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For other people named Mark Levin or Mark Levine, see Mark Levine.
Mark Levin
Career
ShowThe Mark Levin Show
NetworkABC Radio Networks
StyleTalk radio
CountryUnited States
Websitehttp://marklevinshow.com

Mark Reed Levin (born September 21, 1957) is an American radio host, author, and political commentator. He is the host of The Mark Levin Show, a nationally-syndicated talk show that airs throughout the United States on Citadel Media (formerly known as ABC Radio Networks). Levin earned his B.A. and J.D. at Temple University. His book Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto debuted at #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list (hardcover nonfiction) the week of April 3, 2009.

Career and honors

Beginning in 1981, Mark R. Levin served as advisor to several members of President Ronald Reagan's Cabinet, eventually becoming Associate Director of Presidential Personnel and ultimately Chief of Staff to Attorney General Edwin Meese; Levin also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education, and Deputy Solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior. He has practiced law in the private sector, and is president of the Landmark Legal Foundation in Leesburg, Virginia. He holds a B.A. from Temple University, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude, as well as a J.D. from the Temple University Beasley School of Law.

In 2001, the American Conservative Union gave Levin its Ronald Reagan Award.

Radio host

The Mark Levin Show

Levin began his radio career in 2002 as a Sunday afternoon host on WABC. His radio show, a mix of political and social commentary from a conservative point of view, covers legal issues in some detail, including decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. Levin follows the traditional talk radio model of taking listener phone calls throughout the show. In the fall of 2003, his show filled the 6-8 p.m. (ET) time slot. As of February 2, 2009, his show was expanded to three hours, to take the 6-9 p.m (ET) time slot.

As of 2006, his show is syndicated by ABC Radio on over 150 stations as well as on the XM America Right and SIRIUS Patriot channels. Levin's show has been rated number one in its time slot in New York, Chicago, Detroit, Dallas - Fort Worth and Washington, D.C. According to Talkers' Magazine, The Mark Levin Show is tied for the fourth most-listened to talk show with The Laura Ingraham Show on commercial radio in the United States, with more than 5.5 million listeners weekly.

Levin has participated in the Freedom Concerts, an annual benefit concert to aid the families of fallen soldiers, and he uses his show to promote the concerts. Levin is also involved with Troopathon, a charity which sends care packages to soldiers serving overseas.

Levin occasionally has guests on his show, including Republican politicians, conservative pundits and commentators, and right-leaning entertainers such as Jackie Mason, Jon Voight, and Clint Walker.

Other programs

Levin began his broadcast career as a guest on conservative talk radio programs. For many years he was a frequent contributor of legal opinions to The Rush Limbaugh Show, where Limbaugh referred to him on-air as "F. Lee Levin," a tongue-in-cheek reference to the famous defense attorney F. Lee Bailey. He was also a contributor to The Sean Hannity Show and eventually got a radio slot of his own, on WABC, following Sean Hannity's program. Hannity has nicknamed Mark Levin "The Great One." Levin and Hannity remain frequent contributors to each other's programs, often calling in and facetiously referring to each other as "Doctor Hannity" and "Doctor Levin."

Writer

Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto

File:Liberty and Tyranny.jpg
Cover of Liberty and Tyranny

Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto (ISBN 1-41656-285-0) was released on March 24, 2009 and became a #1 New York Times best seller for eleven of twelve weeks, as well as #1 on Nielsen's BookScan. The book explores the question, "What is the meaning of the word 'conservatism'?" and discusses many modern perspectives that attempt to claim the title of true conservative principles. The book includes discussion of a variety of issues that, according to Levin, need to be addressed in the United States to return it to the values and principles that aided its quick maturation into a leader and beacon of liberty to the rest of the world. These values comprise what Levin refers to as his "conservative manifesto." The book addresses topics such as taxation, environmentalism, judicial activism, the federal bureaucracy, public education, immigration, entitlements, national security/foreign policy, faith, free-market economics, and the Constitution. Liberty and Tyranny has sold over one million copies according to Threshold Editions, the book's publisher.

Steve Almond of Salon Magazine in a critique of Liberty and Tyranny states that "the tantalizing beauty of a Mark Levin's text resides precisely in this ability to attribute any crisis of State to its nefarious indulgences. The current economic meltdown, for instance, should not be blamed on the psychotic greed of Wall Street, but on the State's deranged need to throw money at the poor and undeserving."

Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover's Story of Joy and Anguish

In 2007, Levin released a non-political book about his dogs, Pepsi and Sprite, but specifically the book was about Sprite, a Spaniel mix that his wife and son persuaded him to adopt from the local shelter in 2004. The book was titled Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover's Story of Joy and Anguish (ISBN 1-41655-913-2). Rescuing Sprite chronicles Sprite’s health deterioration over the 2006 year.

Men In Black: How The Supreme Court is Destroying America

Levin authored the bestselling book, Men In Black: How The Supreme Court Is Destroying America (ISBN 0-89526-050-6) in 2005, in which Levin promotes the thesis that judges (from all parts of the political spectrum) have "legislated from the bench." National Review described Men in Black as "a brief, accessible history of judicial activism and offers possible solutions to curb it." On the other hand, Slate senior editor and legal correspondent Dahlia Lithwick asserted 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."

Other works

Levin was a contributing editor for National Review Online (NRO) from 2006-2007, and continues to blog occasionally on the NRO site The Corner. In addition to his originalist views on the Constitution, Levin holds conservative beliefs on policy and social issues and often ridiculed President George W. Bush and liberal Republicans in Congress for attempts at moderating their views on social issues under the "compassionate conservatism" label.

Controversies & Criticism

Levin has been criticized by some liberals and conservatives for statements that he has made during his radio program as well as during phone calls to other radio programs. The progressive media watchdog group Media Matters for America has been a frequent critic of Levin, citing his remarks on several occasions. David Frum, a conservative journalist and former speechwriter for George W. Bush, has also criticized Levin's confrontational approach as an example of an " increasingly angry tone of incitement being heard from right-of-center broadcasters" and has accused him of contributing to an atmosphere that "invites, incites, and prepares a prefabricated justification for violence."Mark McKinnon, a Republican political consultant to George W. Bush and John McCain, has called Levin "truly a hate-monger" who "spews venom."

Levin has been accused by critics on the left, including journalist Dana Goldstein, of sexism for derogatory remarks that he has made about the appearance of female politicians and members of organizations he disagrees with, including the National Organization of Women, which he has called the "National Organization of Women Who Look Like Men" and the "National Organization of Really Ugly Women". He also referred to US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor as "Ruth Bader Ginsburg plus about 50 pounds", and has nicknamed former Democratic Senator and current Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton "Hillary Rotten Clinton" and "Her Thighness". Levin has singled out Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on a number of occasions, frequently referring to her as "Stretch" because of his stated belief that she has had multiple facelifts.

During his May 21, 2009 broadcast, in response to a female caller who spoke in defense of President Barack Obama's plan to close Guantanamo Bay, Levin shouted at the woman, "I don't know why your husband doesn't put a gun to his temple. Get the hell out of here." Levin's outburst drew condemnation from both liberals and conservatives, including David Frum, who said that if a random listener overheard his remarks, their reaction would be " something like, 'I dont know what’s wrong with that horrible man, but I do know this: whatever side he’s on, any decent person would have to be on the opposite.'"

References

  1. Levin, Mark R. (2007). Rescuing Sprite. Simon and Schuster. p. 28. ISBN 1416559132, 9781416559139. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  2. "Mark R. Levin Bio on National Review Online". Retrieved 12/01/2008. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  3. "Hardcover Nonfiction". The New York Times. 2009-05-08. Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  4. CPAC Pleased to Present Annual Reagan Award
  5. Landmark Legal Foundation
  6. ^ Jeffrey, Terence (2006-10-02). "Mark Levin Takes Talk Radio by Storm". Human Events. Retrieved 2007-09-16. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  7. . Talkers magazine. May 2009 Top Talk Radio Audiences http://talkers.com/online/?p=71=The Top Talk Radio Audiences. Retrieved 2009-05-15. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. The Chronicle Christian Newspaper - Your Christian news authority! - Sean Hannity, Freedom Concert comes to Nokia Theatre
  9. Montgomery Gentry loves country and sings for "Freedom"
  10. Troopathon Homepage
  11. Vivian, Jordan (2009-09-15). "Liberty and Tyranny Sells a Million". Human Events. Retrieved 2009-09-21. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. Almond, Steve (2009-09-12). "Glenn Beck is the future of literary fiction". Salon. Retrieved 2009-09-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. "Men in Black: Mark R. Levin on the Court", National Review, February 01, 2005,
  14. Dahlia Lithwick, "The Limbaugh Code: The New York Times best seller no one is talking about.", Slate, April 1, 2005
  15. "Search Results: The Mark Levin Show". Media Matters for America. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
  16. Frum, David (2009-08-13). "The Reckless Right Courts Violence". New Majority. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
  17. http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-10-04/obamas-george-bush-problem/?cid=hp:mainpromo2
  18. Goldstein, Dana (2009-05-22). "Do Conservative Talk Radio Hosts Ever Have Sex?". The American Prospect. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
  19. "Levin on his 'National Organization of Ugly Women' remark: '[F]or now on, it's the National Organization of Really Ugly Women'". Media Matters for America. 2008-09-09. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
  20. "Mark Levin: Sotomayor is "Ruth Bader Ginsburg plus about 50 pounds"". Media Matters for America. 2008-07-15. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
  21. ^ "On Hannity radio show, WABC's Levin said of Pelosi:'You could bounce a dime off her cheeks'". Media Matters for America. 2007-04-06. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
  22. Friedersdorf, Conor (2009-05-22). "I don't know why your husband doesn't put a gun to his temple". The American Scene. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
  23. "Levin to female caller: "I don't know why your husband doesn't put a gun to his temple. Get the hell out of here."". Media Matters for America. 2009-05-22. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  24. Frum, David (2009-05-22). "No Wonder People Hate Us". New Majority. Retrieved 2009-08-19.

External links

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