Limbaugh's head needs to roll... or, fire Rush and fix the radio.

[certainot]

Actually, that's what Limbaugh said about Obama September 10, 2008.

Maybe it was 'it's Obama's head that needs to roll'.  My paraphrasing may be a word or two off but I'm not going to subscribe to his show to get that transcript. Maybe someone out there can set me straight.

Here's how it happened. During the election one of Obama's staff made a mistake of some kind. I can't remember if it was significant or just one of those things that one of the right wing think tanks figured it could blow up if it sent it to Limbaugh to chew on. Limbaugh suggested Obama should fire that staffer. Then he got really absurd, suggesting Obama should fire all his staff, since they were so incompetent, etc. And as a matter of fact, Limbaugh said, Obama's head needs to roll.

Limbaugh can say that from 600 of the loudest radio stations in the country and I may have been one of the only people to complain about it. That's the problem. There is very little chance of getting a call past the call screener and it is a well established and practically exclusive monopoly.

The right wing talk radio liars and hate mongers get a free speech free ride. If they can say it from 1000 radio stations without being challenged in real time, it becomes OK. Many of those stations are stations that mix their national right wing talkers with more hate speech from local Limbaugh wannabes that help the GOP on the local level. All that gets mixed with innocuous and even valuable local programming such as what the best pizza might be, local sports broadcasts, and news, weather, and traffic.

The Left can't keep giving the Limbaughs and Hannitys a free speech free ride to attack and threaten their representatives. Those threats are usually subtle but they are often coordinated on a national level, repeated by multiple talk show hosts. Our representatives feel it when the Limbaughs and Hannitys repeat their names in conjunction with GOP strategy to get the calls into their offices and many of them are intimidated and will compromise and move to the center as a result.

How far can we expect our representatives to 'stick their necks out' if we don't complain when the loudest and most powerful Republican in the country can say 'Obama's head needs to roll' to tens of millions and hardly hear a complaint?

Now TV talking heads and politicians are stepping over each other to spread the blame for the Arizona tragedy to both side of the political spectrum. Bullshit. The Left doesn't have a radio monopoly.

Right wing talk radio is relatively unchallenged and it is THE tool that allows the right to do virtually all the messaging and dominate political discourse in this country. There is no comparison with free speech expression on the internet, in print, or even TV. Other mediums are most notable for what they ignore but the talk radio monopoly can create. It is that uniquely coordinated and unchallenged repetition to 50 MIL a week that creates the kind of media buzz that Madison Ave. can only dream of.

I just heard Joe Scarborough on Morning Joe talk about how he knew that he and others in the media and politics on both sides of the political spectrum knew it would only be minutes before the talking points for spinning the blame would be streaming over all of their iPhones and Blackberries. Scarborough did well otherwise, asking for a 'coming together', but no Joe, most on the Left won't be getting official talking points from GOP  think tanks until they tune into TV shows like yours or particular internet sites.

FBI chief Meuler used a press conference with AZ Sheriff Dupnik to blame the internet and bloggers will get more blame from those who want to regulate the internet. Others will blame Fox, and it deserves blame, but those mediums- the internet, print, and TV, even as they are, still offer easy choices. In most parts of the country the radio monopoly is virtually unchallenged if you want free easy politics while driving or working.

The talk radio monopoly has become the the main culprit determining what is and what isn't acceptable in politics and media in the US. There are no bigger political correctness cops and censors-by-threat than those radio jocks when they repeat the name of a politician or journalist or media outlet.

Some of the local talkers take real calls and emails and offer opportunity to get alternative views on. But don't bother emailing the main national talker's shows - they'll probably just count the complaints and put them in the 'fan' column. Don't bother trying to get past the national call screeners. Very few do.

How to fix talk radio

Environmental and other problems we need to fix soon won't wait for necessary media de-consolidation or some new Fairness Doctrine or other legislative fix. And the chances of those solutions are greatly diminished by the obstructive power of the talk radio monopoly itself.

Defenders of the right wing talk radio monopoly claim that market forces determine that 95% of talk radio stations be right wing. Even in a country that voted overwhelmingly for Obama. Even in overwhelmingly blue markets with overlapping and duplicate right wing radio programming. Even considering that on those rare occasions where they overlap with the Limbaughs and Hannitys the main progressive talkers (Rhodes, Hartmann, Miller, Schultz, Mallloy) can compete and even win.

(Limbaugh and Hannity actually get their big money for selling war, deregulation, tax breaks for billionaires, global warming denial and defeating health care reform. No one will ever get paid hundreds of millions of dollars for selling flooring, flowers, and water heaters on radio.)

National sponsors of the main talkers can be boycotted but are easy to replace with other Republican-friendly alternatives and some also sponsor progressive talkers. IMO it is the radio station's local sponsors that need to be asked how they can continue to sponsor right wing hate radio, especially in blue-voting areas. They pay a lot of the bills at those stations.

Shame on the local businesses that keep sponsoring the non-stop hate, racism, political threats, and global warming denial. Most owners/managers I have spoken to over the years were surprised by my call. Most made a business decision, or deferred to ad agencies who put them on the loudest station in the state. Most don't listen to the talk and believe the characterization of right wing talkers as entertainers instead of parts of a coordinated political attack machine and media management tool. Some I have spoken with altered their advertising.

Shame on the state colleges/universities that broadcast their sports on those stations and give credibility to the hate and lies and torture excuses and global warming denial.

I am convinced Americans can fix this if they become aware of how much those stations effect the flavor of our politics. I am convinced Americans can get many stations to alter their programming if those stations have to rely only on local sponsors who will defend the hate speech and won't be effected by local boycotts.

Right now many of those putting blame on the media are not mentioning talk radio but this won't get fixed until the radio is fixed. Giving a free speech free ride to those giant soapboxes and those who use them to make bipartisanship and rational national discussion of our most important issues and problems practically impossible is no longer an option for what is left of this democracy.

The GOP has been turned from the Party of Lincoln into the Party of Limbaugh and unless it really wants to destroy this country it needs to fire him.

[villager]

1. why is cigarette smoke considered toxic everywhere, but hate speech isn't?

:shrug:

[indepat]

2. Hate speech is a.o.k. any and every where 'cause it's an exclusive franchise of the

RW. ;)