Another day, another ill-tempered talk radio host.

On his radio show Monday evening, Mark Levin fielded a call from an atheist who agreed with him on 95% of everything. That 5% of disagreement? Whether faith in God is a prerequisite for being a good president with limited government values.

The caller’s only point was that it “drives him crazy” when people like Levin exclude the possibility that an atheist conservative or libertarian could be just as effective a leader as a God-fearing one, so long as the foundational belief in limited government is there. And it’s not just atheist Levin listeners who feel that way: National Review scribe Charles C.W. Cooke wrote an excellent piece on how conservatism and atheism are quite compatible.

But never ye mind. Levin was not interested in having that conversation. The Founders all believed in God, he said, so nah-nee-nah-nee-poo-poo.

The caller remained calm throughout the entire call, speaking in a monotone, while Levin berated him (alternating between a shout and preening condescension) with the throwaway line that atheists are “intolerant” of his Judeo-Christian values. He attempted to portray himself as the “tolerant” one: “If you’re an atheist, I could care less. Isn’t that amazing? I could care less if you pray to yourself. I could care less if you pray over a three-day-old bagel. It doesn’t even bother me. But the fact that I bring it up, this angers you.”

“Well, first, Mark, it’s ‘Couldn’t care less,’ not ‘could care less,'” the caller responded.

“Okay, fine,” said Levin, who paused before adding: “Actually, it is could care less.”

“No, it isn’t,” the caller said. “It doesn’t make sense.”

And that set Levin off: “You know what? You’re an ass. I’ve had enough of you. You’re a real punk. You know that? You have contributed nothing to this program in ten minutes; zero. And you’re not that smart. You may think you’re smart, but you talk in circles. […] The problem that some of you atheists have is you’re intolerant. And you’re a punk. So get lost. Get out of here.”

Listen to that below:

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And you can listen to the full eight-minute-long call, if you so desire:

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[h/t The Right Scoop]

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