Beck's Small Tent GOP :: David Jenkins

At the recent CPAC gathering, Fox News commentator Glenn Beck, in an apparent jab at Senator John McCain (R-AZ), said, "We have a guy in the Republican Party who says his – his favorite president is Theodore Roosevelt." He then proceeded to skewer one of America's most beloved presidents as a socialist.

Beck disapprovingly read a TR quote, "We grudge no man a fortune in civil life if it is honorably obtained and well used . . . so long as the gaining represents benefit to the community." He actually misread the quote, using the word "judge" instead of "grudge" and then asked, "Is this what the Republican Party stands for?"

Beck continued, "…This is not our founders' idea of America. And this is the cancer that's eating at America. It is big government – it's a socialist utopia. And we need to address it as if it is a cancer."

As is fairly typical with Beck, his bold accusation bears little in common with reality, and he fails to afford his cherry-picked quote the dignity of an accurate historical context.

Beck fails to mention that immediately prior to the snippet he read, TR compared successful entrepreneurs to great generals who deserve to be glorified. In his speeches, TR is very clear that while he sought equality of opportunity—"a square deal"—he abhorred any notion of trying to equalize outcomes, which he makes clear later in the speech:

The fundamental thing to do for every man is to give him a chance to reach a place in which he will make the greatest possible contribution to the public welfare. Understand what I say there. Give him a chance, not push him up if he will not be pushed.

Beck's disdain of TR reflects a fundamental ignorance of the problems TR sought to address, which included a scope of corporate power, corruption and practice that is unknown in our nation today. Railroad and banking monopolies were a concern. There was entrenched influence peddling designed to stifle competition. Child labor and sweatshop conditions were also prevalent.

TR worried that these excesses would cause a populist backlash that would over correct. He was just as quick to admonish those who were envious of wealth or overly critical of business as he was to call for needed reforms in the way business was conducted.

Of course, it is hardly surprising that Beck would take issue with the man who coined the term "lunatic fringe." What is surprising is that Beck's idea of a true Republican also leaves out another beloved president, Ronald Reagan.

In an interview for USA Today Weekend (02/21/10), Beck says this:

I've always said I was a Reagan-style conservative. But I don't think Reagan was a real Republican. He just maintained some shared values.

Really? I am not sure which part of that statement is more illuminating, that Beck doesn't consider Reagan a real Republican, or that he thinks so and is still willing to trade on Reagan's credibility by professing to be a "Reagan-style conservative."

One question I am left asking — and there are many — is, if Beck believes that neither Theodore Roosevelt nor Ronald Reagan are real Republicans, who does he think actually does belong in the party?

I'm sure he would nix Richard Nixon for creating the Environmental Protection Agency. Gerald Ford signed fuel efficiency standards into law, so that probably eliminates him.

One might think Barry Goldwater would clear Beck's bar, but then again, Mr. Conservative once said:

While I am a great believer in the free enterprise system and all that it entails, I am an even stronger believer in the right of our people to live in a clean and pollution-free environment.

Beck could spend an entire show ranting about that.

The GOP according to Glenn Beck would be a very different party indeed. It would be a radical and ideological party intolerant of any compromise, unwilling to adjust to changing realities, and totally disdainful of traditionalist conservatism that recognizes man's obligation to society.

It would also be a politically insignificant party that is incapable of either compelling a majority of the electorate or producing capable leaders.

If the Republican Party is wise, it will reject rabble-rousers like Beck, and the radicalism they peddle, and start demonstrating the real leadership that comes from a capacity to thoughtfully consider and solve the problems that face our nation.

TR perfectly summed up the challenge facing the Republican Party right now when he said:

I do not want to see our people, for lack of proper leadership, compelled to follow men whose intentions are excellent, but whose eyes are a little too wild to make it really safe to trust them.

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