by Kathy Shaidle | April 4, 2009 10:45 am
It was Mark Levin‘s[1] week.
His just-launched book Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto[2] went into its 11th printing, hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and inspired a nationwide craze. Thousands of fans[3] waited on line for hours[4] to get a copy at one particular bookstore.
Hugh Hewitt talked to Levin[5] about his blockbuster book on Tuesday, as well as to regular guest Jim Geraghty about the growth of conservative books and radio in these early days of the Obama era: (“Michael Medved had 150% growth in Hawaii; that is practically unheard of.”)
Hewitt mused about the phenomenon at National Review[6].
Not bad for what Monty Python would have called a “contractual obligation” book! (Levin agreed to his publisher’s demand that he produce a book about conservative thought, as long as they let him write Rescuing Sprite[7] first.)
(Speaking of which: on Wednesday, Levin mused that Sprite had been translated into Chinese and wondered aloud: “Why? Don’t they eat dogs over there…?”)
That said, the spotlight just keeps shining on Rush Limbaugh[8] after all these weeks.
He caught Jon Stewart‘s ire (admittedly, not hard to do) for musing that he might shut down his New York studio[9]. (When 1% of New Yorkers pay more than 50% of the taxes, who can blame him for “going Galt”[10]?)
Salon.com commissioned a piece from Rush’s youngish, liberal female cousin[11]. It’s a must-read: Rush, the supposed villain of the piece, comes across as much more classy and “compassionate” than his liberal detractors.
Meanwhile, a journalism defied convention and actually interviewed Rush Limbaugh personally as part of a school assignment on the radio host. Revealing[12].
Andrew Klavan dared liberal detractors to take the “Rush Limbaugh Challenge”[13]
No less than the Huffington Post[14] declared that in the war between Rush and the White House, Limbaugh was the clear winner, and it was time to drop the issue (cuz, well, “we’re losing…”)
The Washington Times also declared “Rush 1, Obama 0”[15]
Former radio host Bill O’Reilly defended Rush Limbaugh (and Glenn Beck) on David Letterman’s show, and reduced the glib host to mumbles. The clip is a real keeper[16], and a lesson in how to handle yourself with a hostile interviewer.
Of course, the Glenn Beck bash-a-thon continued in both the mainstream media and the web. The new Fox host’s soaring ratings have drawn fire from critics, and it isn’t pretty. Although, admittedly, it’s also kinda funny: take the “Glenn Beck Drinking Game”,[17] for example; this guilty video montage[18] pleasure; and Salon’s sampling of “Glenn Beck Poetry.”[19]
However, the New York Times [20]profile of Beck wasn’t as bad as I’d expected it to be, although like Letterman, the NYT writer falls back on the old “this is just a put-on, right?” canard.
Elsewhere around the dial:
Tongue in cheek (well, more or less): Dennis Miller[21] called for the impeachment of Obama, mostly because he “just wanted to get in first with that,” as he sensed a national mood swing away from the new President.
G. Gordon Liddy[22] interviewed Alan Keyes, who the G-Man descirbed as “more qualified” and “even blacker than our current President.”
Dennis Prager went to the Broadway opening night of the new play Irena’s Vow. He’d been instrumental in raising awareness of the Righteous Gentile’s heartstopping true story. [23]
Prager also announced that his upcoming book based on his life-changing radio series on “male sexuality” was tentatively titled “Your Husband Is Not a Pervert.”[24] (A caller suggested an alternative: “You Want Me To Do WHAT?”)
(Kathy Shaidle blogs at FiveFeetOfFury[25]. Her new book The Tyranny of Nice: How Canada crushes freedom in the name of human rights — and why it matters to Americans, features an introduction by Mark Steyn[26] — who will personally autograph your copy.)
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