Washington Post op-ed columnist Dana Milbank is turning anti-Glenn Beck sentiment into an industry, but the question remains - will the industry be profitable?.
Milbank has increasingly been focusing in on Beck's antics over the past few months, especially after Beck's September 2010 rally on the National Mall where the Fox news pundit turned Washington on it's head when he surprised everyone with an overall calm and peaceful gathering of patriotic Americans.
Anybody who watches Beck's show on a daily basis would presumably be disappointed with the rally compared to his show. Beck's show is more fun, ie. much more chalkboard use. I'm not saying that the rally was disappointing itself, it simply had a lot less politically charged muster.
Well anyways, Dana Milbank is pissed. He thinks Beck is an idiot and wants to stop at nothing before burying him on page 2 (where Milbank's column appears twice a week). Including riding Beck's coattails all the way to the bank.
Milbank (left) and Beck (right) are more similar than they are different. Here's why:
- both use humor to make political points about public affairs and news of the day
- both are paid for by news publications to spin the news
- both can go way overboard (and often do) to their detriment
- both think they can do no wrong and are godsends to their base
- both use multiple mediums to spread their message
One thing is incontravertable, both Beck and Milbank are extremely popular among their respective bases. Beck probably has more followers and definitely more know his name compared to Milbank. More people watch TV than read the Washington Post.
We'll probably be seeing more of Dana Milbank in years to come. He's kind of a diamond in the rough - much like Glenn Beck on HLN. These guys have to be marketed in the right way in order to maximize their profitability. Milbank himself has appeared in upwards of 20 video versions of his "Washington Sketch".
Milbank along with associate Chris Cilliza of The Fix, they got into trouble when the two referred indirectly to Hillary Clinton being a "bitch" in an shortly-lived but very funny ---. Cilliza recently joined MSNBC as a political contributor, and it's probable that Milbank will follow suit.
Too bad we'll never see these two gents share any time on the small screen. Beck never sits down with anyone who dissagrees with him and Milbank is way too happy riduculing Beck in the shadows of the Post's opinion pages. Plus, so many beltway critics rail on Beck, it's possible that Beck has no idea who Dana Milbank is.
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