Cynically Nebulous Network

When I'm on the treadmill at the local health club, I'm often stuck in front of a TV screen showing CNN's Headline News. Younger readers might not recall that Headline News used to be a nonpartisan affair that actually aired news -- kinda like how MTV used to air music videos. Of course, all that's changed now, with Headline News tossing its hat into the political gabfest ring with the likes of Nancy Grace and Glenn Beck, each of whom hosts a one-hour "news" program that I'll catch when I'm working out.

Beck, of course, is a right-wing troglodyte who gained national notoriety (or infamy) when he asked newly elected U.S. Representative Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) to prove that he wasn't a terrorist, because, you see, Ellison is a Muslim. Grace is a shrill harpy who screeched her way into the public consciousness through her obsession with the Natalie Holloway disappearance and other such tabloid crime stories.

So tonight, I'm keeping one eye on Beck's show and one eye on the equally unwatchable Cavs-Pistons game, when I noticed a commercial on Headline News for something called CNN Heroes, a promotion through which the cable channel is asking its viewers to nominate their friends and neighbors who've taken extraordinary action or performed heroic deeds in their everyday lives to improve the world.

CNN has decided the heroism they care to honor can be classified in six categories: Medical Marvel, Fighting for Justice, Young Wonder, Championing Children, Community Crusader, and Defending the Planet. That last one caught my eye. On its web site, CNN describes "Defending the Planet" as "Innovative efforts to preserve and protect the environment."

The difference between that sentiment and Beck's beliefs could not be more stark. CNN Headline News' star pundit is traveling the country this summer on something he calls "An Inconvenient Tour." He recently hosted a one-hour special, "Exposed: A Climate of Fear," in which he set out to present the "other side of the climate debate that you don't hear anywhere." In the world in which right-wing pundits reside, Al Gore is the anti-Christ, environmental activists are tree-hugging hippies bent on destroying the U.S. economy, and anybody who wonders if human actions have had a negative effect on the planet are Chicken Little alarmists.

And yet, the company that employs Mr. Beck apparently thinks that "efforts to preserve and protect the environment" are heroic. So, CNN, which is it? Should we honor citizens who work to improve the planet, or listen to the guy who represents your pathetic attempt to earn your right-wing stripes and give the proverbial finger to the environmental movement?

Look, I don't expect any cable channel's hosts to be in ideological lockstep (except for Fox News, of course), but I also don't expect those same cable channels to be so cynical as to pat themselves on the back for honoring one movement during the very show hosted by a guy who'd happily undo the works of those same people. Breathtaking. Absolutely breathtaking.

As for Nancy Grace ... well, it's late. We'll get to her tomorrow.