Listen here for Thursday's Bill/Beck conversation. 

Because Glenn Beck will be away from his microphone Friday, Bill joined him for their weekly chat on Blaze Radio a day early. 

Beck began by putting forth this astounding proposition:  "This is a critical week for the president and I think he has had some failures that are epic and titanic in scale.  I don't think he survives this!  If he doesn't fire Steve Bannon, I think he will lose General McMaster and General Kelly.  There is no good that can come out of this, Bannon has to be fired!"  Beck was referring to an interview in which Bannon boasted about his power in the White House and expressed disagreement with the president on some issues, including North Korea. 

But Bill saw the situation as far less dire:  "I don't see it that way.  When you are president of the United States, you still have an enormous amount of power.  Trump has the ability to isolate Bannon, who is sending a signal because he believes he will be fired.  That is my assessment of his bluster.  So Trump has to make a decision and I believe he will fire Steve Bannon next week.  I'm sure that Kelly and Trump will have a strategy going forward." 

Turning to Charlottesville, Beck contended that President Trump made some serious missteps and should have immediately taken "a hard line stance" against white supremacists.  "He won't leave it alone," Bill agreed, "and he doesn't have the discipline to walk away from provocations by the far left.  His problem is that he can't constrain himself, but his annoyance is valid.  The far left is trying to overthrow not only his election, but the entire country."  Beck added, "The left is beyond reason with its hatred of Donald Trump and it will never stop." 

The duo then argued over the CEOs who have quit President Trump's advisory councils, supposedly because of his Charlottesville response.  "This is an economic council," Bill stated, "not a council on racism or Nazis.  If a CEO walks away because far left groups say they are going to organize a boycott against their company, our democracy is shot!  This is extortion and it has to be exposed." 

Beck summarized what he considers President Trump's week from hell:  "You have the jobs council walking away, you have Steve Bannon, you have the media ripping him to shreds, and you have Republicans quietly canceling their appearances because no one wants to stand next to Donald Trump.  He has isolated himself and I don't see Donald Trump having the discipline to withstand this storm, much of it of his own creation." 

Bill and Beck turned to left-wing pressure on media outlets, a subject with which they are very familiar.  "There are cable systems," Bill said, "and there are the corporations that run the news organizations, and all of these people are very susceptible to being attacked.  The far left knows this and they know that they can hire people like The Color of Change, which is paid to attack people with whom they disagree.  Instead of marginalizing that group, the corporations fear them.  This is what happened in Germany when Third Reich people would show up and threaten newspapers.  The Color of Change people are burning things down through threats against sponsors.  One of the few people on television who is not scared is Sean Hannity.  You may not agree with his take, but he's honest about it and he'll tell you that he is under siege 24/7.  Most other commentators on cable news are cowed, they know their livelihood is in jeopardy." 

Beck also praised Michael Medved, a radio host who was fired after he refused an order to have only pro-Trump guests on his airwaves.  "He stood against the same fascism," Beck said, "but it was on the other side." 

In closing, Bill lamented that far too many people in the media "are intimidated and don't have the intellectual heft" to present a far analysis.  He also informed Beck that ratings of The Blaze are ascendant primarily because of Glenn Beck's impeccably-groomed Colonel Sanders-like goatee.