Mark Levin Writes the Most Important Book of the Year
Liberty and Tyranny is an instant classic for everyone who opposes socialism in all its deceptive forms. (Also read Michael Ledeen: "Why They Hate Us")
“We conservatives need to get busy,” argues Mark Levin in the conclusion to his magnificent new book, Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto. The author’s advice is accurate but also a massive understatement. The year 2009 finds the statists no longer at the gate but advancing well beyond it. Their machinations jeopardize our financial viability and the new crew leading us appears to know less about making an economy work than the Chinese.
Given the state of the country and the Democratic Party’s stranglehold on government, the challenge to the political right has never been greater. Conservatives desperately seek answers as a leftist Leviathan vacuums up huge sectors of our once (mostly) free economy.
In light of events, Liberty and Tyranny proves timely. Its narrator urges a return to basics. Republicans must learn to speak the language of conservatism and offer the public a true choice at the ballot box. Watered-down statism — such as the kind hawked by Senator John McCain last fall — is a recipe for permanent Republican oblivion and will allow our country to devolve into an East Germany of the mind.
Levin urges fidelity to the Constitution, devotion to federalism, and the adoption of a hard, rather than conciliatory, line with environmentalists and radicals of every stripe. His positions should be taken seriously by everyone associated with the Grand Old Party. Republican Chairman Michael Steele has already endorsed the book, and hopefully more rightist officials will discover its merits in the future.
Put simply, Liberty and Tyranny invigorates. It provides ammunition and clarity for those who oppose President Obama and socialism in all its deceptive forms. Unfortunately, the first step in using the book as a catalyst is successfully securing a copy, and that is a bit of a challenge at the moment.
At the time of this writing, the work sits at number one atop Amazon’s bestseller list. As a result, it is sold out and will not be available there for one to three weeks’ time. I was not sent an advance copy and do not know Mr. Levin personally, but obtained one out of luck. After being told by a clerk at the local Borders that their shelves were bare, I stumbled across an edition hiding among the weight loss classics at Target.
The astronomical success of Liberty and Tyranny is an obvious tribute to its worth along with the esteem by which the author is held in conservative circles. Nowadays Mark Levin is primarily known for being the star of a blockbuster talk show bearing his name. Before he became famous for fifteen hours of weekly leftist vivisection, he was an accomplished writer, lawyer, and member of the Reagan administration.
On the surface, Levin’s radio dominance is perplexing. His voice is not of professional quality and no Paul Shanklins contribute hysterical songs to endlessly humor the audience, as is the case with the Rush Limbaugh Show. However, part of what it means to be a conservative is to remain unmoved by surface issues.
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Bernard Chapin wrote Women: Theory and Practice and Escape from Gangsta Island, along with a series of videos called Chapin’s Inferno. You can contact him at veritaseducation@gmail.com.
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77 Comments
1. happy1ga:Wow, excellent review of a definitive book. I think you said it all!
Apr 4, 2009 - 1:07 am 2. tanstaafl:…power-drunk politicians lording over us with treacherous bureaucracies.
Pretty much describes how the state functions (or doesn’t) under Democrat rule.
…leftists are willing to destroy our future in exchange for electoral advantage.
No perversion or manipulation of the system (including the apparently willing entrenched media) is beneath them in pursuit of this goal.
For the modern liberal, the individual’s imperfection and personal pursuits impede the objective of a utopian state…They hold “the people” to be an entity best bullied rather than consulted.
That fact completely escapes the foot soldiers in the army of Useful Idiots. Their handlers think of them as children and hold them in contempt, except, of course, for the mollycoddling and flattery that go on at voting time.
Larry King let it (the condescension) slip out in a mildly heated discussion with Penn Jillette (Penn & Teller) Thursday night, when ole Larry said…
“Somebody’s got to think for the masses.”
Apr 4, 2009 - 3:15 am 3. Carl:Mr. Levin’s rudeness and precision logical strikes may well leave Democratic callers spinning, but that “rudeness” shuts this man’s interest down.
With the possible exception of Rush Limbaugh, conservative talk radio has become a “media circus” of sorts, with bells, whistles, groaning, insults, mis-placed-over-used “big words” and toot-toots that are just as annoying and frustrating as anything the left comes up with.
Here it comes, “You can’t say that and get away with it Carl..” to which I say, “Yes I can!” and here is why.
Mr. Levin’s aforementioned “precision logical strikes” combined with his unequaled on-air calm sincerity (example: supporting our troops) and unparalleled human compassion (example: Rescuing Sprite) demonstrate clearly that he can deliver the solid, ready to implement information and knowledge that people of all beliefs and political persuasions are searching for and need at this time in our nation’s history.
The “rudeness” is a looser for him, his listeners and Conservatism.
Apr 4, 2009 - 3:47 am 4. tc:I’m on the “Welfare State” chapter which is just about halfway through this book. I’ve ordered a copy for my dad (last Sunday) and it just shipped last night–so copies are HARD to come by, but absolutely worth it. Let the “statist liberal” label start to stick–email your congressman and Senator and use this language. The information in this book is succinct, cutting and incriminating for the statist liberal agenda we are currently weathering. This book is long overdue and represents a rallying point for Conservatives, not Republicans, but Conservatives as those two terms are no longer synonymous unless Republicans prove it so. Go get a copy now and start using it.
Apr 4, 2009 - 4:00 am 5. Bob:Levin’s book is a great read, deserving of Chapin’s praise. Mark Levin’s book will enrich the reader and improve our country. The American public generally and too many of our leaders on both sides of the aisle have no sense of history, no appreciation of American principles and values, and no understanding of the benefits of free markets. Liberty and Tyranny addresses those issues in a meaningful way.
Apr 4, 2009 - 4:25 am 6. David Thomson:“Levin’s radio dominance is perplexing.”
No, it’s not. Ruch Limbaugh is the most insightful of all radio talk show hosts. He truly is the best. I make a point of listening to the first hour of every show. Mark Levin is quite good—but he’s not Limbaugh. I also have his most recent book and I’m quite impressed. We must face facts concerning Barack Obama: he is not a moderate who throws a few bones to the Left. No, the president is a non-violent leftist who throws a few bones to the moderates.
Apr 4, 2009 - 4:49 am 7. elvis:Turn off the TV and study this book!
Apr 4, 2009 - 4:51 am 8. tommyd:I am sure the libs will come here and call him names, which is all they can do simply because they possess about .01% of Marks brain power.
If anyone has not had the opportunity to listen to his radio program or read one of Marks prior books do your self a favor & pick this book up.
Apr 4, 2009 - 5:03 am 9. syn:Be prepared to learn…
I love this book!
Mark Levin captures the indomitable American spirit which seeks to thrive as an Individual soul rather a Collective mob. I do not need to be religious to appreciate and honor the most profound words written ‘inalienable rights endowed by our Creator’
I will always defend those who practice (not those who just make an appearance) the Christian faith because if the Collective mob washes away the right to religious expression then I will be forced to worship the Government and for that to me means another Hitler, Stalin, Castro, Chavez, Mugabe, Pol Pot and bin Laden.
Apr 4, 2009 - 5:20 am 10. AThinkingPerson:I’ve been a radio fan ever since I became a Sirius subscriber. Now I’m on a waiting list for his book and know I won’t be disappointed! Just knowing that he and others like him are out there holding tight to the Constitution is comforting, especially as we weather the Obama storm.
Apr 4, 2009 - 5:23 am 11. sule:Headline: A man who writes a #1 bestseller has his talk show spiked…710 AM Talk Radio in Minnesota has removed Mark Levin’s program from 8:00PM Central, to 2:00AM Central…and it’s a re-broadcast at that.
Apr 4, 2009 - 5:30 am 12. Terry Gain:The better question is why we hate ourselves.
Last November the people of the United States elected as President a man who this week called the liberation of Iraq a distraction.
While America went to the mall the military families of the United States made incalculable sacrifices which not only resulted in the removal from power of a genocidal Stalinist (who today, post sanctions, would be developing nuclear weapons)but the liberation of 25 million people and the defeat, with the help of Iraqis fighting along side, of the self described enemies of America who attacked us on 9/11.
How is that anyone so utterly clueless and hateful of America as to describe the giving of blood and treasure for the liberation of others and the defeat of our primary enemy as a distraction could be elected to lead the country?
And where does this fool think al Qaeda would have been sending their volunteers these past few years if they had not been sent to fight America in Iraq. Hint: two places that begin with A.
Apr 4, 2009 - 7:14 am 13. Terry Gain:Terry, that was a great comment but it should have been posted on Why They Hate Us .
As for Levin. He might be a great intellect with strong conservative values but his lack of emotional control, even if justified by the idiocy of his left wing callers, is a turn off. Yelling at people to scram, get out of here is off putting and embarrassing.
Why it’s even more embarrassing that giving yourself a pat on the back.
Apr 4, 2009 - 7:24 am 14. Spanky:We listen to Mark every night. The man is a genius, an expert on the Constitution, and loves his country with all of his heart. His book explains complicated issues so clearly that the average person can readily understand and the average person should absolutely read this book.
Apr 4, 2009 - 7:29 am 15. Richard:“The year 2009 finds the statists no longer at the gate but advancing well beyond it.”
Hello? Have you not been paying attention the past like, um, 60 years or so? The statists have long ago advanced past the gate, you’ve just been unable to see it for what it was because it was your statist (Republicans) instead of the other guy’s statist (Democrats). Well, FDR was a Democrat statist, but I haven’t ever heard a Republican or a Conservative call him a statist — only libertarians.
Its funny how all these conservatives suddenly have found jesus on fiscal conservativism and statism. Where the hell were you for the past 8 years while Congress and the Executive went on a spending binge, increased acceptance for government run health care (prescription drugs, CHIPS, etc.), increased protectionist measures (steel tarriffs, massive agricultural subsidies, rampant corporate welfare across the board in response for “lobbying”), and on and on and on.
Don’t get me wrong, its great that you [b]FINALLY[/b] have figured it out, but damn, you’re really late to the party.
Apr 4, 2009 - 8:28 am 16. Войска ПВО:i>”Mr. Levin’s rudeness and precision logical strikes may well leave Democratic callers spinning, but that “rudeness” shuts this man’s interest down…The “rudeness” is a looser [sic] for him, his listeners and Conservatism.”
Piquant comment, Carl, and while I agree that Mark Levin runs a little hot, one sees countless posts and responses here and other sites about what a gutless bunch the GOP is for not standing up for conservative principles. Levin’s behavior is counterpoint for Limbaugh’s insightfulness and I would rather listen to the reasoned, educated rants of Mark than I would a Michael Savage, who’s really off the reservation.
We got to the present state of affairs because we were not as passionate as Mark is and we allowed an insipid, reach-across-the-aisle candidate for POTUS who underwhelmed voters.
It is instructive, by the way, that Levin’s book has rocketed to number one. I put this up there with the rapidly blossoming tea-party rallies and staggering increase in things like NRA memberships and gun show attendance. Ordinary people are looking for some way to connect with something that will insulate them from this unresponsive and out-of-control government. (Clinging to guns and religion?)
Please note: I have the greatest respect for John McCain as a person and a war hero; I would have preferred him as president. But, then again, I would have preferred a plate of spinach as POTUS to the empty suit in office now.
Apr 4, 2009 - 8:45 am 17. Войска ПВО:Oops! Here’s the citation:
#3 Carl writes:
“Mr. Levin’s rudeness and precision logical strikes may well leave Democratic callers spinning, but that “rudeness” shuts this man’s interest down…The “rudeness” is a looser [sic] for him, his listeners and Conservatism.”
Apr 4, 2009 - 8:46 am 18. Old Soldier:Funny, he has the #1 book in the country but isn’t invited to Opera, The View, or any of the morning national shows. I wonder why?
Apr 4, 2009 - 8:59 am 19. Terry Gain:Richard
I’m guessing you do know that it’s , not [b].
It’s very difficult for the GOP to be less statist when the Democrats keep bribing the public and the molders of public opinion – the media, the entertainment industry and academia are in the tank for them. But your points are well taken.
Perhaps the disastrous know-nothing Obama Presidency will provide an opportunity to counteract 70 years of intellectual rot.
Apr 4, 2009 - 9:03 am 20. BackwardsBoy:At the local Borders bookstore (well known in these parts for employing young liberals) I picked up the next-to-last copy of Levin’s tome, perused the magazine section for a few minutes, walked past the display again and noticed that the last copy was gone.
Apr 4, 2009 - 9:12 am 21. misanthropicus:The cashier had a most perplexed look on her face when she told me they had sold a great many of them.
“The year 2009 finds the statists no longer at the gate but advancing well beyond it.”
While you were sleeping, the following things happened… Chapin dear, where you’ve been the past two decades? This creeping coup has been for long engulfing this nation – and the problem is that there are so many, so many people still dozing through this situation.
Apr 4, 2009 - 9:13 am 22. Alex:And the lefties are not – they’re very, very busy, taking advantage of every opportunity to advance their Brave New World.
#15 Richard,
Bingo. Its would be hilarious if not so tragic, all of a sudden people “awaken” after so many years of willingly giving government their rights, liberties and lifestyle. The right went after President Clinton for a sexual encounter, while congress sold banking regulations to the highest bidder in 1999 and 2000 ( futures modernization act and repeal of glass steagal). this is directly responsible for todays banking free for all. Great job, excellent use of the house and senate by elected leaders on both sides.
President Bush leases the white house to defense and oil companies, and becomes the poster child for credit cards.
President Obama is elected and publishing houses switch gears from left aisle books and articles to right aisle books and articles whining about the other side….meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Nothing changes, only the party out of favor falls back to hawking their wares at symposiums, on talk shows, online and in print media.
Gotta keep feeding the media monster…otherwise people might actually research their own government and find the truth.
Apr 4, 2009 - 9:25 am 23. Carl:Войска ПВО: my remark about Mr. Levine is a comment about a few trademarks of his show, not a criticism of the good man we all know that he is.
I don’t accept that his rudeness is a form of passion which is also borne out by the nature of several of the other opt-in writers to this article.
What I might accept is that Mr. Levine feels that his selective rudeness communicates to the liberal callers on a level that they understand, but cannot effectively counter during live programming. Then again, maybe it is as simple as he often says in that he can’t stand them.
I agree with your views on the lack of GOP intestinal fortitude, Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage.
Apr 4, 2009 - 9:56 am 24. Pal Joey:Carl and Войска ПВО:
I agree with you both. I think there are some Conservatives who believe that if they don’t shout they won’t be heard or will be shouted down (and that does happen on television and public forums, even blogs). Wish you have heard Michael in the early years when he would resort to reason with his well-thumbed copy of Plato at hand. What Rush knows is that he is in control, his show it to make him look good so it doesn’t mean much when a caller says, “As I told your SCREENER…”
Apr 4, 2009 - 10:51 am 25. WJA:The irony is, the people who need to be educated by Mr. Levin’s book, won’t because they have been taught what to think, not how to think. It’s sad to say, but the majority of the people that voted for Obama were swayed by soundbites, slogans,image and of course “change you can believe in.” How many of these voters would be able to read Mr. Levin’s book, let alone understand it.
Apr 4, 2009 - 11:37 am 26. shrubnose:Rush Limbaugh is pouring gasoline on the funeral pyre of the GOP ( Greedy Ofay Party )! Hate and fear is not selling. America has moved on to hope and change. Get over it, you losers ! You and the GOP are HISTORY ! Have a nice day.
Apr 4, 2009 - 12:10 pm 27. Jo W. French, Sr.:“Hard to get” ? 60 seconds on the Kindle 2…
Apr 4, 2009 - 12:21 pm 28. William:Great book!
This is a great book; however, after reading it and “The 5000 Year Leap”, I am depressed because they both illustrate how far our country has strayed from the intent of the Founders. It may take a general collapse to get back to anywhere near what America was supposed to be, but if we insist of reelecting the same brand of incompetent and self-serving representatives (and now an incompetent President) to Congress, it will never change. A pundit recently bemoaned the fact that the non-producers will soon outnumber the producers. He is wrong. When you count the people in government service, we producers are already outnumbered.
Apr 4, 2009 - 1:30 pm 29. rickhb:Levin is not rude to every liberal caller only to those he calls “drones” and only when the caller insists on using rhetoric and DNC talking points as facts.
I don’t always agree with his reaction to the mindless callers but then again he does have pretty keen insights in seperating the drones from the leftists who are sincere.
If you think about it- what is the point of discussing a topic with someone who isnt informed by facts???
Apr 4, 2009 - 1:43 pm 30. Horace Wells:Listening to an ugly little man with a grating voice demeaning and attacking people over the pettiest of things make me not want to buy his utterly predictable trash.
Apr 4, 2009 - 1:47 pm 31. goy:Anyone who needs a hate filled egomaniac to fill their little minds needs a library card and a reality check.
- Anyone who needs a hate filled egomaniac to fill their little minds needs a library card and a reality check.
Last time anyone checked, that demographic stood at approximately 52.92%.
Apr 4, 2009 - 2:53 pm 32. Evil Otto:Horace,
When you have something useful to say, please let us know.
Apr 4, 2009 - 3:17 pm 33. Sissy Willis:I got my two copies at the local Stop & Shop supermarket. They’re out there. Don’t give up!
Apr 4, 2009 - 3:19 pm 34. AThinkingPerson:Re: #30. Horace Wells:
“Listening to an ugly little man with a grating voice demeaning and attacking people over the pettiest of things make me not want to buy his utterly predictable trash.
Anyone who needs a hate filled egomaniac to fill their little minds needs a library card and a reality check”
Are you talking about Keith Olbermann or Chris Matthews? I’m not sure from your post.
Apr 4, 2009 - 3:41 pm 35. ricpic:Whoever monitors the comments can’t stand too much truth, that’s for sure.
Apr 4, 2009 - 3:50 pm 36. Larry G:#30. Horace Wells
“Listening to an ugly little man with a grating voice demeaning and attacking people over the pettiest of things make me not want to buy his utterly predictable trash.”
No kidding, Horace. I don’t understand Jon Stewart’s appeal to the leftists either.
Apr 4, 2009 - 3:51 pm 37. ChipD:“The modern liberal believes in the supremacy of the state, thereby rejecting the principles of the Declaration and the order of the civil society, in whole or part.”
Yes, I would hate to have a country governed by those.
In what chapter of his book does Mark Levin speak about his outrage and horror of the enlargement of the State whereby the Government claimed the right to tap our phones, read our email, snoop through our bank accounts, and imprison anyone, anywhere, without charges or trial, at the mere whim of the Chief Executive?
Apr 4, 2009 - 4:15 pm 38. ricpic:It’s okay for shrubrose, in comment #26, to call the GOP the greedy ofay party. But when I posted a comment stating that conservatism’s future is tied to the white vote — why that’s off the reservation. No wonder the brand of watered down conservatism on display here at PM is futureless.
Apr 4, 2009 - 4:26 pm 39. CAUTION:(Credit Barry Ritholtz and Institutional Risk Analytics, the original source)
WHOAH!
In fact, our investigation suggests that by the time AIG had entered the CDS fray in a serious way more than five years ago, the firm was already doomed. No longer able to prop up its earnings using reinsurance because of growing scrutiny from state insurance regulators and federal law enforcement agencies, AIG’s foray into CDS was really the grand finale. AIG was a Ponzi scheme plain and simple, yet the Obama Administration still thinks of AIG as a real company that simply took excessive risks. No, to us what the fraud Bernard Madoff is to individual investors, AIG is to the global financial community.
As with the phony reinsurance contracts that AIG and other insurers wrote for decades, when AIG wrote hundreds of billions of dollars in CDS contracts, neither AIG nor the counterparties believed that the CDS would ever be paid. Indeed, one source with personal knowledge of the matter suggests that there may be emails and actual side letters between AIG and its counterparties that could prove conclusively that AIG never intended to pay out on any of its CDS contracts.
Read that folks.
Then read it again.
Then read it AGAIN.
More excerpts:
There are two basic problems with side letters. First, they are a criminal act, a fraud that usually carries the full weight of an “A” felony in many jurisdictions. Second, once the side letter is discovered by a persistent auditor or regulator examining the buyer of protection, the transaction becomes worthless. You paid $6 million to AIG to shift risk via the reinsurance, but the side letter makes clear that the transaction is a fraud and you lose any benefit that the apparent risk shifting might have provided.
And finally, the last nail in the coffin:
The key point is that neither the public, the Fed nor the Treasury seem to understand is that the CDS contracts written by AIG with these various non-insurers around the world were shams – with no correlation between “fees” paid and the risk assumed. These were not valid contracts as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Geithner and Economic policy guru Larry Summers claim, but rather acts of criminal fraud meant to manipulate the capital positions and earnings of financial companies around the world.
Indeed, our sources as well as press reports suggest that the CDS contracts written by AIG may have included side letters, often in the form of emails rather than formal letters, that essentially violated the ISDA agreements and show that the true, economic reality of these contracts was fraud plain and simple. Unfortunately, by not moving to seize AIG immediately last year when the scandal broke, the Fed and Treasury may have given the AIG managers time to destroy much of the evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
Only when we understand how AIG came to be involved in CDS and the fact that this seemingly illegal activity was simply an extension of the reinsurance/side letter shell game scam that AIG, Gen Re and others conducted for many years before will we understand what needs to be done with AIG, namely liquidation. Seen in this context, the payments made to AIG by the Fed and Treasury, which were then passed-through to dealers such as Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), can only be viewed as an illegal taking that must be reversed once the US Trustee for the Federal Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York is in control of AIG’s operations.
Thank you Timmy, thank you Ben Bernanke, thank you Henry Paulson, thank you George Bush and thank you President Obama.
If this is true every one of you needs to go to prison.
After those of you still in your positions are impeached.
Again, for the simple who need it in one sentence:
AIG was a Ponzi scheme plain and simple, yet the Obama Administration still thinks of AIG as a real company that simply took excessive risks. No, to us what the fraud Bernard Madoff is to individual investors, AIG is to the global financial community.
Distilled to one sentence: The bailout of AIG is equivalent to the US Taxpayer bailing out Madoff’s admitted (and now convicted) Ponzi Scheme.
PS: This isn’t MY analysis, this is the analysis of Institutional Risk Analytics. If you don’t understand who they are, you should – they’re one of the most-respected groups out there when it comes to banking system analysis. If they’re willing to print something this damning….
Apr 4, 2009 - 4:49 pm 40. John Galt:* APRIL 4, 2009
Obama Wants to Control the Banks
There’s a reason he refuses to accept repayment of TARP money.
By STUART VARNEY
I must be naive. I really thought the administration would welcome the return of bank bailout money. Some $340 million in TARP cash flowed back this week from four small banks in Louisiana, New York, Indiana and California. This isn’t much when we routinely talk in trillions, but clearly that money has not been wasted or otherwise sunk down Wall Street’s black hole. So why no cheering as the cash comes back?
My answer: The government wants to control the banks, just as it now controls GM and Chrysler, and will surely control the health industry in the not-too-distant future. Keeping them TARP-stuffed is the key to control. And for this intensely political president, mere influence is not enough. The White House wants to tell ‘em what to do. Control. Direct. Command.
It is not for nothing that rage has been turned on those wicked financiers. The banks are at the core of the administration’s thrust: By managing the money, government can steer the whole economy even more firmly down the left fork in the road.
If the banks are forced to keep TARP cash — which was often forced on them in the first place — the Obama team can work its will on the financial system to unprecedented degree. That’s what’s happening right now.
Here’s a true story first reported by my Fox News colleague Andrew Napolitano (with the names and some details obscured to prevent retaliation). Under the Bush team a prominent and profitable bank, under threat of a damaging public audit, was forced to accept less than $1 billion of TARP money. The government insisted on buying a new class of preferred stock which gave it a tiny, minority position. The money flowed to the bank. Arguably, back then, the Bush administration was acting for purely economic reasons. It wanted to recapitalize the banks to halt a financial panic.
Fast forward to today, and that same bank is begging to give the money back. The chairman offers to write a check, now, with interest. He’s been sitting on the cash for months and has felt the dead hand of government threatening to run his business and dictate pay scales. He sees the writing on the wall and he wants out. But the Obama team says no, since unlike the smaller banks that gave their TARP money back, this bank is far more prominent. The bank has also been threatened with “adverse” consequences if its chairman persists. That’s politics talking, not economics.
Think about it: If Rick Wagoner can be fired and compact cars can be mandated, why can’t a bank with a vault full of TARP money be told where to lend? And since politics drives this administration, why can’t special loans and terms be offered to favored constituents, favored industries, or even favored regions? Our prosperity has never been based on the political allocation of credit — until now.
Which brings me to the Pay for Performance Act, just passed by the House. This is an outstanding example of class warfare. I’m an Englishman. We invented class warfare, and I know it when I see it. This legislation allows the administration to dictate pay for anyone working in any company that takes a dime of TARP money. This is a whip with which to thrash the unpopular bankers, a tool to advance the Obama administration’s goal of controlling the financial system.
After 35 years in America, I never thought I would see this. I still can’t quite believe we will sit by as this crisis is used to hand control of our economy over to government. But here we are, on the brink. Clearly, I have been naive.
Mr. Varney is a host on the Fox Business Channel.
Apr 4, 2009 - 5:15 pm 41. Alex:The damning issue is people see government as republican or democrat, while govt see’s itself as a governing body devoid of left or right, it is simply economic power.
When people can stop whining long enough about ” the other side” to understand there is no other side, then we can get something accomplished. Until then we will continue repeating the same mistakes Mark Levin makes.
Apr 4, 2009 - 6:01 pm 42. Войска ПВО:#39 CAUTION posts:
“..In fact, our investigation suggests that by the time AIG had entered the CDS fray in a serious way more than five years ago, the firm was already doomed..
CAUTION, I agree that the TARP charity to failing corporations and the AIG bailout are milestones on the road to economic ruin for America, but this relates to the original post of this thread — Mark Levin’s book — exactly how?
Believe me, there are plenty of articles on PJM where this screed would be welcome and more relevant. You should leave the cut-and-past non sequitur harangues to those of obvious limited mental capacity like the questionable shrubnose who desperately needs Soros’ money to eke out a welfare-sustained existence, dwelling in his mom’s basement.
Apr 4, 2009 - 6:38 pm 43. AThinkingPerson:Alex… It’s not that simple unfortunately. There are basically two different viewpoints about what the role of the government is. Why does government exist? A conservative would say to protect it’s citizens. A democrat would say to provide for it’s citizens. Polar opposite. Until that can be reconciled, I don’t see how it can truly be seen as being “devoid of left or right”.
Apr 4, 2009 - 6:43 pm 44. Войска ПВО:Shrubnose: “..Hate and fear is not selling..”
Hate may not be selling, my mentally diminutive friend, but fear sure is. A lot of us here — those not blinded by the questionable light of the Dear Leader’s photo-shopped halos — spend our hard-earned and diminishing wealth on writings that reaffirm our faith in the American spirit and give us assurance that those beliefs are still extant.
By the way, old son, if you make it out of your mother’s basement for other than the daily serving of Cheerios or her meatloaf and boiled potatoes, you might be surprised how many of us there really are and how that number — in the wake of the TOTUS’s stumbling through the first two months of his term — is rapidly growing.
2012 — if not 2010 — might come as a rude shock to you.
Apr 4, 2009 - 6:48 pm 45. Meryl:The escalating hysteria of the left is interesting. Very interesting.
I think they have just gotten so accustomed to conservatives and common sense, normal people keeping silent that as the volume from us begins to build–well, it just freaks them out.
And all they know to do is become more and more hysterical. Probably a good sign.
I will freely acknowledge that conservatives who have finally “had it” and are speaking up don’t always do it perfectly, but that’s ok. The fact the volume from the American side of things is building is good news, both short term and long term.
And yes, I did deliberately mean “the American side of things”. The destructive statists who hate the traditions and roots of America have lost their presumptive right to the term.
Apr 4, 2009 - 7:36 pm 46. HawkWatcher:Snarky comments result from the posters inability to process the truths contained in Marks’ book and on his radio show. We see that the truth does indeed hurt libs, they have no valid arguments to offer, only sophmoric intolerance.
Apr 4, 2009 - 7:37 pm 47. gordo:Levin has a first-rate mind and his call to action is timely. The issue is, who will respond? One reason the liberals are able to implement their well thought through strategy is because there is really no opposition. Where are the leaders of the conservative movement? Where is the republican party? Levin can continue to put out good and strong medicine, but there has to be some political leaders to pick up the mantle. I’m still looking and don’t see anyone riding this way. That’s the problem. Forgive the mixed metaphors – its the cheap wine.
Apr 4, 2009 - 7:40 pm 48. Terry Gain:Levin is not rude to every liberal caller only to those he calls “drones” and only when the caller insists on using rhetoric and DNC talking points as facts.
Simply not true. I’m as conservative and plain speaking as anyone and I’m embarrassed by his rudeness. For all his learning Levin needs to smarten up and mature if he wants to be a spokesman for conservative values.
Apr 4, 2009 - 7:40 pm 49. misanthropicus:RE: WJA & Shrubnose
What a pathetic couple of Soeterotrolls you are! You’d better drive back to your ACORN headquarters and ask for a better hymn page – all your interventions are sheer crap. And for the other people’s fun, bellow’s Soetoro’s latest, as lifted from the Guardian:
“The question that flummoxed the great orator”/GUARDIAN – John Crace
*
Barack Obama the World’s Greatest Orator (™all news organisations), didn’t exactly cover himself in glory when the BBC’s political editor Nick Robinson asked him a question about who was to blame for the financial crisis. Normally word perfect, Obama ummed, ahed and waffled for the best part of two and a half minutes. Here, John Crace decodes what he was really thinking …
Nick Robinson: “A question for you both, if I may. The prime minister has repeatedly blamed the United States of America for causing this crisis. France and Germany both blame Britain and America for causing this crisis. Who is right? And isn’t the debate about that at the heart of the debate about what to do now?” Brown immediately swivels to leave Obama in pole position. There is a four-second delay before Obama starts speaking: THANKS FOR NOTHING, GORDY BABY. REMIND ME TO HANG YOU OUT TO DRY ONE DAY.]
Barack Obama: “I, I, would say that, er … pause [I HAVEN'T A CLUE] … if you look at … pause [WHO IS THIS NICK ROBINSON JERK?] … the, the sources of this crisis … pause [JUST KEEP GOING, BUDDY] … the United States certainly has some accounting to do with respect to . . . pause [I'M IN WAY TOO DEEP HERE] … a regulatory system that was inadequate to the massive changes that have taken place in the global financial system … pause, close eyes [THIS IS GOING TO GO DOWN LIKE A CROCK OF SHIT BACK HOME. HELP]. I think what is also true is that … pause [I WANT NICK ROBINSON TO DISAPPEAR] … here in Great Britain … pause [SHIT, GORDY'S THE HOST, DON'T LAND HIM IN IT] … here in continental Europe … pause [DAMN IT, BLAME EVERYONE.] … around the world. We were seeing the same mismatch between the regulatory regimes that were in place and er … pause [I'VE LOST MY TRAIN OF THOUGHT AGAIN] … the highly integrated, er, global capital markets that have emerged … pause [I'M REALLY WINGING IT NOW]. So at this point, I’m less interested in … pause [YOU] … identifying blame than fixing the problem. I think we’ve taken some very aggressive steps in the United States to do so, not just responding to the immediate crisis, ensuring banks are adequately capitalised, er, dealing with the enormous, er … pause [WHY DIDN'T I QUIT WHILE I WAS AHEAD?] … drop-off in demand and contraction that has taken place. More importantly, for the long term, making sure that we’ve got a set of, er, er, regulations that are up to the task, er, and that includes, er, a number that will be discussed at this summit. I think there’s a lot of convergence between all the parties involved about the need, for example, to focus not on the legal form that a particular financial product takes or the institution it emerges from, but rather what’s the risk involved, what’s the function of this product and how do we regulate that adequately, much more effective coordination, er, between countries so we can, er, anticipate the risks that are involved there. Dealing with the, er, problem of derivatives markets, making sure we have set up systems, er, that can reduce some of the risks there. So, I actually think … pause [FANTASTIC. I'VE LOST EVERYONE, INCLUDING MYSELF] … there’s enormous consensus that has emerged in terms of what we need to do now and, er … pause [I'M OUTTA HERE. TIME FOR THE USUAL CLOSING BOLLOCKS] … I’m a great believer in looking forwards than looking backwards.”
*
However, here I have to fault Nick Robinson for wasting out our time asking Soetoro about who was to blame for the financial crisis: president Lula, man of great intellect, was very clear about this – it’s the blond people with blue eyes who are behind that. So, with such a point of authority like his friend’s, Lula opinion on this matter (himself a community organizer as well), Soetoro should have done much better.
Apr 4, 2009 - 7:45 pm 50. Gozer the Carpathian:And a corollary: watch out for all those Russians and Poles and Ukrainians – blond & blue eyed, devious and out to swindle widows, orphans and other god-fearing people!
I plan to try and grab a copy of the book, though I read mostly eBooks and not the Kindle. So if I can find it online somewhere I’ll probably get it before trying to hunt it down in physical form.
To me the fun part of listening to Mark is him shouting down the drones. Why? Because he says what I want to scream at so many of the morons I’m surrounded by. So it helps lower my blood pressure whenever he rasies his.
Apr 4, 2009 - 7:49 pm 51. Alex:#43 Athinking Person, thank you for your response.
Government exists because we collectively acknowledge the foundation upon which to exist in peace and harmony with a level playing field for all who participate.
When the playing field is no longer level (Bankers embezzling taxpayers earnings into the next generation) then we must question the rules and the government that changed them (repealing glass steagal and the futures modernization act in the late 90’s).
When a government has been so completely corrupted it is literally mortgaging its unborn citizens to financial interests there is no right or left, republican or democrat.
There is only right and wrong, It is very simple.
Apr 4, 2009 - 8:12 pm 52. Wally Lind:I like Mark Levin and I will get and read his book. But the call to action should have been last September and October, when the man who would not have grabbed this much power for the presidency need your help. You didn’t give it and have no call to bitch about Obama’s neo-communism. You helped elect him, so you must have wanted to go down this road. If not, then the far right of the party is made up of some pretty dense people. I don’t like this and, besides the economic downturn, I blame the narrow=minded far right lunatic fringe for this mess. What a bunch of blockheads!
Apr 4, 2009 - 8:59 pm 53. Войска ПВО:45. Meryl writes:
“I will freely acknowledge that conservatives who have finally “had it” and are speaking up don’t always do it perfectly, but that’s ok. The fact the volume from the American side of things is building is good news, both short term and long term.”
..for what it’s worth, I am in voilent agreement with this comment. Were you and I face-to-face comrades, I would be forced to buy you a beer! Hell, I’d be forced to buy you a whole case.
Apr 4, 2009 - 8:59 pm 54. Brad Billy:Snubnose, it’s okay to post on every blog here at PJM, but quit using the same cut and paste on evey one, especially the one you used last month. You seem to have Buyer’s Remorse. We all forgive you!
Apr 4, 2009 - 9:00 pm 55. Войска ПВО:..er..violent..but the offer of a case of beer still stands!
Apr 4, 2009 - 9:01 pm 56. Delia:My birthday is coming up in May… Guess what I’m gettin’ myself? Sweeeeeeeeeeet! Sounds like a book I need to read. Whoot!
Apr 4, 2009 - 9:02 pm 57. AThinkingPerson:#51 Alex…. I agree. There is only right and wrong. Please tell that to our elected officials. It would all be so much easier if they actually had a conscious.
Apr 4, 2009 - 9:33 pm 58. WJA:re:Shrubnose.
Apr 5, 2009 - 8:31 am 59. kentuckyliz:Typical liberal, attack don’t debate. Proves my point. Liberals are taught what to think, not how to think.
I’ve never heard the radio show, but while waiting in a doctor’s office last week, I browsed it on Kindle 2 and decided to read a sample then bought the book. I’m enjoying what I’ve read so far, but only a couple of chapters in.
I think We The People are well served by focusing on basic principles right now, and remembering how this cause-and-effect world really operates.
Apr 5, 2009 - 9:36 am 60. tanstaafl:There are basically two different viewpoints about what the role of the government is.
There may be two different viewpoints roughly expressed by the 2 major political parties (although they’re more & more alike), but there’s only one vision for government in our founding documents.
Government of, by and for the people. Government whose power rests in the people. (you think they’re teaching that in Civics class these days, that is, in the places they still have a course called Civics ?) Government whose power is circumscribed by checks & balances between its major branches & powers reserved to individual states (federalism).
All this has been under siege for a long time, not just in Barry’s short tenure. Barry’s just doing it on steroids, feeling he has a window here to re-make America into something the Founders tried their utmost to create a system where it couldn’t happen.
Apr 5, 2009 - 1:13 pm 61. An Average American:Mark Levin’s “Liberty and Tyranny” is the number one non-fiction book on the New York Times’ Best Sellers List.
How ironic!
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/bestseller/
Apr 5, 2009 - 1:56 pm 62. Sebastian Shaw:Has the New York Times slimed Mark Levin’s new book yet? From what I read, the paper is still wrapped up in an Obama cocoon of denial.
The New York Times best seller list is the only thing relevant about the Times.
I believe Rupert Murdoch & a few other conservatives will buy up the remaining bargain basement stock to become principle shareholders that they could buy out the paper. Now that would be ironic!
Apr 5, 2009 - 2:31 pm 63. goy:@62. Sebastian Shaw: - Has the New York Times slimed Mark Levin’s new book yet?
Seems like doing that would have two obvious outcomes, neither good for the NYT or its long-standing leftist agenda.
1. It would draw more attention to the book – kind of like how the Dems attacking Limbaugh drove his ratings (and income) through the roof.
2. It would make them look pretty out-of-touch and petty, sliming a book that is at the top of their own best-seller list.
This is not to say they won’t slime the book anyway. NYT’s flagging popularity and economic viability indicate that its management has no clue what world they’re reporting in.
Apr 5, 2009 - 3:56 pm 64. one of my own:Levin is definitely smarter than the typical right-wing radio misfit. (Laura Ingraham comes to mind.) The disappointment is in his lack of courage. Whenever a caller makes a good contrasting point, he simply dumps them, usually after some half-assed insult. Hannity does it too – cuts off the challenging caller before embarking on a 15-second review of conservative talking points without giving the caller a chance to reply. Chickenshit tactics.
Here’s the question: Sean Hannity says he’s NEVER seen porn – a topic he addressed on his own show. Do you believe him? Or is Sean Hannity a liar?
Apr 5, 2009 - 8:01 pm 65. whyyeseyec:L & T needs to be required reading in all public schools and colleges.
Apr 6, 2009 - 8:33 pm 66. deguello:Also, the Constitution should be taught from kindergarten thru 12th grade…ASAP!!
64ONE OF MY OWN my own:Let’s see… Laura ingraham,not smart:Darmouth graduate,graduate from University of Virgina law school,where she was the notes editor of the law review ,then clerked for Justice Thomas. Some dumb misfit!Sean Hannity says he’s never seen porn(according to you)assuming your’e right,that’s beats getting all hot an bothered over Obama and drooling (Chris Matthews)or disseminating libelous forgeries( CBS and Dan Rather). As for Levine cutting off libtardrobots,why should he listen to them repeat lib. talking points instead of debating?If you want too hear a REAL misfit and thug,get a hold of Al Franken’s inane babbles from HOT AIR AMERICA.
Apr 7, 2009 - 6:55 pm 67. one of my own:66. deguello: . . . “Let’s see… Laura ingraham,not smart:Darmouth graduate,graduate from University of Virgina law school,where she was the notes editor of the law review ,then clerked for Justice Thomas. Some dumb misfit!”
Unless you’re equally impressed with Obama’s college resume, then you can’t hold up Ingrum’s college days as validation of intellect. Ultimately her resume is irrelevant, because my opinion is based on what she says, not what she did 20 years ago.
As for Sean Hannity saying he’s never seen porn, it’s not according to ME but according to HIM, as I made clear. No matter the source, you’re still not willing to say whether you believe him or not. I’m willing to bet anything that he’s lying. I think you agree with me on that, but you’re just too brainwashed to admit it.
As for “Levine” cutting people off, I said he did it to people making “a good contrasting point” which you immediately described as “repeating lib talking points” and then evoked Senator Al Franken, who has nothing whatsoever to do with this conversation.
Unless you’re willing or able to muster the intellectual honesty required to respond, save your fetid breath. The world has plenty of opportunity to hear ignorance masquerading as principle. Adding your own special sauce to that mix doesn’t advance anything but the worthy derision your ilk so richly deserves.
Come to think of it, keep it up.
Apr 7, 2009 - 10:53 pm 68. deguello:67:ONE OF MY OWN(TURDS)Fetid breath! Kind of hypocritical from one who consumes one of his own turds!”senator” Franken ! I love how you libs equate words with reality especially when reality explicitly contradicts your words.!It’s a form of primitive magical thinking: think:SocialSecurity”(broke and insecure), “affirmative action”(anti-white@asian racism),or People’s Republic,for a commie terror state.Should Franken’s ACORN thugs,succeed in intimidating the Minnesota Supreme court,he’ll be a “senator” just like Castro is” head of state “in Cuba.. Obama has refused to release his grades;the poor idiot doesn’t it want it known that he needed a telepromper, to take his exams;what kind of person graduates from an Ivy league school,and thinks that “Austrian” is a language? A gotten up affirmative action Chicago thug, that’s who.Why is the OHOLE”S CV relevant and not Laura Ingraham’s?Isn’t my opinion of Obama partly based on what he’s doing NOW? You are just upset, that Laura Mark and Sean are effectively using the first amendment against Stalinists like you,and the best you have, the retard bully Franken,could not compete except by trying to steal an election.As the “president’s” limitations continue to surface you’ll have to try harder, to lie, dissemble and disguise the unpleasant realities of our libtard boob prez;I’m going to have fun watching you!
Apr 10, 2009 - 11:09 am 69. Rob H:The problem conservatives have is how the Republicans and George Bush ran the country for eight years. Overspending, vague philosophy, and looking out for their friends at the expense of the taxpayers will not be forgotten by the Reagan democrats. Next time don’t put forward an idiot backed up by a bunch of crooks.
Apr 10, 2009 - 3:14 pm 70. deguello:Rob H. Good points, but conservatives have limited power with the GOP. That’s why we need a third party. Your characterization of Bushism could just as well describe the Obama regime,of failed bankers, tax cheats, wlfare mortages,and ACORN goons.
Apr 10, 2009 - 5:33 pm 71. one of my own:68. deguello: . . . You people always say how effective Limbaugh and Hannity and Levin are, never more often or loudly than last year, and yet . . . here we are. The first black president, a liberal Democrat, and Democratic majorities in Congress. (And just wait till you see what we do with the Supreme Court. Wow,you think that Roberts charade your trotted out was something. you ain’t seen nothing yet.)
So keep up that effective influence. We could use a few more votes in Congress.
Other than that, your post was utterly incomprehensible.
As for Franken, since when is it stealing to get more votes? And yes, Al Franken will be seated. And he will absolutely eviscerate the green-tied conservative tanning booth freaks you call Republicans. I can’t wait.
So, is Hannity lying about the porn? Why is such a simple question so difficult for you to answer? (Here’s a hint: It’s at the root of all conservatives’ problems.)
Keep yelping like a whipped puppy. I like the sound of desperation in an enemy.
Apr 10, 2009 - 6:02 pm 72. bob:YOU MEAN TO TELL ME SOMEONE HAS TO WRITE A BOOK TO INFORM AMERICANS OF WHAT IS HAPPENINING IN AMERICA AND NOW THAT YOU HAVE BOUGHT THIS BOOK AND LINED MR. LEVIN’S POCKET’S WITH MONEY, WHAT CAN YOU DO? I KNOW WAIT UNTIL HE WRITES ANOTHER BOOK, AND ANOTHER BOOK, AND SOON YOU WILL NEED TO BE BAILED-OUT. I HEARD MR. LEVIN ON RADIO THE OTHER DAY TALKING ABOUT HOW SICK HE WAS ABOUT SEEING AND HEARING ABOUT PRESIDENT OBAMA ALL THE TIME, YET HE COMES ON AND TALKS ABOUT HIM EVERYDAY, IF IT WASN’T FOR OBAMA HE WOULDN’T HAVE A MEAL TICKET, HE SHOULD GET ON HIS KNEES AND KISS THE GROUND OBAMA WALKS ON. AND I CAN SAY THIS, HE IS NOT AS SICK OF HEARING OBAMA AS I AM OF HEARING HIM.
Apr 11, 2009 - 11:05 am 73. bob:WHY DIDN’T YOU WRITE A BOOK WHEN BUSH WAS PRESIDENT?
Apr 11, 2009 - 11:08 am 74. Peg C.:Mark Levin is fabulous. Our whole family is reading or has finished L&T, we are all Mark listeners to a greater or lesser extent, and the statists will indeed smear Mark and natter on about trivialities (the NYT alleged “review” of the book is a compiliation of his fan site comments – could the NYT be more obvious?) rather than actually engage the arguments and principles outlined in this important work.
As for radio, I love a good bloodletting and hilarity along with my intellectual stimulation and education. With Mark’s show, it’s a cornucopia of treasures.
Apr 12, 2009 - 6:56 am 75. Peg C.:bob:
1. WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING??
2. Mark did write a book when Bush was president: “Men in Black.” I’m sure you think it’s about a Will Smith movie but it is in fact a history of the Supreme Court of the U.S. My copy was autographed by Mark in person.
Apr 12, 2009 - 6:59 am 76. deguello:#71OOMO: Hey Stalinist! If Rush, Hannity,and Levin, weren’t effective,you and the other libtards wouldn’t be frothing at the mouth every time they write or say anything;nor would the democrat partei be trying to shut them down.Yelping like a whipped puppy? Stop projecting your wretched childhood experiences on me.I know it’s sad to be whipped by your parents every time they caught you eating one of your own turds,but coprophagy, like I told you in another post, is a bitch.I’m sorry you can’t understand my posts;I can’t write 1st grade level english:get your special needs teacher to “translate” them to you before you attempt a reply.
Apr 14, 2009 - 3:56 pm 77. jg:Mr. Levin can’t handle any caller who disagrees with him. His replies are generally simplistic and rude. And, what is the deal with his voice? He sounds like a de-nutted Wally Cox.
Apr 15, 2009 - 8:32 am