David Biespiel, Poet and writer, Attic Writers Workshop:
Rush Limbaugh isn’t right wing enough for the likes of Mr. von Brunn
As I’ve written here multiple times, violent extremists don’t care about the left-right debate in America, and same holds for American- homeland extremists, too. Rush Limbaugh isn’t right wing enough for the likes of Mr. von Brunn. Keith Olberman isn’t left wing enough for an al Qaeda foot soldier tuned into MSNBC from some cave in Pakistan. And, yes, that last image is absurd but I’ve heard it cited on Limbaugh’s show.
The worst of all this isn’t the fringes but the mainstream–to watch legitimate political leaders cow-tow, pussyfoot, and genuflect at the feet of the broadcast extremists, whether they are from the left or the right. But some balance is needed in discussing the whole issue because let’s not forget that when non-conservatives opposed the invasion of Iraq, conservatives from President Bush himself on down intimated that we were being unpatriotic. When non- conservatives criticized the post-war quagmire in Iraq, conservatives from President Bush on down accused us explicitly of giving aid and comfort to the enemy. That line of political rhetoric and logic was as shallowly constructed and offensive as the left’s analysis of right wing broadcasts are today. The culture of “aid and comfort” isn’t left wing radical or marginalized political culture or right wing radical or marginalized political culture, it’s old- fashioned corporate culture that recognizes that a WWF political entertainment media is profitable. And such profit considerations surely date back to the popular 1930s rants of Father Coughlin.
Believe it or not I often tune into Rush Limbaugh or whatever conservative rabble-rouser I can get a signal for when driving. They’re entertaining as can be, there’s no doubt. But about every five minutes I find myself muttering, “I can’t believe he just said that!” The mockery is incessant. The devaluing of motives is duplicitous. Name calling Hillary Clinton. Saying President Obama’s middle name like up-chucking a gob of spit. Standard railings against Jimmy Carter. I mean, Jimmy Carter! That’s just so 70s. All balanced with a mantra of “Ronald Reagan, Ronald Reagan, Ronald Reagan.”
The modes of thinking on those shows go as follows: mischaracterize the opponent’s points and motives, then decimate that mischaracterization with character assassination and polemic. Trouble is, Air America-styled liberal broadcasters use the exact same ugly tropes and polemical rants. Just as entertaining. Just as shallow.
I reject them both as unserious. But giving aid and comfort? Hardly. Those shows are all about the soothing teddy bear of comfort for the converts. It’s the advertising that’s matters. Want to put a dint in their influence, boycott Onstar, Avacor, and the Swap Shop.
Steve Steckler, Chairman and founder, Infrastructure Management Group (IMG):
David, I commend you for your even-handedness on this issue and for reminding readers that Republicans made the same specious claims against liberal assailants who called Bush a war criminal. Like you, I sometimes listen to Rush Limbaugh on long intercity drives (he’s as ubiquitous as road kill) for the entertainment, but I really must object to your lumping him together with the crude, vicious likes of Mike Savage and the less-than-entertaining Glenn Beck. Limbaugh may be as relentless as you say, but he is generally fresh, jovial and wonderfully mischievous. Radio would be boring without him. Reagan gets a lot of mention on the show because he remains an icon not so much to Limbaugh but to the middle-aged working class who constitute his core audience. That honest, hard-working “leave us alone!” crowd is very real, very large and deserving of far more respect than accorded it by the academics, consultants and media reps occupying The Arena.
David Biespiel, Poet and writer, Attic Writers Workshop:
Thanks, Steve. Good to hear from you. One small additional point to add to yours. Perhaps some credit for consistency at least is due the more vociferous of the pacifists among the left wing in this country. They pinned the “war criminal” tag onto conservative Republican George W. Bush just as easily as the they–or their forebears–did a generation earlier to liberal Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson. Despite their support for Johnson’s domestic social agenda from Medicaid, Medicare, social security reforms, anti-poverty, environment, early and secondary education programs, as well as his landmark voting and civil rights reforms, leftists despised Johnson’s Viet Nam policies, especially the draft. In fact, “hey, hey, LBJ, / how many kids have you killed today” remains one of the iconic political rhymes of the Sixties. I fully expect that if President Obama doesn’t conclude the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with some reasonable dispatch, pacifist leftists will trot out their “war criminal,” demonstration chants for him, too. It may already be happening. Two weekends ago, during a trip to Seattle, my morning breakfast was interrupted by a small street demonstration and the clear-throated chant by a dozen or so marchers, “War Criminal, War Criminal,” made its way downtown along 4th Street Pike’s Market. From my window, lo
