A true "waste of skin"

Lucky for me, there is no radio station in D.C. that carries Glenn Beck (at least no radio station I listen to). I don't mind conservative talk radio as long as it's not vitriolic. The problem is, for every George Will on the air there seem to be a dozen Becks. Conversely, I can't stand the angry liberal routine that seems to be cropping up more and more on Air America. Can't everyone get a grip? I mean, if you're going to insult someone, can't you do it with style? Can't you put a little thought into it?

Beck spent 15 minutes calling Jimmy Carter "a waste of skin." That's not a very useful description to begin with, but Beck hammered the phrase home, using it dozens of times. I never thought Carter was a particularly good president, but he's quite an amazing man. Certainly, I wouldn't call him a waste of skin.

Beck's tirade against President Carter has put me in a doleful mood. I'm amazed that a radio program hosted by someone with such a lack of tact and, let's be honest, imagination, can garner a significant listening audience. But maybe it's not the audience's fault; maybe they don't know better. Beck's show gives a lot of people an inaccurate idea of what intelligent political discourse should sound like.

Beck's intellectual proclivities seem to indicate a more useful career in manual labor or, even more apt, sedulous assembly work. I wish he would consider a more rewarding future, to the benefit of America, and leave radio.