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Edited on Thu Feb-26-09 03:42 PM by Joe Fields
I often feel like Rachel Maddow did the other day, when asked by Keith Olbermann to describe Bobby Jindal's rebuttle. Words escape me, when trying to figure out why rank and file republican voters follow the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. If logic entered into the equation, they wouldn't follow them anywhere, except to the exit, to make sure they never came back.
I am one of those tortured liberals who just has to know what the enemy is up to, and so I listen to talk radio while working. (I'm a delivery driver) These people who listen and call in to these shows have no earthly idea that the Limbaugh's of the world aren't speaking to them. The hosts may be speaking AT them, pretending to be speaking to them, but the messages sent by these hosts are memes, which are designed only to bolster the power elite of this country, of which Mr. Limbaugh and others like him play a central role in. No, the followers of these charlatans of the airwaves haven't a clue, when they sing chorus' to the gospels of Limbaugh, Hannity, Savage, Beck, et al. But they do sing loud and in unison. Hence the term "kool aid drinkers," which is reminiscent of the followers of the Reverend Jim Jones. We all know what happened to them.
I think it is safe to say that the bulk of rank and file republicans have a lot in common with rank and file democrats. Most are hard working individuals who are sweating mortgages, many, just like a lot of democrats are losing their jobs, or are sweating keeping those, along with their homes. Most struggle from paycheck to paycheck and are busy trying to survive in these hard times. They love their kids, just like I love my son. They are involved in PTA, they hurt, just like we do, when the price of gas skyrockets, or when their grocery bill busts their budget.
But does the incendiary rhetoric of a Limbaugh or a Hannity address the all important issues that touch these people in a very real way on a daily basis? Absolutely not. Limbaugh and Hannity praise governors like Bobby Jindall for refusing help for their states, states full of people, I might add who are hurting and have nowhere else to turn. While assholes like Jindall turn their back on a hurting electorate, willfully denying badly needed aid for their people, all for political posturing, Limbaugh and his ilk praise them, prop them up as beacons of true Americanism and freedom. I say people like Jindall should be immediately recalled. Even mayor Ray Nagin gets it. Does it really matter where the help comes from when it is so desperately needed? Limbaugh brushes all of that aside, barely addressing it. No, he focuses on tax cuts for the wealthy, which must not even relate to 80 percent of his audience. One disconnect that I must point out, is that, while the opposition screams tax cuts, our president has signed a bill giving the largest tax cuts in history to 90 percent of working Americans. You would think this would make the Limbaughs of the world happy. We're talking 90 percent of ALL working Americans. That makes up almost the entirety of these guys audiences. Nope. Not good enough. In fact, it counts for squat. Instead, these mouthpieces of the right call it socialism and demand that Obama not target people who make 250,00 dollars a year or more. So, while they talk to the 90 percent, they are in reality playing to the privileged 10 percent, doing their bidding, all the while pretending to be for the people. I give them a lot of credit for pulling feats like this off on a daily basis. I also give their listeners a great deal of credit for being stupid enough to allow other people to do their thinking for them. This is the kind of situation that develops, when that happens. The ones doing the manipulating always have an agenda, and you can bet it isn't yours. But if you allow these people to do your thinking for you, then you wouldn't know that, and would probably resent being told so. I have a younger brother and a sister-in-law who are prime examples.
Limbaugh and Hannity speak to the wealthy. They do not want to see out of work Americans get badly needed unemployment benefits. They do not want to see government expansion. They do not want to see government regulation of industry. Rush has made it clear that he wants to see the presidents policies fail. To say that is the same as saying that, because I have my little empire, everyone else, no matter how bad circumstances get, can all go to hell. These guys are basically telling all of their listeners to go to hell, you are on your own, and the morans go right along with it. Not only do they go along with the over the top rhetoric, but they get good and fired up. My only comfort is knowing that these mutants are a rapidly dwindling breed. Seventy percent of Americans favor the Obama stimulus bill and think it's good that he's trying at least to do something, unlike Bush.
Make no mistake. This never was about ideology. It's all about power, greed, the lust to regain power, so that they can complete what they set out to do, which was to crush the Rooseveltian New Deal government. Do they give a damn how many Americans lose their jobs or homes?
These are desperate times for many of us, and we know that in times like these, desperate people do desperate things. The tenor, the shrillness and the urgency of the message bringers of the airwaves has ramped up considerably, since John McCain lost the election. They all see the change coming that Obama proposed, and they know they won't fit in. They are out of touch with their message and are being marginalized. They are being marginalized, because, as more and more republican voters lose their jobs and their homes, and have nowhere else to turn, they will do what is necessary for survival. They will not turn down extended unemployment benefits. They will try to get their mortgages reworked, thanks to Obama's housing package. They will take the tax cuts that are offered and be glad to have all of this. Will that make them turn into Democrats? Hardly. There will be no thanks from them, but they will have been helped, nonetheless, no thanks to their republican leadership.
I used to believe in the fairness doctrine, but I'm not so sure anymore. As I listened to the Lou Dobbs show the other night, I was struck by what a caller said. The caller did not want the fairness doctrine, because they attributed the downfall of Bush and the rise of Obama to talk radio. The charlatans of the airwaves tirelessly and relentlessly pushed Bush's policies. Not only did they push them, but ended up in constant apologist mode, covering up, distorting facts, whatever it took to keep the listeners on the hook to the very end, never questioning anything. But you can fool people only for so long. I think people are waking up from the drunken nightmare of the Bush administration and are facing the stark consequences for the first time. Looking around, many are beginning to see they were led down a path that runs right off a cliff. I think thew caller was right. I don't want the fairness doctrine.These talk radio hosts will be crushed by the weight of their own excesses.
I live for the day when ALL Americans will take their roles as citizens seriously, and quit empowering others to do their thinking for them. In this moment in time, if you are on the airwaves and openly hope that this administration fails, then you have spit in the face of every citizen. You have just let everyone know that your compassion stops at the end of your arm. You have just let the world know that you are un-American, and I cannot imagine anyone wanting to follow such people.
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