Maybe the media is simply focusing on the loonies and we are in better shape than it appears right now. I hope so. But I can’t help but be concerned as I see the craziness which has been on full display in recent weeks here in the USA. I can’t be an objective observer, of course, since I’m clearly Liberal on many issues and want to see a Liberal agenda make progress.
My sense of what’s wrong is that the Right Wing dominates Talk Radio. When people hear the rants of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and Michael Savage and so many others, they take their words to heart and begin saying the same kind of nonsense they are hearing as if what they are hearing is rational, sensible, even intelligent. Does that sound harsh? Maybe … but I fear for our democracy when people increasingly won’t have respectful conversation with each other. And I see people on the Right refusing to engage in respectful conversation far more than people on the Left.
But let me quickly say that I am aware that there are people on the Left who are just as guilty as people on the Right. Those of us who are on the Left need to model civility and mutual respect. If we don’t, we are just as bad as Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and Michael Savage and all those others who are causing such bitter divisions in our nation. I often listen to the Lefties on Talk Radio and all too often I am ashamed of their intolerance and unkindness toward those who don’t share their point of view.
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Hi John,
Thoughtful post, except that you're blaming most of the problem on people like Limbaugh, Beck, and Savage, yet minimizing the input of the progressive wing. Yes, you acknowledge that there are progressives who do the same thing, but unless I'm missing something, you seem to think that they don't really matter. So I've included a few places to check out.
http://boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/12/30/more_liberal_hate_speech/
St. Petersburg Democrats Club http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110004948
Spike Lee http://www.aim.org/media-monitor/spike-lee-tells-a-joke/
Pelosi and Reid's characterization of people at townhalls:http://www.mrc.org/press/releases/2009/20090806113005.aspx
Keith Olberman: http://www.mrc.org/press/2006/press20061102.asp
Dan Sweeney http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-sweeney/a-last-bit-of-tea-party-c_b_190063.html
"To quote the late, great Hunter S. Thompson, they are "flag-sucking halfwits who get fleeced and fooled by stupid little rich kids like George Bush. ...
Alec Baldwin: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alec-baldwin/will-they-go-to-court_b_15875.html
"Cheney is a terrorist. He terrorizes our enemies abroad and innocent citizens here at home indiscriminately. Who ever thought Harry Whittington would be the answer to America's prayers. Finally, someone who might get that lying, thieving Cheney into a courtroom to answer some direct questions."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alec-baldwin/god-has-truly-blessed-ame_b_24358.html
I offer a patriotic fantasy for all of my fellow Americans today,...
I gather up the body of the world's most notorious terrorist and hurl it over the balcony. Then, in the final stroke of luck, Bin Laden lands on Dick Cheney.
http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/1998/cyb19981215.asp#5
"Serious political commentary that should be condemned, or a humorous skit? As reports circulating the Internet have asserted, on Friday’s Late Night with Conan O’Brien on NBC actor Alec Baldwin jumped from his chair to scream "We would stone Henry Hyde to death and we would go to their homes and we’d kill their wives and their children!"
Sean Penn:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sean-penn/on-receiving-the-2006-chr_b_36659.html
(What happens when a conservative says true things about liberals? More than what happened to Sean Penn.)
"Would they have believed Rush Limbaugh if they'd known he was high as a kite on OxyContin? Would they have believed the factually impaired Bill O'Reilly if they knew he was massaging his rectum with a loofah while telephonically harassing a staffer? Hannity, had they known he was simply a whore to the cause of his pimps - Murdoch and Ailes? Or the little bow-tie putz, if they knew all he was seeking was a good laugh from Jon Stewart?
Peter Mehlman http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-mehlman/at-least-they-didnt-mean-_b_53094.html
(Are Hitler and other fascists better than Bush?)
You could argue that even the world's worst fascist dictators at least meant well. ... Bush set a new precedent. He came into office with the attitude of "I'm so tired of the public good. What about my good? What about my rich friends' good?"
And there are hundreds of examples of mocking and insulting by the Radical Right. I hope you will ask your guys and gals to stop the ridicule. My side has a very small slice of the media pie these days and that's why I blame the Right far more than the Left for the current bitterness. But I will try harder to ask the Left to be more respectful.
Hi John,
Thanks for your polite response.
To me though the problem is the numbers or the ratios. Simply because those in the media choose what to emphasize, we as consumers choose to believe.
My point is in my response to your blog post is that angry voices on the left are out there. They spew hate and don't get reported. One has to dig to find them. I'm not going to rehash all the quotes I posted. I would simply ask if you might be open to the possibility that you didn't hear as much hateful speech on the left as opposed to the right because you weren't listening.
For the record, I'm mostly for our President's health care plan. I have personal reasons. I've lost one friend because of no access to healthcare. If things don't go well with a friend of my wife's, I'll have lost two. Public health plan? Sure! It pains me to say that I agree with Nancy Pelosi about the public health plan.
I want President Obama's plan to succeed, but I don't want a bill passed that nobody knows what's in it until it's too late.
Like you I fear for our democracy. Civil discourse in this country is in intensive care. I share your concern.
As for asking me to ask my guys and gals to tone it down you're assuming I actually listen to them. For talk radio I've started listening to the local Catholic radio station - loads more uplifting. Don Imus has a pretty good political show when I go to work. But Glen and Rush have had too many "False" ratings at Polifact.com for me to take seriously. Besides, would Glen Beck, Rachel Maddow, Rush Limbaugh, or Keith Olberman change anything because we asked? :-)
Take care, and I'll sign off as your "fiscal conservative, social liberal,"
Brian
Thanks Brian for your thoughtful comments. I wonder if you have ever watched or heard Democracy Now! which is clearly a Left-leaning news hour from Pacifica? I love how Amy treats all her guests with enormous respect. She lets people have their say with little interruption. We learn a lot about what's happening in the nation and the world. This is so different than what we see and hear on most of our TV and radio outlets.
I don't think you responded to my main point in my last comment which is that Right Wingers totally dominate Talk Radio. I think it something like 90 per cent of all Talk Radio.
MediaMatters.com covers the lies and distortions of some of these talkers and other reporters and pundits every day.
Hi John,
I'm not familiar with either Pacifica or the Democracy Now! show. I live in what's known as "flyover country." :) It sounds like it would be a refreshing show to watch or listen to.
I didn't respond to your point that much of talk radio is dominated by conservatives because I didn't know what kind of response to make. However, I have be thinking about your point for awhile before you asked about me about a response, so I'll share my thoughts.
If you are making a complaint about the domination of conservative talk radio show hosts on the AM band, your complaint is unfounded. For starters, conservatives, especially those in the middle of the country, have complained since I was a child about the domination of liberal people, ideas, and ideals, in the news. If you think that the mainstream media news is unbiased or center leaning I would say that that is not how conservative folks would see it. :-/ Quite the contrary, we see a domination of liberal ideas in the mainstream media.
The other main reason why I think that concerns or complaints about conservative talk radio are misplaced would be that talk radio is a commercial venture. The people who perform on those shows are popular. The shows sell advertising because people listen to the shows. Moreover, when Air America launched they had a chance to win the public audience. There was nothing stopping them, or even hindering them, from doing well in the market. But what happened? Within a few months they were passing the hat for donations just to stay on the air. I'm not even sure if they're broadcasting anymore. I used to listen to Air America at work over the Internet until my employer sent out an e-mail to all 4000 to 5000 employees with Internet access that the streaming of music and radio shows was forbidden and had to stop. Something about needing the bandwidth for business activity. I thought about pointing out that we were a not-for-profit health system so it shouldn't matter, but decided that might be harmful to my career. ;-) But in getting back to the point: to be blunt, the legacy of commercial liberal talk radio is one of failure. One cannot blame this failure on anything but the message that the radio network was trying to communicate. There was no lack of talent (Al Franken, Randi Rhodes, and others) or investment startup money to account for Air America's failure. The simple fact is people didn't listen to it. I would be interested in hearing your opinion on why people didn't listen to Air America. I will not accept any argument that the playing field was unfair. As I said earlier, there was more than enough money and talent on that network that it should have succeeded.
I believe that the whole media debate comes down to the simple fact that people will listen to news outlets and media that they trust the most. For many years, there was no choice. You listened to what the major networks put out. Now, people have choices. With regard to media domination, I would say that the left has ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, and the Corporation For Public Broadcasting (both public TV and NPR), so I really don't understand any problem people have with AM talk radio or the Fox news network. To dismiss the media phenomenon of the Fox news network (known to be called "Fox Noise") and AM talk radio (called by some "hate radio") is to miss what's going on with most of the people in the country. Remember, these are all commercial ventures that don't get official public assistance like the Corp. for Public Broadcasting. They have to put a product out that people will buy, and they are buying that product by the millions.
It's late, and if you saw my picture on Facebook, you would know that I need to go get my beauty sleep. :) I've got class tomorrow, but the good news is I'll be done with the computer classes, I only have to take accounting, if I choose to. These accelerated classes can be really tiring over time.
I hope that this post finds you and yours happy and blessed in our LORD.
Brian
Thanks Brian.
I may have more responses to your thoughtful post but here are a few thoughts for now.
The country has always had a Radical Right and a Radical Left. I have always believed we need a Right Wing and a Left Wing like birds and planes in order to fly. I believe deeply that we have been going Right as a nation for the past 4 decades or so. It is time to turn Left. I think the majority of us are slowly figuring that out. Fox News is pushing a radical Right Wing agenda, an agenda which is losing popularity. My 97 year old father watches Fox faithfully and believes what they say. But most younger people are not watching the Fox News Channel or listening to Right Wing radio. The "Tea Party" advocates tend to be older Americans who are confused and bewildered by the changes now happening and want to go back to the Good Old Days.
You seem to believe that most Americans are Right Wing but that's simply not true. Polls for many years reveal that about 40 per cent of Americans see themselves as Moderates, 35 per cent as Conservatives and 25 per cent as Liberals. I believe the movement in the next few years will be to the Left. Actually Fox News and the Right Wing talk show hosts are probably helping the Left as the Right looks more extreme and dangerous and foolish.
If the Republicans don't look Moderate, their numbers will continue to decline. Almost all of the Moderate politicians are now Democrats. The Republicans need to find their Moderate voice if they want to govern again.
Obama is far more Moderate than most Right Wingers realize.
More later.
Thanks again for your comments.
love, john + www.abundancetrek.com + We are intimately, intricately and infinitely connected by a matrix of unconditional, unlimited and uniting love which is miraculous, mysterious and marvelous.
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