Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Can't all conservatives at least agree that Glenn Beck is not the enemy?

Lots of strong reaction to yesterday's dust-up. Yes, I know Dan Riehl is quoting Wehner, and yes, I know Mark Levin slammed Beck. That's OK with me.

Unlike a certain deranged blogger who sees enemies everywhere, I am not interested in running a personality cult where everyone who disagrees with me is a "fascist." The fact that Think Progress wants to see a Levin vs. Beck smackdown should be all the proof any conservative needs that such a fight is a bad idea.

I like Glenn Beck -- which isn't the same as saying I always agree with Glenn Beck --and anyone who has been following this blog long enough knows how much I despise Crazy Cousin John:
I long worried that all the moonshine runners, snuff-dippers and bar brawlers in the Alabama branch of our family tree might feel I had failed to uphold our ancestral honor by working in the disgraceful racket that "journalism" has now become. Yet the two-faced, backstabbing, open-borders, bailout-endorsing crapweasel, Crazy Cousin John, has brought such odium upon our name that no one even pays attention to me.
By his disgraceful defeat and unprincipled politics, John McCain has disgraced not only himself, but has imputed an ineradicable stain to his innocent kindred. (The first time I was introduced to Ann Coulter, her greeting was, "A most unfortunate name.") And let's not even bring his idiot daughter into this, OK? If the blonde-joke punchline can't stop at three margaritas, that's certainly not my fault.

When Beck gets criticized for slamming Maverick as a "weird progressive like Theodore Roosevelt was," it's hard for honest men to disagree. My right-hand manque Smitty is a sworn antagonist of all things "progressive" and my basic attitude about the 2008 election is: Don't Blame Me, I Voted for Bob Barr.

Since I'm quoting myself again, let me repeat this: Short, old, bald and grumpy is not a winning combination in politics. The fact that John McCain thought he'd be a better Republican presidential candidate than Mitt Romney -- tall, handsome, hirsute, cheerful -- tells you everything you need to know about Maverick's poor judgment in terms of basic electoral politics.

Think about this: Why have you never seen me on TV? Because I suck on TV. I've done a few appearances, hated it because I'm not good at it, and don't want to do any more. I'm a natural on radio, however, and have appeared as a guest on scores of talk radio shows. So that's me: Never gonna be "TV-famous," doomed to perpetual obscurity.

A man's got to know his limitations. Crazy Cousin John never could accept the simple fact that everyone with the slightest media acumen could see: He lacked the fundamental telegenic quality necessary to be a winning presidential candidate in our era. He also lacks sturdy principles and emotional equipose, but from the standpoint of pure 50-percent-plus-one politics, those were secondary considerations compared to the clueless-old-coot vibe he emits on TV.

OK, so now we come to Beck's praise of Ron Paul. Aleister at American Glob writes:
Ron Paul is not wrong about everything. Many people who don't count themselves "Ron Paul supporters" agree with Paul on a great many things, particularly liberty and the out of control spending in Washington.
Look, I covered the 9/12 March On D.C. I talked to scores of attendees raaaaacists. If the policy of the march organizers had been No Beck Fans Allowed, you could certainly subtract 40%-50% from whatever you think the attendance was. And considering the degree to which the march was organized by free-marketeers, a No Ron Paul Supporters Allowed policy would have subtracted at least 40 staffers from the event.

Quoting myself once more: You can't build a successful movement by a process of subtraction. The urge-to-purge approach to coalition politics simply doesn't work, which is why winners avoid it. If we're going to purge anyone, we ought to purge the neurasthenic geeks whose predictable response to anything popular and successful is to attack it.

People who want to talk about the "New Majority" or "The Next Right" or "Republican renewal" need to get used to the idea that the conservative coalition of the future will be a loud, rowdy and unruly bunch, composed of diverse people with disparate beliefs.
"One of the basic principles of military strategy is to reinforce success. If you see a man who fights and wins, give him reinforcements, and bid others to emulate his success."
We need fighters, and I suspect Beck will fight 'til ev'ry foe is vanquished. Bob Belvedere gets it. Phyllis Chesler gets it. We defend truth and liberty against lies and tyranny. Every eye is upon us and we are surrounded by enemies as numerous as the grains of sand on the shore. Let us determine to die here, and we will conquer.

WOLVERINES!

UPDATE: Need more evidence? Andrew Sullivan:
Of course, disdain from the dogmatic right will only help Beck. As it should. He should wear the scorn of Levin like a badge of honor.
If an endorsement from Sully doesn't convince Mark Levin to make peace with Glenn Beck (or, at least, with Beck's fans), what ever could?

BTW, I've met Mark Levin, who is the size of a linebacker and is one of the last conservative pundits I would ever want to have angry at me. If the Levin-Beck feud were a prize fight, my money would be on Levin by a first-round knockout.

Meanwhile, Ran at Si Vis Pacem has related thoughts, and I have a new Twitter friend, 26-year-old Cubachi -- "Conservative, Catholic, Palinista, Cuban w/Chinese roots, and Geeky, while looking good!" -- who is proud to be a "Ted Nugent Republican." Works for me.

UPDATE II: Welcome, Instapundit readers! (Gee, Professor, you had me worried for a few days there, y'know?) New readers, please be sure to visit JihadWatch, Atlas Shrugs, Baldilocks, Blogmocracy, and Little Miss Attila.

A 10-day 'Lanche drought is scary enough, but never anger a Large-Breasted Lesbian . . . shudder.

54 comments:

  1. RS,

    Then let me say re-read the fict part of my Republican Encyclicals.

    The great Dan Riehl also linked to it.

    Some of us have been fgighting on other fronts this summer too.

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  2. With you. (with a link back here)

    "We need fighters, and I suspect Beck will fight 'til ev'ry foe is vanquished." Amen.

    Look, I agree with Beck about as much as I do Frum. But Beck, bless him, is a fighter. In the ditch, bare-knuckles and his best ammo aimed at the enemy rather than at a more successful Conservative.

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  3. Perfection of a post (except the "other" McCain hatred...).

    When will people get it through their heads that we're a TWO PARTY SYSTEM?

    Even if the unlikely does occur and we split into three (roughly) evenly sized parties, in order to get anything DONE, we'd have to get into political bed with members of one of the other two parties.

    In the end, you gotta have the VOTES to get anything done.

    So, isn't it simply easier for those who have interests MOST aligned with "our" party to be IN our party?

    And...who agrees with ANYONE on EVERYTHING? I don't agree with Beck on everything (especially voting for CLINTON. She was to the left of McCain on just about every issue of importance -- BEGINNING with the "war on terror," and, while others may disagree, I found him to be an HONORABLE man, which is the exact OPPOSITE of Clinton.)

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  4. I hate it when we waste time eating our own. And Levin beating up on beck is the perfect example

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  5. Exactly, we can't spare this Beck, he FIGHTS.
    .
    Why that snarky Highlander Levin can't stop re-arming the circular firing squad is beyond me. Join the team and keep your guns on the leftists, Mr. "There Can Only Be One" Levin.

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  6. I watch Beck occasionally, and yeah, the guy brings a high energy level to the show. Overall, I think he is an asset, significantly more than the negatives he brings. No one is perfect, and certainly not Beck.

    That being said, I agree with Beck on McCain, mostly. McCain would have continued the slow march to socialism, and therefore, the degree of concern that we now see would be missing. It's that old story about throwing the frog in boiling water vs. heating the water up slowly. Obama has taken the situation to boiling, and suddenly there is a big reaction. There is actual concern for the Constitution and the power of Washington. I don't think that would have happened in a McCain administration. In fact, I think McCain has made it pretty obvious that he supports a lot of liberal doctrines: open borders, global warming, the damned campaign finance law that killed him, and so on. McCain is solid on defense, but so is Lieberman. So, yeah, I think Beck has a point.

    Sammy is right: the last thing we need is a situation that splits the conservative movement. I would have preferred that Levin agreed to disagree with Beck, and tuned the conflict down.

    On the third party question, I would ask what Republicans are doing for Conservatives. Sure, there are some great conservative Republicans, but there are also Cornyns, Alexanders, Hutchinsons, Grahams, McCains, and on and on and on. If the Republican party wants to be conservative, welcome back to the party. Until then, how do we get a true conservative party? Supporting Republicans has not been working lately.

    Scott

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  7. McCain was the Republican candidate because he was crammed down our throat by the friggin LSM.

    He was beatable. And the libtard media knew that a majority of Republicans would stay at home rather than vote for the McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy sniveling weasel.

    I didn't stay home. I held my nose and wished.

    Republicans have to get beyond what the LSM feeds to us on a daily basis, and will do again during the upcoming midterms and presidential race afterwards.

    Beck is a breath of fresh air to some. He makes you want to stand up and question this authority that seems to know so much better than us about how to run our lives.

    Beck was only wrong in saying that McCain would be worse. McCain would be equal to the BO. And that ain't no compliment.

    I like Levin, but Mark, get off my fucking phone you big dummy and shut the fuck up!!

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  8. No we can't agree that Beck is not the enemy! I've hated him ever since that crappy "I'm a loser, baby, so why don't you kill me?" song.
    .

    .

    .
    What?

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  9. Underlying this MSM obsession with Beck, Limbaugh, etc. is the old idea that conservatives are stupid, ignorant, and easily led.

    If we watch Beck we must believe everything he says and agree with every position he takes.

    I don't like Beck. I actually blogged about how much i disliked him almost four years ago. (It involved football.) But i DVR his program everyday now. Not because i am a 100% fan but because he has been "breaking" news or at least pushing important matters out to a wider audience.

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  10. Damn, That was a good blog post.

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  11. javelineer said...
    Damn, That was a good blog post.

    Thanks, J. I just got re-tweeted by Alyssa Farah

    "I'm a married spud! I'm a married spud!"

    Also, (a) her Dad is a friend and (b) she's the same age as my own daughter, so there's that whole creepy Freudian issue. However, to say that Alyssa is not bad looking is merely to state a neutral, objective fact. And as a professional journalist, this is merely my duty.

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  12. Come on, McCain was the Neocon DREAM Candidate. McCain was the Neocon man of choice, going back to the 2000 primaries. Fred Barnes said he was the only person at the Weakly Standard for Bush over McCain.

    McCain lost against a weak and very vulnerable far left Obama, cause he pulled all the punches just like the Neocons usually advocate. And recall that rumor had it McCain wanted to name Lieberman his VP, just as William Kristol suggested.

    So come on Neocons, “man up” and accept the fact that McCain was your guy and he stunk it up. Don't blame Beck for that.

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  13. Stacy: I am humbled by your comments.

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  14. How can you say that Beck isn't the enemy when he was an active participant in the smear campaign against Ron Paul---the only true conservative who ran last year?

    Flip Romney? You must be joking!

    If anything, Ron Paul, and the Austrians have been completely and totally vindicated. He predicted the crisis we are in...and has achieved victory after victory in his war against the Fed. Hearings on his bill, which now has unanimous support, begin next week. Even Barney Fag hasn't been able to stop it--and has had to begrudgingly join it, or look like a fool.

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  15. PS--I voted for Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party candidate.

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  16. I completely agree and just posted on this. There couldn't be a worse time for conservatives to get sidetracked with a pointless bashing of Beck and his statement to Katie Couric.

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  17. Thanks for the shout out Stacy!
    I love Levin and Beck. Hurts that these two are in dispute when I have respect and admiration for the two.
    Levin is one big dude. I agree with you there.

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  18. I've gone out on this limb before, but I'll do it again and again until someone saws it off.

    This backstabbing goes even further back to the time when too many "mainstream" conservatives found it expedient to bash Michael Savage. Savage to say the least is not everyone's cup of tea. Frankly he's kind of a crank. But nothing he says on his show is beyond the bounds of reasonable opinion. In fact, he was extremely incisive in pointing out what a disaster Bush was turning out to be when all the other hosts were in cheerleader mode.

    But years ago, the lefties decided Savage was beyond the pale. Instead of defending him, too many conservatives were quick to join the defenestration party and now here we are endlessly agonizing over which talk show host we need to shun next in order to appease left-wing opinion. If conservatives can't figure out that left-wing opinion will only be appeased when they're all dead, then the movement is hopeless.

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  19. The reason Beck isn’t the enemy is that he is re-thinking issues in the wake of the economic and political disaster that “progressive” Republicans (i.e., national greatness Neocons) and Left wing Democrats got us into.

    And now Beck is under attack from some Neocons because they realize that his is off the reservation on foreign policy. Here is a report on Beck’s comments that set off the Neocons (the Beck comments on McCain being an excuse of sorts for the coordinated attack on Beck):


    Beck would like the time machine to take him back eighteen months. Why? To go back to when he was calling Ron Paul a "crackpot on so many issues." Now, he laments, "Gosh. I'd like to reexamine all those issues." Among those issues is America's occupation of many foreign countries; Beck specifically mentions Germany, Korea, and Afghanistan. He admits that America's imperialism has caused a lot of problems. He said, "Progressive members of the Republican party wanted to make sure that we spread sunshine, lollipops, happiness, and democracy to all around the world. That's great. But the best way to do that is to live a righteous life and be a good example." And he repeated what Paul has been saying for years, "Besides, we can't afford it anymore!"

    http://www.examiner.com/x-23963-Salt-Lake-City-Independent-Examiner~y2009m9d20-Glenn-Beck-wants-a-time-machine-to-rethink-Ron-Paul

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  20. If we are going to all pile on Mark Levin, which I don't think was Stacy's intent at all, we should at least get our nomenclature right. Levin isn't a "neocon." Full voiced support of the war on terror does not make one a neoconservative. Neoconservatives emphasize national defense, and are prone to socially and even fiscally liberal views (think Charles Krauthammer). Mark Levin does not have these views.

    Mark Levin does not do much damage to conservatism when he attacks Beck. Why not? Because most of his attacks are against the left, and I reckon that there are many Glenn Beck fans who listen to Levin and vice versa. We are all big kids here, we can figure out they have a personal beef, quite apart from the movement as a whole.

    Contrast this to your "Crunchy Cons" and "New Majority" guys, who hardly ever spend time criticizing the left, and instead attack us all the time. Levin is way different than that. No comparison, really.

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  21. Mark Levin Missed Glenn Beck's Point... Again.

    If I had not heard Glenn Beck explain the intent of his point re: Sen. McCain or Obama, I would probably accept Mark Levin's assertion that Glenn's statement about Sen. McCain was off the wall weird... but I did hear Glenn's full comment about Sen. McCain and I agree with Glenn Beck, and I told Mark Levin as much when I spoke back audibly to my radio...

    Mark, you're missing the point!

    Glenn Beck is definitely correct... Sen. McCain would not be challenged as vociferously by the namby pamby Republicans in the House and Senate, although the 'fringe media' would probably not be the 'lap-dog media' with McCain as they are with Obama.

    Mark Levin reminds me of Michael (Weiner) Savage in Savage's throw-rocks-at-the-point-man verbiage and diatribes against Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Riley et al.

    Memo to Michael (Weiner) Savage...

    Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Riley, Glenn Beck are on OUR side of the ideological debate, and 'we the people' who listen to the radio EVERY day expect our point men to have their backs covered, not fired upon.

    Back-stabbing is shallow and puerile.

    Memo to Mark Levin...

    Glenn Beck is on OUR side of the ideological debate, and 'we the people' who listen to the radio EVERY day expect our point men to have their backs covered, not fired upon.

    Back-stabbing is shallow and puerile.

    Mark, Glenn Beck is the pointman re: the 'Cloward and Piven Strategy' BIG PICTURE as it relates to the Obama and Soros tree of corruption. The 'Cloward and Piven Strategy' acolytes seem to have found a pointman in Obama.

    Mark, your radio comments about Glenn not focuscing on the 'statist' agenda as you do on the radio and your book is well taken but it misses the mark (pun not intended).

    The conservative blowback against Obama and Soros is like a diamond with different facets...

    You, Mark, focus on your 'statist' point of view facet and Glenn focuses on Obama's 'transform America' words while he exposes the corruption that is allowing the 'statist' assult on our U.S. Constitution to 'transform America' into Obama's 'Lenin wanna be' image... what I call Obama's 'Communerde' agenda.

    Mark, Obama and his 'transform America' agenda is the enemy of America's future, not Glenn Beck.

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  22. A certain blogger who "sees enemies everywhere" has also just pronounced Michelle Malkin a "white supremacist" on his latest thread. His source for this gem is an article on Huffington Post. A Filipino white supremacist? UNBELIEVABLE!!! This guy, if that's not being too kind, has clearly jumped the tracks of sanity.

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  23. Purity is just silly.
    Real conservatives - starting with the Russell Kirks who believe in that incredibly messy thing called 'tradition'- realize they should write anyone out...they may be more conservative under some criterion than you!

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  24. I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone mention the likely personal reason Levin (and several other radio hosts) dislike Beck viscerally no matter how many points they agree with him on -- Glenn Beck has had a dirty little habit of stealing, or maybe it's parodying (it's hard to tell which sometimes) other radio hosts' show gimmicks.
    The most notable of course is Closed Line Friday, which even uses the same intro as Limbaugh's Open Line Friday, but he's "borrowed" similar devices from other hosts including Levin. He never or at least rarely gives credit for the steal, and more to the point, to a radio host this is the equivalent of a standup comedian appropriating another comedian's jokes. Since they have different time slots, maybe two comedians on the same tour.

    Of course, then there's the other factor, which is that Beck has a great radio voice and a much bigger audience than Levin, so when he does steal a gimmick, it ends up sounding like Levin or whoever is the one imitating.

    I'm not a regular listener to Levin but nevertheless I've heard him grouse about it more than once. It clearly gets under his skin, and understandably so, but Levin comes off here sounding like a jealous jerk.

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  25. I think you people should make up with Beck. It makes our job so much. The man is certifiably nuts, making him your perfect spokesman.

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  26. To paraphrase myself during those extended "New Republican Party" paeans that were all the rage last winter:

    1) It may come as a surprise to some people, but your personal embarassment at discussing people you've never met but seen lampooned on the Daily Show with your liberal friends is not a significant factor in the electoral fate of the nation.

    2) It shows a complete lack of understanding of democracy - a 180 degree misunderstanding - to say "who do we not need?" after an electoral defeat.

    3) Even if purging was a wise course - and again, it must be stressed, it is not - YOU would be people being purged. That's not (just) meant as a snub against elitist Rockefeller Republicans; I mean, literally, you cannot purge populists or social conservatives from the Republican party, unless you abolish primary elections, because they outnumber you exponentially.

    You're free not to vote for Sarah Palin and ignore Glenn Beck but to say that "Republicans" need to do so-and-so is to succumb to uniquely elitist bout of stupidity. A Republican (and a Democrat) is defined as one thing: a person who registers as one.

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  27. Anonymous 9:56 ET: A Filipino white supremacist? UNBELIEVABLE!!!

    True. But no more amazing, really, than when Charles called Pamela Geller a fascist.

    Blogged it: AS PREDICTED, LGF ATTACKS MALKIN

    Thanks for the tip, Anonymous. I'm actually on deadline for something else tonight, and don't have the paranoid leisure of Mad King Charles.

    Exit question: How long before he denounces Instapundit as a "white supremacist blogger"?

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  28. Speaking briefly of Charles Johnson (sorry, I don't have an account at Hot Air)...

    Charles was never really conservative or libertarian, but rather a liberal deeply affected by 9-11. That's *not* a slam, just the fact -- I welcomed him as a fellow traveler on this issue.

    Personally, I think what got to him was the imminent election of Obama. It was easy to be a liberal apostate when the people (conservatives) were in power, but with the liberals back in the strain was too great.

    FWIW, I think he's right to point out the young earth creationism of some on the right as the counter-productive idiocy it is, and to a certain extent even talking about the problems with ID as 'science' -- but he went off the freakin' deep end, losing all perspective. At the very least, its not at all what drew us to LGF in the first place.

    Apparently his focus now is frantically trying to restore his liberal bona fides.

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  29. What ever happened to the statement, an enemy of my enemy is my friend? That's Beck. Levin can get a little to intense for me sometimes and so can Beck but we need them both. And for the cup of vomit above who said that Beck and Frumm are equal, eat s*it! Beck is a wild card and we need to play it correctly and stop bad mouthing him. Who else do you know who is diagraming the corrupt Obama administration? Leave him alone!

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  30. Thanks for the tip, Anonymous.
    You're most welcome, Robert.


    For an update to your exit question:

    Exit question: How long before he denounces Instapundit as a "white supremacist blogger"?

    Uhhh, right about now:


    438 Charles Tue, Sep 22, 2009 7:45:37pm replyquote

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    Instapundit links to the white supremacist:

    STACY MCCAIN: Can’t All Conservatives At Least Agree That Glenn Beck Is Not The Enemy?


    454 freetoken Tue, Sep 22, 2009 7:50:50pm replyquote

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    re: #452 Killgore Trout

    Reynolds has a history:

    Glenn Reynolds promotes book authored by neo-Confederate propagandist.

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  31. "The fact that John McCain thought he'd be a better Republican presidential candidate than Mitt Romney -- "

    Uh, no. Republicans thought he'd be a better candidate than Romney, hence his selection in the primaries via Republican voters.
    Can you just stop making things up!?!

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  32. The fact that Beck would actually say Obama was better than McCain as president is and of itself stupid, ridiculous, irresponsible and insane.

    Besides that, what is this about purging? Beck purges, he has made it plain that if he can run the show, he wants to wreck it.

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  33. Glenn now calls his Friday show "Ask Glenn Anything" instead of "Closed Line Friday" perhaps to appease Rush. And "Closed Line Friday" was a parody, not a steal. I'm not really surprised at Levin's outburst; he has been grumbling about Glenn without mentioning him for some time now. Glenn mentioned last week on the radio he had nothing against other talk show hosts, including Levin, because they focus on different issues than he does. RSM is right: Glenn is not the enemy, out-of-control government spending and loss of freedom is. I hope, someday, Mark Levin will realize this.

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  34. Uh, McCain managed to stumble across the finish line after the unfortunate fratricide of too many Repub candidates with substantial but bit decisive support... and probably a dose of Machiavellian support from the MSM.

    I held my nose and voted for him in the general, convinced Obama would be disastrous. FWIW I was way out front in saying that Hillary would be better than Obama (more left than Bill but much less than Obama, and like Bill enough of a triangulator to possibly work with) when most Repubs couldn't see past their visceral dislike of her to the greater danger.

    [I even, before the general, predicted a Prez Obama's critics would be smeared as racists -- and basically called a racist just for pointing it out!]

    I was not one of those willing to stay home and not vote for McCain out of purity, but now that we are here in this moment of danger, Obama's overreach *does* present an opportunity for conservatives and libertarians to wake up the somnolent middle -- if the damned Republican establishment would get out of the way if they won't lead.

    I recently told an RNC fundraiser that they weren't getting another dime from me until they figured out what they were *for*, rather than just being "not Obama".

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  35. I agree that Glenn Beck is not the enemy. It's painfully obvious that conservatives have no organized strategy. Things worked better back in the days of Reagan's 11th Commandment.

    There is no purpose served in rehashing the last election. Clearly, the Republicans had no chance, but they could have done somewhat better than the unmitigated disaster that they brought upon themselves. I'm waiting to see if they are going to screw up 2010 and 2012 as well.

    Frankly, the Republicans should thank their lucky stars that they lost in 2008 -- had they won, McCain would be the new Hoover; it's better to let Obama be the new Hoover.

    They have so many pluses right now that it would take a miracle for them to lose the next two elections. Of course, they should never have lost the 1996 election either, but they were outfoxed by a master politician and basically gave up before they started, by nominating a sympathy candidate.

    A couple of tips: 1) Let the Democrats dig their own grave; 2) nominate candidates who do not have a long list of enemies within the base -- there are hundreds, if not thousands, of them.

    Nobody should worry about the health care debate; the Obama changes aren't scheduled to start until 2013, which leaves a lot of time to undo whatever disaster the Democrats try to impose upon a free people. Whatever can be done can also be undone -- it would be nice if it could be undone quickly, rather than waiting a couple of generations. I doubt that either the conservatives or the public in general has that much patience or fortitude.

    By the way, if the Republicans find themselves in the happy position of being able to undo Obamacare and Cap/Trade, they might also be able to reform Social Security and Medicare. Of course, they will have to behave like adults to get that far.

    If you want another McCain or Dole, keep throwing your votes away on hapless third parties. That's a pretty strong indication that you rank your ego above the public interest.

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  36. Levin isn't worried about purity, he's trying,I think to warn his listeners. That's why he talks about how he came to his beliefs and that he's held them for a long time. He recognizes that there are many flavors of conservative--that's how his book starts.
    I don't know what Mark thinks, but I fear that Glenn is a charismatic mole, put in place to Pied Piper-like lead a large group of voters, who would likely vote Republican, away to a third pary.
    The Dems win; we are in thrall.
    It's a brilliant psy-ops scam many years in the making. Don't you find it curious, all the media attention he gets?
    If this scenario is likely what strategy do you suggest?

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  37. Ok, Beck is cringe-worthy sometimes.

    But he does a very good job of informing us. Today he had that video of the anti-consumption woman. I've never seen that before. That was a seriously dangerous vid to be showing to children.

    He manages to get out the dirty little secrets of the Left Wing that others are afraid to touch. R's can't seem to bring themselves to be as brave or as informed as Beck.

    Do I wish for a better, more polished, person? yeah...but we need this info

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  38. There is not a lot of love lost between me and cultural conservatives. I consider a lot of them another variation of the statist crowd. But I will have their six when it comes to fighting out of control spending. Of course if they would join me in the fight against Drug Prohibition spending and the prison industrial complex (many do) it would be even better.

    Beck? Love him on domestic policy. And some of his foreign policy points are not too bad either.

    I'm a libertarian Republican. A proud member of the Leave Us Alone Coalition.

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  39. America is not occupying any country. When asked to leave we do. Ask the Philippines. Ask Saudi Arabia. Hell ask France.

    American forces stationed around the world provide a measure of stability. I'll worry about American Imperialism when we are asked to leave and don't.

    Maybe Saudi Arabia waited too long to ask us to leave. Their problem - not ours.

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  40. Yes, thanks to Duverger we're a two-party system. But the trick isn't to create a new third party, but to create a new first or second party. This could be accomplished by not creating another conservative party, but a liberal capitalist party based on social liberty, free market economics, and a Jacksonian foreign policy and national defense. Such a party could conceivably poach 2/3rds of the GOP, one third of the Democrats and most political independents. The trick isn't just to replace the Republicans, but suck all the grownups out of the Democratic Party as well.

    And replacing "our one man one vote" system with a "one vote per candidate" approval voting system would help us with the Duverger thing. We'd still have a two party system, but we'd lose the "same two parties forever" system we have now.

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  41. The very best thing McCain ever did may have been a mistake. He picked Palin.

    Sarah has done more to unite libertarian Republicans and cultural conservatives than any other candidate out there or that I could imagine. She governed as a libertarian and lived her life as a conservative. We could use a few thousand more like her in politics.

    Count me as a part of the Palin Army. Since about 3 femtoseconds after she was chosen. I had already blogged her about a week or two before she was picked so I knew who she was.

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  42. Look, Levin is a CONSERVATIVE. Beck is a conservative on the road to becoming a Libertarian.

    I capitalized Conservative because, there is no question, Levin is a Conservative. Beck, not so much.

    But, I like them both.

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  43. As a Democrat, my favorite Republicans are Glenn Beck, Mitt Romney, Rush Limbaugh, and Sarah Palin. Please put them out front and center as often as you can.

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  44. No one not one soul on our side rises to the level of Kos and yet EVERY DAMN ONE of the Democrat candidates headed to their convention. Republicans nauseate me with their holier than thou attitude about what it takes to WIN. We are either go to fight on all fronts to end this attack on our liberty together or we or going to hand this country over to tyranny. Levin whom I love and Scarburough whom I don't going after a guy who has BROKEN two major stories along with Breitbart. There is a reason Breitbart went to Glenn first and that is because O'Reilly is too haughty to take on these slime stories until they are HUGE! So if Levin and assorted snots on the RIGHT want to fight internally they should know they have lost the battle!

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  45. FRUM et al = Idiot, loser, useless
    - acts as the agent for a worthless Republican party
    - wants conservative to be Democrate-light version
    - cannot be trusted

    BECK/LIMBAUGH: Smart, winners, fighters
    - act for America
    - ask the right questions
    - give truthful answers - can be trusted

    Now, who should I choose to listen to and trust my welfare?

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  46. Despite any and all faults noted above, Beck is rallying people.I am investing real anger/ emotion in this cause. Levin sounds petty and jealous and he's off the air in my house.

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  47. You can't build a successful movement by a process of subtraction. The urge-to-purge approach to coalition politics simply doesn't work, which is why winners avoid it.

    That sums it up. If you're happy with the idea being one of the (long forgotten) groups that have lost republics throughout the world and throughout history, keep up the friendly fire. If you truly believe we are in a war for Liberty, keep your rounds down range until we've won.

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  48. The fundamental problem with this debate is that people are trying to anoint an official spokesman for a movement and impose a hierarchy. Don't. Let individuals speak their mind, tolerate many voices, and respect their point of view. Let many flowers bloom, even if you don't like the colors.

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  49. Glenn Beck is our 'Maximus.' He is fighting the establishment in the arena of public media. We have a short time to support him and recognize where his right and fill in behind him. For too long the Republicans have abdicated the culture to the left. The communists how came to the US in the 20s' found fertile ground in the morass of Dewey and Wilson. Republicans have been fighting with two arms tied and blindfolded ever since. We must include all in our argument if we are to succeed.

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  50. The funny thing with Mr. Straightjacket Johnson is that he was all "boo hoo" about the disdain conservatives have for Colin Powell, Arlen Spectre, and all the other traitors who got in bed with the statist juggernaut. We should not exclude THEM! Oh, NO! DO NOT WANT! But all he does nowadays is bitch-n-moan about somebody was as the same event as somebody else who was at another event with somebody else who was at a rally with a known white supremacist (and I know they're a white supremacist because they object to REPARATIONS!), and that connection makes them (and apparently all actual conservatives) RAAACISTS!!! But don't call any democrats racist, including, you know: actual out-and-out racists.

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  51. Looks like us Democrats have successfully inserted the Beckworm into one ear. Should be interesting to watch as it burrows its way through toward the other ear.

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  52. Hey McCain (the GOOD McCain) that was a fantastic blog post. I always enjoy your writings, and I'm glad you're fighting the good fight. I also wanted to say that I'm a Mark Levin fan but am really disappointed in his OVER-reaction to Beck.

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  53. Jesus had John...the Apostle of Love, and Peter who might remind some people of Beck in that Peter at one time was prone to wild swings, and Paul who was born of the best family and had a world-class education and could perhaps bear some comparison to Levin as both wrote with great logic. If it worked for Jesus, then may I suggest it might work for us too?

    As to Creationism, um, 89% of Americans are some form of Creationist. About 50%
    are YECs. And its not that the dumb populists are YEC's and the smart people are Darwinists. Its more like the YEC's ignore the pretentious twits who've been brainwashed into thinking they're smart if they agree with illogic. Its rather similar to other politics in that way. Its not that we conservatives mind elites, its that we mind such arrogant mediocrities proclaiming their elite status.

    And then like other politics, YEC's and conservatives, have genuine elites who can and do trash the 'best' the liberal Darwinist has to offer. Like someone said 'with half my brain tied behind my back'. Or as Thomas Aquineas said that it was too easy to prove the existence of God if you allowed that the Universe had a beginning.

    Tennwriter

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