Why did Arianna Huffington agree to do the Rachel Maddow Show with comic and former E! host Hal Sparks? So self-undermining!

Sitting next to Sparks and his glam-rock hairdo made the Huffington Post publisher look more like part of MSNBC's California Freakshow (Maddow was visiting L.A.) than the serious pundit and publisher she tries to position herself to be. It's not like kooky Sparks was brandishing any trenchant political humor; enjoy some of his more bizarre moments in the clip up top. (That's Maddow at the end of the video, escaping to her Special Place of inner safety amid the insanity.)



You could also watch Huffington get increasingly annoyed at Sparks' interruptions, which we've collected in the second video. We don't normally say this about Arianna Huffington, but: Couldn't he just let her talk? The whole thing was bewildering.

Our best guess as to how this was allowed to happen: Huffington just can't say no to national TV. The attention is important to her; HuffPo editors have traditionally been tasked with blogging Huffington's TV appearances. Which is why you can find clips of virtually all of her bookings in the Media section of HuffPo, right after she goes on.

Not so with this one. Call it a lesson learned: People might suspect Huffington, with her abundant glamour and charm, is the intellectual equal of the vapid Hollywood celebrities she surrounds herself with, but there's no need for her to provide them with evidence.