CNN hire Glenn Beck renamed nukes "climate-control devices," suggested bombing of Venezuela

Summary: In an attempt to devise a "politically correct name" for bunker-buster nuclear weapons to make their use more accepted, Glenn Beck proposed "climate-control device" and "butterfly bomb" before settling on the name "anti-cancer bombs" because "you treat cancer with radiation." Beck also suggested the name "bomb de tropical" as "something for the tanning index," adding, "We could use that one in Venezuela."

On the April 10 edition of his nationally syndicated radio program, Glenn Beck suggested that "we just need to come up with some sort of politically correct name" for bunker-buster nuclear weapons to make their use more accepted. Beck proposed they be renamed "climate-control devices," then suggested the name "bomb de tropical" as "something for the tanning index," adding, "We could use that one in Venezuela." Beck was commenting on investigative journalist Seymour M. Hersh's article in the April 17 edition of The New Yorker, which reported that the Bush administration has "intensified planning for a possible major air attack" on Iran, and may be considering "the use of a bunker-buster tactical nuclear weapon ... against underground nuclear sites."

Beck also proposed the term "butterfly bomb" before eventually settling on "anti-cancer bombs" because "you treat cancer with radiation." CNN Headline News hired Beck in January for a new prime-time program scheduled to begin May 8.

From the April 10 broadcast of Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program:

BECK: Why do we have these weapons? Why have we developed these weapons if we're afraid to use them? And I got news for you: I'm afraid to use them because I know exactly what would happen. Everybody would come out of the woodwork saying how horrible we are and we're despicable human beings and now we're using nuclear weapons. I think we need to change the name of the weapon. I think we just need to come up with some sort of politically correct name. Something, I don't know -- this isn't it, but like a butterfly bomb. Aw, look, it's like a little butterfly. We could paint it all psychedelic colors; everybody in San Francisco would be like, "Aw, ain't that like a little butterfly?" Vaporization. I think we'd have a better chance of dropping it. Can you imagine, [Sen.] John Kerry [D-MA] standing up: "It's completely irresponsible to drop the butterfly bomb." Yeah, because it sounds too nice.

You know, how about -- because it would make the ground temperature very, very hot, how about something like a climate-control device? Maybe we rename these nukes the climate-control device? Of course, that makes you think of global warming, and then it would tie in, and then it probably wouldn't -- something for the tanning index. Bomb de tropical. What do you think of that? Bomb de tropical. That kind of sounds nice. We could use that one in Venezuela. You know, the problem is I am so pro-science. Everybody says conservatives are anti-science. We're not. I'm pro-science. We've developed this bomb, why wouldn't we use it? It's the pro-science bomb.

No, wait a minute. Hang on just a second. You treat cancer with radiation. I say we call these things anti-cancer bombs. We're just -- what? We're just dropping anti-cancer bombs. There might have been a cancer victim some place in the -- you know, the bowels of that nuclear power plant over there. I don't -- we had -- we wanted to make sure we got that anti-cancer vaccine right to them. We're just dropping anti-cancer bombs. Who's against -- who's for cancer? Who's against treatment of cancer? That's all we're doing -- it's an anti-cancer bomb.

—S.S.M.