Did Glenn Beck go too far in Couric interview?

By Kevin Price

Part of the brilliance of the man known as Glenn Beck is his capacity to stay in the headlines. With that, it was not a surprise that the first interview that CBS aired of Katie Couric's new online series was with the controversial talk show personality. At the opening of the show you see a visual of Couric with photos of many personalities that we can expect on future shows behind her. I believe that many, if not most, of those interviews have already taken place. She chose Beck in order to attract viewers and she knew from that interview that he brought something that would catch viewers attention: his controversial remarks about Sen. John McCain. During the program he said he preferred Hillary Clinton over Obama (no surprise) and Barack Obama over John McCain. This raised more than a few eyebrows.

Republican Presidential candidate John McCain was never a conservative darling. The Arizona Senator has long been a rogue and has his name on more bills with liberal darlings like Kennedy and Feingold, than of Republican standard bearers. Be it his controversial views on immigration or his opposition to free speech in an effort to curtail the ability of individuals to support candidates, McCain was always more loved by the media than by the rank and file of the party. He won his party's nomination because of the huge number of independent voters and a media continuously singing his praises.

I'm among the many who has criticized Senator McCain, although I greatly admire his service to his country, I was always troubled by the radical directions he was willing to take this nation. Fundamentally, McCain was no more willing to defend the principles of the Constitution than Obama, he just had different priorities in regards to his desire for change. In spite of this, I would find it very difficult to say I supported Obama over McCain.

Radio host Mark Levin has immediately gone on the attack and John McCain has treated the remark as a compliment. I wanted to make a couple of observations of my own on the subject:

• Electing John McCain would mean more "wilderness wanderings" for the GOP. The Republican Party is in desperate need of reform. A candidate like McCain would only slow down that goal.
  
  
• Remember Jimmy Carter? There were two people that made me leave my family's strong liberal and Democrat roots. The most obvious one was Ronald Reagan, who is one of my favorite modern presidents. The second, was Jimmy Carter who could not have demonstrated more clearly how great the need was for our nation to go in another direction. Obama is going to likely have the exact same effect, except he is Jimmy Carter on Steroids.
  
  

The problem many observers are having is can we survive Obama's term? Worse still, could we survive an Obama reelection? The damage he has done, the numerous battle fronts he pursues, and his desire to create a paradigm shift in the way we govern are making us all concerned about the nation's future. On the other hand, many feel as though we are on the eve of a second American Revolution. This stage was set by the radical policies of the Obama Administration.

© Kevin Price