Talk:Mark Levin

Bias Plain to See

This page is loaded with bias plain to see, including via the use of fake news from sources such as Huffington Post. You would never see these types of things in a real encyclopedia. It reads like it was written by Media Matters for America who listens to him everyday and reports fake news on everything he says. It reads like a long page filled with one harangue after the next. Not encyclopedic. It completely makes him look hated by everyone but a few racists -- and that's likely the point of the bias, but it's not supposed to be the point of Wikipedia. Here are some instances, and if some of it is long, it is because this article is long on bias and short on being encyclopedic:

1. Levin is known for his incendiary commentary.[8]
2. Levin receives a salary of more than $300,000 per year as president of the non-profit Landmark Legal Foundation, whose donors include the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and ExxonMobil.[23]
3. conservative talk radio
4. Slate magazine's Dahlia Lithwick wrote that "no serious scholar of the court or the Constitution, on the ideological left or right, is going to waste their time engaging Levin's arguments once they've read this book".[31]
5. Other reviewers critiqued the book as "analysis utterly useless in understanding more than half of the American political landscape" while charging "Levin resorts to the same old misinformation to sell his brand of conservatism".[38][39]
6. The Atlantic's review criticized the book's argument that statism is based on utopianism,[43] and a review by Professor Carlin Romano in the Chronicle of Higher Education called the book "disastrously bad from beginning to end".[44]
7. Hans A. von Spakovsky of National Review called the book "required reading for conservative bloggers".[46] Ana Marie Cox, writing in The Guardian, said the book "contains some radical notions about a complete overhaul of the US constitution, but to debate the specifics of their merits is to ignore the larger insanity of the project" while noting "the ludicrousness of his specific 'fixes' and the near-impossibility of achieving them".[47] In the Washington Times, Tenth Amendment Center Executive Director Michael Lotfi criticized Levin's idea as "the bullet to a loaded revolver pointed at the Constitution". Also in the Times, Richard Rahn wrote "If 'The Liberty Amendments' can help foster a national debate about which corrective actions, including constitutional amendments, are needed to increase liberty and prosperity, Mr. Levin will have performed a great national service".[48] Hoover Institution fellow David Davenport wrote in Forbes that Levin's book used "weak arguments".[49][50] Also in Forbes, Ralph Benko credited Levin with "notably and nobly proposing to change the rules of modern politics and governance".[51]
8. Political views: A 2016 study which sought to measure incendiary discourse on talk radio and TV found that Levin scored highest on its measure of "outrage". The study looked at 10 prominent radio and television programs, known for incendiary discourse on political matters, and scored content on the basis of whether it used "emotional display", "misrepresentative exaggeration", "mockery", "conflagration", "slippery slope", "insulting" or "obscene language" and other factors, finding that Levin was the radio host who engaged in the most outrage. The study found that he utilized "outrage speech or behavior at a rate of more than one instance per minute."[8] In How Democracies Die, Harvard University political scientists Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky write that Mark Levin was among the popular right-wing talk radio hosts who "helped to legitimate the use of uncivil discourse" in American politics, and contribute to the erosion of democratic norms.[53]
9. Views on politicians and other individuals: According to The Guardian, "constant attacks on Democrats and the left are important components" of Levin's modus operandi.[54] According to Politico in May 2009, Levin pronounced "almost daily" that Obama "was a failure, a liar and a "statist" who is trying to destroy individual freedom."[55] In June 2017, Levin accused Senator Bernie Sanders of being "a radical Marxist who believes in violence."[56] According to Rutgers University political scientist Stephen Eric Bronner, Levin tends to use "socialism" as a "catch-all term to condemn any policy that strengthens the social welfare function of the state."[57] In July 2014, he called Jon Stewart "a knee-jerk idiot", and suggested that Stewart was a self-hating Jew.[58] He has stated that "Nancy Pelosi’s politics comes as close to a form of modern-day fascism as I’ve ever seen."[8] In January 2019, he called Pelosi "America’s first fascist" when she refused to provides billions in funding to President Trump for a border wall.[59] He has criticized Republicans – including Paul Ryan, Lindsey Graham,[5] John McCain, and Mitch McConnell[60] – with whom he disagrees on "constitutional conservatism." He sometimes refers to these people as RINO's.[54] In July 2009, Levin called former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum a "complete and utter fraud".[61] Levin endorsed Orrin Hatch when he faced a primary challenge in 2012, but later apologized for his endorsement when Hatch said that he would be willing to support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.[23] Since then, he endorsed a number of Republican primary challengers to incumbent Republican senators.[23] Levin supported the Tea Party Patriots' campaign to "fire" House Speaker John Boehner.[23] Earlier in 2010, Levin criticized Glenn Beck for his criticism of congressional Republicans.[62] In March 2016, Levin endorsed Ted Cruz for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.[63] Over a month after Donald Trump was nominated, in September 2016, Levin stated on this radio program that he would vote for Trump in the general election, following his declaration earlier that year that he was in the "Never Trump" camp.[64] He qualified his support by stating that, "I take no responsibility for the dumb things he says or the dumb things his surrogates say."[65] Levin supported U.S. Representative Mo Brooks in his campaign in the 2017 Alabama special election against incumbent Luther Strange, who had received a temporary appointment earlier that year.[66] Levin strongly defended former EPA head Scott Pruitt while he was under a dozen separate ethics investigations. Levin said Pruitt's "policies on the whole have been outstanding," and "I don't throw good people under the bus because the left targets them."[67]
10. Sponsorship and conflicts of interest: During the 2012 election cycle, Levin's show was paid at least $757,000 in sponsorship by the Koch brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity to run ads for the group.[23][68] After the sponsorship ended, Levin began doing ads for the Tea Party Patriots.[23] In 2014 the "Senate Conservatives Fund paid at least $427,000 to Simon & Schuster to purchase copies of one of Levin's books in September and October of 2013."[23] During the same period, Levin frequently promoted the group, which has funded primary challengers of Senate Republicans, on his radio show and Facebook page.[69] Levin did not disclose that the group had made $427,000 of purchases of his book.[69] Levin endorsed Orrin Hatch when Levin was being sponsored by Americans for Prosperity (AFP) which also endorsed Hatch. Levin withdrew his endorsement of Hatch when Levin was being sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots, a group that funded challengers to Hatch; and Levin endorsed primary challengers when the Senate Conservatives Fund, a group which funded primary challengers to incumbent Republicans, purchased $427,000 worth of his books.[23][68][69] Levin dismissed the allegations that he engages in "pay-to-play".[69]
11. President Obama: In 2009, Levin described as "absolutely right" the statement by Sarah Palin that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) includes death panels to decide whether elderly people or sick children were worthy of medical care.[70][71] In 2011, a caller to Levin's show, claiming to be a neurosurgeon, said that the Department of Health and Human Services had issued a document saying that people over age 70 would not be allowed to receive medical treatments. Levin said to the caller, "so Sarah Palin was right." The call was later revealed to be a hoax and the death panel claims were revealed to be false.[72][73][74] Levin satirically noted the similarities between a gathering of "hand-picked" supporters of the Affordable Care Act chosen by the Obama administration to Nazi Sturmabteilung or "Brownshirts" drawing comparisons of the propaganda techniques of the two groups.[75][76] Levin stated in 2013 that "the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated our government" and called President Obama a Muslim Brotherhood "sympathizer".[77][78] In February 2015, Levin stated that President Obama of "seeking to destroy Israel" because "Obama has an affinity for Islam far more than Christianity or Judaism." Levin also blamed Obama for the Ebola crisis, saying "the political policies of this administration which opens the door wide to people from the poorest parts of the world. We don't know who they are, we don't know if they have diseases."[75]
12. President Trump's unfounded Trump Tower wiretapping allegations.[54][80]
13. Wiretap claim: In March 2017, Levin alleged that the Obama administration had used "police state" surveillance tactics against the Donald Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. The Associated Press said that Levin "voiced without evidence the idea that Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower". Levin protested the AP report vigorously, demanding a retraction and an apology on the grounds that his sources for the statement included The New York Times and other newspapers.[79] His statement was reprinted by Breitbart News and reportedly became the basis of President Trump's unfounded Trump Tower wiretapping allegations.[54][80] In September 2017, reports emerged of a court-ordered Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) wiretap on Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort; while certain Trump supporters alleged that this surveillance vindicated Levin and Trump's unsupported assertions, The Atlantic noted: "This is not true – Trump claimed he had been the subject of Obama-ordered, politically motivated surveillance, for which there remains no evidence."[81]
14. "Deep State" conspiracy theories: Levin has claimed that there is an-going "coup" occurring against the presidency of Donald Trump waged by Obama loyalists.[82] Levin's coup claim was referring to investigations of the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and of alleged obstruction of justice by Trump. Levin responded that "I am making the point that what's taking place here is coup activity" and that Robert Mueller's Grand Jury was trying "to destroy the constitutional system. It is the use of the law to subvert the election."[83][84] He has also suggested that former FBI Director James Comey used the Trump-Russia dossier "to blackmail the president."[85][86] In February 2018 Levin said the Nunes Memo shows "Hillary Clinton paid for a warrant" and "Hillary Clinton colluded with the Russians...it appears the FBI at the senior-most levels colluded with the Russians too."[87] Levin's claim was based on the fact that the FBI paid former British spy Christopher Steele for intelligence information relating to Russia that led to the warrant to surveil former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page in 2016, and that Steele had been paid indirectly by sources affiliated with the Democratic Party. However, the memo says Steele was a "longtime FBI source" and that the separate investigation into Russian contacts with the Trump campaign was not based on information in the Steele dossier; Page had under FBI investigation since at least 2013.[88][89] In August 2018, Levin stated that Mueller is a "greater threat to this Republic and Constitution than anything Vladimir Putin did during the [2016] campaign."[90][91]
15. Further reading: Jeffrey M. Berry and Sarah Sobieraj. 2016. The Outrage Industry: Political Opinion Media and the New Incivility. Oxford University Press.

Lawfare (talk) 20:19, 25 January 2019 (UTC) Not surprised that I don't see a response from the morons who edit this garbage site. I really enjoy when you post requests for donations to keep your site going after reading crap like this. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.224.26.135 (talk) 01:06, 30 March 2019 (UTC)

Don't the Leftists on this site follow the news? "unsubstantiated conspiracy theory that President Obama wiretapped Trump". The citations are all op-eds by Obama apologists. Embarrassing.

Hutcher (talk) 23:03, 29 May 2019 (UTC)

Omitting that Lord and Coyne are conservative partisans

One editor keeps making changes that obscures that Jeffery Lord and John Coyne are conservative partisans. Failing to note this misleads readers into thinking Levin's 2019 book has received mixed reviews when in fact it's been panned by nonpartisan reviewers in reliable sources but lauded by partisans in non-reliable sources. Snooganssnoogans (talk) 15:04, 27 May 2019 (UTC)

If the text omits that Lord and Coyne are conservative partisans, then the reviews do not belong at all in this article. Snooganssnoogans (talk) 15:07, 27 May 2019 (UTC)

Awilley, can you please instruct Dcflyer to abide by WP:BRD? The editor refuses to engage on the talk page and keeps edit-warring newly added content into the article. Snooganssnoogans (talk) 12:30, 29 May 2019 (UTC)

The one-sided bias advocated in editing this article is amazing. Multiple editors have attempted to balance the content. Not just DCflyier. Yet, instead, this article is becoming more and more a one-sided hit piece. What ever happened to NPOV? Does it not apply to this article? Tag-teaming, to claim a one-sided POV is acceptible, is not how WP is supposed to be. Miguel Escopeta (talk) 18:08, 10 June 2019 (UTC)

Unsubstantiated Conspiracy Theory ?

Wiretapping is not even close to an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory. This factually happened. There were FISA warrants. Using the so-called “two-hop” rule coupled with unmasking, the Obama admin could “wiretap” or conduct surveillance on not only Carter Page and George P., but the people they contacted, and the people THEY contacted. This is not even debatable. SDW2001 (talk) 15:44, 7 June 2019 (UTC)

The POV push by certain editors is entirely one-sided. They tag-team to remove any balancing content. Miguel Escopeta (talk) 18:09, 10 June 2019 (UTC)

Levin's military service?

Why do the unanswered questions about Levin's military service keep disappearing? 05:39, 17 June 2019 (UTC)