Given Glenn Beck's specious attacks on Anita Dunn's statements on Mao Zedong, it seems noteworthy that in his 2003 book, The Real America, Beck wrote: “I wish I were the president, just for the 747 and the cabinent I could assemble. I would have the best minds that I could find with a special eye out for those people who would vehemently disagree with each other.” He then explains that since he's not president, he did “the next best thing.” He gathered books that presumably represent those “best minds.”

Among them? Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf.

Beck said he'd love to take lawyer Alan Dershowitz and “put him in a room with ... Adolf Hitler.” Beck adds: “I'd love to see those guys go at it.”

From The Real America, pp. 210-211:

Why I Am a Mormon

Growing up Catholic in my family, there were questions you don't ask because “the devil is making you question this” or you'd get my favorite answer: “It's a mystery.” Now in my thirties, I realized that I really didn't know God at all on a personal level. I only believed in God because someone told me He existed. And I was no longer afraid of questioning.

I wish I were the president, just for the 747 and the cabinet I could assemble. I would have the best minds that I could find with a special eye out for those people who would vehemently disagree with each other. I'd let them argue it out and just listen. Well, I'm not the president so the jet doesn't take off when I tell it to and I can't hire great minds to argue.

So, I did the next best thing, I drove to the bookstore. Here is who I put on my “book cabinet”: I got Alan Dershowitz. He's opinionated, obnoxious and at times-when he's not talking about the OJ Simpson case-he makes a good point. Let's see, let's put him in a room with... Adolf Hitler. I'd love to see those guys go at it. So next: Hitler's Mein Kampf. The something by Pope John Paul, along with Carl Sagan. I looked really hard, who else would I like to see in a room together? Hey, how about Nietzsche and Billy Graham? Yeah!

I thought it all made sense and was cool until I got to the checkout counter. I will never forget the look on the woman's face or her comments as she scanned the bar codes “Oh! Alan Dershowitz! That's a great book (Boop!) Okay, Pope John Paul (boop!)... and Nietzsche... interesting. (Boop!)... Adolf Hitler... Uh...(boop!) Thank you!”

As I saw the freakish collection of titles pass through this woman's hands I realized I was assembling the library of a serial killer! This is what Hannibal Lecter reads. I began to imagine that the FBI databanks were being alerted as to my location. “Oh, one more thing, do you have a copy of The Catcher in the Rye?”

Meanwhile, my quiet little friend Pat was still saying, “Glenn, if you're looking for answers I have some for you.”

“No thanks, Pat! You Mormons are freaks!”

Really? Which sick freak is reading Mein Kampf?

First to speak on my book council was Carl Sagan, who's an atheist. He took organized religion apart, and did it very well. He talked about the power and the manipulation and the greed, and I said to myself, “Now, there's a point of view I've never really considered. I've never considered atheism. Maybe there is no God. Maybe I'll try this on.” That's the kind of world I live in. I try things on. I immerse myself in things, then pick them apart from the inside.

So I tried on atheism. I said to God, “I don't know if you exist. I do know, however, that if you were really our 'Father in Heaven' that you would leave breadcrumbs for your children to find their way back. Why would you erase your tracks. If you exist, I will find you, because you would want me to find you.”

My path, my spiritual journey ended up taking me to Yale. There were too many questions that I couldn't figure out without some kind of structured study.