Glenn Beck Inspires Gun Nut To Stakeout NY Military Facility.

The New York Post is one of the country's worst newspapers, and its editorial content essentially makes it the print edition of FOX News. It's a glaring example of News Corp's vertical integration at work.

Rupert's rag ran an account of a New York gun nut yesterday, though. But it's the rest of the story that's most compelling.

First, the basics:

A Long Island mother of three -- armed to the teeth with an assault rifle and shotgun -- was arrested for scouting out and taking pictures of an Air National Guard base in the Hamptons, authorities said.

Suffolk County Undersheriff Joseph Caracappa said Nancy Genovese, 53, of Quogue, was arrested for trespassing outside the Gabreskie Airport ANG facility Thursday night, and Homeland Security and the FBI are also investigating.

Caracappa said Genovese was taking photographs of the perimeter of the base. A search of her car uncovered an arsenal -- an XM-15 assault rifle, a shotgun and 500 rounds of ammunition.

When asked what she was doing, she replied, "Nothing."

"They are registered weapons, but they're scary weapons," said Caracappa. "It's very odd."

He said she had been at the base a few weeks earlier, taking photos and asking questions of the guards.

Genovese, an unemployed single mom with no prior arrest record, was charged with trespassing.

She was arraigned yesterday afternoon at Southampton Town Justice Court, where a judge set bail at $50,000, and then ordered Genovese held for a psychiatric examination after she went berserk in the courtroom.

"She was hysterical -- screaming and flailing around," said Caracappa.

There's much more to this than a stray gun nut stalking a military base, however. Daily Kos diarist booksnmore4you reports that Genovese is also a Glenn Beck nut (h/t to Mediaite):

The woman, Nancy Genovese, had been seen at the base a few weeks earlier, taking photos and questioning the guards. This time she had returned to take photos of the perimeter of the base. It's not difficult to make the connection that she was paranoid about "FEMA Camps".

Genovese is a Glenn Beck fan, according to her MySpace page (archived here). "He is mad as hell and so are we. He is right and so are we", writes Genovese, who also posted a video of a Glenn Beck rant.

Genovese additionally posted an amateur video indicating her apparent affinity for right-wing militia movements.

And of course she's a tea bagger, as her Twitter page makes clear.

This from the Westhampton News:

This wasn’t the first time Ms. Genovese was observed taking pictures of the base, according to the sheriff’s department. When Deputy Sheriff Robert Carlock arrived at the scene Thursday night, he was told by members of the Air National Guard that she had been warned for several weeks to stay off of the airport property. She had reportedly been seen several times taking pictures along the perimeter of the base. An off-duty Southampton Town Police officer recognized Ms. Genovese when she returned to the base Thursday night.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Department of Homeland Security were notified by the sheriff’s department. Spokesmen for both agencies have announced that they will launch their own investigations.

Will Glenn Beck or FOX News acknowledge their dual roles in inciting the fairly imbalanced? Did Bill O'Reilly or his network do so when Dr. George Tiller was gunned down after years of O'Reilly referring to him as "Tiller the baby killer?"

The FOX News daily diet of paranoia, socialism scares and race-baiting is boffo box office, as reflected by their cable ratings. But pandering to the dark side of their perpetually aggrieved and chronically conspiratorial fringe audience is a dangerous game, and as Glenn Beck and his network continue to play with fire, they are edging ever closer to igniting a raging, out-of-control inferno.