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.
Yep...I agree. Beck’s history lesson alone was worth the price of admission.
Glenn Beck is doing some heavy lifting - some would say, with hubris. For some, he has become a catalyst with outrageous humor. For others, he is grabbing their attention with humility and common sense. He is appealing to the angry and the inquisitive with lessons from history.
Glenn is not running for election - just ratings and he alternately annoys, irritates and confuses me.
But most of all, Glenn gets me to think for myself.
Mark is also very good at what he does - we need them both.
http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/196/24957/
GLENN: You know, I have to tell you, the answer is to get away from the two-party system because they are both progressives. Just progressive and progressive light. But they’re both progressives and they have been taking us down this road for over 100 years. And everyone says there’s no libertarians out there. There are libertarians out there, and you watch them. You watch them sometimes all the time. Judge Andrew Napolitano is one of them. Judge Napolitano from Fox, welcome to the program, sir, how are you?
Well then you are not paying attention to what he is talking about every day on his TV program... because he is naming names and calling people out with their faces placed on a chalk board...... and what he is saying is the left is finger pointing the right and vis-versa and in the end there isn’t a huge bit of difference in either of the current crowd up there on Capital Hill — and he is right, unless you LIKE progressive politics.
“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.”
In fairness to Levin, that was at the point in the election when it down to McCain or Romney...2 Rino’s but McCain was the worst of the two imo.
From the Wikipedia article on Barry Goldwater:
"Goldwater boldly (and famously) declared in his acceptance speech at the 1964 Republican Convention: "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." This paraphrase of Cicero was included at the suggestion of Harry V. Jaffa, though the speech was primarily written by Karl Hess."
If you doubt that this was made in reference to the John Birch Society you will have to do a little Googling yourself. It's true. You can believe it if you like. Or not.
LOL!
Start anew. Defund/dismantle all collectives.
Sweep ALL out or let them ALL resign and go back to their families. They only understand power. It’s time to flex OUR muscle. The soap box doesn’t work. They control all of the amplification devices. It’s time for the ballot box. It’s peaceful. It’s powerful.
Glenn Beck has clouded judgment
DC is essentially packed with communists and socialists currently, so being incorrect on one politician 30 years ago doesn't a kook organization make. They also are very anti-UN and one world government. They seem to me to be the Palin of organizations, people hate them because the MSM and University profs say..."They are right wing kooks".
Your husband is correct. For example, my 22 year old son and his friends LOVE Glenn Beck. Then again, so do I.
As for Mark Levin.....gotta love him, too. They’re both awesome spokesmen for the cause of freedom in America, albeit they use very, very different “voices”.
God bless ‘em both....and Rush, Sean, et al....for all they do. I’ll take the whole lot of them, and then some. All bring something unique to this critical national discussion; all have contributed mightily to this deep, national soul-searching we are currently experiencing.
To Mark, Rush, and others on the airwaves: Just remember that Beck has his weekday TV show (as does Sean Hannity, by the way), and by default that ensures he gets more attention. We’re still a very “visual” society, and the ability to add an hour every weekday to three hours on the radio each day is awfully powerful in terms of public exposure.
As long as they go along with things like adding 150 BILLION in pork to bills like TARP they ARE part of the problem... and that is a fact. Instead of just pointing fingers away from themselves across the aisle and saying see they did it, too, they need to own up and stand their ground on fiscally conservative principles. In fact the GOP would do well to tighten their message to one of lower taxes and cutting spending — and hmmmmm that is pretty much the message JD is using here in AZ to run against Progressive Republican John McCain.
Watch them all line up behind him again.
Good Post. Stop the freakin words with each other. Lets agree to disagree on some things and move this conservative agenda forward. For petes sake. Romney???
I don’t hang on anyone person or their words. That is cultish to do so.
I listen to all of them from time to time and research topics on my own.
Beck is too often over the top.
But, thanks for sounding just like a Paulistinian in your own “you are with us or agaiinst us attitude.”
And, I stand by my claim, Beck is about money. Soon, he may even overtake Savage as ireelevant.
“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.”
Bingo from “the great one”, Levin.
If you watch Beck for one day, he may sound great. If you watch him for a month straight...
...you think he’s schizophrenic
...or worse atttmpting to sow discontent among conservatives.
I do think we need them both. Yet it is way passed time for Beck to stop ‘just saying’ (shades of 9/11 truther Jess Ventura) what is wrong.
Spit it out, Beck; definitively state where your followers ought to go and do. The primaries are fast approaching, this election is too important to lose due to indecisiveness, and we’ve no time for fools.
Levin’s history is wrong. Goldwater didn’t “chase” the Birchers away. In fact, he welcomed their support despite much pressure to denounce them. I’m not surprising that Levin likes Beck....he such an establishment conservative. I suspect his candidate is Romney.
Beck turned into a loon. I think he’s a Ron Paul guy.
for the seventh time, when Beck says that the Republicans are no different than the Democrats, he sticks a finger in the eye of conservatives in the Party
The John Birch Society thought Dwight Eisenhower was a Communist spy.Do they still think that? What do they say today? I don't really care all that much because I'm not about to join the John Birch Society but I'm suspicious of Levin saying that he didn't speak at CPAC because the Birchers were there. Is the real reason because he didn't want to be upstaged by Beck?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.