Glenn Beck Day in Mount Vernon was an expensive lesson for this small town, as it found out the cost of hosting a controversial celebrity.

It's on the hook for $17,748.85, mostly for 239 hours of police overtime.

Isn't that a little steep for a one-day event?

"Honestly, I'm a bit surprised at how big the cost was," says Alicia Huschka, the town's finance director.

Well, says Ken Bergsma, the town's police chief, better to be prepared than not.

The chief says the crowd of 800 to 1,000 demonstrators that greeted Beck for his early-evening appearance on Sept. 26 was the biggest protest he's seen in his 32 years as a Mount Vernon police officer.

Bergsma

This morning on CNN’s Reliable Sources, White House communications director Anita Dunn defended her recent comment to Time magazine that Fox News is “opinion journalism masquerading as news.” Noting the inordinate amount of attention Fox devotes to stirring fake controversies like Bill Ayers and ACORN, Dunn explained:

The reality of it is that Fox News often operates as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party. And it’s not ideological. I mean, obviously there are many commentators who are conservative, liberal, centrist, and everybody understands that. What I think is fair to say about Fox is — and certainly the way we view it — is that it really is more of a wing of the Republican Party. [...]

In the ongoing struggle between the White House and the FOX News Channel, the Obama administration's direct rebuttal of what FOX's Glenn Beck and a guest have had to say this week about the administration's hand in Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympic Summer Games may seem like a footnote.

But it's emblematic of something bigger: An administration's refusal to play ball with a widely watched cable news network which it views as slanted is escalating to an administration's willingness to challenge commentators on the network for fast and loose foot-play with the facts - or, more specifically in this case, Glenn Beck's carelessness.

After a brief respite, the most accessible American political discourse --the national broadcast media--has returned to fearful, hate-filled, ignorant rants of a high-volume, low-intellect minority.

In such an environment, how does one govern? Does one try to “balance” such concepts as contradictory as a “public option” on one hand and “fear of death panels” on the other? Or does one realize that this is a false spectrum and to try to find a center in such a sea is a worthless and foolhardy expedition?

The AP reports that after weeks of constant attacks by the right wing, Van Jones has resigned as Special Advisor for Green Jobs at the Council on Environmental Quality. Below is the letter he sent to chair Nancy Sutley:

I am resigning my post at the Council on Environmental Quality, effective today.

On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me. They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide.

I have been inundated with calls - from across the political spectrum - urging me to “stay and fight.”

But I came here to fight for others, not for myself. I cannot in good conscience ask my colleagues to expend precious time and energy defending or explaining my past. We need all hands on deck, fighting for the future.

It has been a great honor to serve my country and my President in this capacity. I thank everyone who has offered support and encouragement. I am proud to have been able to make a contribution to the clean energy future. I will continue to do so, in the months and years ahead.

It wasn't surprising when, after seven months of legal wrangling, the Minnesota Supreme Court declared that Al Franken had won the 2008 Senate race against incumbent Norm Coleman. Still less surprising (although vastly more entertaining) was the simultaneous breakdown of nearly all of Franken's adversaries on the right, whose regurgitated insults, whining complaints and exploding noggins revealed nothing about him or his victory -- and everything about them.

Upon learning that Franken had prevailed in a unanimous decision by his home state's highest court, the usual suspects on Fox News Channel and in the Limbaugh wasteland of radio immediately threw up a barrage of furious invective. Wasting no time on gracious concessions, they concentrated on two themes. First: Franken himself is wild, spiteful, menacing, bigoted and, most of all, deranged (as must be anyone who voted for him). Second: Franken's ascension to the Senate is tainted by the process, which his opponent insisted on prolonging.

Numerous media figures have adopted language reflecting gender and racial stereotypes in reporting about Sonia Sotomayor's temperament and intellect, in many instances relying on anonymous characterizations in Jeffrey Rosen's New Republic piece on Sotomayor.

Today, CNN announced that it will be hosting a one-hour special this weekend called “Election Countdown: View from the Right,” featuring prominent right-wing pundits. However, it doesn’t appear that there will be a corresponding special featuring progressive voices. From the CNN press release:

On Saturday, Nov. 1, at 5 p.m. (ET), CNN political contributor and Christian Broadcasting Network senior correspondent David Brody will host the one-hour special Election Countdown: View from the Right. This roundtable discussion will examine the strength of the McCain-Palin ticket, the priorities for conservatives after the election and top issues on voters’ minds, including national security and the economy. Brody will be joined by Amanda Carpenter, national political reporter for Townhall.com; Brian DeBose, editorial writer for The Washington Times; Stephen Hayes, senior writer for The Weekly Standard; and Kevin Madden, Republican strategist and former press secretary for Gov. Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.

The debate that wasn't

"This is faintly ridiculous, isn't it?" asked former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt, a top technology adviser to Barack Obama. After all, he was there before a packed house at the New America Foundation for "a debate with the other guy," the economist and McCain adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin. But Holtz-Eakin had bowed out shortly before Thursday's event due to a "scheduling conflict," leaving Hundt alone with a moderator.

"I'm sure Doug had something better to do than answer my questions about the Blackberry," quipped Hundt, referencing Holtz-Eakin's much-derided claim that McCain had "helped create" the wireless device. The "something better" appears to have been an appearance on MSNBC. Whether it was the siren song of cable or a desire to preserve McCain's Blackberry trade secrets, the debate had to be jettisoned in favor of a plain-old discussion with NAF fellow and Wired writer Nicholas Thompson.