Joe Scarborough channeled tiny little tidbits of William F. Buckley this morning on his show after playing one of Glenn Beck's more bizarro clips from this week, saying he was bad for Republicans, bad for Fox News, and bad for the conservative movement.
Golly, ya think? I'm really glad Joe could take time out from his snackies to let us all know that, but I think it's going to have to be said just a little louder and a little bit more clearly for anyone to really hear it, especially when we have the likes of Michele Bachmann saying (in public, no less), that Beck could balance the budget.
The most interesting panelist reaction comes from Pat Buchanan, Mr. Racist Extraordinaire, who cannot bring himself to say it. The best he can do is to disagree with the clip Scarborough showed, but on the actual question of whether Glenn Beck is an idiot with a show, a dog whistle and an incoherent message that no one but Beck understands, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
I did appreciate Joe pointing out that his nonsense could get someone hurt or killed, but I've just gotta say, Joe, you're no William F. Buckley. That role goes to someone else to play, yet to be determined.
The fact that Scarborough ran with this at all, and did so while mentioning Karl Rove more than once exposes the deep rift within the Republican Party between the tea party contingent and the more traditional right wingers. Peter Wehner is no moderate and has been vocal more than once about his feelings when it comes to Glenn Beck. It's clear there's a subterranean power struggle inside the GOP between the wild, manic Beckian contingent led by the likes of Sarah Palin, Michele Bachman and Jim DeMint, and the usual conservative but not batsh*t crazy wing led by the Karl Rove contingent. It remains to be seen who will win.
