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Taking On Mark Levin
Is Talk Radio’s ‘Great One’ Just a Great Big Bully?
-by Scott Rohter, November 2011

Is Mark Levin really so great, or is he really just a great big bully?  Before I answer that question, I would like to start by saying that Mark Levin has done so much for the conservative movement, both in the Republican Party and in the TEA Party.  He is very knowledgeable and honorable, and I still believe that he is a powerful political ally, and a strategic asset for conservatives all across America.  I believe that he truly does love this country, and the Constitution!  However, that being said, he is obviously not perfect and on that point he has been unreasonably hard on Congressman Ron Paul.

Mark Levin is actually one of my favorite radio talk show hosts.  I find his programs to be highly informative, and very entertaining.  Up until now, I have only found myself in disagreement with him on one point.  That was the war in Libya.  The President of the United States does not have the power to send our troops over seas into harms way, to initiate hostilities with another country, such as Libya, when America or American interests are not being directly threatened, without first obtaining a Declaration of War or Congressional approval!  That is my position.  And that is what the Constitution states!  See my article, Libya: Should America Get Involved In Another War in the Middle East? 

In Libya, President Obama violated the Constitution, by sending our soldiers over there to bomb that nation, without first obtaining Congressional approval!  He didn’t even notify Congress before he did it!  America and American interests were not directly threatened by the Libyans!  Since we were not directly threatened by anything going on in Libya, there existed no Constitutional provocation or authority for the President of the United States to circumvent Congress, and initiate open hostilities based on his executive order alone!  Mark Levin said that the President had the authority, and there was both cause and precedent.  I say there was no cause, and there exists no such Constitutional authority!  And the hell with any precedent to the contrary!

During this Republican Presidential Primary season, Mark Levin has been unreasonably hard on one of the most principled candidates running for the nomination, i.e. Congressman Ron Paul.  I find that his behavior is very hypocritical for Mr. Levin, because Dr. Paul is an originalist, and a strict constructionist when it comes to interpreting the Constitution, as Mark Levin also claims that he is!  Mark Levin won’t even allow Ron Paul to come on his radio show and defend his positions on the important issues, as he does with the other Republican candidates, like Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, Governor Perry, Herman Cain, and Newt Gingrich!  He has conspicuously 86ed the twelve-term Congressman from his radio program!  Of course, it’s his radio show, and he can do whatever he wants.  He can continue to discriminate against Dr. Paul, and ignore him if he chooses to.  But that’s just it.  He doesn’t ignore him.  He continues to mention him, and he has been unreasonably tough on Congressman Paul, to the point that he won’t even pronounce his name correctly whenever referring to him.  Instead, Mark Levin calls him ‘Rue’ Paul, as in you will 'rue the day' if Ron Paul wins! Actually, his childish behavior only reflects poorly back on Mark Levin, and makes him look bad instead!  And I don’t like to see that either.  So what’s up with conservative talk radio’s so-called ‘Great One’?

As I said, I listen to Mark Levin’s show regularly, and I do enjoy it.  He is one of my favorite conservative radio talk show hosts, and I almost always agree with him.  But not this time!  He needs to show Congressman Paul the appropriate respect that he deserves.  Ron Paul has served his country, first in the military, and then in Congress for 24 years.  He is also a licensed medical doctor, who has taken a substantial pay cut to represent his district in Washington.  That’s more than I can say for Mark Levin, so he should show some respect, even if he vehemently disagrees with some of Ron Paul’s policy positions!  That's no reason at all not to pronounce Ron Paul’s name correctly!  I’ll tell you something else that makes Mark Levin look bad. It’s inviting a progressive like Newt Gingrich to come on his radio program, and showing him the respect that he routinely denies to Dr. Paul!  They are both Congressmen, although Newt resigned in disgrace in 1999, with his career in tatters.  That’s something Ron Paul has never had to do!  They both served our country for many years in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Newt served for 20 years.  Ron Paul has served for 24 years!  Newt Gingrich is a progressive, who as the House Minority Whip, helped Jimmy Carter create the Department of Education!  Mr. Levin might as well invite Nancy Pelosi, Al Sharpton, and Arne Dunkin on his radio show, because these are the same people that Newt Gingrich partnered up with recently to do commercials promoting Al Gore’s discredited concept of global warming, or toured the country with, promoting Barack Obama’s ‘Race to the Top’ education policies!  I guess this is as good a place as any to quote the old Biblical adage, “The dog returns to its vomit,”  referring to Newt!  He is back again, touting more Federal control over education policy!  Inviting Newt Gingrich on his show, and being deferential towards him, and saying how much he admires him, and not asking him the tough questions, really makes Mark Levin look bad!

This is a quote from Newt Gingrich, the Congressman whom Mark Levin respects.  “The American challenge in leading the world is compounded by our Constitution.”  That statement was made in a speech that Newt Gingrich delivered to the Center for Strategic and International Affairs in 1995.  To the best of my knowledge, Newt Gingrich has never repudiated that remark!  And frankly, at this late date, it wouldn’t matter to me if he did!  I personally don’t view the United States Constitution as an obstacle, or something we have to overcome in order to lead the world.  I don't view the Constitution as something that makes anything harder for the United States of America! What about you Mark? 

Newt Gingrich, being the progressive that he is, would probably like to rewrite our Constitution!  But Congressman Ron Paul is an originalist!  He is a strict constructionist, who interprets the Constitution literally!  He loves the Constitution just the way that it is. When he swears an oath to uphold the Constitution, he actually means it! He would never even think of rewriting the Constitution to ‘meet today’s demands’, like Newt Gingrich would!  And what about you Mark?  Newt Gingrich is a big fan of Alvin Toffler and his books, The Third Wave, and The Politics of the Third Wave - Creating a New Civilization.  He actually wrote the foreword to the last book.  When he became Speaker of the House, he recommended it as required reading for all members of Congress. What’s even worse, Newt Gingrich actually agrees with Toffler’s ideas!  What about you Mark?  I know Ron Paul doesn’t!  In my opinion, we don’t need a new civilization.  Every individual just needs a new heart! And that's something that no government can deliver! 

So what is the basis for all of this respect and admiration that you seem to have for Newt Gingrich?  Please don’t tell me that it is because of the Contract with America, which you might remember fondly, because nothing in that 'Contract' ever proved to be of any lasting value or significance to America! The Contract with America didn’t change much of anything, because it didn’t pull up the unconstitutional weeds by their roots.  It just mowed them back a little bit!  And we all know what happens after you mow the weeds.  They just grow back again!  So what really is the basis of your respect for Newton L. Gingrich?  That is the way his name appears on the membership roster of the Council on Foreign Relations.  Something is starting to smell fishy!... You prefer Newt Gingrich over Ron Paul.  You admire and respect Newt Gingrich who is a progressive, and a long time member of the CFR, which is a training ground for progressives. You have outright contempt and even open hostility towards Ron Paul, who is a strict constructionist and an originalist just like you are supposed to be.  Maybe when President Obama is done looking in the mirror, then you can borrow it next, and get a good look at yourself too!  It’s time for you to get a good look at yourself Mark!

Now if you are thinking that Ron Paul is my favorite Republican candidate in the Primary, and that I’m just out to say something bad about Mark Levin because I support Dr. Paul, then you would be wrong.  I actually support Michele Bachmann, who is a true conservative, and Mark Levin just happens to be my favorite radio talk show host!  I know it doesn’t sound like it, but he is!  However I also believe in fair play, and Mark Levin isn’t being fair to Ron Paul.  Plus, he is also diminishing himself, by acting childish, and treating Ron Paul the way that he does!  Why doesn’t Mark Levin give Ron Paul an opportunity to come on his radio show and defend his positions on the important issues, the way that he does with other Republican candidates?  It would be a good interview, and just the tension alone would certainly make for riveting radio, if Mr. Levin could only bite his tongue long enough to be respectful, and allow Congressman Paul to answer the questions!  I’m sure that Mark Levin’s ratings for the day would literally go through the roof! 

But instead, I frequently hear Mark Levin openly ridiculing Congressman Ron Paul when he is not there to defend himself. He won’t give this fine, principled man the courtesy of even pronouncing his name correctly!  This derision, and level of disrespect only reflects poorly back on Mark Levin, and I don’t like to see that happen either.  Both of these fine men are actually on the same side in spite of their occasional differences of opinion, and Levin would do well to learn how to work together with his natural allies in the Republican Party, which by the way isn’t Newt Gingrich! I think I will also have to explain that little fact to Hannity and Limbaugh as well.

Now, Mark Levin is on some kind of a radio rampage against Ron Paul!  He is slamming the twelve-term Congressman for an interview that he recently did on Fox news, in which Mr. Paul said that he currently has no plans to run as a third Party candidate if he loses the Republican Primary.  So what’s wrong with saying that?  Well apparently, it wasn’t good enough for talk radio’s great big bully!  According to Mark Levin, he didn’t slam the door shut hard enough on that option.  After all, there was the use of that little qualifier.  His statement was just too vague for Mr. Levin.  In other words, Congressman Paul didn’t double lock the door and throw the deadbolt, and prop a chair up behind the doorknob!  Well I don’t see why he should. Do you?

I’m sure that Mark Levin doesn’t have a dog in the fight (yeah right), but he literally does about everything he can to marginalize Ron Paul, and diminish his credibility, and his chances of winning the Republican Primary.  I don’t think Mark Levin should mention the names of his dogs anymore on the show (Goodnight Spritey, Goodnight Griffey, Goodnight Pepsi).  I don’t think he should mention the names of his dogs, until he first learns how to be nicer to his natural allies in his own political Party with whom he has an honest disagreement.  It makes him look much too human, not that he needs to look like he actually has a soft side of course. It is a lot easier to love your dogs than it is to be kind to your fellow Republicans, with whom you disagree!  We obviously can’t agree on everything, but Ron Paul is right on enough of the important things that I would vote for him over Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman, Herman Cain, and maybe even Rick Perry, unless Governor Perry modifies his position on illegal immigration!  And I would certainly prefer Ron Paul over Newt Gingrich!  Actually the only Republicans that I prefer over Ron Paul are Michele Bachmann and possibly Rick Santorum.  Libertarians are the natural allies of conservatives!  And Ron Paul is a lot closer to Barry Goldwater than Newt Gingrich is, or ever will be!

Now let’s get down to the real crux of the whole matter.  What is really bugging radio talk show host Mark Levin?  It is the little threat of uncertainty that he senses in Congressman Ron Paul’s answer.  But why is he so afraid?  There is really nothing at all to be afraid of right now, except getting Mitt Romney as the Party’s nominee in 2012! Is there?  It’s perfectly alright with me, if Ron Paul wants to leave the door open just a little bit, for a possible third Party run later, in order to shake things up now, and try to scare the Republican Party into actually listening to conservatives and libertarians this time!  Last time we got John McCain, because the Party didn’t listen to us!  And we lost!  This time we are likely to get another RINO, Mitt Romney, if someone or something doesn’t put the fear of God into these progressive elites that run our Party!  So if Ron Paul wants to scare those elites until they sweat great big bullets, then I’m right there with him on that!  And so by the way would most of the Founding Fathers be too! He doesn’t have to say what he will do right now if he doesn’t win the Republican nomination!  He is trying to win the Republican nomination, and by the way with no help from guys like Mark Levin, Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbaugh!  If he doesn’t win the nomination, then he can make up his own mind what he will do when the time comes, and so can I, and so can you too! That's good enough for me. After all , it is not the Republican Party that comes first!  It is our country that comes first! So why is Mark Levin acting so scared right now?  Is it just possible that his establishment roots are showing?  Me thinkest that he doth protesteth too much!

"The truth, the political truth, and nothing but the political truth.
A journalist has no better friend than the truth."
- Scott Rohter

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