Brooks: Beck, Limbaugh Have No Real Power, GOP Falling For "Media Mythology"

New York Times:

Let us take a trip back into history. Not ancient history. Recent history. It is the winter of 2007. The presidential primaries are approaching. The talk jocks like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and the rest are over the moon about Fred Thompson. They're weak at the knees at the thought of Mitt Romney. Meanwhile, they are hurling torrents of abuse at the unreliable deviationists: John McCain and Mike Huckabee.

Yet somehow, despite the fervor of the great microphone giants, the Thompson campaign flops like a fish. Despite the schoolgirl delight from the radio studios, the Romney campaign underperforms.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[Sundiszno]

While you and I may disagree with David Brook's politics, I commend his sincerity and rationale discussion. His motive is to bring back his Republican Party that he realizes has been co-opted by the loony Right.

I believe it is okay to disagree with the likes of David Brook, David Frum and John McCain, but we can also respect them for standing up for what they believe is right. it is what we ask of Obama.

[jdrourke]

Beck and Limbaugh are cowards! They lie to their listeners and rake in the $$, but in the end, they do America no good.

http://jdrourke.wordpress.com/

[Rjchinook]

photo

I recently attended Anti-Beck protest when the idiotic Mayor of Mount Vernon gave Glenn Beck the Keys to the City. I was shocked by the number of Pro-Beck supporters spewing hate who really believe in Beck’s over the top conspiracy theories! I decided to research his appeal and was taken back when I came across a Mormon web site. They can’t even stand him and the former Mormon Professor & FBI far right extreme conservative, Cleon Skousen (who never joined the John Birch Society but supported their views).

Beck promoted Skousen’s book titled, "The 5,000 Year Leap"! Basically, Beck has become a cult leader and all the people who support him are extreme far right Mormon zombies! The good news, we all know what happens to Cult Leaders.

http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/the-government-is-the-devil-glenn-beck-and-mormonism-redux/

http://newsformormons.com/2009/03/21/glenn-becks-backing-bumps-skousen-book-to-top/

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/09/16/beck_skousen/index.html

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/02/marxist-teleprompters-att_n_308313.html#comment_32197435

[GranE]

Brooks is the third Republican this week to speak out against the lunacy of their party. Lindsay Graham, John McCain, and now Brooks. Is this an effort to keep their polling numbers from dropping to zero? Maybe we should hope the lunatics keep raving and the party of no keeps spitting on everything in Washington. Something is bringing the number of supporters down, and it's not the man behind the curtain because they are all in plain sight.

[StillAmused]

Let us take a trip back into history. Not ancient history. Recent history. It is the late Winter of 2002-2003, and this shape-shifting, posturing m oron is waving his handkerchief, turning handsprings and leading the cheering section for the invasion of Iraq.

Sorry, David... some stains never come out.

What makes you any different than your newfound targets?

[thepoliticalcat]

Brooks is disingenuous, as always, on the one hand claiming that these fools have no power, and on the other hand claiming that the discourse is warped by them because the leading lights of the ReapUgly Cons are forced to toe their line. It can't be both, Brooks. Choose.

[Ifticar2]

No power? Tell that to Van Jones and ACORN.

[patsurfs]

Good point, and that's what I was thinking. Although, the destruction of Acorn and Van Jones may have represented a liberal political defeat, economically it may have been a defeat for the poor Americans in the red states

[patsurfs]

Well not destruction, but the effective castration of Acorn

[termgirl]

When srceaming, yelling, crying like a baby, and hurling insults becomes your schtick, you end up with a problem. You have to continually up the ante, in order to get further attention. Beck has to keep the vapo rub handy so he can cry harder today than he did yesterday. At some point his head will explode and it will be over.

[Wiseronenow]

Spot on, Brooks!

[huffyISaHottie]

not even close

[imsosure]

They are falling for it as if they planned it. I don't buy it, they are simply using the guys to re-direct the GOP being accountable for th mess we're in thanks to Bushco. And if you're gullible enough to believe the media boys you'll have forgotten about Bushco and really think the Dems are responsible for all the countries woes.

[dwillisno1]

Member of the "used to rule" group in the party telling us about the influence of the group that now rules. No credibility.

[marmalade]

The Blight Wing Nuts offer nothing but death, disease, damnation, and drivel. These are Blighters: totalitarians and as true Blighters, anti-American Republicant Party.

[Manhattanite]

I don't often agree with Brooks, but his NYT column on the TV and radio shock jocks is right on. Those "emperors" have no clothes.

[4 Real]

If Rush and Beck have no power, then why did certain GOP leaders feel the need to ask Rush for his forgiveness right after criticizing him?

[GeneralDisarray]

delusion

[Rob Horton]

This quote form the NYT piece sums up the situation well:
"The Republican Party is unpopular because it’s more interested in pleasing Rush’s ghosts than actual people. The party is leaderless right now because nobody has the guts to step outside the rigid parameters enforced by the radio jocks and create a new party identity. The party is losing because it has adopted a radio entertainer’s niche-building strategy, while abandoning the politician’s coalition-building strategy."
Too many in politics, on both sides of the aisle, pay more attention to the perceived reality created by the media and a handful of hardcore activists than to their own common sense and good judgement. The cornerstone of representative government is the concept that we elect people who share our values so they can REPRESENT us in congress, not act as marionettes dancing to monied special interests.