Glenn Beck Admits: "We're An Entertainment Company"

I have long wondered why conservatives take media-moguls like Rush Limbough, Ann Coulter, and Glenn Beck seriously. It seems obvious to me that they make their extreme claims primarily to drive sales and advertising revenue their way.

Now Glenn Beck has admitted this, and in a favorable forum -- Forbes magazine (Forbes, in fact, has its own show, Forbes on Fox, on Beck's home network). In an article titled "Glenn Beck Inc.", posted online today, Forbes quotes Beck as follows:

With a deadpan, Beck insists that he is not political: "I could give a flying crap about the political process." Making money, on the other hand, is to be taken very seriously, and controversy is its own coinage. "We're an entertainment company," Beck says. He has managed to monetize virtually everything that comes out of his mouth. He gets $13 million a year from print (books plus the ten-issue-a-year magazine Fusion). Radio brings in $10 million. Digital (including a newsletter, the ad-supported Glennbeck.com and merchandise) pulls in $4 million. Speaking and events are good for $3 million and television for $2 million.

So who can believe this guy?