The Rush Limbaugh Appreciation Thread

[Brahmsian]

Talk Radio is about emotion more than logic, reason or insight.  It is about portraying the other party as the enemies willfully tearing the country down.  It is rage fueled paranoia.  I think that it does harm to the people that listen.  Either it closes minds or makes blood boil.  It is bad news.

Welcome back, David!! 

[DavidW]

Thanks guys!

[Karl Henning]

Our Davey's back!

[Brahmsian]

Thanks guys!

Aye!!  With a Mendelssohn avatar, too!  I'm speechless!! 

[Brian]

Welcome back, Dave W!!

But I'm curious if there is any political commentator from the Right who would not be pilloried on this forum?  And I mean a real Conservative, not someone like David Brooks.

I regularly read Ross Douthat and have in the past been an avid reader of Charles Krauthammer and Thomas Sowell, though they are growing overripe with age, so to speak. I am a weekly reader of all the editorials in the Economist and would consider that magazine the best, most intelligent "commentator" on the conservative (that is, economically liberal) scene.

[eyeresist]

A related question: is there a political commentator from the Left who is not a Moderate, but a far-left wingnut?

You don't have to be very far left to be "far-left" in America.

[kishnevi]

You don't have to be very far left to be "far-left" in America.

...to be called "far left" by people on the Right.  A important distinction.  As has been pointed out by others,  "conservative" in European terms (especially the UK) would often be "Democratic Party" in the US (or, to be fair,  old style Republican before the GOP got taken over by the true Right.)

[bhodges]

Rush is now alleging that Hurricane Isaac is really a consipiracy on behalf of Obama.  Or something.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/08/27/752661/rush-limbaugh-says-obama-manipulated-isaac-storm-track-to-delay-gop-convention-the-hurricane-center-is-obama/

This is great; one hardly needs to annotate, explain, re-frame - or do much of anything. As Gurn alludes, Limbaugh does all the work for you.

I'm still chuckling over comments on Twitter, e.g., "If that's true [about the hurricane], I'm voting for the guy who controls the weather!"



--Bruce

[Brian]

...to be called "far left" by people on the Right.  A important distinction.  As has been pointed out by others,  "conservative" in European terms (especially the UK) would often be "Democratic Party" in the US (or, to be fair,  old style Republican before the GOP got taken over by the true Right.)

The NYT has a table comparing the 1980 Republican platform and the 2012 Republican platform. Here are some notable bits of the 1980 manifesto:

"We reaffirm our commitment to the fundamental principle of fairness in labor relations, including the legal right of unions to organize workers and to represent them through collective bargaining ..."
"Many urban centers of our nation need dependable and affordable mass transit systems."
on abortion: "we recognize differing views on this question among Americans in general — and in our own party"

[bigshot]

Talk Radio is entertainment, not news or serious commentary. It's one man with a microphone keeping listeners engaged. Howard Stern, Phil Hendrie, Rush Limbaugh, Art Bell... These are talents at the top of their game. The fact that so many people forget that they're listening to entertainment and take them seriously is a testament to their effectiveness as broadcasters.

[eyeresist]

...to be called "far left" by people on the Right.  A important distinction.  As has been pointed out by others,  "conservative" in European terms (especially the UK) would often be "Democratic Party" in the US (or, to be fair,  old style Republican before the GOP got taken over by the true Right.)

More of my two cents:
I get a bit weirded out when US conservatives brandish the word "socialism" as an epithet. The implication seem to be "Universal health care today, the entire USA thrust into a Red Square military demonstration circa 1950 tomorrow."
But then I also get weirded out by certain US critics and their beef against the British. Sometimes I think David Hurwitz imagines he is still fighting the War of Independence.

[Gurn Blanston]

Talk Radio is entertainment, not news or serious commentary. It's one man with a microphone keeping listeners engaged. Howard Stern, Phil Hendrie, Rush Limbaugh, Art Bell... These are talents at the top of their game. The fact that so many people forget that they're listening to entertainment and take them seriously is a testament to their effectiveness as broadcasters.

It isn't the people who listen to him who are the concern (everyone needs a chuckle); it's those who think that he isn't a great tub of horseshit that scare me.

I wrote it....

[Daverz]

Quote from: bigshot on Today at 11:33:46 AM

Talk Radio is entertainment, not news or serious commentary. It's one man with a microphone keeping listeners engaged. Howard Stern, Phil Hendrie, Rush Limbaugh, Art Bell... These are talents at the top of their game. The fact that so many people forget that they're listening to entertainment and take them seriously is a testament to their effectiveness as broadcasters.

We're long, long past the time when one could claim that Limbaugh was "just an entertainer".

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/03/george-will-republican-leaders-are-afraid-of-rush-limbaugh/

These days the line is usually used as a way for conservatives to deflect when The Pig Who Rules Their World says something more piggy than usual.

[Todd]

We're long, long past the time when one could claim that Limbaugh was "just an entertainer".

Nope, you're wrong, he's just an entertainer.  You've just got some strange fixation on Limbaugh's influence.  Perhaps you can point to election results he has swayed (with, you know, empirical evidence), legislation he has crafted or influenced, regulations he has formulated, or fund raising goals he has shattered.  Your response, and those from other critics on the left, illustrates just how effective an entertainer he is.  He's apparently quite the scary fella.  People who fear him can take solace in the fact that about 300 million Americans don't listen to him at all.

[ibanezmonster]

The first thing that came to mind when I read Gurn's tag "DON'T VOTE! (It just encourages the bastards)" is that it's referring to voting for president (though I think it's about the polls here).

That would be a good idea... could you imagine how embarassed the candidates would be if no one (or, realistically a record few) voted for them? 

[Todd]

That would be a good idea... could you imagine how embarassed the candidates would be if no one (or, realistically a record few) voted for them?

They might feel somewhat like John Ashcroft after losing to a dead man in his Senate reelection bid. 

[eyeresist]

On a related tangent:

Review of a book about political humour from the left and right

[bigshot]

We're long, long past the time when one could claim that Limbaugh was "just an entertainer".

Walter Cronkeit is dead. Just about all TV news is mostly entertainment. I'm sure there are people who vote for what sitcom actors tell them to vote for. Or decide by hairstyles. Democracies are dangerous. But it's better to be guided by a million stupids than one really powerful stupid. It dillutes the stupid a little.

[Mirror Image]

You mean to tell me this washed-up, loud-mouth, self-righteous snake in the grass is still spewing his venom on talk radio? Wow, I guess some people will listen to anything.

[Karl Henning]

... I guess some people will listen to anything.

Bingo!