Why Talk Radio Runs to the Right

Fort WorthLESS Startlegram ^ | 12/22/02 | Thom Hartman

[fone]

||| The lefties would rather read. |||

That is to laugh.

"Lefties" own the TV airwaves -- by far more reaching than AM radio. They even caputured the call-in portion of C-Span right around the time of the 2000 election.

Methinks the author doth protest too much.

[Drango]

For liberal talk radio, tune into the TAX funded NPR.

[RANGERAIRBORNE]

"All Democrats are fat, lazy, and stupid,"

This is so blatantly untrue! I have known MANY skinny Democrats! LOL

Seriously, when you dissect this little ball of pig excrement masquerading as a "news" story, it all comes down to "Republicans are evil, basically just a new incarnation of the Nazi's".

Is that a reasonable argument, or is it sheer desperation?

[Sgt_Schultze]

Thanks for posting such drivel. The trouble with lefty radio isn't that it hasn't been tried. The trouble is with lefty ideas. They sound so nice, but they are intellectually indefensible. For instance, the leftist mantra of "fairness" goes in opposition to its advocation of affirmative action. People also don't like to be told they're greedy for not doing more for healthy, employable bums.

The mantra of personal choice fights the leftist propensity to meddle. Folks like to drive what they want to drive and eat what they want to eat without some silly, whiny wussies b!chin'. Lefties prefer to opine in writing. There, they are able to ponder a response to criticism or ignore critique altogether. Lefties cannot defend their ideas on the fly which is why whenever they call in to talk radio, they are allowed to ramble on to demonstrate their mindlessness.

[Slyfox]

there is a loyal group of radio listeners who embraced Rush's brand of overt hard-right spin

The very first time I heard Rush, I felt like he was speaking for me. I thought I was alone in that feeling until I realized that the country was filled with people just like me who don't have access to a microphone. Until that time there was no way for my opinions to be heard. Before Rush, our only outlet was to write a letter to the editor, usually a leftist paper, who would deride our opinion if they did print it.

Rush's show, including all the successful talk show hosts, follow a very American 'town hall' format. What Rush is "spewing forth" was considered mainstream, before radio was invented, when the United States's media was itself "hard-right" by today's standards. That same media pushed for and convinced enough legislators that abortion was wrong and should be banned. Rush is only speaking to us American loyalists who've always been there.

[Waco]

Voice mail for T. Hartman: They've found your shopping cart. Goodbye.

[Reeses]

Maybe the liberals should go over to www.hitler.org and read what Hitler proposed. From the "25 points":

11. The abolition of incomes unearned by work.

12. In view of the enormous sacrifices of life and property demanded of a nation by any war, personal enrichment from war must be regarded as a crime against the nation. We demand therefore the ruthless confiscation of all war profits.

13. We demand the nationalization of all businesses which have been formed into corporations (trusts).

14. We demand profit-sharing in large industrial enterprises.

15. We demand the extensive development of insurance for old age

16. We demand the creation and maintenance of a healthy middle class, the immediate communalizing of big department stores, and their lease at a cheap rate to small traders, and that the utmost consideration shall be shown to all small traders in the placing of State and municiple orders.

17. We demand a land reform suitable to our national requirements, the passing of a law for the expropriation of land for communal purposes without compensation; the abolition of ground rent, and the prohibition of all speculation in land.

18. We demand the ruthless prosecution of those whose activities are injurious to the common interest. Common criminals, usurers, profiteers, etc., must be punished with death, whatever their creed or race.

19. We demand that Roman Law, which serves a materialistic world order, be replaced by a German common law.

20. The State must consider a thorough reconstruction of our national system of education (with the aim of opening up to every able and hard-working German the possibility of higher education and of thus obtaining advancement). The curricula of all educational establishments must be brought into line with the requirements of practical life. The aim of the school must be to give the pupil, beginning with the first sign of intelligence, a grasp of the nation of the State (through the study of civic affairs). We demand the education of gifted children of poor parents, whatever their class or occupation, at the expense of the State.

21. The State must ensure that the nation's health standards are raised by protecting mothers and infants, by prohibiting child labor, by promoting physical strength through legislation providing for compulsory gymnastics and sports, and by the extensive support of clubs engaged in the physical training of youth.

22. We demand the abolition of the mercenary army and the foundation of a people's army.

23. ... The publishing of papers which are not conducive to the national welfare must be forbidden.

Gun consfiscation, vegetarianism, sound familiar anyone?

[DeFault User]

For reasons still unknown (Alzheimer's is suspected), Coughlin launched into hard-right, anti-Semitic tirades in his broadcasts, blaming an international Jewish conspiracy for communism, the Great Depression, World War II, and most of the world's other ills. His sudden shift to the radical right disgusted his listeners and led his superiors in the Catholic Church to demand that he retire from radio and return to his parish duties, where he died in relative obscurity.

Now the Left wants to blame the Right for social and political ills worldwide. Even anti-Semitism has surfaced as part of the left wing agenda. History does tend to repeat itself, not exactly but in recognizable patterns. Would it have been too difficult for the author to draw a parallel to Coughlin and the hard left wing bias of the networks? Talk radio exploded as a reaction to the left wing drivel of the networks and became an outlet for opinions that were not expressed anywhere else on the airwaves.

Liberals can crank up their own talk show networks. It's a free market. Al Gore and friends can let it rip.

[Reactionary]

"The lefties would rather read."

Oh, yeah. But who says we're talking about actual books? If Amazon is any indication, lefties like books about as much as they like logic.

What the lefties like is to pontificate about how evil the country is, about how tolerant they are, and about how bigoted everyone else is. You don't need books for that. Hell, you don't even need much of a genetic legacy.

[jigsaw]

Oh, to be a lefty and not be constrained by truth and logic.

What a (totally empty, useless) life.

[fone]

||| The curricula of all educational establishments must be brought into line with the requirements of practical life. The aim of the school must be to give the pupil, beginning with the first sign of intelligence, a grasp of the nation of the State (through the study of civic affairs). |||

Hot button there my friend. Besides the nonsense that passes itself off as "Health Class" in my son's public high school (private schooled through 8th grade) is the Civics Class.

"Current events" is impossible to get a passing grade unless he watches CNN. Makes me want to puke, but we tune it in for 30 minutes a day so he can keep on top of what the teacher views as "important."

[DeweyCA]

I would love to see just one of ABC, NBC, or CBS news organizations try to get the "niche" market of conservatives, rather than just telling the same liberal views as the other two stations. Their new audience size would make FNC look puny. Remember, half of the USA audience does not have cable. I know that it will never happen, but what a business opportunity, if just one of the parent companies was willing to try it. Stockholders, where are you?

Remember years ago when Jesse Helms talked about getting a consortium of conservatives to buy one of the stations. It was just too expensive. Still, any oneof those parent companies, if they were really serious about increasing profits, should investigate and try this.

[marlin]

undoubtedly why algor's book is selling so well

[RANGERAIRBORNE]

If homeschooling is a viable option for you, you should seriously consider it.

Faced with the same sort of nonsense in the New York City public schools, my parents scraped together the money to send me to a parochial school. As a result, I can read, write, and cipher- and I'm pretty well impervious to the drivel that CNN, et al, pour out onto the polluted airwaves each day.

I guess that makes me a "hard Right" conservative Nazi, huh?

[SKI NOW]

This article is a fine example of leftist nonsense that fails on radio. First the listners abandon them, then the sponsers, then the station yanks them. The market will weed out bad ideas just as good as a logical argument.

[FastCoyote]

The real reason right wing talk radio prospers is that they open ther lines to debate. If the commentator can't continuously respond in a logical manner, it becomes obvious and transparent. The liberals can't stand the heat, so they have to cry about it.

[fone]

If it were an option, I would. He's in the Lords hands now, I've given him a solid base of operations. He's going to be okay.

[fone]

The closest private high school is an hour and half drive; and we had to file BK chap 7 this year. Live waaay too far in the sticks.