This morning on his radio program, Glenn Beck apologized for his February 22 comments comparing Reform Judaism to radical Islam. And while an apology for smearing 35 percent of American Jews was certainly warranted, there was a portion of it that struck a disingenuous note.

As Beck explained it this morning, he knew his comments were “a nightmare” as he was saying them:

BECK: I made one of the worst analogies of all time, and I knew it when I said it, and I just kept going, 'cause I'm like, you can hear it if you listen to the tape, or you know, if you go back and listen to Tuesday's show, you can hear, what I'm starting to talk--here I am talking about Judaism, and I start comparing Islamic extremism, and it was just, it was, it was a nightmare.

This raises an obvious question: If Beck knew immediately that what he had said on February 22 was nightmarishly wrong, then why did he wait until February 24 to apologize? Why didn't he post a statement that day on his website (as he did when he smeared President Obama's young daughter)? Why didn't he address it on his February 23 radio program, or his Fox News program?

The likely explanation is that Beck only came to realize his comments were “a nightmare” after he was denounced by two national Jewish groups and dropped by yet another sponsor.