Zaitchik’s articles place Beck in a context we have discussed before. At one time, there were rules about who was allowed near microphones, at least on the national level. During The Age of Murrow, you simply weren’t allowed on the air (on a national level) if you were exceptionally dumb, very nutty, or blatantly fake and phony. But then, the democratization of media! First, we let Howard Stern on the air, then we decided to make room for Imus. Now, the process of dumbing-down has extended all the way down to Beck.