In honor of his last show, MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell presents highlights of the Fox host from the past 2.5 years.

Meghan McCain is working with several other women to improve the nation's health by raising skin cancer awareness. Her efforts earned the ridicule of Glenn Beck which earned him half of Lawrence's Rewrite space, tonight.

In the other half, The New York Post's John Podhoretz gives a spot-on analysis of Newt Gingrich's quest to win the White House in 2012.

He's a favorite historian among conservatives like Glenn Beck, Mike Huckabee and Michele Bachmann. Newt Gingrich even plans to use him for advice on his 2012 election bid.

But who is this man, beloved by the ring-wing?

In tonight's show, Lawrence spoke with Peter Montgomery, a Senior Fellow at People for the American Way Foundation and Advisory Council member for Religion Dispatches. He wrote an in-depth expose on Barton. As we learn in the article, Barton's on a mission to warp American history and force his religious views down American's throats. So much so that some on the religious right are now crying foul.

Here's an exclusive excerpt from his piece:

Barton’s growing visibility and influence with members of Congress and other Republican Party officials is troubling for many reasons: he distorts history and the Constitution for political purposes; he encourages religious divisiveness and unequal treatment for religious minorities; and he feeds a toxic political climate in which one’s political opponents are not just wrong but evil and anti-God.

Scholars have criticized Barton for presenting facts out of context or in misleading ways, but that hasn’t stopped him from promoting his theories through books, television, and, yes, the textbooks that will teach the next generation of Americans.  He promotes conspiracy theories about elites hiding the truth from average Americans in order to undermine the nation from within. Last summer, he declared that liberal and media attacks on the Tea Party were just like attacks on Jesus. In February, Barton spoke at the Connect 2011 Pastors Conference, where he said that Christians needed to control the culture and media so that “guys that have a secular viewpoint cannot survive.” Said Barton, “If the press lacks moral discrimination, it’s because we haven’t been pushing our people to chop that kind of news off.”

Barton’s work is not just an academic exercise.  It is meant to have a political impact.  For Barton, “documenting” the divine origins of his interpretations of the Constitution gives him and his political allies a potent weapon.  Barton promotes a false reality in which anyone who opposes any element of his political agenda stands in opposition to both the Founding Fathers and to God.  He believes that everything in our society – government, the judiciary, the economy, the family – should be governed according to the Bible, and he promotes a view of the Bible and Jesus that many Christians would not recognize.  Opponents, even Christians, who disagree with Barton about tax policy or the powers of Congress are not only wrong, they are un-American and anti-religious, enemies of America and of God.

President Obama is a particularly frequent target of Barton’s.  In January, one of his WallBuilders Live radio shows was titled “Why is Obama Trying to Remove God from the United States?” In March, right-wing “news” service WND quoted Barton accusing Obama (falsely of course) of being “engaged in a pattern of ‘willfully, deliberately’ repudiating America's Christian heritage.”

Those are the kind of accusations long favored by the Religious Right, and they are destructive.  Claims that political opponents are evil and are actively trying to destroy Americans’ freedoms poison the public arena, make constructive civic discourse nearly impossible, and have the potential to incite acts of violence.

Elected officials who endorse Barton give his claims credibility they do not deserve.  He in turn gives cover and a veneer of legitimacy to right-wing politicians interested in putting their notions of a nation created by and for Christians into public policy.  Both Barton and his backers are undermining understanding of, and respect for, vital American values and constitutional principles like separation of church and state and equal treatment under the law.

The full version of the article can be found on PFAW's website.

Chris Keane/Reuters

Glenn Beck (file)

Monday's Rewrite taking on Glenn Beck and his deplorable remarks toward women and Planned Parenthood seem to have struck a nerve with a lot of people. The comments here on the blog and Facebook, along with your tweets have spoken loud and clear. There's typical right-wing radio rhetoric... and then there's this.

A woman close to me told me when she heard what Beck had said in response to the email Lawrence received that she was "sickened." She went on to say, "It was so hateful towards that poor woman, all women, and the truth. It just made me so angry."

That's beyond understandable.

Our MSNBC colleague, Martin Bashir, also seemed to have a rather visceral reaction to what Beck said. But rather than respond in kind, he relied on his intellect when saying his piece, today. He gave a nice tip of the hat to the work we do here at The Last Word HQ, and I wanted to make sure to respond in kind. Here's the must-see segment from his show this afternoon.

Fox News says Glenn Beck is "transitioning" off his television show. Even though they're splitting up, they say they'll remain friends. MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell has more in the rewrite.

It really happened. She really said that.

Sarah Palin used an unfortunate choice of words while appearing on Glenn Beck's radio show. He immediately corrected her word fumble. Mostly likely, it was an honest mistake. If she does run for president in 2012, let's hope she follows Karl Rove's advice and studies up on those history books more.