Right-Wing Becklash

Glenn Beck
M. Caulfield, WireImage / Getty Images

by Benjamin Sarlin
The Daily Beast
April 15, 2009

It’s not just liberals who are scared to death by Glenn Beck. Prominent conservative pundits are speaking out, denouncing his hysterics before he sinks the entire movement.

It seems Glenn Beck is the man of the hour, with gushing profiles in The New York Times, exploding ratings, and the rapt attention of left and right alike. Yet Fox News and Beck's appeals to its more militant and conspiracy-minded elements are creating a backlash among a surprising group: the right.

Take Charles Johnson, a jazz musician and software programmer who is best known for his Web site, Little Green Footballs. Although an independent himself, for years Johnson's LGF has been one of the most popular blogs on the right, focusing mostly on national-security issues and the war on terror. It's also been a magnet for criticism from the left and even denounced by some as a "hate site" for its strident criticism of radical Islam.

(More here.)