Glengarry Glenn Beck

It’s been a busy week in Beckistan, with Time and Katie showering love upon The Only Wingnut That Matters, and his hometown mayor (but not his hometown city council) giving him a hero’s welcome today.

But we’ve been wondering how long the joy could last, what with Beck stealing the gold leads from top snake-oil salesmen Limbaugh, O’Reilly and Hannity. This meddles with the primal forces of nature, after all. Beck needs to see the face of God.

Or short of that, Mark Levin.

“I think there’s enormous confusion and positioning and pandering,” sniffs Levin, author of Stinque Book Club favorite Liberty and Tyranny — which is ranked only fourth at Amazon this week, behind two Beckstops. “Comparing Rush Limbaugh to Glenn Beck is like comparing George Washington to George Jefferson.”

Even weight-loss spokesman Limbaugh, before appearing on Jay Leno’s Network Timeslot Killers Thursday night, griped about Beck’s uncanny ability to appropriate national tragedies for personal glory. “I don’t rally people and haven’t since the first year of my radio show,” said the organizer of Operation Chaos. “I thought it was cheap and disingenuous.”

And embarrassing — the Democrats have been only too happy to raise money off Beck instead of Limbaugh. But that’s the game: bête noire one day, forgotten loser the next. Oxy’s for closers, pal.

Levin Escalates War Against Beck: ‘You’ll Keep Making A Lot Of Money, But…You Won’t Make A Difference’ [Think Progress]