"I've never said these words except as a joke, but I mean them now with everything in me: my fellow Americans, please listen to me. The world has changed. It has changed. It is no longer in the box that it always has been. What used to apply no longer does." So continues another interesting night wherein Glenn Beck wrestles with the notion of WikiLeaks.

To be clear: Glenn Beck is not a WikiLeaks defender. But on his show last night, he spent a good deal of time explaining what he deems a "false choice" between letting WikiLeaks turn our nation's government "inside out" or letting its opponents shut down the "internet and other communication[s] with one another." On one side stands Julian Assange and a band of hacktivist supporters who are trying to be a force for "chaotic good" (but when is chaos ever good? asks Beck) and on the other are politicians who'd like to get their "pitchforks" out and "hammer" the organization like Eric Holder, Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee and many others. Both options are undesirable, Beck figures: "You lose either way."

[H/T: Glenn Davis at Mediaite]

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Erik Hayden