From Huff Post: Glenn Beck exploded at Chris Matthews for his comments denigrating Michele Bachmann and her views of American history.
Matthews called Bachmann a “balloon head” on Tuesday for saying that the Founding Fathers “worked tirelessly to end slavery.” He noted that, besides the fact that many of the founders owned slaves, and that slavery only ended nearly a hundred years after the founding of America, slavery was also protected in the Constitution via the three-fifths clause, which stated that slaves would be counted as three-fifths of all other people when it came to determining how many seats in Congress each state was due.
Beck called the attacks on Bachmann “disgraceful” and said they were happening “because she could run for president of the United States and she could win.”
Then he let loose with an epic tirade. After playing the clip of Matthews, Beck took the phrase “balloon head” and ran with it:
“You sir, are a balloon head that was taught by a balloon head and all you did because you’re a balloon head was sit in your stupid balloon head Ivy League classroom and be indoctrinated by a balloon head and never ever used your balloon head to ask an intelligent question of the balloon head in the tweed jacket! You self-sanctimonious, self-important balloon head, America has had enough. Do your own homework.”
Beck then said that the founders had indeed tried to end slavery. His comments hearkened back to ones he made earlier in January, when he said that the three-fifths clause was put in place to end slavery. This overlooks the fact that the clause benefited slaveholding states, since the alternative was not to count slaves in the population of states at all. The clause added considerably to their population and thus gained them more seats in Congress and more power in the U.S. as a whole.