PROVE IT - Glenn Beck

This story has been floating around the internets for a couple of days so I thought I might step up to the plate and take a swing at it. CNN talkshow host Glenn Beck was interviewing the first Muslim American elected to Congress, Keith Ellison (D-MN). Here's what the open minded Beck just had to say to Ellison (via Think Progress, who also has video):

On the November 14 edition of his CNN Headline News program, Glenn Beck interviewed Rep.-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN), who became the first Muslim ever elected to Congress on November 7, and asked Ellison if he could "have five minutes here where we're just politically incorrect and I play the cards up on the table." After Ellison agreed, Beck said: "I have been nervous about this interview with you, because what I feel like saying is, 'Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.' "

Is this guy kidding? Sadly, no. Beck is serious. The lunacy of the statement simply cannot be taken as anything other than a serious question that "a lot of Americans" feel the same way about. Except we don't. See, Americans do not make it a habit of condemning a man, as Beck did, simply because he practicing Muslim, which, by the way, is one of the most practiced religions in the world; a religion practiced by over a billion peace-loving people.

With the type of interviewing process practiced by Beck, I'm curious if other guests are subjected to similar treatment. For instance:

When interviewing a white Republican member of the House, does he demand, "Sir, prove to me that you are not molesting children."

When interviewing a member of the Black Congressional Caucus, does he demand, "Sir, prove to me that you are not responsible for the genocide in Darfur."

When interviewing a mother from North Carolina or Texas, does he demand, "Ma'am, prove to me that you are not contemplating killing your children."

When interviewing a member of Congress who is of German descent, does he demand, "Sir, prove to me that you or a member of your family did not slaughter Jews during the Holocaust."

I could go on all day with these, but I think I sort of made my point. What Beck did was not a quick jaunt into the realm of political incorrectness; it was a headlong dive into a pool of ugly intolerance and bigotry, a place where Beck seems quite comfortable wading in more often than not. He's a dispicable little man who has no business on on a major news network if all he has to offer is hate like this. If I wanted this kind of filth journalism, I'd switch over to Fox News.