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Berkowitz on Levin: More Mush From the Wimps
Mark Levin has a great piece over at the American Thinker, reviewing a review of his best-selling book Liberty and Tyranny. The review by the Hoover Institution's Peter Berkowitz appears in this week's Weekly Standard.
I don't know Mr. Berkowitz. Mr. Levin is more than capable of answering on his own, which he has done in such specific detail that I have an image of Berkowitz seeking treatment in the scalded dog clinic at Stanford.
Still.
First reaction here to Berkowitz? More mush from the wimps, to borrow a line from several campaign seasons ago. Here is my own review of Levin's book.
"Like it or not, the New Deal is here to stay," says Berkowitz. Reading this gives one a sense of relief that Berkowitz was not around to advise Washington (who ended the "here to stay" premise that was the British monarchy's control of America), Lincoln (ditto with slavery) and Reagan (ditto with Communism). Indeed, Berkowitz on the New Deal sounds like John Kerry on Communism in his 1971 speech to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: "We cannot fight communism all over the world, and I think we should have learned that lesson by now." Well, wrong. Not only could we fight, we could win. Had Reagan listened to the Kerry/Berkowitz view of the world, the Soviet Union would still be here, Berlin still a divided city.
Again, Levin's response is by far the best. But one is forced to ask Berkowitz if he reads history. The New Deal, come to power in 1932, had flowered by 1940. This in turn begat a long parade of Republican presidential nominees who were taking Berkowitz's advice, some well before there was a Berkowitz. By name: Willkie, Dewey (1944 and 1948), Eisenhower, Nixon (of 1960 but not 1968 or 1972), Ford, Bush (of 1992 but not 1988), Dole in 1996, and McCain in 2008. Eisenhower, while a moderate, was clearly elected because he was the biggest military hero since Grant, and presumably could have won short of anything up to but possibly not excluding beating up Mamie.
Every other time -- every single time -- the GOP nominee ran as a moderate, he lost. Nixon waxed Berkowitzian in the opening line of his first 1960 debate with Kennedy ("The things that Senator Kennedy has said many of us can agree with.") He lost. By 1968 and running for re-election in 1972, Nixon had learned his lesson. "Amnesty, acid and abortion" went the immoderate line from one of the Nixon commercials in 1972 -- and 49 states were carried. Berkowitz cites Colin Powell, he who has never run in a solitary election in his life yet advocates moderation -- and voted against McCain, precisely the kind of candidate he pretended to advocate. Powell is the classic case of the Emperor having no clothes. When it comes to things electoral, he is truly clueless.
One could go on. Moderation kept the House GOP in the minority for four decades. Conservatism made Newt Speaker of the House. Moderation lost the GOP House again in 2006. The Berkowitz remedy has been tried repeatedly -- and failed. Levin writes but a mere book on conservative principles and is vaulted to 15 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list with a book read by almost a million people. From ex-New Jersey moderate GOP Governor Christine Todd Whitman to moderate fanatic David Frum, books extolling Berkowitzian moderation theory vanish down the memory hole. Lots of talk radio hosts write books. They don't do 15 weeks atop the Times bestseller list. There is a reason for this. Levin's success in and of itself speaks volumes about the audience for seriously articulated conservatism.
With all due respect to Berkowitz, perhaps it's time to start seriously thinking in that tank out there. In brief: "Moderation" is a loser. It's also intellectually defeatist, politically corrosive and, well, stupid. Moderate Washington on King George? Lincoln on slavery? Reagan on Communism? Stop with the mush, already.
Comments
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Aaron| 7.21.09 @ 1:09PM
I'll accept the GOP in moderation no more than the Dems would accept the GOP in moderation. Enough is enough.
By the way you just lumped Berkowitz in with Frum and Whitman and called them all stupid losers! I love you man.
Old Texican| 7.21.09 @ 1:36PM
Mr. Lord
Thank you for the reprise. I did read the Thinker article.
Serious question here: can we hope to change the term "conservative" to "constitutionalist"?
From the looks of things, with the full-court press being executed by the Communists, we may not have much to "conserve" very soon.
When Obama sided with a would- be Dictator in Honduras despite their constitution, I think he let the cat out of the bag for all except studiously stupid/evil people.
Defending our constitution is our only hope in my opinion.
William R| 7.21.09 @ 1:52PM
The problem with Levin is he sees no problem spending trillions of dollars fighting BS wars. He is a big government conservative. While he says the right thing about domestic issues, but when it comes to foreign policy he's a NeoCons NeoCon. He actually tries to justify the Iraq war on conservative grounds. It falls flat.
Democrats want to spend trillions on BS social programs and today's NeoConized GOP wants to spend trillions fighting wars in the Middle East.
48 years ago the so called moderate Republican President Dwight Eisenhower used his final address to the nation to warn about the military industrial complex and how it is a threat to our liberties at home!
Old Texican| 7.21.09 @ 2:13PM
William...
Same-o same-o argument...older than Pearl Harbour!
Liberal Reader| 7.21.09 @ 2:40PM
Levin is a sloppy thinker and a tiresome, terrible writer.
Each of his books have been a compendium of right winger cliches. He makes no attempt to offer new arguments or contribute any original research.
Sure, go ahead and listen to him hoot and bray on the radio for entertainment. But if you want to read a book, go to your local library and find something more substantial.
Most of you could use a refresher in basic civics and U.S. History. You probably should start there. Ask your local librarian for recommendations; they're always happy to help.
Solo| 7.21.09 @ 3:15PM
Yeah! You tell 'em, Lib Reader!
Das Kapital has got to be in its one millionth printing by now! Certainly a great source for divining the "proper" civic model for the modern age!
Then....we could recommend Orwell's "1984" as a primer for instituting these "enlightened" policies.
Hmmmmm....."Enlightened"........how does that ring a bell.....?
Oh yeah. "The enlightenment"! The philosophical principles upon which the Constitution is predicated. Well....forget that!
What the hell did those old stodgy white guys know about governance? What a joke!
Everyone knows (anyone who reads history, that is) that the constitution guarantees your RIGHT to go to your neighbors and demand their money so you can buy yourself stuff. And, if that doesn't work, you have the right to band together with other like-minded thieves and petition your legislators to simply go into their lives (under the force of law) AND STEAL IT FROM THEM!
Ha! Ha! Is America a great country or what?
If Mark Levin wasn't such a clueless dolt (as clearly demonstrated by his PhD in Constitutional Law) , he'd appreciate Amerika for what she was intended to be: a Mob-ocracy!
Keep up the good work, Liberal Reader! And keep that Library card current!
Grzmlyk| 7.21.09 @ 3:32PM
Terrible writer? Hmm, liberal reader, how would you be qualified to make that distinction?
I always marvel at the trolls on this site. They invariably assume the same posture: THEY are Above it All. THEY are Superior. THEY are the Ones Holding the Sceptre of Truth. Of course, they're the ones who fetishize equal outcomes for all mankind and prate on about social justice. Ho, ho, ho.
Not only that, but, contrary to their equinanimous pose, they are all, each and every one, petty, tendentious ideologues.
Even more ironic, they ALWAYS use deception, deceit, lies, mendacity and distortions to camouflage their tiresome, unoriginal, homogenous TRUE agenda - like good liberals everywhere.
Well, I guess fish gotta swim, liberals gotta lie.
Their true agenda is to gather up the elites of the world (a rarefied class to which they consider themselves naturally entitled by dint of their superiority, dontcha know) and ensconce themselves in princely enclaves whence they can enslave those of us they deem "lesser" - including conservatives, useful idiots and minorities. It never, ever changes with these people.
The most supreme irony of all: These pseudo intellectuals troll conservative sites like this with carefully cultivated masks of supreme, disinterested, truth-imparting objectivity. And yet by their very persistence in loitering at these sites, they betray a decidedly puerile emotionalism: The need to vandalize, to prance and to bully.
And that is all there is to them.
Basil Plumley| 7.21.09 @ 4:10PM
@ Grzmlyk
Don't ya know, Liberal Reader is a great American. His parents are still married and he once wore the uniform of the US military. Presumably, that was in the days before "don't ask, don't tell".
The really neat thing about LR is ability to morph into multiple personalities. One day he is Jeremiah, another day he is Tommy Paine. He/she/it is a veritable Sybil. How can the Republic survive without him and the other trolls?
There is one thing LR is consistent about; he is always wrong.
BTW Liberal Reader, I have a personal message for you from Mark Levin ............. "Get off this board, you big Dope!!!"
Grzmlyk| 7.21.09 @ 4:18PM
Basil:
Well said! What kills me is how monolithic they all are - they each think they're uniquely gifted individuals who are have cornered the market in smarts - the apex in the pyramid of liberal ideology - but they are all the same.
In the case of LR above, I think he's just a fool. In the case of Bob (don't know his other monikers, but he does sound exactly the same as SL Toddard), I think he's both a knave and a fool.
It KILLS me that these folks hold any sway over the American people - thank you, mainstream media (itself a single beast with many pretty faces).
Just goes to show you why democracy is so fragile. Because tyranny never, ever relents.
Liberal Reader| 7.21.09 @ 4:20PM
Basil --
re: "that was in the days before 'don't ask, don't tell"
Setting aside the illogic of this remark, I have a quick question: What is your obsession with homosexuality? I see in post after post where you refer to this topic, and it leaves me wondering if you're a Mark Foley / Senator Craig / Reverend Haggard / Jeff Ganon Republican -- hoping no one notices.
Teflon93| 7.21.09 @ 4:35PM
The Fauxcons are howling because the jig was up in 2008.
The GOP ran their favorite candidate---a toothless moderate who spent most of his time bashing conservatives and undermining the movement thru phony bipartisanship. He was a candidate beloved of the Left Wing Media and all the glitterati the Fauxcons care about.
And he got his rear-end handed to him by the most inexperienced and Marxist a politician to ever run for President.
Why are the Fauxcons so pissed off?
Because their schtick didn't play.
And never will again.
William R| 7.21.09 @ 5:22PM
No Texican, it is still a fresh argument today! Trying to justify going six thousand miles to launch an attack against a country that posed zero risk to the United States is not conservatism no matter how Levin tries to package it.
Basil Plumley| 7.21.09 @ 5:52PM
@ Liberal Reader
You said-I see in post after post where you refer to this topic, and it leaves me wondering if you're a Mark Foley / Senator Craig / Reverend Haggard / Jeff Ganon Republican -- hoping no one notices.
Really? Please point out those posts. I was mocking your response to being called a traitor on this board. After all, you did swear an oath to uphold the Constitution, no?
Sorry chump, but your misdirection will not work. You should be ashamed to even try that nonsense. I must have struck a nerve.
Chris A.| 7.21.09 @ 8:09PM
Liberal Reader,
I see how you demand better substance in Levin's books. However, you offer that we should go take a basic civics course. More dribble from the left who have always relied on civics tought by brainless, spineless liberals as objective thought on how to manage a civilization. You amaze me. People like you who have drank purple cool-aid throughout life think you know enough to comment on all of the flavors. You're an idiot and a coward.
Jeremy Jones| 7.21.09 @ 8:15PM
I actually like Berkowitz and Levin, and think this fight, and fights like it, are silly and pointless. Levin is great at what he does, but he's not much help when it comes to policy. And, I think this is what Berkowitz is getting at. I love the legacy and Presidency of Ronald Reagan, but can anyone really say that he significantly stopped the New Deal? Does anyone remember the '86 tax compromise? Reagan didn't bring liberty in a way that conservatives claim, and he didn't kill the welfare state as liberals cry. I like Levin, but people need to get real.
Jeffrey Lord| 7.21.09 @ 8:31PM
Jeremy...
"Reagan didn't bring liberty in a way that conservatives claim.. "
With respect, the first conservative in the White House post-FDR lowered the top tax rate from 70% to 28%. Rome wasn't built in a day, but this proved to be a huge set of bricks in the building process. He also killed the Soviet Union - dead. Something that was supposedly undoable. These things happen in stages...not all at once. Reagan was a massive giant step forward...with proof positive results (the next 25 years of prosperity, winning the Cold War) to show for it.
PCP Smoker| 7.21.09 @ 8:53PM
Beautiful. Beautiful line too: "I have an image of Berkowitz seeking treatment in the scalded dog clinic at Stanford".
The moderate losers like Whitman or Bush 41 or 43 for the matter, don't bother me as much as "neo-statists" like Frum, the "Wallmart republican" blogger, and the "Crunchy-Craftman-Style-Homes" guy who used to write for NRO. Matter of fact, other than a few stars, the whole staff of NRO.
They are so concerned with their images, that they pathetically adopt and defend the liberal premises and subsequent arguments.
God bless the radio trinity (Levin, Hannity and Limpaw) and the American Spectator.
odooley| 7.22.09 @ 1:30AM
Actually Levin states the case/for against foreign wars fairly well in his book: 1)If in US national interest/defense it's acceptable 2)If nation building / humanitarian etc it's not
From a conservative standpoint anyhow.
And since Iraq violated every condition of the ceasefire argument repeatedly (Gulf War I) the mere resumption of hostilities in Gulf War I (current war which never really stopped) is obviously acceptable as it is a breach of contract of the defeated side (to the libertarians).
Angel| 7.22.09 @ 3:01AM
Mr. Lord, I love the fact that you ALWAYS defend President Reagan. You are a good and loyal friend, Sir; and your stalwart defense of the President honors him and you!
A side note: I remember the day that President Reagan was buried in California, the day he finally came home for good. The freeways were absolutely empty because everybody had pulled over to the side to salute the great man as his hearse drove by. Thousands of Americans (Californians!!) stopped to pay their respects: parents were holding their children and pointing out the funeral procession; so many others were standing on freeway overpasses. Countless fire trucks, festooned with American flags, lined the roads with firemen standing at attention nearby. Time kind of stood still out here that beautiful day.
Here, in Reagan country, RR was especially loved; he was one of us. I cried buckets that day; for the President and his family--and for our country.
I just wanted to thank you.
Angel| 7.22.09 @ 3:06AM
LibReader/Jeremiah, Basil doesn't have an obsession with homosexuality--his obsession is insulting and harassing you! Mine, too. lol!
Basil Plumley| 7.22.09 @ 10:34AM
Angel
You are correct. When a liberal poster has to use their life experiences to advance their point, it bothers me.
When one has to throw out tidbits like "I served in the military", "my education is better than yours", "my parents are still married", it is to advance their ego and and hope no one will notice their weak position on the issues.
My favorite is the "look me up, AmSpec has my identity" schtick. One thing about the Left; they love themselves more than the facts and logic surrounding the issues.
Oh, how frustrating it must be to be a Liberal, especially when you claim to be a fiscal conservative. Even then, they can't be true to themselves; or us.
Personal note to Angel--I hope all is well with you. Keep your chin up.
Angel| 7.22.09 @ 12:16PM
Basil, you're sweet, thank you for your kindness--but I'm just fine. I hate pity parties because only one person shows up, and besides, my crazy sense of humor and spunk are intact.
I know what I seek is just around the corner, I just have to be a little patient--always a tough one for most of us.
I hope you're having a great summer--I'm lovin' the Obummer debacle that is hopefully unfolding before our very eyes. You take care of yourself, okay?
Are you going to the September 12 march on Wash. DC?
JimBearNj| 7.22.09 @ 12:16PM
Nice job Mr. Lord. I despise what the Left does to our Constitutional Rights and by confiscating our property and rights through payroll & income taxes. However when it comes to politics I admire the SOBs. They are relentless, stick together and play to win. The Republican party constantly attacks its own and too often walks away from the basic principal of fiscal responsibility. In NJ we have Chris Christie saying he doesn't want Sarah Palin to come to the state to campaign for him. I guess he not interested in drawing large crowds and raising money.
Mark Levin's book is a great read that traces Conservative principals back to the founding of this nation. This book has been ignored by reviewers despite it's overwhelming success. I'm amazed that the Weekly Standard chose this clown to review "Liberty & Tyranny". Once again we attack our own. It's pathetic.
mrapp| 7.22.09 @ 10:50PM
odooley:
You are right on the money. SH thumbed his nose at the world for years before someone had the balls to do something about it. And they forget, regime change became the official U.S. policy under President CLINTON, not Bush.
The LIEberal lies are hard to take.....
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