In the past week Glenn Beck has made news of sorts by declaring his conviction that America is such an affront to God that He must destroy it, by presenting an image of the Jewish mayor of New York in a Nazi salute, and by portraying Jesus as a pistol-packin’ Messiah. But these are just common examples of the dementia that Beck endures on a daily basis.

Right Wing Watch has captured another example of Beck’s deranged incoherence that was revealed this week (video below). On May 3, 2013, Beck proudly discussed his role as a journalist while speculating wildly about the man who committed suicide in the Houston airport.

“As a journalist and somebody who runs a journalistic organization, here’s what I want you to look for.”

A mere three days later Beck was spinning yarns about Benghazi when he said this:

“I have always said that I am not a journalist. I’m an entrepreneur. I’m a thinker. But I wear it as a badge of honor that I am not a journalist.”

Let’s not even venture into the lunacy that Beck thinks he is a thinker, except to say that Jim Jones also had “thoughts.” However, Beck has obviously not always said that he isn’t a journalist, because he said he was one a few days earlier. And if not being a journalist earned him a “badge of honor,” then I suppose he will be returning that badge to whatever imaginary institution issued it.

Last week Glenn Beck was salivating over easily debunked rumors that he was convinced were proof of a scandalous cover up by the Obama administration. He spun a tale of a Saudi man who was near the scene of the Boston marathon bombing and was, according to Beck, connected to the Tsarneav brothers. And with the slimy veneer of the great snake oil salesman he is, Beck promised his glassy-eyed listeners that if they could just hold out for the weekend he would reveal unambiguous evidence that the Saudi was a terrorist and that President Obama was personally covering up for him.

And now our patience has been rewarded with Beck’s radio broadcast this morning. Completely oblivious to the fact that the man Beck is slandering as a terrorist was found to be a student with no ties to anything unsavory, Beck is clinging to his delusional conspiracy and reiterating his allegations from last week. And despite having threatened the President with the disclosure of the shocking truth, Beck has no further proof of wrongdoing or suspicious connection than he pretended to have previously.

The entirety of Beck’s expose consisted of unsupported allegations that a Saudi man was scheduled for deportation under “section 212, 3B” (security and related grounds). However, the Department of Homeland Security has already confirmed that the person in question was not a security risk and that he was not being investigated or deported. That, of course, hasn’t stopped Beck from persisting in his ramblings and calling for Obama to be impeached. He still has not speculated as to why Obama, and his entire national security apparatus, would be protecting a terrorist. Unless, of course, they themselves are behind the Global Jihad that Beck and his minions have been warning us about.

Beck failed to offer any substance to confirm his charges, other than unsourced “reports” and conjecture. So the weekend-long cliffhanger turned out to be bust. Now, as we all know, Beck having hallucinatory episodes marked by feverish fear mongering is not particularly newsworthy. What’s really troubling about this is that there are four Republican congressmen who are now demanding answers from DHS based on what they call “media reports,” but are really just Beck’s psychotic discharges.

It is always somewhat sad when Beck displays the severe mental deterioration that has become the hallmark of his broadcast career. But it’s downright nauseating that members of congress rely on such bull excrement and cite it in official communications. The American experiment in democracy sometimes comes frighteningly close to failing when people in government act like escapees from an asylum. And it isn’t just the obvious nutcases like Michelle Bachmann anymore.

For several years Glenn Beck has been bragging that his enterprise was totally self-supported. He insisted that rejecting outside funding enabled him to speak freely in manner that would not be possible with outside investors and boards of directors dictating what he could do and say. Beck was very adamant about this principle and said so firmly on multiple occasions that sound eerily like televangelical appeals:

Aug 17,2011: We are running out of time. […] I do not want outside investors. We have talked about it. We have had outside investors come to us. We have had hedge funds come to us. People want to invest in my business because we are creating jobs and creating wealth. I do not want outside investors because I do not want to have to answer to anyone else.

Nov 7, 2012: This network, this company is funded by me and by you. That’s it. […] I thought we’d have more time and I’m telling you we’re going to run out of time. I need to double our subscriptions. […] I am not doing this to get rich. Believe me I don’t think money’s going to be worth an awful lot very long. […] If you haven’t subscribed, I need you to go to theblaze.com/TV and sign up now. Please. Please. Please. Right now about 300,000 people keep this network up and running, and may God richly bless your sacrifice.
Already I’ve lost quite a tidy sum, in fact figures that I never thought I would earn in my lifetime, let alone lose.

This admission that he is losing money contradicts the press releases his company issues that celebrate how richly successful he is. I can’t say whether his PR department is lying or he is himself, but either way he is deceiving his audience for personal gain. His financial woes are also evident in his recent effort to get cable companies to carry his dinky web cast. As I reported in February, this directional shift proves that his Internet business must be suffering:

“He is presently charging between five and ten dollars per month to subscribe to his programs online. If he does secure cable carriage that programming will be available for free to all of the current cable subscribers on the system. Consequently, they would no longer need to pay for the Internet access. If the Internet subscription model was working for him, Beck wouldn’t risk cannibalizing his online customers by offering them the same content for free on cable.”

All of this makes the news released today particularly significant in that it goes against much of what Beck’s image factory has been putting out. A new filing with the SEC says that Beck is seeking $40 million dollars in funding for TheBlaze, his media enterprise. That revelation would suggest that he has abandoned his belief that only by self-funding could he truly be able to express himself and expose the myriad conspiracies and plots against liberty and goodness that only he can see. This filing also suggests that Beck doesn’t have the funds to finance his glorious vision of an international media conglomerate and merchandising outlet. To say nothing of his homage to Jonestown, a residential community/theme park tucked away in some heartland hideaway.

Beck claims to have already raised $1.5 million of the $40 million goal. Along with everything else he says, that needs to be taken with a barrel of heavily salted Freedom Fries. One has to wonder who would invest in this sort of enterprise. Most savvy investors are aware that Beck was booted from Fox because he had alienated the advertising community that would be necessary to support this venture. They can also see the evidence of the financial struggles that are noted above. That leaves only committed propagandists and true believers in Beck’s nightmarish narrative of an apocalyptic future. Are there enough of them to bankroll Beck’s dementia? Well, maybe we should ask Pat Robertson and Alex Jones.

Update: As of July of 2014, Beck had received only $6.4 million of the $40 million he sought.