Why Mark Levin Hates Glenn Beck

Charleston City Paper ^ | 2009-09-25 | Jack Hunter aka Southern Avenger

[rabscuttle385]

When FOX News host Glenn Beck said during an interview with Katie Couric this week, “John McCain would have been worse for the country than Barack Obama,” his comments made headlines. Beck explained that “McCain is this weird progressive like Theodore Roosevelt was.” Beck laid out this view in better detail on his television program earlier this month:

I am becoming more and more libertarian every day, I guess the scales are falling off of my eyes, as I’m doing more and more research into history and learning real history. Back at the turn of the century in 1900, with Teddy Roosevelt—a Republican—we started this, “we’re going to tell the rest of the world,” “we’re going to spread democracy,” and we really became, down in Latin America, we really became thuggish and brutish. It only got worse with the next progressive that came into office—Teddy Roosevelt, Republican progressive—the next one was a Democratic progressive, Woodrow Wilson, and we did … we empire built. The Democrats felt we needed to empire build with one giant global government ... The Republicans took it as, we’re going to lead the world and we’ll be the leader of it … I don’t think we should be either of those. I think we need to mind our own business and protect our own people. When somebody hits us, hit back hard, then come home.

Beck is trying to explain how Teddy Roosevelt was a Republican precursor to what historians call “liberal internationalism,” a foreign policy view that contends the role of the U.S. is to intervene around the globe to advance liberal objectives. This progressive doctrine, later called “Wilsonian” after Woodrow Wilson, was intended to “make the world safe for democracy,” to quote our 28th president. Wilsonian globalism was embraced fully by George W. Bush, and as Beck notes, was also a guiding philosophy for his could-have-been successor, John McCain. In their application, there is very little difference between “neoconservative” foreign policy and “liberal internationalism,” and both views are progressive in origin.

Preferring to keep his audience in the dark on such distinctions, neoconservative talk host Mark Levin was angry that Beck would dare shine a light on them. Said Levin this week:

McCain is no conservative… but to say that he would be worse than a president who’s a Marxist, who’s running around the world apologizing for our nation, who’s slashing our defense budget… to say he would be worse is mindless… incoherent, as a matter of fact. There’s our 5 PMer on FOX.

It should be noted that Beck’s FOX News program airs at 5 PM EST.

Who else does Levin consider mindless? He continues:

I don’t know who people are playing to; I don’t know why they’re playing to certain people. Ron Paul’s another one ... this fascination with Ron Paul. Ron Paul, who blames America! American “imperialism,” quote, unquote, for the attacks on 9/11. How can any conservative embrace that? And yet the 5 PMer does.

For eight years, hosts like Levin and even Glenn Beck promoted full-blown neoconservatism without ever calling it by that name. For these mainstream pundits, conservatism simply equaled neoconservatism, and during the Bush years there was no talk of limited government, no concern about “socialism” and no real worries about anything else, other than the War on Terror. The Republican Party was a single issue party; Ron Paul was considered crazy, Joe Lieberman was considered cool—and government exploded.

But much to Levin’s chagrin, that impenetrable neoconservative unity no longer exists. Unlike Levin, Beck now claims “the scales are falling off of my eyes,” and he now questions old assumptions about foreign policy, the value of the GOP, the worth of the two-party system, or even if McCain would have been any better than Obama. Conservative columnist George Will once cheered Bush’s foreign policy, but now thinks it’s time to bring the troops home from both Iraq and Afghanistan. When Sarah Palin spoke in Hong Kong this week, a Wall Street Journal headline read, “Palin, Sounding Like Ron Paul, Takes on the Fed.” Few conservatives get excited by Joe Lieberman anymore. But many are starting to talk like Ron Paul.

The attacks on Beck by Levin are a reflection of what’s happening on the American Right as a whole, where the old fools’ game of merely corralling grassroots conservatives into the Republican Party is suffering from a severe shortage of fools. I’m not saying that Beck is an all-around, reliable conservative figure, nor do I believe the Republican Party is going to start seriously listening to Paul in the future, but there are at least now, finally, tiny slivers of truth making their way into the mainstream, thanks in no small part to a handful of celebrity truth-seekers, no matter how eccentric or inconsistent they may be.

And if there’s one thing we can be sure of—there would be no tea parties, no town hall protests, no marches on Washington, no questioning foreign policy, no attacking the Federal Reserve, no new-and-improved Glenn Beck and no new respect for Ron Paul—if John McCain had won the election. The neoconservative agenda would have continued, undisturbed, and according to plan. And something tells me Mark Levin would have preferred to keep it that way.

[Mr Inviso]

“Is ‘Neo’ just code for Jew?”

Bullseye. Mostly for Libs, but for others (I’ve often heard this one from the Paul-bearers and big-L Libertarians) as well. Most people I’ve heard using “neo-con” as a slur have had more than a mild case of anti-Semitism.

[mrmeyer]

"The GOP is not Conservative nor is it the party of Conservatives"

So true and worth repeating over and over.

However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion."

-GEORGE WASHINGTON, Farewell Address, Sep. 17, 1796

[Mr Inviso]

“I’m also in favor of exporting liberalism — why should we be the only country to have that ball and chain dragging our production down?”

how about we just export the liberals and let them drag the other countries down. It would certainly improve things here.

[Sun]

I don’t think Mark Levin “hates” Glenn Beck; he just doesn’t agree with him sometimes.

I think Mark Levin would like that Glenn Beck said today that he (Beck) is only like RC cola, but Rush is like Cola. (I’m paraphrasing.) Beck is humble.

[meyer]

Beck needs to take a step back and see where his (erroneous) lumping of Republicans and Dems together could lead.

He's not erroneous - a generous portion of Republicans in Washington are well left of center. Not just a couple like Olympia Snowe, but many. Voinovich. Lamar Alexander. McCain. And, many more.

Look at the last election. You probably voted for McCain as did I. But why? Did you really like his platform, or did you consider him, as I did, to be the lessor of two evils. I simply voted for McCain to keep the Marxist Obama out.

Unfortunately (or fortunately as Beck explains), there weren't enough of us that could see through the media BS to overcome millions of drones that fell for the rhetoric rather than the thinly veiled substance of Obama's past. (of course, we can't discount a plethora of fraudulent votes brought to us through the actions of ACORN in states like Ohio and Indiana. I'm certain that minus voter fraud, those states would have gone for McCain).

Beck's words serve as a warning to the Republican party. Beck has a very large audience. And they are, for the most part, fed up with Washington in general. The republicans had 6 years to unravel some of the socialist programs that have been dragging down our country for 75 years. They had 6 years to put to rest the myth of global warming. They had 6 years to shrink an overbearing, intrusive, and expensive federal government. They had 6 years to get the greedy tenacles of trial lawyers out of the pockets of our medical community and our industry.

The Republicans did nothing in those 6 years, other than continue the centralization of power from the hands of the people to those of the federal government.

So yes, Beck is right to criticize the republicans. But for a handful of exceptions, they have become "democrat-lite" and people don't want that.

[ohioWfan]

Levin must be reaching some of us non-intellectuals.

Liberty and Tyranny has sold more than a million copies. He must be doing something right, eh?

[ohioWfan]

I never said Beck was wrong to criticize Republicans. Quite the opposite.

I said that the Republican party needs to be reformed.

What I fault Beck for is sayint that there is NO difference between the parties (and he does say that quite often). He says there is deep corruption in both parties (maybe a little more in the Dem party).

What that does is lead people to believe both parties are equal (not that the Republicans have been moving left - something we all agree with, I think).

Beck is erroneous in lumping the entire Republican party in with this diabolical, Marxist, corrupt leftist Democrat party. All the work he's done has been exposing the LEFTIST corruption, but he keeps saying that it's the Republicans too. And it's not. There's NO comparison.

[rabscuttle385]

The fact that nobody wants to talk about McCain’s ACORN/SEIU/Soros ties tells me that Beck was dead on the mark.

Any Freeper who thinks McCain isn't corrupt should ask themselves why McCain was hanging out at an ACORN/SEIU event.

2008-10-13: Acorn pushes back, hugs McCain
The immigration event, which other photos show was packed with red-shirted Acorn member, was co-sponsored by the local Catholic Archdiocese, the SEIU, and other groups.

Bertha Lewis, Acorn's chief organizer, said in a statement that came with the photo, “It has deeply saddened us to see Senator McCain abandon his historic support for ACORN and our efforts to support the goals of low-income Americans."

”We are sure that the extremists he is trying to get into a froth will be even more excited to learn that John McCain stood shoulder to shoulder with ACORN, at an ACORN co-sponsored event, to promote immigration reform," she said.

[carolina71]

All I’m going to say is that I had to hold my nose to vote for him.

Gag reflex kicked in.

[ICCtheWay]

There are lots of good Conservative talkers, Rush, Hannity, Levin, Savage, Hewitt and dozens of others... In their own style they have all furthered the cause... and we need them.

But American Citizens are alarmed right now and want to have ‘DOERS’ not just talkers.

Beck along with Breitbart are big time ‘DOERS’-— results... ACORN blown out the water, NEA’s Yosi Sergant exposed and resigns, Van Jones forced to resign, the SEIU’s influence and ties with ACORN exposed in detail, Beck’s 9/12 Project involving real people in organizing for a solution - not just talking about it, heavy promotion of the Tea Parties, heavy promotion of the 9/12 March on DC, Heavy coverage and discussion of the Town Hall meetings...

Other ‘talkers’ have had a hand in this too - but none to the extent and/or direct involvement...

‘DOERS’ get the attention in these perilous times... and Beck is a big time DOER.

[AuntB]

“Any Freeper who thinks McCain isn’t corrupt should ask themselves why McCain was hanging out at an ACORN/SEIU event.”

And LaRAza and the Albanian terrorists,

““He did everything that we asked of him, including arming the KLA”, said Albanian lobbyist Joe DioGuardi. The Albanians collected one million dollars for the presidential campaign of this senator.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1979818/posts

and on and on....McCain always embraces the enemy within. And too many freepers could care less about corruption as long as it benefits them. Hopeless!

Speaking of Acorn, this article....about the millions given ACORN by corporate donors...ALL of which we bailed out!

ACORN’s corporate donors backing off
By: Kevin Mooney
Commentary Staff Writer
09/25/09 6:36 AM EDT
Corporations that have given ACORN millions of dollars over the years are now cancelling their donations in the wake of videotape revelations of employees of the infamous community organization giving advice on mortgage fraud, tax evasion, prostitution, and child sex slavery.

Bank of America is reviewing its grant program, while Citigroup is waiting for results of official investigations in the scandal. JP Morgan Chase had previously ended its relationship with ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.[snip]http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/ACORNs-corporate-donors-backing-off-61441202.html

[rabscuttle385]

McCain is a corrupt, anti-American, treasonous bastard.

And I don't think he's the only one in the RINO Party.

[rabscuttle385]

Speaking of Acorn, this article....about the millions given ACORN by corporate donors...ALL of which we bailed out!

I get to bail them out twice, once by paying increased interest rates on my credit cards and other loans and the second time by paying higher taxes and suffering inflation down the road.

[Catsrus]

I like both Mark and Glenn, however, some are missing what I believe was the start of opposition. It wasn’t Glenn Beck, but, Mark’s book, “Liberty & Tyranny.” On his show, he always tells his listeners to be active.

Glenn needs to be careful. I don’t think Mark is jealous

We need all of them. I used to listen some to Savage, but, all he talks about is his being banned in Britain and it gets old. I don’t like how he rags on the other talk show hosts. He claims Mark stole his ideas.

Levin gained a lot of stations that took Savage off the air, as well as those that used to air BOR. And, I personally love his rants.

I’m not taking sides, but, I suggest everyone not follow a cult personality, and that includes Glenn Beck. They’re all human, and we need their voices to wake Americans up.

[stephenjohnbanker]

“Except that McLame favors amnesty, he just calls it immigration reform.”

Reason enough to hang him by his toes ;-)

[stephenjohnbanker]

Nobody has mentioned the fact that McCain is dumb. As in STUPID. I saw how hot damn dumb he was during the Keating 5 hearings many years ago. I don’t know how he got through Annapolis. Maybe it was due to his father’s influence.

[patriotspride]

“I took what Glenn Beck said as McCain would have been worse because he would have been middle of the road. Our country needs to get back to what the founders intended for us. McCain would not do that. Because obama is in office, he is causing such an uproar that millions of people are petitioning, gathering, writing, emailing, etc. obama is causing another revolution (either at the polls in 2010 and 2012 or in the streets) and those demonstrating and speaking out are want to uphold the Constitution. If McCain had won the election, none of this would be taking place. The same old lefty-loonies would be out there, but the conservative movement would do nothing but gripe. Maybe my interpretation is off.”

Had the same read on his comments.

Beck is the only one who points out where things are going, and does actual followup on his comments.

Regarding McCain analysis, he’s ahead of the curve on that one also.

Things would not be so clear if John M was president, and there would be a lot more bi-partisanship for the wrong reasons.

[cripplecreek]

McQueeg Speaks at an ACORN/SEIU rally.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ9wy2MI1NI

[patriotspride]

Good analysis. Well written........

[Arizona Carolyn]

word..... I will add these commentators did damage to the GOP in their constant rooting for Bush even when Bush was wrong... I think where we could and should differentiate ourselves from the left is by being intellectually honest and when the President, even a Republican President or Republican candidate is not in the same philosophical vein as many of us this needs to be spelled out... in calling himself a “compassionate” conservative Bush was hiding the compassionate really was more liberal in actions... and that hurt the party, McCain in being a “progressive” Republican would probably have blown us apart for many generations to come... that said, I voted for him and Beck claims he did, too.... but that doesn’t mean we have to cheerlead for the man.