The Real Problem

Rush has said hateful and ignorant things for many years. That his latest rants are earning headlines surely makes him smile.

But it really isn't Rush that is the problem here. He often says things members of his audience think and ardently believe, but lack the nerve or the guts to utter in public.

They declare it entertainment, smile and deny their bigotry, sexism, racism, and intolerance. It is his audience that are the enablers. Their acceptance of his positions perhaps validates the attitudes they do not share in mixed company.

No boycott of sponsors will have much impact because those who would gladly boycott do not listen to his nonsense or buy many of the products advertised on his show or even on the stations that give him airtime.

There are people who smile about each snide attack, laugh at all the sophomoric parodies, and nod their heads as anyone in disagreement is ideologically labeled. They have no need for fact checkers, because the facts cannot get in the way of their narrow beliefs.

The enablers though, have wives, daughters and girlfriends. Presumably they enjoy their relationships with the women in their lives. Many of those women have likely used birth control. Some, likely find the nasty attacks on women and their social independence distasteful and mean spirited.

It is these women who could have influence on Limbaugh's overwhelmingly male audience.  Will they sit quietly as this man makes statements that make most gangster rappers sound tame?   Even on the right, there must be limits.

Then, of course, there are the declared social conservatives. Will they speak out in defense of womanhood, or continue to ignore the nastiness aimed at their sisters, daughters, and divorced or widowed mothers?

Women have ways of making their displeasure known. Politicians could feel the heat at the polls, but Rush's mean and smiling minions may find it kind of chilly at home.  

Anal Anger

I urge you to tune in for 15 minutes to the conservative diatribes, character assassinations and spin control orbiting little nuggets of the news. It will give you a reality check and may explain why the most anal, nasty, raisin-hearted individuals you cross paths with always seem angry.

For 1158 days, a cast of assorted characters has been incessantly wailing away at Barack Obama.  They rant about his birth certificate, insult his wife and then apologize, and completely ignore the reality of his lineage.

I won’t say that it is a 24/7 thing. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, I would suggest that they take a Sabbath off from time to time.  But for nearly 243,000 hours there have been numerous angry people ranting about the current president and Democrats and independents who disagree with their outlook. 

Someone you work with, or someone you know has been buying into this crap day after day, week after week, and ingesting it hours at a time. They have been hearing from angry voices railing against what they believe is a seditious and conspiratorial threat against everything they hold sacred.

They have been spoon fed and force fed terms like “Utopiast,” “radical left-wing liberal,” “redistributors of wealth,” and other assorted labels that essentially mean “they disagree with us.”

Many of these people have accepted a constant diet of this for upwards of three years. It began when President Obama won election in 2008 and has intensified since then. I have been listening the last few days, and I can say without any doubt that there is not a bare space open and ready to receive a less strident perspective.

There are no comparable voices from a more moderate outlook. Perhaps it is because nobody can sound that angry day after day after day.  It is easy to imagine hearing this for so long and having your body lock up from the adrenaline rush. 

The results are either the most intense headache, or a feeling of fullness so extreme it makes you grind your teeth.

Now think about it? In your life, whether it is at work, or in your personal life, is there someone you know who has just bought into all the partisan labels? Are they so negative that they mutter and parrot all the claims that any American president is so dead-set on destroying the country that they would make it a matter of his national policy?

For them, it’s far too late for a chill pill. They may not even respond to a good laxative. Some of them have not had any ideological relief in nearly four years. They are locked up and bloated with impacted outlooks.

Let’s hope they go soon. If they don’t and things do not go their way Nov. 6, they may well explode. Then, we may ask the remnants of the Tea Party to clean up the mess.