Adventures in Right Wing Radio

[Guest sek69]

Here in Pittsburgh, Clear Channel recently turned what used to be a "urban" (aka "black") radio station into our first FM talk station. Naturally they loaded it with right wing talk shows, but I felt compelled to give it a listen if for no other reason out of morbid curiousity.

 

Some background first: I used to listen to Rush Limbaugh a while ago for entertainment purposes, so I was familiar with how he does his show. I didn't agree with everything he said, but his show was amusing at least. What I heard the other day was not.

 

First off, this station airs Rush from 12-3 then Sean Hannity from 3-6. What I immediately noticed is both Rush and Sean discussed the same topics the same way by highlighting the same points. They even went back and re-enforced the same points. It was as if they were reading the same show from the same script, with only their respective speaking styles letting you know who's show was who.

 

Secondly, I was honestly disturbed by the intense hate (and I do mean hate) for liberals. Now I don't agree with conservatives and I've been known to get revved up and argue, but I never felt the hate for a right winger the kind of hate I felt from these shows. Rush's rants about "those people" referring to liberals made me especially uneasy. He wasn't saying "these people" in a "plural form of you" sense, it was more of a "Jews in 1939 Germany" kind of sense. I really didn't like being part of a "these people".

 

That leads me to my next point. There was so much flat out lying about liberals and the left it was mind boggling. I'm not talking about differences in politics, I'm talking about things like "liberals want to defend terrorists" and "liberals hate the military" and "liberals want to turn control of America over to the UN". That kind of shit is flat out wrong, and to me it's the main reason we have this Red State/Blue State divide in the US when half the country is being told the other side is evil incarnate. What's funny is these same radio hosts go into a full fledged fucking tantrum if a liberal ever says something so wildly and grossly false about conservatives. They get held up as an example of the "wacko left".

 

Another thing that both Rush and Sean did (almost exactly the same way I might add) is try to subliminally deter people from donating to help the tsunami victims. Both hosts did stories about how fringe groups in Indonesia celebrated after 9/11, and how the nations affected have large Muslim populations, quickly followed by "now don't think that I'm saying you shouldn't donate to this cause, but..." There was also the amazingly callous claim (also made by both hosts) that liberals are hypocrites because they want to support the tsunami victims but are against the Iraq War. Not everything has a fucking Iraq connection, douchebags.

 

I have to say it really was educational to listen to conservative radio. It really made me understand why we're at each others throats. Having at least 12 hours of radio a day telling people liberals are the scum of the earth who need to be put in their place tends to create a hostile atmosphere.

[NoCalMike 0]

Clear Channel just signed a multimillion dollar deal with Sean Hannity. I think Sean Hannity is the worst of the bunch. Savage is insane but entertaining, Rush, well, he USED to be creative. Hannity to me seems like he is just interested in repeating the same line over and over for 3hrs. All he seems interested in doing is calling anyone not in full, unabashed support of Bush, a bad american.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Yawn. Don't like it, change the channel, hippie.

 

And I listen to WPGB all the time at work, except for 10-noon when I turn on Neal Boortz on WPTT. I also tune into KDKA once in a while, along with a dose of Jim Rome. I usually flip between Hannity, Honsberger, Madden and Jerry Boywer on the drive home.

 

Ever listen to Quinn in the morning? I remember when he was a Top 40 DJ on B-94...

[Special K 0]

It's such a paper-thin method they use it's depressing.

 

Take a crazy liberal with a wildly unpopular view, or take a quote out of context. Tie it to the left-wing as a whole. Say that they are snooty and hate all Americans who aren't "the intellectual elite" (when did it become wrong to be an intellectual? Interestingly, if someone brings up something someone crazy and conservative like Phelps or Savage said, just scoff that they hardly represent the conservative mindset. Ted Rall made fun of a US soldier who died? ALL LIBERALS MUST THINK LIKE HIM! THEY LAUGH AS OUR CHILDREN DIE!

Since people are unified in how they think about 9/11 it is ESPECIALLY good to tie any dissent with Bush's policies to support for 9/11. 'These people want you to be blown up!' was a line I heard today.

Slander people and then refuse to have them on your show.

Let only idiots who dissent call.

 

I sometimes listen to Savage because he's smart, goes off on interesting intellectual tangents, and is a purple-with-rage insane sonofabitch. Also a racist and homophobe. O listen to his show, though because he's completely honest. Today he said in such a casual offhand manner that he didn't give a shit at all about the tsunami victims, and they were stupid and should have known it was coming. He feels bad for the elephants though... Wow.

 

I'll also listen to Medved sometimes as I like him, and he's the only one who seems interested in having intelligent liberals (whacko or not) come on his show. Though he talks over them and obsfuscates things in the typical way.

[Guest sek69]

Yawn. Don't like it, change the channel, hippie.

 

And I listen to WPGB all the time at work, except for 10-noon when I turn on Neal Boortz on WPTT. I also tune into KDKA once in a while, along with a dose of Jim Rome. I usually flip between Hannity, Honsberger, Madden and Jerry Boywer on the drive home.

 

Ever listen to Quinn in the morning? I remember when he was a Top 40 DJ on B-94...

I remember when Quinn got fired for telling a joke about a fellow morning show DJ where the punchline involved her willingness to give BJs. He got slapped with a harrassment suit and he himself said that having to deal with the Evil Liberal Court System is what made him become conservative. How fitting, since all he does now is suck Bush's dick all morning .

 

Jeez, you listen to Quinn, Boortz, Rush, Hannity, Honsberger, and Boywer? Doesn't listening to the same show all day get boring?

 

I can sum up all those shows in 2 points:

 

1. Bill Clinton is behind everything.

 

2. Liberals hate America.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Yeah, I remember that lawsuit, too. And it's not the "same show all day," although when there's a topic du jour that's when I usually switch over to Rome or Madden...

[Justice 0]

The first step to winning is turning Rush off and turning Stewart on. There, your method of victory.

 

From a guy who rarely, if ever, listens to talk radio. Lord knows it's the least regulated and consistantly stupid of all the mediums, on both sides of the coin.

[Skywarp! 0]

Lord knows it's the least regulated and consistantly stupid of all the mediums, on both sides of the coin.

You can honestly say that while on the internet?

[Guest CronoT]

Here's some suggested reading, Sek:

 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/044...7005080-5170358

 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/052...7005080-5170358

 

I've read them both, and both are very good, and very thorough at slicing through the bull shit of conservative talk radio and TV, particularly Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, and Sean Hannity.

[Guest CronoT]

Lord knows it's the least regulated and consistantly stupid of all the mediums, on both sides of the coin.

You can honestly say that while on the internet?

On the internet, any moron can say anything he or she wants. When you get on TV and radio, you expect a certain amount of character, ability, and honesty from the person on the broacasting end. Political talk radio and TV shows nowadays seem to be lacking all three.

[Guest sek69]

Here's some suggested reading, Sek:

 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/044...7005080-5170358

 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/052...7005080-5170358

 

I've read them both, and both are very good, and very thorough at slicing through the bull shit of conservative talk radio and TV, particularly Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, and Sean Hannity.

I already have both those books, I'm an experienced liberal

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Rush is the guy that compared Abu Gharib to a night on the town.

 

I've listened to Hannity and he's.. Okay. I got a gripe about him putting a subtitle like "Defending America from Terrorists & Liberals" under his last book, but I realize it was probably put there to put a wad in the panties of people like me, and to give Republicans a chance to say "HAW HAW, look what he did!"

 

If you really want unabashedly comical comments about how liberals are Satan's tools to destroy democracy and they must be cleansed before we become a hippie state, you need Ann Coulter. I'm not even quite convinced her routine isn't a gimmick. NOBODY can really be that brainwashed to a political "side."

[Guest sek69]

Heh, its funny when she goes on a FOX News show, she even makes most right wingers go OMG WTF?

[Guest CronoT]

Rush is the guy that compared Abu Gharib to a night on the town.

 

I've listened to Hannity and he's.. Okay. I got a gripe about him putting a subtitle like "Defending America from Terrorists & Liberals" under his last book, but I realize it was probably put there to put a wad in the panties of people like me, and to give Republicans a chance to say "HAW HAW, look what he did!"

 

If you really want unabashedly comical comments about how liberals are Satan's tools to destroy democracy and they must be cleansed before we become a hippie state, you need Ann Coulter. I'm not even quite convinced her routine isn't a gimmick. NOBODY can really be that brainwashed to a political "side."

After her involvement in the Paula Jones/Bill Clinton trial, it's generally assumed that the GOP picked her up as one of their new attack dogs. Guys don't have any problem with going after other guys, straight for the jewels, if need be.

 

But guys going after a girl? It would make the guy look like a creep, even if he was right. Now that she's generally been exposed as a bitch and a GOP whore, most guys aren't afraid to go after her as hard as she goes after them.

[BUTT 0]

The thing I hate about Coulter is that she doesn't just exaggerate liberal behavior, she sometimes refers to made-up examples of liberals, such as when she refers to the "liberals who are rooting for us to get attacked again". Who are these people? She doesn't name any names, she just assumes her loyal fanbase will say "oh, yeah, those people" and know they must exist because they know as well as she does that liberals all hate America and are on the enemy's side.

[NoCalMike 0]

As liberal as I am, I can pretty much be somewhat entertained by conservative radio most of the time. Hannity though is the one I really can't stand because he doesn't spend much time breaking down issues, it is more just general attack statements about "omg liberals = america haters" and he has to go and name every event he puts on with such a pro-america name almost to insinuate that if you aren't at the event participating and giving money, it is obviously because you hate america.....ugh.

 

I have listened to Larry Elder a few times and he used to be a libertarian but I think he finally just went and converted to republican, but his show is entertaining because he actually brings liberals or at least somewhat liberal minded people on and debates them without cutting their mic off.

 

I prefer finding politicial radio hosts/shows that don't have an affiliation to a party. Like for the right, Savage, for the center Pete Wilson(a guy in San Francisco on KGO) and for the left, I guess Mike Malloy is somewhat like that as he claims to be a progressive democrat yet I swear he is about to leave the party.

 

I listen to Air America at work sometimes and while I agree with a lot of the views, it just irks me that at the end of the day the station is still nothing more then a "democrat" shill machine, instead of a liberal radio station. It often feels like they want to break out of the shilling shells, but they are afraid to.

[Justice 0]

Lord knows it's the least regulated and consistantly stupid of all the mediums, on both sides of the coin.

You can honestly say that while on the internet?

On the internet, any moron can say anything he or she wants. When you get on TV and radio, you expect a certain amount of character, ability, and honesty from the person on the broacasting end. Political talk radio and TV shows nowadays seem to be lacking all three.

I guess I value my ears more over my eyes. Listening to something far irrates me more than reading, and on the internet there are ways to respond. Frankly, out of all the mediums, talk radio is probably the one I pay the least attention to. But your points are well enough made.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

for the center Pete Wilson(a guy in San Francisco on KGO)

Pete Wilson, the governor before Davis? I'd hope you know he's a Republican.

[CheesalaIsGood 0]

I catch Savage and Laura Ingraham on my way to work being the 3rd shift zombie that I am. Savage amuses me and sometimes I come OH SO CLOSE to agreeing with him and then he says something so ignorant I can't give him any credit. Ingraham is a dolt who relys too much on soundbytes taken out of context. I feel half compelled to call her up and crush her one of these days, if only I didn't want to fuck the sour puss off her face. Man, she wants to suck Hannitys dick. Everytime she is on TV she is scowling like somebody just kicked her dog.

 

 

Good Ole' Rushbo can be a hoot once in awhile but keep in mind this: On the eve of the 98 election he told his audience in one of those 10 second blurbs between commercials that this election was "About President Clintons PENIS!" I nearly fell out of my chair. It was so awesomely stupid, and I'll never forget it. THIS is the guy whom all the rightys flock too? Thank you Rushy you crazy pill popping dope.

 

 

Air America makes me wish Bill Hicks was still alive. He ate conservatives like candy. Good thing for them he is dead.

[Dr. Tom 0]

"liberals want to defend terrorists"

Maybe they should stop doing it, then. The scum we're holding in Gitmo are not POWs, they're not covered by the Geneva Conventions, and there's no way in hell they should have the same rights as an American criminal on trial.

 

"liberals hate the military"

Their spending records seem to indicate as much.

 

"liberals want to turn control of America over to the UN".

"global test."

 

Kerry couldn't get the UN's dick into his mouth fast enough.

 

Now, I'm not saying all liberals are evil, or even that a majority of them hold the views above. But there are those who do, and they tend to be quite vocal, which gives the rest of their brethren a bad name. If the radical wackos on the left would just shut up, those on the right woudn't have nearly the number of pincushions we do now.

[Guest Loss]

The problem is that conservatives are smarter, at least tactically. Tom, who claims he's not conservative but sides with Republicans on every issue it seems, pointed out the whacko pinkos or whatever above, but there are just as many whackos on the right. The problem, as sek pointed out, is that both sides think the entire group is represented by their respective whackos, when that's really not the case. I think that was the intention of this post.

[Dr. Tom 0]

Tom, who claims he's not conservative but sides with Republicans on every issue it seems

Except gay marriage, FCC censorship, drug legalization, abortion, anything religious, etc. What I've said is that I am not a registered Republican (which is true), and that I am a social liberal and a fiscal and foreign policy conservative. I vote Republican, and often side with the GOP on non-social issues, because I can't support the fiscal and foreign policy proposals of most Democrats.

 

I'm also fiercely pro-American when it comes to terrorism, and I despise moral relativism and general softness in this area. I suppose that brings me in conflict with a fair number of leftists, as well. Each year, as part of security training, I have to watch footage of the 9/11 attacks, and each year, I get a little angrier while watching them.

 

The problem, as sek pointed out, is that both sides think the entire group is represented by their respective whackos, when that's really not the case. I think that was the intention of this post.

That's a fair point. Each side has a radical, vocal minority whom the other side loves to quote and ridicule. We very rarely get middle-of-the-road soundbites; they're always some radical liberal saying we need to sympathize with people who are trying to kill us, or some radical conservative who thinks the nuclear football should be punted around the Middle East.

[Guest Loss]

Tom, who claims he's not conservative but sides with Republicans on every issue it seems

Except gay marriage, FCC censorship, drug legalization, abortion, anything religious, etc. What I've said is that I am not a registered Republican (which is true), and that I am a social liberal and a fiscal and foreign policy conservative. I vote Republican, and often side with the GOP on non-social issues, because I can't support the fiscal and foreign policy proposals of most Democrats.

 

I'm also fiercely pro-American when it comes to terrorism, and I despise moral relativism and general softness in this area. I suppose that brings me in conflict with a fair number of leftists, as well. Each year, as part of security training, I have to watch footage of the 9/11 attacks, and each year, I get a little angrier while watching them.

Point taken. Is it fair to say you see Bush as a strong foreign policy President and a questionable domestic policy President?

[Dr. Tom 0]

Generally, yes. I don't like the Jesus Freak aspects of his agenda, obviously, and I think Iraq, while right and necessary, was understaffed and underplanned. But the thought of Kerry in the White House absolutely frightened me from a foreign policy sense. I'm not a huge Bush fan, and wasn't planning to vote for him for a while (nor Kerry, obv), but I came to find Kerry such a repugnant candidate that I ended up voting for W, anyway.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

"global test"

 

"No president, through all of American history, has ever ceded -- and nor would I -- the right to preempt in any way necessary, to protect the United States of America," the Democrat told moderator Jim Lehrer during the debate.

 

"But if and when you do it, Jim, you've got to do it in a way that passes the, the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people, understand fully why you're doing what you're doing, and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons."

 

How outlandish.

[Guest BDC]

Well, then, what was the global test? Those two bytes you just cited don't tell us.

[Special K 0]

I don't know the figures from Gitmo, but at Guantanamo, the FBI said that probably half the people there had done no wrong. Not wanting innocents tortured by our military hardly sounds like supporting terrorists to me.

And to the inevitable knee-jerk: yeah, beheading people IS far worse, but we're supposed to be liberators, and the shining example of democracy.

And whiel some may not be protected by the Geneva convention, no one in the government is arguing that. They're trying to distance themselves from it as quickly as they can. Why? They know it's wrong.

[Guest Loss]

Well, then, what was the global test? Those two bytes you just cited don't tell us.

I tend to think it was just a figure of speech.

[Justice 0]

Well, then, what was the global test?  Those two bytes you just cited don't tell us.

I tend to think it was just a figure of speech.

[Guest Loss]

He explained what he meant by it in the "sound byte" provided. How is what he said unreasonable?