Mark Hyman, "Extremist Mole?"

Thanks to the fact that the Pittsburgh FOX affiliate is owned by the evil evil evil evil evil Sinclair Broadcasting (if there's nothing about Sinclair in Revelations, there damned well ought to be), we get "forcefed" Mark Hyman's "The Point" every now and again, quite possibly the most fatuous right-wing tripe this side of Ann Coulter.

For those who never made the connection, or don't remember, Hyman's more than a bloviating moron with a bully pulpit in virtue of some sad strain of popularity. Truth is, he might even be too stupid for FOX. But since he's a VP of some sort, my guess is he pretty much appointed himself pundit (not only are his comments inane, but he's roughly as comfortable and eloquent in front of a camera as shy high school student doing a poorly thought-out historical reenactment on a camcorder for extra credit), and anybody with the temerity to question him better update her resume.

Anyway, ever since Hyman became the de facto apologist for Sinclair when Sinclair was, er, encouraging its affiliates to run the anti-Kerry documentary about a month before Election Day, and I realized that jackass trying to explain rampant partisanship on All Things Considered was the same jackass doing a terrible impression of Rush Limbaugh on the FOX evening news every so often, I sort of perked up my ears to all things Hyman. So to speak.

So anyway, today, Dave Neiwert -- probably my favorite investigative blogger of them all (see especially the series "The Rise of Pseudo-Fascism" (a 7-part series that starts here)) for his daring, insight, and intellectual rigor -- corrects in great detail one of Hyman's typical misrepresentations of the left, of the right, and pretty much anything that he talks about.

So, just so there's no confusion: Christian Identity has nothing to do with mainstream Christianity. It is an extremist racial belief system that adopts the guise of Christianity but has practices and beliefs that are not part of any traditional mainstream church. Most of their beliefs, in fact, constitute heresies for many faiths.

I'm hoping this was just a really dumb mistake. Because if it wasn't, and Hyman wanted us to think that Identity was just another kind of Christianity, well ... that's a problem.

Hyman is a little, little man. And Neiwert rightly exposes him to the basic truth. The only difference between Neiwert's view and mine, is that when it comes to petty blowhards like Hyman, I assume the worst. The benefit of my doubt is reserved for those people who at least pretend to think before they speak.

And that, folks, is The Point.

UPDATE: For more, see this very informative site.