. 'I have been going to Mt. Vernon,' he explained. Holding out his hands for emphasis, he declared with emotion, 'I went to the National Archives, and I held the first inaugural address written in his own hand by George Washington.'"

This got a lot of people thinking. That couldn't possibly be right. Who asks to handle a precious national document in a museum setting and gets the answer, "Aw, what the hell... What could it hurt?" Nobody, that's who.

So MJ did some asking around and uncovered the obvious -- it didn't happen. The National Archives says they showed some artifacts to Beck, but that "Those kinds of treasures are only handled by specially trained archival staff." So no Transformative Moment when Glenn held the Holy Document in his trembling, mortal hand.

But hey, slinging bullshit when you're trying to pump yourself up into some sort of a relevant national figure?

That's what you call "Restoring Honor." (Mother Jones)


-Cartoon time with Mark Fiore-
Hey kids, you know how Glenn Beck Restored some Honor someplace? Well, he also Restored the Honor of the Bible. Yay!


Click for animation

Apparently, that Charlton Heston movie got it all wrong!

...or am I thinking of The Wizard of Oz? (MarkFiore.com)


-Bonus HotD-
"One Day Before Its Gulf Oil Rig Exploded, Mariner Energy Said Obama 'Is Trying To Break Us' With Moratorium."

In life, as in comedy, essential is timing... I mean, timing is essential.

Spill baby, spill! (Think Progress)