The Proof of the Pudding Concerning the Koch Brothers

A few days ago I posted “Scott Walker, Conservative Hero Propped Up By the Koch Brothers” wherein which I laid out the bare facts behind the brothers Koch and their involvement in the anti-public employee union battles currently taking place in the Midwest. I detailed how the Koch’s had increased by over five times the budget of Americans for Prosperity (AFP), showing how “The organization has taken up a range of topics, including combating the health care law, environmental regulations and spending by state and federal governments. The effort to impose limits on public labor unions has been a particular focus in Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, all states with Republican governors…” In fact AFP was founded by the Koch brothers with a $1 Million dollar grant of seed money a decade ago. I revealed that Walker and other Republican governors received guidance from the American Legislative Exchange Council, another Koch funded organization that aims to fight unionization. I also pointed out that even before Scott Walker was sworn in agents of Koch funded organizations were at work in Wisconsin setting up the showdown presently in it’s third week. I quoted AFP president Mr. Tim Phillips showing that he felt that taking on the unions in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania was “an important thing to do.”

Some of my good friends on the right seemed flummoxed by the assertion that the billionaire Koch brothers, major financiers of the Tea Party Movement as well, could actually have a interest in destroying public sector unions. This misconception is based on the fact that the Koch brothers, being private sector businessmen could not possibly have interests beyond their day to day business operations. My right leaning colleagues have vainly attempted to pursue a line of reasoning that suggests breaking public unions does nothing to further Koch business interests so it would be of no interest to them in the first place. They have implied that the facts put forth in the abovementioned piece either don’t adequately make the case or are “too fuzzy” in their linkage of the brothers Koch to the situation in Madison.

This is of course a straw man argument as people of vast wealth often have interests beyond the mundane and pedestrian endeavors of making money. Take for example Rupert Murdoch, owner of the News Corporation. His tabloid, The New York Post continues to lose money with no end in sight yet he keeps it going because it’s his primary organ for promoting his conservative ideas in New York City and the surrounding region. If his motives for running the Post where purely economic it would have been closed long ago. Then there is what used to be the preeminent conservative news magazine in America, the National Review. Since its inception the National Review has never been profitable, relying on generous donations from wealthy conservatives to stay afloat. Likewise there’s George Soros and his Open Society Foundation which “promotes work to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens”, an endeavor that has absolutely nothing to do with shorting the stock market or currency arbitrage. Over a century ago, there were such titans of industry like Cornelius Vanderbilt and Andrew Carnegie who built universities and centers for the performing arts. In fact David Koch himself donated so much money to renovating the New York State Ballet Theater at Lincoln Center that the place is now named after him! Needless to say, this argument that the Koch brothers couldn’t possibly be interested in destroying public unions as part and parcel of a wider right wing agenda simply won’t stand up to the evidence at hand. Nor are their present actions in any way at variance with the past history of how the rich employ their personal wealth for both political and cultural reasons.

It would appear that my conservative friends will benefit from two news items that appeared on February 25 that unequivocally link the brothers Koch to the anti-union campaign underway against public employees, that is if any honest person really needed further evidence. The first was aired on NPR’s morning broadcast “Billionaire Brothers In Spotlight In Wis. Union Battle” by Peter Overby. Notice what David Koch says: “Five years ago, my brother Charles and I provided the funds to start the Americans for Prosperity…And it’s beyond my wildest dreams how AFP has grown into this enormous organization.” Likewise there are the comments of AFP’s Scott Hagerstrom: “We fight these battles on taxes and regulations, but really what we would like to see is to take the unions out at the knees, so they don’t have the resources to fight these battles.” I have already established the fact that that AFP’s agenda contains an “effort to impose limits on public labor unions” so if the Koch brothers are the cash behind AFP and if fighting to undo public sector unions is a plank in the AFP platform, then ipso facto the Koch brothers harbor anti-union sentiments and have gone so far as to put their money where there mouths are, so to speak. For those on the far right who don’t like the idea of listening to an NPR rebroadcast then they can see the actual video of Mr. Hagstrom’s speech at http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/25/afp-union-knees/

So there you have it, the proof positive is too real to deny. For those who were so unwilling or unable to come to terms with the fact of the billionaire brothers involvement, they can now no longer deny that the Koch’s have shown themselves to be central players, if not the most important participants, in the current anti-union campaign. The proof of the pudding is in eating it and there is no denying the role of the Koch brothers in the controversy in Madison or beyond Wisconsin. Perhaps some of my conservative friends are having a problem with the fact that the richest on the right may have already taken control of what they all believed to be a “peoples” grassroots movement. Maybe they don’t cotton to the fact that they are no longer the driving force on the right that they thought they were, if they ever were. Perhaps they have yet to realize that they are merely along for the ride with no effective means of reaching the controls. But one thing’s for sure and beyond question, and that is that the Koch brothers are the puppet masters and the newly elected Republicans are the puppets. Oh and one more thing, we all know how much the full mooners on the far right hate NPR / PBS, well ironically the Koch brothers are contributors to the PBS News Hour with Jim Lehrer. Now if that doesn’t set the full mooners to howling at the heavens, nothing will.

Steven J. Gulitti
2/27/2011

Sources:

Scott Walker, Conservative Hero Propped Up By the Koch Brothers
http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_j_gulitti

Billionaire Brothers In Spotlight In Wis. Union Battle
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/25/134040226/in-wis-union-battle-focus-on-billionaire-brothers?ft=1&f=1014&sc=tw

Koch Front Group Americans For Prosperity: Take The unions Out At The Knees
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/25/afp-union-knees/

Scott Walker, Conservative Hero Propped Up By the Koch Brothers

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has been heralded by some as a conservative hero, a man of the grass roots if you will, who is attempting to bring order to the financial woes of the state by crushing the public employee unions. The Governor may have overreached in this effort and there is now some solid evidence that Walker may be dancing to a tune, coming in part, from the Koch Brothers. Do the financial titans who have so heavily bankrolled the Tea Party Movement have a finger or two in this epic battle now underway in Madison? The answer to that question can only be yes.

Now to be fair to Walker, his anti-union attitudes go back to his days on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors, thus nothing has changed. Quoting Wisconsin State Senator Chris Larson: “Unions have always been his piñata, over and over…And this time I think he’s trying to out-right-wing the right wing on his way to the next lily pad.” However, those initiatives go beyond economics and that leads one to believe that Walker is as much interested in crushing public sector unions as he is in balancing the budget. With Wisconsin’s public unions having agreed to compromise with Walker on economic concerns, his continued obstinacy on issues of union security and non-wage bargaining can only be seen for what they are, a blatant attempt to destroy the rights of Wisconsin’s citizens to join and participate in public employee unions. According to Mary Bell, the president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council: “We have been clear — and I will restate this again today — money issues are off the table…Public employees have agreed to Governor Walker’s pension and health care concessions, which he says will solve the budget challenge.”

Specifically: “Mr. Walker’s plan would require government workers to put 5.8 percent of their pay into their pensions (most pay less than 1 percent now), and would require them to pay at least 12.6 percent of health care premiums (most pay about 6 percent now). Union leaders said they would go along with those plans, but they wanted to remove provisions that would prohibit collective bargaining for issues beyond wages, limit pay raises to a certain level without special approval by public referendum and require unions to hold annual votes on whether they should remain in existence.” This begs the question: “If Walker is solely concerned with the effects of public unionization on his state’s deficit and the unions have met him more than halfway, why won’t he declare victory and move on to the next big issue?” The fact that Walker is insisting on having his way on issues beyond economics is proof positive of his deep-seated anti-union animus. Walker has denied harboring any political motives in his standoff with the unions. “But in an interview with The Associated Press last week as protests raged inside the Capitol, he acknowledged his plan to allow workers to opt out of paying their dues could cripple unions…”

Here is where the influence of the Koch brothers comes into play. According to the Huffington Post’s Amanda Terkel: “While there has been significant attention devoted to the fact that Walker’s 144-page budget repair bill would strip away collective bargaining rights for public employees, the site “Rortybomb” points out a less noticed provision that would allow the state to sell or contract out any state-owned energy asset in no-bid deals with private corporations. But if this deal goes through, one of the companies that could stand to benefit significantly is Koch Industries. Koch already has several companies in the state, including a coal subsidiary, timber plants and a large network of pipelines.” Thus the brothers Koch have an economic stake in Wisconsin, above and beyond their political agenda.

The Koch brothers had invested heavily in the 2010 elections having donated $2 Million dollars to conservative candidates directly and now they are looking to cash in on that investment. They have fueled up the coffers of Americans for Prosperity so that it could influence a wide range of issues. According to Eric Lipton, reporter for the New York Times: “The organization has taken up a range of topics, including combating the health care law, environmental regulations and spending by state and federal governments. The effort to impose limits on public labor unions has been a particular focus in Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, all states with Republican governors, Mr. Phillips said, adding that he expects new proposals to emerge soon in some of those states to limit union power.”

During the 2010 election cycle, according to Amanda Terkel, “Walker received $43,000 from the Koch Industries PAC, his second-largest contribution. The PAC also gave significantly to the Republican Governors Association, which in turn helped out Walker considerably in his race. Koch also contributed $6,500 to support 16 Republican legislative candidates in the state…The Koch-funded group Americans for Prosperity has also been standing with Walker throughout his budget battles, busing in Tea Party activists and launching the site, Stand With Walker. After the election, Walker and other Republican governors received guidance from the American Legislative Exchange Council, a group that is also funded by Koch dollars and has pushed anti-union measures.”

Thus it should come as no surprise that Tim Phillips, President of Americans for Prosperity was in Madison this past weekend attempting to rally support for Scott Walker’s besieged administration. As it turns out Phillips’ organization is a major recipient of the financial largesse of David and Charles Koch, having received $40 Million dollars from the brothers last year. That’s close to a sixfold increase over the budget that Americans for Prosperity had just three years ago. According to Eric Lipton, reporter for the New York Times, the Koch brothers laid their groundwork in Wisconsin long before the first protestor held up a sign in Madison. To wit: “Even before the new governor was sworn in last month, executives from the Koch-backed group had worked behind the scenes to try to encourage a union showdown, Mr. Phillips said in an interview on Monday…We thought it was important to do… adding that his group is already working with activists and state officials in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania to urge them to take similar steps to curtail union benefits or give public employees the power to opt out of unions entirely.” From the aforementioned, it is more than obvious that the Koch brothers and their fellow travelers have an agenda that goes far beyond the bottom line of state budgets and aims at the very institutional integrity of unions, as we know them. Why else would they be concerned with issues such as an employee being able to opt out of their membership or the desire to force a showdown?

The motives of the Koch brothers are more than amply clear as is the actions taken on their behalf by their operatives, both elected and paid, now at work in Wisconsin and across the Midwest. Their can be no denying that the Koch brothers have a political agenda designed to reshape the American economic landscape into one in which unions no longer exist. When one considers the money invested and the macro-political issues that transcend the mundane economics of state budgets, one can only wonder once again about to what degree the Tea Party Movement and it’s followers have been had by the political pros who have received a greatly enhanced degree of power and influence as a result of the 2010 elections and the money they invested therein.

Steven J. Gulitti

2/23/2011

Sources:

For Wisconsin Governor, Battle Was Long Coming

Protesters in Wisconsin Say They Are Staying Put

Wisconsin plan to weaken public unions could help Republicans solidify power for years to come
http://www.startribune.com/local/116611768.html

The Less Discussed Part of Walker’s Wisconsin Plan: No-Bid Energy Assets Firesales.

The Less Discussed Part of Walker’s Wisconsin Plan: No-Bid Energy Assets Firesales.

Billionaire Brothers’ Money Plays Role in Wisconsin Dispute

Koch Brothers Money Fuels Wisconsin Fight Against Unions
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/22/koch-brothers-money-wisconsin_n_826423.html

Wisconsin Budget Battle Continues, GOP Legislators Forge Ahead
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/22/wisconsin-budget-battle-c_n_826478.html#113_littlenoticed-provision-in-walkers-bill-could-reap-huge-gains-for-koch-industries

The Flawed Arithmetic of a Wisconsin Governor

Yesterday, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker warned that “dire consequences” could result if his anti-union tainted budget bill fails to pass, stating that 1500 could be laid of by July and another 6000 thereafter. Walker claims that his bill isn’t about attacking public unions, an odd claim to make as he insists on continuing to attack the institutional viability of the state’s public employee unions. Especially as those very unions have already agreed to the increases in pension, health care and benefit costs that Walker has requested and with that he should now be satisfied.

But there is now a new twist to the unfolding drama underway in Madison, the state stands to lose $46.6 Million dollars in federal aid for transportation. This could end up hurting Wisconsin’s private sector workers, union and non-union as well as their employers. To wit: “Under an obscure provision of federal labor law, states risk losing federal funds should they eliminate “collective bargaining rights” that existed at the time when federal assistance was first granted. The provision, known as “protective arrangements” or “Section 13C arrangements,” is meant as a means of cushioning union (and even some non-union) members who, while working on local projects, are affected by federal grants. It also could potentially hamstring governors like Walker who want dramatic changes to labor laws in their states. Wisconsin received $74 million in federal transit funds this fiscal year. Of that, $46.6 million would be put at risk should the collective-bargaining bill come to pass — in the process creating an even more difficult fiscal situation than the one that, ostensibly, compelled Walker to push the legislation in the first place.”

According to Sam Stein, one of the reporters commenting on this latest development, Walker and his aides are aware of this but they have refused to return calls when queried as to what alternatives they might try to affect so as to mitigate the problems resulting from the loss of $46.6 million. One can only wonder to what degree Scott Walker has actually sat down and thought about the outcome of what seems to be a situation fraught with an ever increasing degree of recklessness and possibly dangerous brinkmanship. Wisconsin is one of the states that allow its citizens to affect a recall of any and all elected officials after they have been in office for one year. Could Scott Walker being setting himself up for a truncated term in office as a result of the mounting drama and anger now on display in Madison? Who knows, it’s certainly too soon to make that predication, but at the rate at which this story seems to be unfolding, anything could happen and the topic of recall has already made the rounds at least a few times. Stay tuned.

Steven J. Gulitti

2/23/2011

Sources:
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker Warns Of ‘Dire Consequences’ If Budget Bill Fails To Pass
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/22/wisconsin-governor-walker-dire-consequences_n_826865.html?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=022311&utm_medium=email&utm_content=NewsEntry&utm_term=Daily+Brief

Gov. Walker Informed That Bill Targeting Unions May Cost State $46 Million In Federal Funds
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/22/walker-unions-wisconsin-protests_n_826908.html?utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Daily+Brief&utm_campaign=daily_brief

Laws governing recall in Wisconsin
http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Laws_governing_recall_in_Wisconsin

Scott Walker’s Plummeting Poll Numbers

Has buyer’s remorse already begun to take hold among the residents of Wisconsin? Some preliminary polling indicates that in fact that may be the case. Quoting Alexander Burns of Politico: “Scott Walker appears to be paying a price for his confrontation with public employees, according to a new poll taken by the Democratic firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner and sponsored by the AFL-CIO, Change to Win and the NEA. Walker’s favorability ratings are underwater in the poll, with 49 percent saying they have an unfavorable impression of the governor and only 39 percent saying their impression of him was favorable. Just 43 percent of respondents said they supported Walker’s agenda. More importantly, independent voters opposed three major Walker-backed proposals: eliminating collective bargaining for public employees (independents oppose by 26 points), reducing wages for public employees (independents oppose by 25 points) and reducing pension benefits for public employees (independents oppose by 6 points).

Moreover, the polling results belie Governor Walker and his lieutenant’s claims that they have the backing of most of the state’s residents. The survey asked: “If state workers agree to pay more for healthcare and retirement as the Governor has asked, do you think they should also have their collective bargaining rights taken away?” Just 21 percent said of respondents said yes, while 74 percent said no. Walker has said he’s not prepared to cut a deal to preserve collective bargaining. The complete polling information can be accessed at: “Tracking Voter Sentiment in Wisconsin Majorities Oppose Governor Scott Walker’s Anti-Worker and Union Agenda.” When you break down the respondents by political affiliation it is only Republicans who continue to back Governor Walker. According to Talking Points Memo: “Reaction to the specifics of Walker’s Proposals includes overwhelming opposition from Democrats, majority support from Republicans and sizable opposition from independents. Walker has a 10% net disapproval — 39% approve, 49% disapprove.”

These numbers stand in stark contrast to Walker’s pre-election favorablility ratings as per Rasmussen: ”The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters finds the Republican candidate with 52% of the vote, while Barrett, the mayor of Milwaukee, picks up 42% support.” But oddly enough, Walker’s favorability ratings had already started to slump, even before he was sworn in as Governor according to Wisconsin political analyst Craig Gilbert. To wit: “Public Policy Polling has collected popularity ratings on Wisconsin’s Scott Walker and six other newly elected GOP governors since the 2010 election, and Walker does not compare favorably to his peers on that list…In the firm’s Wisconsin survey taken Dec. 10-12, Walker was viewed favorably by 41% of registered voters but unfavorably by 49%. That’s worse than Ohio’s John Kasich (36% favorable/40% unfavorable) and far worse than Pennsylvania’s Tom Corbett (39%/27%); Michigan’s Rick Snyder (48%/26%); Wyoming’s Matt Mead (53%/17%); and Nevada’s Brian Sandoval (57%/20%). The only new GOP governor of the seven who did worse than Walker was Florida’s Rick Scott (33%/43%).

So what then can we point to as being the cause of Scott Walker’s plummeting poll numbers? Well for one thing, the Wisconsin electorate is not nearly as conservative as many would suppose. According to the Milwaukee Sentinel’s Craig Gilbert: “A big factor is that the 2010 Wisconsin electorate was an unusually conservative one, featuring a partisan turnout gap that favored Republicans. By contrast, the post-election poll cited above surveyed registered voters who had voted in any of the major elections in the state between 2004 and 2008. Any sample drawn from that population is likely to be less conservative than the 2010 electorate.” Beyond the demographics of the Wisconsin electorate is the fact that Walker may have overreached in his attack on the state’s public unions as the polling results above suggest. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, appearing on today’s Hardball with Chris Matthews said that Walker had run on a platform of reigning in runaway spending braodly and the specific aspect of his attack on the unions in those areas outside of wages, pensions and health care contributions were never articulated during the campaign and thus represent something that the people hadn’t voted on. Scott Walker’s baltant attack on the institution of public sector unions may represent his “bridge to far” and could in fact turn out to be the biggest mistake of his political career and that’s a less than spectacular start for the new Govenor. Can he recover from this apparent pratfall? That’s unknowable at this point and only time will tell.

Steven J. Gulitti
2/22/2011

Sources:

Politico: Morning Score: Scott Walker takes hit in labor-backed poll;
http://www.politico.com/morningscore/

Tracking Voter Sentiment in Wisconsin Majorities Oppose Governor Scott Walker’s Anti-Worker and Union Agenda http://www.politico.com/static/PPM152_110221_wi_memo.html

New Poll of Wisconsin
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2011/02/new_poll_of_wisconsin.php

Election 2010: Wisconsin Governor
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2010/election_2010_governor_elections/wisconsin/election_2010_wisconsin_governor

The Wisconsin Voter
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/113098334.html

Glenn Beck and His “Caliphate” Upended by the Arab Street

If there’s one thing that can be discerned for sure from recent events in the Middle East, it’s the upending of Glenn Beck’s “Caliphate Conspiracy” and the rendering of that theory and its author to nothing more than a farcical sideshow to the big show now underway in the Muslim world. Moreover Beck’s latest pratfall may be the beginning of his own self inflicted marginalization and eventual irrelevance, resulting from increased criticism of Beck himself by prominent conservatives.

Beck has promoted the theory that “the Egyptian revolution is not about the citizens of the country fighting for their political rights or better economic conditions. Instead, the Egyptian people are being “played” by the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood is also part of larger movement by progressives and Marxist to take over much of the world in the pursuit of “social justice.” Under Beck’s theory the Egyptian revolution will not only spread to other countries the Middle East, but also to India and Europe. The caliphate will consist of India and much of Southeast Asia, in addition to Portugal, Spain, France, and the United Kingdom.”

Well it goes without saying that such a sophomorically simplistic theory should be seen as irrelevant and inapplicable in a complex world such as ours. Not only is it unlikely that devout Muslims would ever make common cause with “the hardcore socialist and the Communist left”, there isn’t enough of a “hardcore of Communists or Socialists” left in the world today to supplement the ranks of this great “Caliphate” army. Those left from yestardays Communist cadres are too busy making money in China, Russia and Southeast Asia. Likewise, today’s European Socialists seem hardly the type to saddle up for a prolonged war to affect the invasion of their own home territories. American Progressives are now, for the time being, engaged with trying to protect the gains of the past eighty years. Perhaps Mr. Beck is relying on the Maoists of Nepal to come to the aid of todays Islamic radicals. Moreover, today there are twenty two different variations of Islamic thinking, parceled beneath the two main Islamic schools of thought. Thus it would be highly unlikely that any ideological unity could be affected from one end of Islam to the other, especially when you consider the cultural and ethnic differences that one would encounter between Casabalnca and Jakarta.

To drive the point home, a sampling of what’s actually happening across the Islamic world reveals just how divorced from reality is Mr. Beck and his theory:

• “The Tunisian revolution that overthrew decades of authoritarian rule has entered a delicate new phase in recent days over the role of Islam in politics… Tunisia’s liberal social policies and Western lifestyle shatter stereotypes of the Arab world…Protesters held up signs saying, “Politics ruins religion and religion ruins politics.”

• [In Bahrain] “an anxious calm prevailed, with a standoff continuing between an absolute monarchy determined to preserve its full range of powers and a peaceful opposition demanding a transition to democracy with an elected government and representative Parliament.”

• “But the demands in Morocco include a desire for a more legitimate democracy; with limits on the power of Mohammed VI…The Arab world is changing and the Moroccan people need a change in the Constitution for more democracy. We want a country like Britain, with a constitutional monarchy and a strong Parliament that is not corrupt.”

• “The Egyptian people have spoken, and we have spoken emphatically. In two weeks of peaceful demonstrations we have persistently demanded liberation and democracy. It was groups of brave, sincere Egyptians who initiated this moment of historical opportunity on Jan. 25, and the Muslim Brotherhood is committed to joining the national effort toward reform and progress.”

• “Surprised by the turnout, older opposition leaders from across the spectrum — including the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood; the liberal protest group the Egyptian Movement for Change, known by its slogan, “Enough”; and the umbrella group organized by Dr. ElBaradei — joined in, vowing to turn out their supporters for another day of protest on Friday. But the same handful of young online organizers were still calling the shots.”

Thus, as shown by the above, there is little evidence of Beck’s claims that:”1. Groups from the hardcore socialist and Communist left and extreme Islam will work together because they are both a common enemy of Israel and the Jew. 2. Groups from the hardcore socialist and Communist left and extreme Islam will work together because they are the common enemy of capitalism and the western way of life. 3. Groups from the hardcore socialist and Communist left and extreme Islam will work to overturn relatively stable countries, because, in the status quo, they are both ostracized from power.” According to Ryan Witt the National Examiner:”there has been no credible evidence that the Muslim Brotherhood is behind the Egyptian uprising. The Muslim Brotherhood did not officially join the protests until days after the uprising began. There is also little chance of the Muslim Brotherhood taking over Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood has never shown the ability to gain widespread support in Egypt, as their agenda is considered too radical for much of the relatively moderate population. Many of the ideas of the Muslim Brotherhood, such as limiting the presidency in Egypt to males only, have been strongly rejected by the Egyptian population.”

Beyond the absurdity of Beck and his “Caliphate Conspiracy” theory there is the increasing irrelevance of Beck himself. It would be innaccurate to describe Glenn Beck as a legitimate political commentator, after all he is nothing more than a political entertainerer, in a sense nothing than the equivelent of a rodeo clown in American political comentary. Beck is nothing but a side show to the big show going on all around him.

Of late, as a result of the “Caliphate Conspiracy”, Beck has been taken to task by several prominent American conservatives. Foremost among Beck’s critics is the NeoConservative William Kristol who said: “When Glenn Beck rants about the caliphate taking over the Middle East from Morocco to the Philippines, and lists (invents?) the connections between caliphate-promoters and the American left, he brings to mind no one so much as Robert Welch and the John Birch Society. He’s marginalizing himself, just as his predecessors did back in the early 1960s.” Richard Lowry of the National Review echoed Kristol’s criticism, to wit: “a well-deserved shot at Glenn Beck’s latest wild theorizing.” David Brooks opined on Beck’s “delusional ravings about the caliphate coming back…For the first time, you began to see a lot of really serious conservatives taking on Beck and people like that, and saying, you know, your theories are just wacky.”

What’s the bottom line on all of Mr. Beck’s “Caliphate” blather; plummeting ratings and a declining audience. According to On Media, The Christian Science Monitor and the New York Times’ Frank Rich:” The January ratings are in and Glenn Beck had his worst performance since his Fox show started in January of 2009, drawing just 397,000 viewers in the 25-54 demographic and 1.762 [million] total viewers.” This decline amounts to a 39 percent decline overall and a 48 percent drop off in the prime 25-to-54 age demographic. This figure represents the steepest decline of any cable news show. Quoting Rich:” His strenuous recent efforts to portray the Egyptian revolution as an apocalyptic leftist-jihadist conspiracy have inspired more laughs than adherents.” Or perhaps as per Business insider, Glenn Beck has merely worn out his welcome with American audiences: “It’s entirely possible viewers are simply tiring of the chalkboard and the high rhetoric, which has been notably higher of late…And needless to say Beck is not the phenom he was a year ago, merely by dint of the country becoming more familiar with him.”

Surely none of this could sit well with Rupert Murdoch and the managers of the Fox News Network. Here we are in the midst of one of the greatest events of this new century and one of their prime time commentators is making a fool of himself peddling absurd theories which only give rise to a wave of criticism from both the left and the networks natural allies on the right. Moreover, all of this controversy is taking place against a steady stream of advertisers asking that their products not be promoted on Glenn Beck’s show. In the end, that can’t be good for Fox as it ultimately cares about advertising revenues, not the validity of the multitude of bizarre Glenn Beck conspiracies. By his recent actions, Mr. Beck has merely moved further away from the center of the national and international political discussion, taking his naive and unsophisticated viewers along with him on a magic carpet ride into the realm of irrelevance.

Steven J. Gulitti
2/21/2011

Sources:

Glenn Beck lifts ‘caliphate’ to the top of Google Trends with conspiracy theory – National Political Buzz | Examiner.com
http://www.examiner.com/political-buzz-in-national/glenn-beck-lifts-caliphate-to-the-top-of-google-trends-with-conspiracy-theory#ixzz1EclycPzH

Glenn Beck Stands By Egypt Caliphate Conspiracy Theory: ‘I’m Not Wrong’
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/04/glenn-beck-egypt-caliphate-conspiracy-theory_n_818564.html

Next Question for Tunisia: The Role of Islam in Politics

Amid Standoff, Opposition Seeks Dissolution of Bahraini Government

Fears of Chaos Temper Calls for Change in Morocco

What the Muslim Brothers Want

Protest’s Old Guard Falls In Behind the Young

Glenn Beck lifts ‘caliphate’ to the top of Google Trends with conspiracy theory
http://www.examiner.com/political-buzz-in-national/glenn-beck-lifts-caliphate-to-the-top-of-google-trends-with-conspiracy-theory#ixzz1Ee0UZ9UV

Why is Glenn Beck freaking out over Egypt and a caliphate?
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/Vox-News/2011/0212/Why-is-Glenn-Beck-freaking-out-over-Egypt-and-a-caliphate

Beck hits ratings low, Maddow tops Morgan
http://www.politico.com/blogs/onmedia/0211/Beck_hits_ratings_low_Maddow_tops_Morgan.html

The G.O.P.’s Post-Tucson Traumatic Stress Disorder