Mount Vernon, Washington decided to hold a Glenn Beck day, because he is a native son of that town.

May be this was a really stupid idea:

Glenn Beck Day in Mount Vernon was an expensive lesson for this small town, as it found out the cost of hosting a controversial celebrity.

It’s on the hook for $17,748.85, mostly for 239 hours of police overtime.

….

Well, says Ken Bergsma, the town’s police chief, better to be prepared than not.

The chief says the crowd of 800 to 1,000 demonstrators that greeted Beck for his early-evening appearance on Sept. 26 was the biggest protest he’s seen in his 32 years as a Mount Vernon police officer.

The city council officially distanced themselves from the Mayor’s decision when he made it, and it turns out that they were right, to the tune of almost 18 grand, which is not a small amount of change when the town has a population of 26,232.

There is, and should be, a cost to honoring people whose raison d’être simply self promotion and ego.