David Frum Dares to Go After Limbaugh

I once again made a poor decision as it pertains to my radio listening. On the way home, I listened to a short portion of The Mark Levin Show. You may not have heard of him, but his show has been catching on of late. If sources like Randi Rhodes and Stephanie Miller (with cohorts Jim Ward and Chris LaVoie) are to be believed--and I think they are--Levin is sort of "Sean Hannity's Brain." Which would mean he's responsible for inflicting The Manatee on us, and in return has garnered some fame of his own.

Anyway, Levin is a particularly nasty brand of talk radio host, with a horrible, whiny voice. He's Rush Limbaugh without the charm, if that makes any sense. And tonight he was blasting conservative pundit David Frum. He'd apparently been on the tirade for a while, and by the time I tuned in, Frum himself was on the phone with Levin. To say Levin was rude to Frum would be an understatement. It was at once unpleasant and fascinating.

I'm no fan of Frum's, but the short article that caused all the furor was basically trying to separate mainstream conservatism from the radical, right-wing brand that Rush personifies. Unfortunately for Frum, it's the radicals that rule the roost right now. You're with Rush, or you're against him. So that leaves ordinary conservatives without a party.

There are a couple of ironies here. First, is that I agree with Frum. He's right, if mainstream conservatives don't extricate themselves from the radicals, the Republican Party is not going to regain its footing. "The base" is great for helping to win elections, but they can't win it alone. See, though I agree with Frum, I'm not anxious to see this all sorted out. From my perspective, the longer conservatives are out of power, the better.

With the trashing Levin gave Frum, and the beating he's taking elsewhere, it's not likely his message is going to be allowed to catch on anyway. So the second irony--one that Levin and his listeners are blind to--is that they are shutting out actual answers that might help revive their party. The elevation of people like Limbaugh (and Levin) to mainstream status is dooming their party, unless they manage to convert more middle-of-the-road conservatives to their radical status. Good luck with that.

[Excerpt]

LIMBAUGH AT CPAC

. . .And for the leader of the Republicans? A man who is aggressive and bombastic, cutting and sarcastic, who dismisses the concerned citizens in network news focus groups as “losers.” With his private plane and his cigars, his history of drug dependency and his personal bulk, not to mention his tangled marital history, Rush is a walking stereotype of self-indulgence – exactly the image that Barack Obama most wants to affix to our philosophy and our party. And we’re cooperating! Those images of crowds of CPACers cheering Rush’s every rancorous word – we’ll be seeing them rebroadcast for a long time. . .

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