Very interesting article from The American Conservative on the damage done by right wing radio.

[sufrommich]

I almost feel sorry for the sane conservatives out there, pining for the good old days when William F. Buckley led the charge (I said almost).


How radio wrecks the right:

http://www.amconmag.com/article/2009/feb/23/00006/

[Captain Hilts]

1. This is REALLY good! I've often wondered how the party of Rockefeller, Buckley, etc. sank so low.

[msongs]

2. wondered? think.....religion nt

[Captain Hilts]

16. That's a constant, not a variable. Look at Father Coughli and all the FDR/ER as godless socialists

crap.

[sufrommich]

7. It almost reads like a sad look back at the republican party

before they opened Pandora's box.

[Kingofalldems]

3. I would expect an apology to Rush by the end of the day

[mwb970]

6. LOL! /nt

[Captain Hilts]

17. Humor like that is one of the reasons I'm a Dem. nt

[hatrack]

4. Patently obvious remarks from Derbyshire, 20 years too late

Sorry about your political "movement" - ready to wrest it back from the 14 million Rush-listening Freedumb Fighters who control it, John?

Yeah, I didn't think so either . . .

[billybob537]

5. The whackjobs who like Rush either wont read this

or wont understand how he radicalizes the perception of the Republic party

[sufrommich]

8. Yep, it's already being slammed by the freepers, who ironically

don't realize that they are the republican product the writer is talking about.

[billybob537]

10. Republic power brokers

are sitting back laughing "see it's easy to fool FOOLS"

[LynnTheDem]

9. "If only (Rush) had said the same about George W. Bush."

Amazing; yet again I can find common ground with the American Conservative magazine. Also too this is one magazine Palin' doesn't read, you betcha.

[sufrommich]

14. I think Palin prefers the radio,she doesn't have to sound out

any big words that way.

[Captain Hilts]

11. Interesting that a native of England wrote it. nt

[supernova]

19. Yes, I know the types of conservatives

he's talking about, that used to run the GOP.

I almost long for them to return. We could talk to them. We could debate with them, intelligently. We could (shudder) compromise.

[Captain Hilts]

20. Those folks still exist. I know some. I remember watching Firing Line and

"The Advocates" hosted by Michael Dukakis with William Rusher and John Kenneth Galbraith debating.

[supernova]

26. I used to watch FL too

:D

when I was kid. My parents would sometimes watch it. I didn't understand much, but I sure was impressed with WFB's vocabulary. ;-) I don't remember The Advocates though.

[sufrommich]

28. I remember watching William Buckley and Gore Vidal jousting

on television. Although Buckley eventually called Vidal a "faggot" in a fit of rage, it was miles more intellectual than any back and forth we'll ever see in this day of 24 hour news(you would think they could set aside a couple minutes for something more than smirky,infantile "gotcha" talk).

[Captain Hilts]

32. The Advocates was a New England thing on WGBH, etc. It was a formal-style debate...

about an important issue of the day. Dukakis moderated the debate.

[sufrommich]

21. I agree supernova, the article actually left me with a sense

of sadness. I've always been a democrat, but am old enough to remember a republican party that did not scare the shit out of me on a daily basis.

[supernova]

27. That's the truth

I almost long for the return of the staid, boring, cigar-smoking, napoleon-brandy drinking, men's club leather-wingback-in-the-library sitting guys.

:-(

[eshfemme]

12. I would pity them like the bleeding heart liberal that I am

Until I remember this key fact: THEY FUCKED THEMSELVES OVER. Even if they're helped and recover, they're going to inevitably end up fucking themselves over-- probably also taking everyone else down with them. Because you know the Republicans, they're determined to not only be miserable but to make the whole world miserable with them.

[sufrommich]

18. It is hard to feel sorry for them, but a sane republican party

should be encouraged.The shrill level they operate at now is not healthy for any of us living in this country.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

13. I disagree with this part of the article

to quote:

“Local community” invariably turns out in practice to mean leftist agitator and race-guilt shakedown organizations—the kind of environment in which Obama learned his practical politics.

Oh come on. Here in NW Arkansas, where there are so many hate groups its ridiculous, the only reason the "local community" radio isn't further to the right is because calling for the death of certain public officials is frowned upon. The conservatives are just mad because local community control of programming means that liberals living in a liberal area won't have to have their airwaves polluted with hate radio any more.

[Captain Hilts]

15. Yes, I do, too. I think the writer is a coastal person, in addition to being English. nt

[supernova]

22. "Coastal"?

Please define. I don't quite get your meaning here.

[Captain Hilts]

23. He probably lives in a blue city in a blue state. Like DC, NYC, LA, SF, Bos, Phil...etc. nt

[rvablue]

36. Not disagreeing with you. But might I add so do Coulter, Hannity, O'Reilly and Beck!!! n/t

[supernova]

25. Oh I see

Thanks. ;-)

Supernova <-- coastal liberal redneck. :D

[Captain Hilts]

30. Durham's pretty swanky!

I spent a lot of time in the Norfolk/Va. Beach area.

[Blue_Tires]

24. some brave people tried to have this conversation

when the everyday mainstream radio rhetoric turned really extreme (i.e., leading up to and right after Oklahoma City), but they were mercilessly shouted down, and that only seemed to feed the power of hate radio -- more and more stations were going to full 24-hour 'hate' formats and new local 'talents' were popping up in every market...

then Clinton left and things calmed down a little until 9-11 and everything just went surreal...

[dalaigh lllama]

29. This was a timely posting for me. Thank you

I had just received a "funny" by Neal Boortz in my inbox on facebook. I responded to my friend with this guy's description of talk radio conservatism: "Happy Meal Conservatism: cheap, childish, and familiar." Ended my reply with: "Seems like all they got left for 'big ideas' is making sure their pasty white asses look good by dissing anyone they can characterize as 'other.'"

[sufrommich]

31. That pretty much sums it up. Every time I get a right wing email

I marvel at the sheer childlike stupidity. It seems to all boil down to fear and anger. Some message.

[high density]

33. They've got Reagan and Limbaugh

One of their leaders is dead and the other one is a multimillionaire inflammatory talk show host that wants nothing but high ratings and more money. These two figures are not going to help them connect with the 20- and 30-somethings that will soon be commanding this country and its elections for the years to come.

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

34. "colorful, populist, political talk radio seems to be a thing that liberals can’t do"

I guess Derbyshire has never heard of Thom Hartmann or Ed Schultz, both of whom seem to be doing quite nicely, thank you.

[musiclawyer]

35. What Garbage

--Colbert et al are good at irony ..........for educated white people?

--low brow conservatism is good?

--And that's why McDonald's dales went up 80%?

Good God.

Perhaps his ultimate assertion that conservative talk is ab ad thing is ok, but his support for he assertion and how he arrives at it is shit.


---- an old school conservative these days is nothing more than a DLC type. The ones who hold on to "conservatism" are either ignorant, fools, or the greedy with no social conscious who see the movement as importnat only because it is a means to greater profits. ( The ones I know who fall into either category tend not to be good writers).