Allan, you have to recognize that the radical right is better at it.
Actually, the left is. If you can recognize their drivel as drivel without thinking about it.. then you know they aren’t that good. If you are tempted to accept it as the truth, then you know they are good at dressing up the drivel to make it acceptable. It is the essence of being a good salesmen and to get the mark to not think about their purchase.
by drivel, I mean empty rhetoric, polemic and vitriol…[/quote]
ucodegen, I don’t see an equivalent to Rush on the left — someone who despite his own personal failings still commands a huge fanatical audience.
Are you saying that Rush listeners easily recognize Rush’s ramblings as drivel? If so, then why does his audience keep on tuning in?
I believe that there are a few Piggs who are adherents of Rush, Beck and Fox News. And Piggs are generally smart. Or are they idiots who can’t recognize drivel?
That about the huge Christian base who listens to their preachers and only vote on abortion and creationism?[/quote]
Brian: While Rush might be emblematic of what you refer to, the fact is that the Left is just as able and has been just as effective in propagandizing and radicalizing elements of the Democratic Party. You’re an excellent example of this (and not meant pejoratively, but as a statement of fact).
Your responses to nearly everything that could be construed as criticism of the Left, is to respond, “Yeah, but the Republicans/Rush/etc have… Insert complaint here”. You also conveniently ignore or brush off facts or construe them in such a way as to either minimize their importance or declare them irrelevant.
Yes, unfortunately for you, the Left operates in lockstep, much like certain elements of the Republican Party. Examples being the Left’s silence on things like the corrosive effects of gangsta rap (fear of offending blacks, Jesse Jackson, Sharpton, etc), their circling the wagons on the recent Roman Polanski arrest, and anything having to do with breaking the choke hold that unions have (our fine State of California being an excellent example with the California Teacher’s Association standing front and center).
Yes, the Left has used Political Correctness, racism and bigotry to stifle debate on a whole range of issues. Examples being their willingness to cry “racism” and “bigotry” whenever anyone of note calls Obama on various topics, like healthcare or the economy. The dialogue and debate are therefore effectively controlled through the use of “acceptable” language, which, last time I checked, heavily infringes on my constitutional right of free speech.
Yes, the Left has co-opted elementary and high schools, along with colleges and the media, as far as curricula, agenda and viewpoints go. Do a little research on professors like Cornel West and Ward Churchill, writers like John Zerzan and Susan Sontag, as well as Black Studies, Hispanic Studies and Women’s Studies programs at major universities. These people and programs are a direct result of the radicalization that began during the 1960s counter-cultural movement and has now infected all levels of American education.
Rush Limbaugh was not a phenomenon of the Right. Rather, he was a natural reaction to the constant drumbeat emanating from the Left telling us how to think, act and speak. I don’t support Rush, nor do I listen to him, but I too grew progressively more disgusted with the constant propagandizing that the Left was doing and I fight back in my own way.
Do your research, Brian, and, most importantly, be honest with yourself. Look at what you’re saying and what informs your opinions. I think if you exercise a little intellectual rigor, you might be in for surprise.
