Fox’s latest Neilsen numbers are its worst since 2001, and in prime time it’s losing ground to MSNBC in that crucial 25-54 age bracket. But if the Fox brass is considering any changes to its modus operandi, you can't tell from some of the recent additions to its stable – particularly Erick Erickson of Red State, and radio host Mark Levin, both of whom are dyed-in-the-wool right wingers. 

Erickson, recently cut loose from CNN, has criticized the right-wing outrage-mongering machine recently; but he’s got his own history of outrage-mongering zingers. Like his suggestion that “feminazis were enraged” by an anti-abortion Super Bowl ad because “that’s what being too ugly to get a date does to your brain." Maybe he’ll try to take a higher road at Fox. I think he tried to do that in an op-ed published Friday, though it was somewhat incoherent and I wasn't quite sure what he was saying. I think it was that despite the New York Times urging Democrats to press their advantage, Republicans aren’t gonna back down from opposing things like gun control and raising taxes.

As for Levin, he is going to be a regular contributor on Hannity, so I'm sure we'll hear plenty of outrage-mongering rants like this, re-posted by Fox Nation from Levin’s radio show of last Thursday:

“The Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated our government, it's called Barack Obama. No, he's not a formal member, he's a sympathizer….. What kind of commander-in-chief would nominate somebody like Chuck Hagel to be Secretary of Defense? I'll tell you what kind of commander-in-chief, the kind of commander-in-chief that arms the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamonazi regime in Cairo while he's hallowing (hallowing?) out the greatest military force on the face of the earth under his direct command, the United States military. That's what kind of commander-in-chief [he is]. 

Levin does seem to have his admirers, though. Take this jaw-dropping bit of hero-worship, from a blogger called “Queen of Liberty,” which the Fox Nation somehow saw fit to re-post: “Mark Levin’s books about judicial activism, liberty and conservatism are eloquent, artistic, literary masterpieces that started an intellectual movement all across our nation…. Levin is a contemporary Shakespeare whose books should be left out on your desk like your Bible, dictionary, thesaurus or Constitution. They should be a reference that should be looked at time and time again if not daily.”

I am beyond words, gentle reader. Time to go to bed.