Michael Scheuer, former CIA analyst and author of the book Imperial Hubris, appeared on Glenn Beck’s show to declare, “The only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States…only Osama can execute an attack which will force Americans to demand that their government protect them.”

Jon Stewart was shocked by this statement, and even more so by Beck’s insinuation that bin Laden would not strike now because he knew that people like Scheuer and Beck wanted the excuse to act “with as much violence as necessary.” Stewart noted the irony in the fact that the profanity he used in reaction to Scheuer and Beck would be bleeped out, but that they could make statements about the need for further terrorist attack with impunity.

—Sarah Jaffe

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