Monday, September 21, 2009

Mark Levin calls Glenn Beck "pandering, pathetic, mindless and incoherent". The art of criticizing Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck

I've spoken in the past about how Glenn's Beck meteoric rise has also brought several critics from his side of the aisle. Whilst Rush Limbaugh's pioneering dominance has given him uniform support from fellow conservative pundits (except Michael Savage), Glenn Beck's recent dominance hasn't shielded him from criticism from the likes of Mark Levin and Savage.

Surely some jealousy might be in play but also some sincere ideological disagreements but as Rush pioneered the Talk Radio format into the lucrative and influential platform it is today it has afforded him some immunity from criticism. Some fear might also be at play, Rush has shown that it's not wise to cross him as several pundits and Politicians have found. With his million-strong audience, Rush has the ability to cripple support or elevate political figures with his endorsement or criticism. He also has the ability of achieving this in a delivery style that is often playful and not malicious. Rush also has the added benefit of having friends like Levin who can do the dirty work of eviscerating people in his defense, as was shown when conservative writer Mark Frum dared to criticize Rush.

With that said Glenn Beck is beginning to amass his own Million-strong contingent if the 9/12 protests are anything to go by. Soon Beck may have a loyal and formidable supporter base that rivals Rush which would be equally troublesome to cross. Its worth noting that whilst Glenn is quite skillful in taking people down when he puts his efforts into to it, as evidenced by the Van Jones resignation, Beck has not yet shown that he is one to attack his fellow pundits. The two reigning pundits have been gracious towards each other, as Beck wrote Rush' 'Most Influential' blurb for Time Magazine as well as welcoming him as a guest on his TV show.

Read Mark Levin's rant against Glenn Beck, a follow-up from his backhanded compliment for the Politico article comparing Rush to Beck. Mark snidely refers to Beck as as the "5PMer", referring to Beck's show timeslot on FoxNews.
Mark Levin: Beck saying ‘McCain would have been worse’ is ‘pandering’ and ‘pathetic’
I don’t know who people are playing to[.] [I don't know] why they’re playing to certain people...

"Ron Paul is another one, his (Beck’s) fascination with Ron Paul, Ron Paul who blames "American imperialism" for the attacks on 9/11. How can any conservative embrace that? While his (Paul’s) domestic arguments, eighty percent of them are sound in my humble opinion, he goes way off the cliff when it comes to foreign policy and blaming America and American armed forces and American good will, in my humble opinion, for instigating the Islamo-Nazi attacks on us. How can anybody embrace that? Yet the 5PM’er does."
Go to MarkLevinFan to read the conservative feedback and backlash from the internecine fighting between Mark Levin and Glenn Beck.

It's worth noting that a lot of the recent criticism against Beck is because of his sympathizing with Republican Presidential contender Ron Paul. Its somewhat surprising as the original interest and popularity of Beck was in part because people had begun to warm to Paul after the 2008 election. It seems not the case. I've stated in the past that both Ron Paul and Glenn Beck are considered the spiritual leaders of the 9/12 and Tea Party movements.

Update: Mark Levin VS Glenn Beck - Tale of the Tape

Mark Levin


Glenn Beck

1 comment:

Fred Benson said...

Here in Pittsburgh, Glenn Beck is on FM News Talk 104.7, the same station that carries baseball's worst team, the Pirates. No wonder people here in Pittsburgh listen to KDKA, because of Savage, Beck and the Pittsburgh Pirates. I wonder if Fred Honsberger can take on Michael Savage...