Yep. Nice knowin' ya. :0/
Posted on 02/21/2010 1:14:06 PM PST by Sergeant Tim
I was invited to be the opening speaker at Saturday's CPAC session. I had accepted but then, to my amazement, I learned that the John Birch Society would be one of many co-sponsors. This takes the big-tent idea many steps too far for me. So, I withdrew. Apparently, others were not so moved. That's fine. But it wasn't for me. Bill Buckley and Barry Goldwater, among others, chased the Birchers from the movement decades ago. And they're not a part of the movement. So, to give them a booth at CPAC was boneheaded.
I want to commend Bill Bennett for his wise piece this morning on the Corner. I agree with him.
I have no idea what philosophy Glenn Beck is promoting. And neither does he. It's incoherent. One day it's populist, the next it's libertarian bordering on anarchy, next it's conservative but not really, etc. And to what end? I believe he has announced that he is no longer going to endorse candidates because our problems are bigger than politics. Well, of course, our problems are not easily dissected into categories, but to reject politics is to reject the manner in which we try to organize ourselves. This is as old as Plato and Aristotle. Why would conservatives choose to surrender the political battlefield to our adversaries -- who are trashing this society -- when we must retake it in order to preserve our society? Philosophy, politics, culture, family, etc., are all of one. Edmund Burke, among others, wrote about it extensively, and far better that I possibly can. But all elements of the civil society require our defense. Besides, why preach such a strategy when conservatism is on the rise and the GOP is acting more responsibly?
Moreover, when he does discuss politics, which, ironically, is often, how can he claim today that there is no difference between the two parties when, but for the Republicans in Congress, government-run health care, cap-and-trade, card check, and a long list of other disastrous policies would already be law? The GOP is becoming more conservative thanks to the grass-roots movement and a political uprising across the country, which has even reached into New Jersey and Massachusetts. Why keep pretending otherwise? My only conclusion is that he is promoting a third party or some third way, which is counter-productive to defeating Obama and the Democrat Congress. These are perilous times and this kind of an approach will keep the statists in power for decades.
And what of his flirtations with Ron Paul's lunacy respecting America's supposed provocations with her enemies, including al-Qaeda? Why should such a fatal defect in thinking be ignored? Do we conservatives agree with this?
Finally, Beck is fond of congratulating himself for being the only or the first host to criticize George Bush's spending. This is demonstrably false. I not only attacked his spending, but the creation of the Homeland Security Department, the prescription drug add-on for Medicare, his "moderate" tax cuts, as well as his nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, "comprehensive immigration reform," and so forth. And I was not alone -- Rush and Sean did the same, for example. And as someone who fought liberal Republicans in the trenches when campaigning for Reagan in 1976 and 1980, I don't need lectures from Beck, who was nowhere to be found, about big-spending Republicans. But this is not about me, or Beck, or Beck's past drunkenness (which he endlessly wears as some kind of badge of honor). It is about preserving our society for our children and grandchildren. Beck spent precious little time aiming fire at Obama-Pelosi-Reid in his speech, and it is they who are destroying our country.
On as a positive note, I am personally happy to see that Beck has cleaned up his public act -- as best I can tell, no more boiling fake frogs on TV or pretending to pour gasoline on someone -- and the rest of it. But I do think his speech, which contained nuggets of truth heard before and read elsewhere, including on Rush's show and in my book and many other books, may have distracted from some of the more compelling and coherent speeches at the event, including Marco Rubio's superb speech. I fear the media will see to this. I hope not.
Thank you my friend Mark Levin!
And you too Sergeant Tim for posting it. Great words that we can use against the dumb bastards that think Beck is so wonderful.
I too am sick of his AA poor me stuff. Somebody said he was a dry drunk.
Since coming to Fox he is in an ego contest with O'Reilly.
And whatever ADD meds he was on--he has since stopped taking them...
Yep. Nice knowin' ya. :0/
Mark did not endorse Romney. He endorsed Fred Thompson.
A little reading comprehension on your part is needed.
Levin said,”The GOP is becoming more conservative thanks to the grass-roots movement and a political uprising across the country...”
ping
I just read Bill Bennett’s piece, that Mark is so big on. It totally misses the point about WHY Beck is saying it’s hangover time in morning in America.
It’s the SPENDING, stupid. Sure Tea Parties and some Republicans have done good work in the last year. But the SPENDING is still there. The huge gargantuan SPENDING. And to pretend it’s all the work of the democrats is just plain denial.
And that’s all Beck is saying. Stop the denial. We (the Republicans) had the whole government for 6 solid years and what did we (the Republicans) do? We went on a SPENDING binge.
And now that Obama is president “we” suddenly “see the light”.
No, no, no, no, no.
It doesn’t work that way. We (the Republicans) have to own up to our historical role in this process of SPENDING America into bankruptcy.
Thing is, he has no idea how to do that, and he is leading a number of people who don’t know either, while at the same time he is excoriating people within the party who are clearly conservative and battling daily.
Their "known Communists" included Eisenhower. We know now that there were plenty of real Communists in Washington from the thirties through the fifties: Alger Hiss, Harry Dexter White, etc. But by calling essentially every single public official in America a Soviet agent, they provided a de facto cover to the real Soviet agents. They are a joke and an embarrassment.
You are absolutely right.
From Mark’s endorsement of Romney: http://article.nationalreview.com/346341/rally-for-romney/mark-r-levin
“The only one left standing who can honestly be said to share most of our conservative principles is Mitt Romney.”
How anyone could say Romney shares most of our conservative principles is beyond me.
Conservatives had best keep making inroads into the establishment GOP until they capitulate. It will take years, but we can't give up. CPAC is a bad joke. No wonder Sarah Palin turned them down.
“I have no idea what philosophy Glenn Beck is promoting. And neither does he. It’s incoherent. One day it’s populist, the next it’s libertarian bordering on anarchy, next it’s conservative but not really, etc. And to what end?”
First, I wholeheartedly agree with this statement.
“Moreover, when he does discuss politics, which, ironically, is often, how can he claim today that there is no difference between the two parties when, but for the Republicans in Congress, government-run health care, cap-and-trade, card check, and a long list of other disastrous policies would already be law?”
Second, I cannot agree with this. You can’t have it both ways. In this one statement he is giving Obama the out by saying that “bipartisanship” is the reason stuff ‘isn’t getting done in Washington’. I have seen numerous articles discussing “How can Obama blame the Republicans? The Dems have had a filibuster proof House, Senate and WH?” Which is true, but then you can’t at the same time give credit to the Republicans for stopping it!
Ping to you!
That’s because Herman Cain is the most awesomist of awesome people in the world. I would SO vote for him for President.
Mark Levin is da man!
Beck is out for money and I question his sincerity in his outbursts.
Making ‘spending’ BIG does not enhance your argument.
Mark knows full well that spending has been out of hand for a long time. Just bitching about it and spending all your valuable time trashing the past will not change it. Beck wants change but to what? Ron Paul clones?
You are insulting, but that is what passes for those who are informed soley by Beck.
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