12 Replies to “Levin on “Hannity” discussing Ameritopia”

1. sdferr says:

   January 18, 2012 at 10:01 am

   Hannity makes me sad.

2. leigh says:

   January 18, 2012 at 10:11 am

   Hannity is incredibly stupid. I can’t listen to him.

   sdferr, you’re a great American.

3. cranky-d says:

   January 18, 2012 at 10:14 am

   Alan left the show a few years ago. I don’t know why. He still does his radio show on a regular basis (I guess, I would never listen to it), and of course they dust him off every now and then to play the token left-wing nut as a guest on some other shows.

4. leigh says:

   January 18, 2012 at 10:21 am

   Colmes is Monica Crowley’s BIL. Thanksgiving must be a real brawl of a good time.

5. Squid says:

   January 18, 2012 at 10:31 am

   At least Hannity gets out of Levin’s way long enough to let him make his arguments. And he makes them well.

6. Squid says:

   January 18, 2012 at 10:43 am

   Regarding the references to “you can’t choose a light bulb, but you can choose your leaders,” Levin makes a brief note of de Tocqueville. Specifically, the relevant passage is from Democracy in America, vol II, Book 4, Chapter VI:

   It must not be forgotten that it is especially dangerous to enslave men in the minor details of life. For my own part, I should be inclined to think freedom less necessary in great things than in little ones, if it were possible to be secure of the one without possessing the other.

   …It is in vain to summon a people who have been rendered so dependent on the central power to choose from time to time the representatives of that power; this rare and brief exercise of their free choice, however important it may be, will not prevent them from gradually losing the faculties of thinking, feeling, and acting for themselves, and thus gradually falling below the level of humanity.

   …To manage those minor affairs in which good sense is all that is wanted, the people are held to be unequal to the task; but when the government of the country is at stake, the people are invested with immense powers; they are alternately made the playthings of their ruler, and his masters — more than kings and less than men…

   It is indeed difficult to conceive how men who have entirely given up the habit of self-government should succeed in making a proper choice of those by whom they are to be governed; and no one will ever believe that a liberal, wise, and energetic government can spring from the suffrages of a subservient people.

   Alexis de Tocqueville would recognize the light bulb ban, along with the myriad other ways in which government has insinuated itself into every trifling detail of our lives, as exactly the sort of petty enslavement that he warned against. Similarly, he’d recognize the quality of our political class as the result of “men who have entirely given up the habit of self-government.”

   You want proof that there is a long-running conspiracy to keep Americans dependent and ignorant? Look no further than the syllabus for every social studies class across America, where Publius and de Tocqueville are never even mentioned, much less read and discussed. I sincerely hope that Levin’s message finds its way beyond those who already understand, and gets picked up by those who were never taught what it meant to be American back when the country and its people were great.

7. Pablo says:

   January 18, 2012 at 10:53 am

   Cavuto is better at this.

8. LBascom says:

   January 18, 2012 at 12:23 pm

   I gotta disagree Pablo, Cavuto never let Levin finish a second sentence the whole interview.

9. apple_gal says:

   January 18, 2012 at 12:58 pm

   downloading the audiobook; in the middle of a freelance project, so this will be good to listen to while I work. Can’t wait to read Jeff’s opinion.

10. The Monster says:

    January 18, 2012 at 4:51 pm

    That line: “you can’t choose a light bulb [for yourself], but you can choose your leaders [to choose the light bulb for everyone],” is The Fundamental Contradiction of the Democratic Nanny State. If you can’t choose for yourself, how can you choose for us all?

    “He can’t even run his own life, be damned if he’ll run mine, Sunshine!”

11. RI Red says:

    January 18, 2012 at 7:19 pm

    Hannity was remarkably self-contained, actually letting Levin make his points without stepping on him. Almost as if he understood that this is real good stuff being said by Levin.
    And Colmes is a caricature of the Left. A very accurate caricature.

12. batboy says:

    January 19, 2012 at 11:37 am

    Colmes got tired of being beaten up by Hannity’s chin. He’s moved on to mocking parents whose children have died after two hours of life.

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