The Sickness of Partisanship

Rush Limbaugh...sigh. My mom listens to his programs, and parrots his slogans. Since it's my mom, I just change the topic. Hannity isn't much better. I can't remember the last time I watched Fox News. I'm a traditionalist, but hate the herd mentality of too much unthinking right wing fare. We discredit the really important issues -- such as pro-life -- by pettiness from the ilk of Limbaugh.

The Left is worse, but there is nonsense on the Right as well.

If I'm on the road during the 12:00-3:00 period, I bounce between Limbaugh and Thom Hartmann. 3:00-6:00, I usually don't bother listening to Hannity, because I find him irritating, but will listen instead to Ed Schultz most if not all of the time. That is, on AM radio, when I'm not listening instead to NPR on FM, which I do a great deal. Limbaugh normally still is fine (he's not a nut case like Randi Rhodes or an extremely immature and stupid Stephanie Miller, for example), and Limbaugh still defines what talk radio is like (though NPR does a good job of doing it a different way). Once in a while, Limbaugh really goofs. Wanting Obama to fail, and not give him material for his show?

"Devoting three hours": I suppose it's obviously the thing to do if you're truly a fan of the host, but the rest of us like changing shows and channels on the radio (and AM vs. FM bands).

'Sickness" is exactly the right word Joe. Those voices which promote and feed on division, ignorance and hate will need to find fewer and fewer receptive ears if the USA is going to become smarter and thrive as we move deeper into the 21st century.

Limbaugh and Hannity are national treasures!

If their viewers/listeners ever tried to form their own opinions things could get really ugly!

Although, as far as we know, at least these guys pay their taxes.

We can survive a few diatribists like Rush. I don't think it's any secret he overstates his positions, and they often contain grains of truth that need to be said.

I'm more concerned about mature, intelligent, well-meaning people--progressives and evangelicals both leap to mind--who believe they're advocating sensible policies, but who operate in such an idealogical echo chamber that their reasoning has come quite unhinged.

Yep. That is the Liberal mentality. Don't agree with us? Why you must be mentally ill.

Wait... "Racism is the province of the left"? How is he calling the political wing of the civil rights struggle and the first black president blanket racists exactly?

Someone above said that "the left is worse", but from all the true leftists I've known listen to NPR. If the "left - right" radio dichotomy means I have to choose between a hyper opinionated talk radio windbag, or the slickly produced journalism of NPR and it's affiliates, I don't see how there can be any argument which is better.

I think Rush's point is the left, wanting to see everyone come out equal and perceiving that blacks are behind, advocate or practice differential treatment based on race. They favor affirmative action. They indulge blacks like Al Sharpton demonizing whites but not the other way around. I don't agree liberals let Obama off easy because of his race; it looked like a pretty punishing campaign all the way around.

I have little patience for NPR. They're more polite than Rush, but almost as biased. And unlike him, their bias comes through more in what they *don't* say--asking hard questions of the left, for example--so they don't get quoted and challenged on it. I find that more insidious and disturbing.

"Yep. That is the Liberal mentality. Don't agree with us? Why you must be mentally ill."

How interesting, that's almosty exactly word for word, what Mr. Limbaugh calls "Liberals", because they don't agree with him---mentally ill.