Glenn Beck does a lot of screwing up. He acts like a clown when he isn't on the soap box so it's not always clear when he's in hamming-it-up mode. It's kind of a moot point anyway because most of his commentary is off-the-wall.

The inauguration helped to highlight a few major cock ups - even by Beck standards.

He complained about the benediction given by civil rights leader Reverend Joseph Lowery. The benediction was a reminder to those assembled that America is still a country in which racism is alive and well. It was an appeal for tolerance couched in language even children could relate to.

Beck managed to read a poisonous message into Lowery's appeal - suggesting that the Reverend was painting all of America as racist. He even compared Lowery to Jeremiah Wright.

This wasn't just wrong, it was offensive. To the credit of Americans of many different political stripes, there was an effort to come together and show a united front during a historical inauguration for America's first African American president. Many around the world were impressed by the readiness of people from all walks of life to show respect for this historical first.

With his petty, negative commentary, Beck showed a lack of class.

When Obama retook the Oath-of-Office as a result of a minor slip-up first time around by Chief Justice John Roberts, there was no Bible involved. This set Beck off. He claimed that he had checked and announced "we (the US) have never had a president sworn into office without a Bible.”

This is simply a falsehood. Teddy Roosevelt didn't use a Bible in 1901; Lyndon Johnson is believed to have used a Catholic missal aboard Air Force One. John Quincy Adams used a constitutional law book.

In his haste to score a hit, Beck obviously doesn't mind skating around a few historical facts. Course he is part of the blond-and-unbalanced end of the media so we shouldn't really be surprised.