In defense of conservative talk radio
The most anti-conservative rhetoric against conservative talk radio these days is coming from supposedly free-market conservatives. It’s disgusting.
Author Mark Helprin’s grenade in The Wall Street Journal stands out. Yesterday, he launched an attack on conservative radio hosts who oppose presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain. Helprin sneered that their “major talent is that, like hairdressers, they can talk all day long to one client after another as they snip.”
It’s one thing to hear such petty snark coming from the left. Outraged that conservative talk radio has succeeded in the marketplace while liberals have bombed, and unnerved that new media outlets have upended mainstream journalism’s monopoly apple cart, liberals have long crusaded against the medium. Bill Clinton blamed the Oklahoma City bombing on the “many loud and angry voices” in conservative talk radio that “spread hate.” Democrats continue to deride “Republican noise machines” and are working in Congress to marginalize, regulate and stifle influential talkers—most recently by threatening to reinstitute the Orwellian Fairness Doctrine.
But now, we have establishment Republicans parroting liberal ad hominem rhetoric: Talk-radio hosts are talentless blabbermouths. Their listeners are mind-numbed robots. Or, as supposed free-market conservative and McCain supporter Phil Gramm put it in his broadside against talk radio in the Washington Post last week: “They say they have principles, but some of it is their ego and power, too. They’re well-known, and they’re used to having power.”
Funny. These trash-talking GOP politicians and pundits had no problem when conservative talk-radio hosts used their “ego and power” to help kill Hillary Clinton’s massive government health care takeover in 1994. They had no problem when conservative talk-radio hosts used their “ego and power” to galvanize support for the Republican revolution, two Bush presidential campaigns and the war in Iraq.
In major metropolitan U.S. cities, conservative talk radio offers rare relief from liberal orthodoxy—and local talk show hosts have spearheaded effective activism. KSFO in San Francisco led the Gray Davis recall brigade. KVI in Seattle was instrumental in launching the successful fight against Hillarycare and in support of an initiative abolishing government racial preferences.
Were they nothing more than empty-talking hairdressers then?
The Republican talk-radio bashers did start having problems when many national hosts harnessed popular grassroots opposition to help kill last year’s Bush/McCain/Kennedy illegal alien amnesty bill. GOP Rep. Lindsey Graham dismissed them as “loud folks.” In other words: They were making a difference. Then-Sen. Trent Lott lamented that right-wing talk-radio hosts were a “problem.” In other words: They were effective. McCain’s defenders have made common cause with the likes of ethnocentric, open-borders groups like La Raza in redefining all conservative talk-radio opposition as unacceptable “hate” beyond the bounds of reasonable discourse.
In other words: They must be shut up. Bill Clinton approves.
Those who most stridently criticize talk radio know the least about it. It is not one monolithic bloc. Disagreements among top conservative hosts are legendary. They have different interests, varying styles, and divergent strengths and weaknesses. Do they do what they do primarily for money, ego and power? It’s an embarrassingly class-warfare-tinged cheap shot.
In any case, if you’re a true free-market conservative, it’s not supposed to be a crime to make a profit. There’s no shame in making a living by sharing information and opinions—or in meeting unmet demands in the marketplace of ideas.
I’ve done it for 16 years in the newspaper, TV and blogging businesses. And I can tell you this: Talk radio has been instrumental and invaluable in the dissemination of conservative principles. Ask any author who hasn’t been able to get a fair hearing in the national press, but who has watched his Amazon.com ratings soar after a mention by a talk-radio host. Ask any local columnist grateful for a chance to see his or her reporting receive wider attention.
Helprin accuses conservative talkers who oppose McCain of rooting for a liberal presidency because their “influence and coffers swell on discontent” and they are “nostalgic” for the Clinton years. Translation: They’re all just greedy self-promoters who care more about themselves than the good of the country. Gramm leveled the same attack: “They’re people who put their dogma in front of the interests of the country.”
Cocooned conservative establishment snobs denigrate talk-radio hosts for preaching to the choir. But these same critics have no problem using the medium to market their own work. Ask their publicists. The message of the anti-conservative conservatives dissing talk radio: Self-interest for me, but not for thee.
No need to wait for a Clinton to take the White House. Clintonism is alive and well among conservative talk-radio haters on both sides of the aisle.
Copyright Creators Syndicate 2008
***
Related: Brian Maloney spotlights the hatred of Bill Maher–and P.J. O’Rourke.
BILL MAHER, HOST: Why is it, I was asking Amy this, why is it that the Republican establishment, I guess it is, have so much disdain, not just for McCain, but for the other guy who’s still in it…Huckabee? They don’t like either one of them.
P.J. O’ROURKE, WRITER: Well, I think a couple of things are going on. It’s the it’s the twilight of the radio loud-mouth, you know? I knew it from the moment the fat guy…
MAHER: …You mean Rush Limbaugh and Sean..?
O’ROURKE: …from the moment the fat guy refused to share his drugs (audience laughter). I was, you know…he never called, he never wrote. I’m ready to party, you know, come on! No, I think it’s kind of over for those people. So…
MAHER: Right, you mean the OxyContin that he was on?
O’ROURKE: Yeah, exactly. I mean, that stuff’s good!
MAHER: Why couldn’t, uh, why couldn’t have he croaked from it instead of Heath Ledger? (small audience groans)
O’ROURKE: Yeah, yeah.
I noted O’Rourke’s ad hominem Rush Limbaugh/talk radio-bashing four years ago–after which, he appeared on–yup, talk radio–to plug his latest book.
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Only problem I have is they should have backed one of the true conservatives when this election got rolling. Send a positive message instead of going the direction they did, resulting in the choice/choices we have now with Huckabee and McCain, it’s not all their faults, blaming uninformed voters in the early states as well.
Long live Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingrahm, et al. Long live Michael Savage, even though I don’t like his style.
Until they came along, all we conservatives had was what ever the liberal media wanted us to hear. Now we have them to speak for us.
Great piece, Michelle!
Laura, on her program this morning, raised the question: “Does the RNC really think that talk radio is its PR wing”.
Happily, the answer is NO!
And conservatives (who are correctly called that) appreciate the healthy turbulence that anti-group-think voices like yours maintain.
This is a time of profound clarity. It is bitterly disappointing to see some show their true stripes. But, while reality does bite, it is always the best thing to deal with.
Maher is such a comedian!/
Hence why McCain and his vindictive “ilk”, can’t be trusted (and I won’t vote for).
One thing is clear, lack of support for McCain among the base must be HUGE. If it were not, the old guard cronies in the GOP, and the lapdogs like Helprin to the GOP, would not be yelping so loud.
Another thing they better need to be aware of…some of the cronies are up for reelection or retiring soon…biting the hand that feeds you is not a smart move. They might get “their man” in the WH, but since he can’t be trusted on anything, the hatred for the GOP may just give him a nice liberal congress to back him up on his “MAVERICK moderate” views.
I could no disagree more.
Just listening to Sean, you can tell it’s all about his ego. I have already cancelled my premium membership to his site and it will take a real effort on his part to entice me back into his listening audience.
It is precisely because of people like Rush and Hannity and Bill Bennett and Laura Ingraham, etc. that we have news outlets like Fox News. Twenty some-odd years ago, when Rush was first starting out, there was very little in the way of unbiased (or as the libs call it - conservative) reporting, let alone news outlets. AND we were having a hard time galvanizing the base to rip the reigns of Congress from 40+ years of Democrat rule.
This is more of a ‘what have you done for me lately’ thing, and personally, Rush and others in the conservative talk radio world have done more for me (in getting my thoughts and the thoughts and feelings of conservatives in general a voice) than those in Congress who continue to let us down.
I am sick and tired of being told that I need to just suck it up and get in line - I don’t, and I won’t - and that is why I will continue to listen to people like Rush.
These “Republicans” are sounding more and more like the elitists in the Dem party. They are condescending and arrogant.
I thought you were talking about McCain.
Ask yourself: Why, besides his own ego, is this man running for PROTUS?
For this man, more than any other since Bill Clinton, it ALL about his ego.
It certainly isn’t on principle…
I’m shocked and appalled at O’Rourke’s venomous derision, especially after all the things he’s written and said in the past. I thought he had grown up by now. I’ll have to stop recommending and buying his books.
#6
I completely disagree with you. I listen to Sean and sometimes that’s hard since he lets so many Libs and loons on his show. I hear a man who loves his country and his family. He’s a steadfast supporter of the military and various charities. That being said, I think you need some degree of confidence to go on the radio or tv and speak in front of millions of people.
Mark Levin is being streamed through my computer right now (last night’s program).
He’s telling all the “Re-pubic-ans” that he will not cease to raise conservative concerns with anyone. Isn’t it funny that talk radio “must get behind” McCain for party unity, but at the same time the “loudmouths” have no influence, their day is passed. So which is it? Can’t be both.
Mark has around 4 million listeners.
Laura Ingraham is around 5 or 6 million.
Sean Hannity has around 12-16 million listeners.
Rush has over 20 million listeners.
They are all adding affiliates around the country, steadily. Hannity is over 600 stations now.
Conservative Talk Radio isn’t going anywhere. Maybe the rest of the Stupid Party needs to get in line and calm down! Ha!
Ragspierre
exactly … he has spent his life (and has stated such) trying to live up to the expectations from his grandfather and father being Navy Admirals … he got passed over for promotion and got forced out of the military as a Navy Captain and has spent the rest of his life trying to do something to put him on an equal success level with the other members of his family … that is his reason for running … if he succeeds he surpasses his relatives in the power and ego game …
Lets see, islamists swarming all over our country, illegals swarming all over our workplace, congress swarming all over pages, reporters swarming all over communists, businessmen selling our infrastructure to the red Chinese, entertainers whose final act will be playing dead for our enemy and they all have a problem with talk radio. Even if these losers were to damage talk radio the fools still don’t understand, we aren’t going to listen to them. The fact is that they are cowards capable of confronting only other Americans thinking about facing the real enemy makes them wet their pants. The fact is this election went from being one of the greatest (in my lifetime) to a Ford/Carter redux, only without the experience. Pathetic doesn’t begin to describe it.
Phil Graham (I was going to vote for him
way back when he ran for Prez, but he dropped out before California) has been in too many smoke filled rooms for too long. He needs to get out and mingle with THE FOLKS. There is no monolithic Right Wing Base. Conservatives are as varied as any other group. I have a neighbor who says he’s Republican but can’t stand the Religious Right. He couldn’t wrap his head around Church Goers not being monolithic either. Rush said yesterday that some Dem’s are SHOCKED that there are religious Democrats that vote. Yup, we need to take back “Conservatism” because words mean things. And teach others what we stand for. I talk to people here on Stanford Campus that I work with and remind these younger co-workers that, HUH, they ARE more conservative than they think. It gives them pause. Whatever gets past the platitudes and starts them critically thinking…
It doesn’t surprise me at all that Phil Gramm said all of that trash. He is just an elitist politician who believes that the rest of the Republican party should fall into line with what the elites decide. He makes me ashamed that he is from Texas.
In this time of war, the greatest threat ever to western civilization, the president needs all the tools to fight the enemy–not only universal monitoring, torture, rendition, limiting captives’ access to habeas corpus, the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act. The president must also be able to limit speech, especially critical speech that limits his glory. McCain if elected, and pray to Gawd Almighty that we don’t get a passive surrender Democrat in the face of Islamo-fascism, must as unitary executive in time of war have the power to silence critics and traitors who would seek to weaken his authority and aid the enemy.
The mind numbed robot Republicans think all conservatives should follow the party line. Nope, just changed my registration to Independent.
No way, no vote for McCain for me, never. I will not compromise my principles, again.
Fantastic ending to a great column. The talk radio bashers should hang their pathetic heads in shame.
How funny it is they speak of ego & power. Phil Gramm and company should take a long look in the mirror. What hypocrites, I wonder how many times Phil Gramm sucked up to Talk Radio to get re-elected each time he was running.
All I can say is keep up the good work Rush, Sean, Mark, Laura, Andrew, etc. As Mark Levin “the Great One” says we must keep pushing back the Liberal/Satlinist hordes. That goes for said conservatives who have tacked to the left.
The more these so called “repubicans” spew hatered towars the base, the less likely I am to ever even consider McCain, no matter who he faces in November. This just shows that MCain and his ilk are NOT conservative and do not plan to change one bit, but want to intimidate us (like libs do) into voting for McCain. NO WAY, NO HOW. Keep attacking us FOOLS, watch the blood bath in November. Maybe the GOP needs to go back to the wilderness, come what may. This is how I see it, I will not compromise my stands, unless McCain shows serious action (not words) towards conservatism. Then, it is all in God’s hands. Remember the story of Jacob (ie., Israel)? God promised his mother Jacob will be the heir to God’s promise even though younger than his brother. Well, Jacob and his brother tried to help God along by tricking Isaac (the father) into blessing Jacob as the first born; i.e., they compromised and had no trust in their beliefs and God. God made sure JAcob and his mother paid the consequences by not seeing each other again and Jacob slaving away for his uncle for many years. So, maybe this is God’s will, why mess with it and why sacrifice our beliefs? God will take cae of it at the end. I don’t mean to give a sermon, but if we stick to our principles, we will be OK. If we sacrifice our principles and vote for an unrepentent MCCain, what will be the consequences we pay for that?
AJ makes a good point in post #1. I’m not quite sure how we wound up with McCain as our apparent nominee. That said, if the conservative talk show hosts are only in it for ego and power, I guess they must enjoy being unable to go out in public without a bodyguard.
No. The president is not a tinpot dictator, and is not expected to act like one.
Isn’t it amazing that when the message from conservative talk radio doesn’t agree with liberals or RINO’s, it’s a hate message. I didn’t realize that a difference of opinion equates hate.
The reason Republicans have rebelled against the likes of McCain and Graham is that they have gone to the dark side and forgotten what being a Republican is all about. It is hardly hate when we fight for the principles we believe in and when we hold those we voted into office to account. Conservative talk radio will be around and well long after these RINO’s are gone.
I am sure the King of England would have appreciated this same reasoning during the Revolutionary War.
Michelle, it’s worth noting C-Span instituted their own version of the “fairness doctrine” when they began balancing the call-ins with separate phone lines for dems and repubs. Before that the calls were predominantly from the right. Kinda changes the whole dynamic doesn’t it.
The most disappointing thing is that they sound just like Democrats!
YES they do. And then they are surprised at why we are repulsed by them.
For us who have no mountain top to which to SCREAM from. Talk Radio is the peak to which our voices are heard through our surrogates; Rush, Sean, Mark, Laura, Andrew, etc. etc. My God Bless them and keep them safe.
In any case who cares. Those who think that McCain is not being supported enough by conservative radio stations are free to vent their frustrations about it, and radio hosts are free to say what they like about all the candidates. That’s the whole point about free speech (which still doesn’t go far enough in my opinion).
If the GOP nominees are concerned with the coverage they are receiving from the talk-shows, they probably should be.
But there is an easy fix: Be a guest, face the scrutiny and answer questions. (real questions, not slowly lobbed softballs) The truth will be revealed and they have nothing to complain about.
Or is it “VICTIM” status they seek? Hmmmmmmmmm.
Here we have evidence that the right-wing radio hosts aren’t in lock-step with the party…and they’re getting reamed for it.
For years we’ve heard that Rush, Sean, Laura, and Mark have been getting their talking points from the White House, and here we have proof that it just isn’t so.
If anything, they should be given credit for sticking to their principles and not just ‘going with the flow’.
Would the libs feel better if Rush, Sean, et. al. said: “We’re Republicans, and so is McCain………so vote for him!”………?
We live in a fascinating time…
The Phil Gramm I loved and supported as Senator, and the Rush Limbaugh I listened to during those years were united in their values.
Limbaugh has not changed.
Gramm, and a whole lot of others, certainly have changed.
I read a piece by Cal Thomas the other day where he approved of David Frum’s ideas in his new book.
But those ideas are anti-market, anti-freedom, pro-big government ideas that would do a Clinton adviser proud.
As I’ve said…it is both disappointing and exhilarating to see things with this much clarity.
Your clip from Bill Maher is tame by right wing talk show standards. Are you telling me they never said anything about Hillary Clinton’s looks or Al Gore’s weight gain?
It wasn’t a left winger who got major network coverage for calling John Edwards a “faggot”.
The clip delivers well earned scorn to the hypocrites of right wing talk radio. They rant about drug and following the law while they themselves are addicted to illegally obtained drugs.
One more thing……..get used to “Today, President Obama met with….”
And: “…First Lady Michelle Obama held a press conference today……..”
Between now and election day, the dirt on McCain is gonna fly.
I love Rush and have been listening to him since 1992 when I was a Liberal, pro-choice, feminist, Democrat.
He ( and Monica Lewinski) helped turn me back to my Conservative views.
But yesterday, he made me soooo angry when he said that people who say they won’t vote for Obama because he will pull out the troops too soon and ruin all the work the military has done in Iraq are being foolish because Obama won’t pull out the troops at all. Rush seemed to imply there isn’t a difference between McCain and Obama when it comes to Commander-in-Chief because Obama won’t pull out the troops and niether will McCain.
So, is Rush saying that we should have no problem voting for the most Liberal Senator in Congress today??
How can he, a Conservative, claim that there would be no difference between a man who served his country for 25 yrs. in the Navy verses a man who has never strapped on the boots of ANY kind (Air National Guard or Regular Army, etc.)??
Maybe I misunderstood the man, but to me, I am sorry, but I think Rush has lost his mind….
I just can’t believe that P.J. O’rourke would stoopdown so low to kiss the ass of that human Turd Bill Maher. i am going to throw out all of the O’Rourke books that i have bought over the years. i don’t want my children to see them and associate them with his thoughts on other conservatives.
Yeah, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about all those ads on your site…
Nah, just kidding!
When you vote for RINOs, you only get more RINOs…
Once again, you prove your ignorance about this issue. I didn’t realize wishing someone was dead is the same as pointing out the truth, i.e. Gore has gained weight.
UNO the Beagle for President.
You did misunderstand him. He was simply making the point that the leftists who want the war to end and who will vote for Obama won’t get their wishes to pull the troops out. Just as they didn’t get their wish when the dems took over Congress on promises of ending the War. Rush may not agree with McCain, but he is definitely respectful of McCain’s service to his country and his steadfast support of the WOT. That is probably one of the few issues he agrees with McCain on.
Yes getting addicted to prescription drugs and then ignoring it is always best. So they rant about the detrimental effects of drugs in the hope that others wont make the same mistake. Now if they were addicted to drugs and unconcerned about it or promoting them, well that would make them liberals.
Ruth,
I think Rush was saying that Obama or Clinton…regardless of their big talk to their leftist base…cannot do some of the things they say they will.
It is clear to me that nobody can pull out of Iraq immediately without suffering a blood bath for which they will rightly be blamed…both now and in history.
If you want a perfect illustration, look at how Dimocrate Senators talk versus how they vote on Iraq withdrawal.
Something we all need to do is remember that a conservative force in the House and Senate will act as a powerful firewall to a runaway Dimocrate. The people we have there are not all (hardly) reliable conservatives. They need to be reminded who butters their bread.
Far right or very conservative was used in reference to the virginia race so many times I thought I was going to be sick.
Listening to xm potus channel 130 this morning I heard 2 interviews explaining the rift between conservatives and mccain WITHOUT ONE MENTION of immigration…
This hill we are climbing gets steeper and steeper everyday.
Its disappointing that conservatism is such a dirty word interchangeable with ignorance yet freshly waxed and shined socialism is the ideology of the free thinking.
Hopefully soon the day is coming when I can vote for someone rather then vote against someone.
This is the reason I am not convinced McCain would be better than one of the two Democrats for President. I actually think he would be worse because he would neuter the remaining Republicans who would vote with him because of “R”. I really believe there is a better chance they will show a backbone against Hillary or Obama. He uses the Ware on Terror and Iraq and National Security as some sort of carrot to prove he will be better than the others. I am not convinced. They may speak all that garbage but there is evidence it won’t materialize. What will happen though is McCain ready and willing to sign the country over and its borders when the Dems bring the McCain/Kennedy bill back to his desk. He’s counting on everyone looking the other way (Iraq, WoT, Security) as he sells the country down the river with the RINO’s in congress supporting him (and the Dems).
On the issue of whether Obama or Hillary would immediately pull out of Iraq, I’ve had this argument before with my Mom. I agree with Rush…these guys are playing the song the radical lefties want to hear, knowing full well that an immediate withdrawal from Iraq isn’t going to happen. After all, the Dims did it in 2006 and guess what, we not only withdrew, we had a surge. Attempts to defund the efforts in Iraq and other sneaky maneuvers failed mostly because not enough Dims supported them. It isn’t to say that Hillary or Obama wouldn’t slash the number of troops there to dangerous levels or otherwise screw things up. But the whole “we’re gonna leave tomorrow” or by ‘09 or whatever is just campaign talk. Neither one of them wants a Killing Fields on their hands.
Back on topic. The RNC has to learn that conservative talk radio isn’t about shilling for whatever it wants, it’s about independence and intellectual honesty. None of the biggies are for sale and that’s why they are credible with rank and file conservatives. We’re not going to buy open borders or amnesty. We’re not going to rubber stamp anti-free market legislation. We’re not going to roll over while government gets bigger and more intrusive.
It’s the RNC’s arrogance of the past couple of years along with its abandonment of conservative principles that lost the GOP Congress in 2006 and will lose the White House in November. Sorry, but it’s true.
For myself (and this has to be very strange for a lawyer to say), talk is cheap.
If you hear McCain say a word, you have to compare it to conduct.
You have to hold it up against his character for telling the truth.
I am not at all sanguine, for instance, that it is safe to assume he would not nominate judges or justices from the same list that Clinton would have.
Can you see him appointing someone who he thinks will toss McCain-Feingold?
Given the duplicity of the man, I can see him naming fine candidates to fill federal benches…who he will have no intention of actually supporting through the process. They will be sacrificial bones to the base, that he will watch get chewed to pieces. Then, he will nominate a “centrist”…or LEFTIST. That person will be confirmed in a cloud of great “bi-partisanship” wonderfulness.
What needs to be understood by all Republicans, when those who are chanting to conservatives to fall in line, is that we took a moderate Bush because he was better than Gore. How’s that working for yah? (1.4 billion worth of working for yah, Mexico?)
Now, they are asking us to go further to the left and take a McPain. Do you really think that after McPain they are going to go back to moderate or conservative? NO. They will push further towards the left ‘just to be electible’.
Reagan didin’t push to the left to be electible. He stood firm on core conservative principles.
Nuff said in my book. Go Laura, Sean, Rush and Mark speak to and for the truth.
In the 90s, I bought, read and enjoyed P.J. O’Rourke’s books. But lately, it appears that he’s just another writer in the liberal establishment that knows his place. He knows that he’s a good humorist and that jokes about foolish liberal schemes will sell, but at heart, he’s just another writer raised in the left-leaning journalistic cocoon.
If you hang out with Bill Maher, that’s a death blow to your integrity.
I won’t be buying any more P.J.
What Helprin, et al. don’t understand is that we didn’t GET our opinions from conservative talk radio but that conservative talk radio generally agrees with OUR opinions. BTW, those opinions are vetted through factual, thoughtful discussions even when those discussions are passionate.
That is the problem with McCain and the Republican party in a nutshell right now. I’d venture to say, McCain’s elitist political supporters would be more than happy support McCain/Feingold right about now (if they had a way to use their power, money and government to shut down talk radio between now and November…which really means for good…they would not hesitate to do so).
Renee,
Correct-o-mundo!
Remember, McCain-Feingold was passed into law by members of the political class…R OR D next to their names.
I don’t give a fig about party. I could happily vote for Zell Miller over McCain!
I heard Hillary say in an El Paso promise to raise the min. wage to $9.50 when she gets in office.
We all know this wouldn’t come easily at all, but I believe it’s very telling how desperate she has become.
Regarding radio talk, I fear that no matter who gets elected, opposition to the fairness doctrine will have to come exclusively from conservative minded people who still believe in free speech.
RealImmigrantChick: I strongly agree. We have to realize God is in control. That doesn’t give us a reason to be passive, though. We need to stay involved, with our eyes wide open. And as Ragspierre has indicated, the true state of affairs in the Republican party gets clearer and clearer as the heat is turned up.
Michelle stumbles into the truth, as Rush might say, when she discusses the issue of money and profits. For years, the plutocrats bankrolling the GOP had no problem with conservative talkers because the latter posed no threat to the formers’ profits. Then, Savage et al began opposing illegal immigration, the Dubai ports deal and other actions which might enrich the K Street crowd but weaken our country. To these Washington insiders, talk radio, like Dr. Frankenstein, has created a monster.
Exactly!
I concur! Very good writing.
It too would have liked to see them get more behind candidates that got blacked out by the MSM - including Fox News - AJ. But, I suspect they (conservative talk radio) wanted to remain as neutral as they can in primaries, whether that be due to risk of alienating listeners supporting someone else or just out of a sense of fairness. Rush kept saying he wasn’t going to endorse anyone for the longest, when I got chances to listen to him.
Allen Keyes was ACTUALLY on the ground, in the trenches during the Reagan Revolution.
Regardless of how you regard him as a presidential candidate, you have to give him his conservative credits. He is the real deal. A inept politician, perhaps, but that may be a recommendation in some respects.
#22 Katycue said she wasn’t sure why McCain was the apparent nominee… I suggest it is the Independent and crossover Dem’s voting in “Open Primaries” and all the variations thereof. Disagree if you will, but if you’re a Decline to State or an Independent, don’t vote in a “Republican” Primary. The Republican’s being “inclusive” has gotten us into this sticky wicket.
Also, per Greenfaerie,
Back on topic. The RNC has to learn that conservative talk radio isn’t about shilling for whatever it wants, it’s about independence and intellectual honesty. None of the biggies are for sale and that’s why they are credible with rank and file conservatives. We’re not going to buy open borders or amnesty. We’re not going to rubber stamp anti-free market legislation. We’re not going to roll over while government gets bigger and more intrusive.
I couldn’t have said this better.
3 Words: RUSH IS RIGHT!
lgm, full of sound and furry, yet signifying nothing - much like Keith Olbermann (D).
Ragspierre-
Ok, NOW I get it. I also heard Rush today go further into what he meant to say yesterday….and I concur.
Whew…I wasn’t sure what was going on!!
Plus, he called Obama “The Candyman” and then played the song.
It was perfect!!
Thanks for the explanation.
I knew that O’Rourke was starting to lose it when he began showing up regularly on an NPR quiz show. He’s awful chummy with the Moonbats, and not very funny or entertaining, on that thing.
navywife91 said ($42):
There are plenty of death wishes on both sides. The clip of Bill Maher didn’t have one. Gore being fat does not change the facts about global warming any more than Rush being fat changes the facts about illegal immigration.
The Raging Republican said (#62):
In the words of the great musical Kiss Me Kate: Brush up your Shakespeare! But Bill Maher, Keith Olbermann and all of Air America don’t hold a candle to Rush, or Sean, or Dennis Miller or any of them in the Sound and Fury department.
Thanks for proving my point.
In connection with this, I see that the National Review editors have said we (Republicans)need to build a “center-right” coalition in order to win. Has everyone noticed how all of a sudden the words “moderate”, which, as Coulter says, is code for “liberal”, and now “center” have come into acceptable use by some conservatives? NR and other outfits are basically saying we can’t embrace the “right” too closely, or we will lose. For my part, I would rather go down to defeat adhering to principle than compromise my convictions. That’s why I think I will write in Alan Keyes. I don’t see anyone else still in the race with his moral fiber and grasp of true conservatism.
MM, look, you and conservative radio can talk all you want about whatever you want. HERE’S WHAT YOU ARE MISSING.
The narrative is that McCain is just like the Democrats. That’s fair enough, I don’t agree with McCain much either.
BUT CONSERVATIVE TALK RADIO IS SOUNDING JUST LIKE OLBERMAN, KOS, Huffpo, etc. etc. etc with the over the top demonization of McCain.
If you want to throw stones, expect some to come back. ‘Conservative’ talk radio sounds just like Air America when they attack McCain like that. Conservative pundits have a better audience because they talk about ISSUES, not PEOPLE.
Nobody is telling you to stop talking. But the more that you bash McCain, the more you sound like the left when they bash Bush. . . there is no difference. When Olberman talks about the ‘worst person in the world’, in ‘conservative’ radio McCain always wins without having the contest.
The reason I put ‘conservative’ in quotes is because they don’t much care anymore about actual conservative issues like pro-life and pro-family. . . you totally dismiss those two positions as ‘throw away’ as you talk about ‘true conservatism’. You even ‘threw away’ the 2nd amendment with your praise of Rudy.
Talk all you want. The more you complain about one person instead of the issues, the more you sound like the radio shows that have gone under like Air America. It’s a free country. Say what you want. People choose to listen or not. I bet people will stop listening if it is just a bitch session. I know I don’t want to hear it.
Fact! In Gore’s fat head maybe.
RoyceB…
that’s what I’m saying…
go read Cal Thomas’ latest on TownHall, seemingly approving of the Frum book.
It is awful to see people we have known as articulate, sound conservatives taking this “boy, things are changing now, buddy…and we have to adapt” BS to heart.
Rush is FAT…???
I wish we all were in the shape Limbaugh is in…
but that does sort of tell the tale on our friend who used the allusion….
Wow, I guess you don’t know what “croak” means. Maher wasn’t talking about frogs! Did you actually watch the video or the show? I could really care less because he has the right to say what he wants, as disgusting as it might be. However, don’t try to equate wishing someone had died (don’t forget that he wished Cheney were also dead) with the way a person looks. I wasn’t making fun of Al Gore, but you used it as a way to make fun of Rush. How mature.
Waiting for examples…
I’d like to know which hosts you are talking about. I only listen to Rush and Hannity. I do not hear either one of them “demonize” McCain. What happen to telling the truth or reporting facts? If they are simply telling us McCain’s record how exactly is that demonization? That is how the Dems go after Republicans. Any difference of opinion is called “hate speech”. If a person’s political record is discussed, somehow it’s demonizing or mudslinging?
Give me a break.
Sorry, but that reveals a complete lack of proportion.
First, there isn’t a comparison as to the language…or level of insanity…used by the Left.
Second, I challenge you to point to anything the “majors” in talk radio have said about McCain that is not true, or an opinion they voice that was not based in reality.
I could go on a great deal further, but that makes the point, I think.
The GOP has lost its soul. If it were not for talk radio the GOP would have still been a weak minority party during the Clinton Presidency up to ‘06. Talk, blogs, and we conservatives have carried their water for so long. These “elites” have taken us for grant for to long now. The GOP is broken (like Washington) and needs a cleansing fire of defeat. We have seen the evidence that power corrupts and the last 7 years the Republicans were not immune from that timeless truth. But the GOP’s defeat will spell trouble for our country. Therein lies the dileamma for us.
John McCain has a very long way to go to convince the electorate that he is anything other than a one-trick pony. The message from Virginia was “not enough”. Frankly, Huckabee needs to remain in the race as long as possible to keep McCain’s feet to the fire.
My belief is that a lot of conservatives are tired of the party elite ignoring a basic fact - we win when we articulate strong conservative principles and we lose when we muddy them. This happens, by the way, at both the national and state levels.
A-freakin’-men.
The thing that these guys keep forgetting is that fundamental prinicples do not change. Otherwise, they would not be fundamental principles
I thought that was conservatism 101, but apparently not anymore.
Abso
STINKING
lootly TRUE!!!
But this is an unfortunate character of human nature, I think. It seems to be what leads conservative judges to become so muddled in their thinking that they become capable of rendering judgments that are identical to liberals’.
We seem to loose track of fundamental lode-star ideas…the ones that actually form the nucleus of the ideology…that make us what we claim to be
One of the reasons I love Thomas Sowell, Scalia, and Clarence Thomas is that they never seem to lose the ability to start from the “first principles”, and then they work form there.
I think academia has been reworking the curriculum on us.
So, Mr. Thacker … when we register our disagreement with McCain on McCain-Feingold … there is no difference between that and the left comparing Bush to Hitler?
When we register our disagreement with McCain over his approach to handling the problem of illegal immigration … there is no difference between that and the left using names like Chimpy McHitlerburton?
When we register our disagreement with McCain’s shepherding the Gang of 14 agreement that cut the legs out under Senate Republicans, from under Bush, and threw several good judicial nominees overboard … there is no difference between that and the left saying Bush is a bigger terrorist than Bin Laden?
When we register our disagreement with McCain playing the class warfare card during the debate over the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003, where he said “the rich don’t need a tax cut” … there is no difference between that and the left saying the Bush hates poor people?
When we register our disagreement with McCain over his ideas regarding global warming, his proposals under McCain-Lieberman, and his unwillingness to allow drilling in ANWR … there is no difference between that and the left saying that Bush is in the pocket of Big Oil?
To invoke Col. Jessup … you can’t handle the truth … and ultimately, that’s why you make such absurd accusations and cannot even begin to acknowledge that people can disagree with McCain, strongly, on principle and in good faith.
And ultimately, that’s why you won’t get enough voters behind him to beat either Hillary or Obama.
Imus back 2 months, with a bad cold and now #7 streaming online, Laura Ingraham #8 her crazy uncle passed her up. Imus Beating the competition since time started being recorded SMILE
http://chickaboomer.blogspot.com/2008/02/genus-envy.html
ThackerAgency, McCain does not believe in lower taxes, Conservative Judges and delights in “sticking it to the MAN”; the MAN being the Party HE claims to support and be part of.
Who knows, maybe it’s an outcome of being a POW, a survival mechanism to tweek those in charge and he does it because it’s part of the fiber of his being.
McCain wasn’t supported by a LOT of Conservatives, if he was, he would have been the runaway winner right off the bat. There would have been no real competition. He was going for Moderates and Independents….and Democrats. He delights in tweeking Conservatives. If you see that as “bashing” you are the one who has a problem with definitions.
Words mean things. He can’t compete in the area of ideas. But we’d welcome him
if he should decide to come over from the dark side.
RoyceB, dpn’t worry, I don’t plan to stay passive. I am just a bit sad and worn out of this whole process. I just can’t vote for McCain, I may have to skip the Presidnet vote. I will vote for Senate, House, local office and issues. But at this time, McCain has shown nothing to make me vote for him.
c’mon all—-the WSJ is an internationalist paper with a pro-ILLEGAL immigration bent —that is the reason I stopped subscribing to it.
I can get my news and stock info via the internet and sites like:
MM
American Thinker
Gates of Vienna
BlackFive
JWR
and Etc.
#12 Brian72
I remember Mike Farris (at a home schooling event some 18 years or so ago - has it been that long?) that there were two parties:
the Evil Party and the Stupid Party and every now and then they get together and make EVIL - STUPID LAWS.
He was correct.
WHY OH WHY is he supporting Huck?
Well well, a perfect thread indeed for the “I can’t vote for McCain and will instead take my toys, go home and watch the world go to hell in a hand basket” “True Conservatives” to get back on message with talking each other into allowing this nation to fall into the hands of socialists.
Here’s a quote from Reagan himself
Remarks to Area High School Students and Faculty in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania
October 12, 1988
I’m dedicating myself this year to making sure that this future of hope built on opportunity and traditional values remains open to each one of you. I believe that the decisions we Americans make at the polls this year will determine whether or not that future will be bright. And as I said before, even if you can’t vote you still have a stake, and you can have a role by getting family and friends who can vote, to vote. An awful lot of our people who are registered, citizens and so forth, don’t bother to vote. And just so I’m not hiding my cards, I’ll let you in on a secret: I do have a favorite. [Laughter] And to give you a hint, I’ll tell you what I kind of like that George Bush said about this election: “When you have to change horses in midstream, doesn’t it make sense to switch to one who’s going the same way you are?”
You could say, with cloistered, academic detachment from the real-world, that McCain is not going “your way”. But do you really think Reagan would agree with sitting out the election or voting for a third-party candidate with no chance of winning, in essence a de facto vote for the Democrats, with people of the like of Hillary and Obama are the winners of default by such actions?
Get with the real world.
Here’s another:
Radio Address to the Nation on Voter Participation
October 18, 1986
Well, in just a few weeks, we Americans are once again going to show the world the one thing that, more than any other, is the source of our strength. We’ll go to the polls, and as a free people, we’ll vote. This year we’ll be casting ballots in many States for Senators, Governors, and other officials; and everywhere we’ll be voting for a new House of Representatives. But just as important as how we vote is that we vote. Every vote cast on election day means that we the people have taken a hand in shaping our nation’s future.
Yes, shaping the nation’s future. Shaping it by holding to what little we still have as conservatives, or shaping it into a copy of Marxism by voting third-party, knowing full well by any reasonable standard that such action will put Hillary or Obama into the White House with a far-left congress to do their legislative will and affirm their choices for judges who will sit in poser for the rest of their lives?
.<em> But even when elections aren’t that close, your ballot counts, because in voting, you’re accepting your part in the greatest decisionmaking body the world has ever known, the American electorate. And as someone who’s stayed up late on many election nights waiting to hear how the American people had decided, I can tell you that from where I sit — whether elections are close or not — every vote is important.
\
To those determined not to vote the Republican party ticket, do you really think that Reagan meant that those votes cast for third party candidates were important by his measure of importance?
Do you really think that he would give a rat’s ass about what your personal convictions are knowing that you were contributing to putting the most heinous socialists this country has ever seen run for office into power?
There is also a fundamental error in the concept of this whole thread: that talk radio is a solid block with a single opinion. I don’t hear Hannity being mentioned here much. Because he opposes conservatives sitting out the vote or voting third-party in a cry-baby hissy-fit, But then I’ve heard here that even he isn’t a true conservative.
People say the Republican party has been highjacked. I’m beginning to think they’reht. But not by moderate-liberals, but by angry, off-the-hook ideologues who act as though the salvation of their very souls will be determined by which mark they put on the ballot - even if it means the destruction of all we hold dear in the United States.
Rush or Reagan? Reagan, of course.
Bennett wrote of the death of shame. H was right. What he didn’t see coming at the time was that it would be embraced by the right wing of our party, who would rather vote third-party out of disturbed and bizarre demonstration of “conscience” while allowing this country to fall into the hands of true, proven socialists.
Reagan, quite frankly, would be ashamed. It’s good that he isn’t here to see such childish, monstrously irresponsible behavior from the so-called “conservative base”.
Mr_Conservative_Cat,
Why do you feel compelled to yell in every comment you write in a thread?
I cannot recall reading one of your comments, at least in very recent memory, where you are not using bold print, commonly used to intimate strong emotion and yelling in written commentary.
It is fine that you are adamant about the beliefs you hold. But, yelling at someone does nothing to lend itself to any possibility you may have of actually swaying someone to your point of view.
Rational and civil discourse may work a little more in your favor.
Suggestion: stop listening to the voices in your head, Barry. Strong or emphasis are options to which no one has ever objected until today. CAPS, as those endless utilized by Ombre Rose, is considered YELLING. Why do I use strong and emphasize? So people can get the point without having to read through the whole thing if they don’t want to. Maybe it just sounds like yelling to you because you don’t like what’s being said.
I suppose, reading between the lines, that this means you will cast your vote in such a way as to put Hillary or Obama in office. Say what you mean and mean what you say, and cut the crap with the glittery, down-home euphemisms.
New definition of Bully according to the stay-at-home-or-vote-third-party- boo-hoo-hoo-I’ll-put-Hillary-in-office-that-will-show-you-republicans: anyone who disagrees with you and does so well enough to score points. And points are being scored, as a few people have posted here publically that little old me did in fact change their minds into seeing a rational perspective as I would define it. Others are doing it, too, Ragsy-boy.
Grow up. Politics is tough. If you want to be a shrinking violet, go home, but spare us the routine of coming on strong and then crying foul when someone does the same thing to you.
People need to know that the once great P.J. O’Rourke has flow the coup and it is doubtful he is ever coming pack. Last year, he was on CSPAN and among other things:
* Sneered at bloggers as unprofessional and not real journalists; they they were nothing more than “how I spent my summer vacation” types.
* Stated that the greatest danger to America is from the Religious Right.
* Announced his support for open borders “We’re not the Sioux.” That is, they had a right to fight invaders, but we don’t.
* Stated he was part of an on-going Muslim outreach effort and that we have nothing to fear from them or by implication Sharia law except a few crazy Imams.
I should add that he looked very bad on the show, his hair greasy, his demeanor nervous. If you were near him with children, you would definitely have moved rapidly away. He said he was nervous because he was trying to quite smoking, but I got a sense that he was definitely depressed and unhappy to be approaching 60. It was very clear that no longer to be associated with the Right, was embarrassed by what he had written before, but had no idea where to go from there.
I listened to a commencement speech he gave some months later, at least part of it, but his timing was off, his delivery was flat, his jokes stale. He was just terrible.
Bye P. J. You will be missed. BTW, Penn Jillette is also open-borders.
I said what I meant. If you lack the wit to understand it…well, that would be your problem.
And I will not waste further time with a troll and a bully.
I’ll be here, and I’m not going anywhere.
I’m just not expending any further effort at intelligent intercourse with someone who can’t hold up their end.
TWOT (total waste of time)
Whether you address me or not, Ragsy-boy, I’ll be addressing you. You’ve come on too strong, too smart-assed and too strident to others in the past to effectively play the role of sympathetic victim, now. Rags playing the role of superior-minded shrinking violet! Brother! You want to play with the big boys? Fine. And long as you’re in the game they’ll be playing with you whether to address them or not.
“Bully”. Brother! Would you like me to send you a hanky, Ragsy?
Grow up.
MCC, I don’t always agree with your posts (and I think we may even have knocked heads in a thread a while back), but I always enjoy reading them. I actually find your use of bold, etc. to be quite helpful in reading through your longer comments. Rags is a lawyer and tends to be typically sort of overly impressed with himself at times (pot probably calling the kettle black at this point) and is too clever by half (in his own mind at least) in many of his comments…fancies himself as the wise conservative philosopher on the mount educating the great unwashed masses as to the true meaning of conservatism.
Thanks. I appreciate that, considering that Ragsy-boy, and one or two others have started labeling me a “bully”. I swear to God, isn’t that the most pathetic thing you’ve heard on a board for a while? Sheesh. Some of these people really need to grow up and stop being whiney, thin-skinned hypocrites. Politics is tough. If you can’t take the heat, get outta the kitchen.
Thanks. I don’t know how else to quickly slog through the details without expecting anyone reading to do the same.
That explains it. I knew there was something about him right off that didn’t fit in with the rest of the human race. However, if basing assumptions as critical as whether or not we let Hillary or Obama become president on some presumed crystal ball reading that McCain cannot be elected - and if nothing else engaging in a classic example of a horrible self-fulfilling prophesy, then all I can say is God help his real-life clients. This reminds me of the old George Carlin line: “Somewhere out there is ‘The Worst Doctor’ - and someone has an appointment with him tomorrow!”
Really! My goodness gracious! I hadn’t noticed!
Alas.
LOL. That last line is really funny.
Anyway, I think we may have butted heads Dakine, probably when I was hoping Rudy would get the nod, before I fell back on Romney (my second choice) and now, quite frankly, our only hope, McCain. But thanks for the good will, and being at my back. Whenever we agree and I see it, I’ll be happy to stand at yours. Why not? It helps everyone, right? Reagan would!
Blind Mule, Irish Rose, First Skirt,to name three (and I’m bad at names) - there are alot of sensible people here making their common-sense known. I hope you and others speak up more often! Somehow, the crazies seem to be the more prolific than the common-sensers, and that’s not good for the direction of the country.
There is so much of interest on these threads.
Take, for instance, the assertion by some here that “this is politics”, apparently stated as some kind of justification for bad manners, meanness, name-calling, and generally obnoxious, and…frankly…adolescent behavior.
First, the false premise that “this is politics”; it isn’t, of course. This forum is not politics, it is opinion. It is opinion in just about its purest form.
Sure, it is often about political issues, and because it is a political season it tends to be more so at the moment, but it ranges over the whole field of human experience, over all of our American culture. It isn’t just “politics”.
But for a moment say it was. Do the saner of us here want the invocation of “politics” to reduce our interaction with each other to a street brawl? Does “politics” mean we knee-jerk to our lowest, meanest, and least rational level of discourse? For some here, of course, the answer is, “Hell, ya!”. That is where they live, and they bring their values here.
It being an open forum, they are free…to a point…to do that. Nobody has to play their game. If we politely refuse, they will eventually get the message and start acting like mature, thoughtful people, or they will cross a line.
Another thing I’ve found interesting is that, while addressing the McCain candidacy and expressing our inability to support him, nobody of that persuasion has called McCain supporters “traitors”, or whiners…, or, for that matter, much of any kind of name.
That kind of discourse has come…pretty much exclusively…from people trying to “persuade” other free Americans, who have stated sound reasons for their opinions, they are wrong.
Two things I know from a long study of human nature–
1. an empty argument leads to “big noise” from the person making the argument, and a quick resort to personal attack;
2. people who know they are wrong fight dirty, or they have the integrity to recognize they are wrong; people who think they are right never mind respectfully showing why they are right when challenged.
Actually, there is a difference between strong and emphasis. Hence, the reason two different buttons are situated above the text box in which you type.
All capital letters had been commonly used in the past, when technology on certain platforms may not have offered bold print options for strong emotion or the ability to italicize words for a little added emphasis. But, technology has advanced and we do have those luxuries now. And, with such, etiquette has changed.
When you highlight something and click on “strong” consistently in your written commentary, you are yelling. Thus, your bloviations lose any effectiveness they may have had.
And, whether unintentional or not, it conjures up images for some that take away from any point one may be trying to make.
Hey Ragsy,
For a guy who has been bombastic, arrogant and a smart-ass more times than anyone can count, your sudden epiphany to gracious manners rings hollow. Your third-person devine detachment, particularly, rings phoney.
This may be a good thing. If it keeps you in check in the future and from now on, then a little good has come from mixing it up with you, otherwise an exsasperating excursion into time-wasting, were it not that some people might just be influenced to follow what has been up to now your pathetic lead.
Dakine had a great take on you. You should read it sometime for a great self-assessment.
True, but it isn’t your place to decide what the rules are. Just a head’s up.
The reason for that is that they aren’t, but those who sit out the election and don’t vote the Republican ticket most certainly are from a conservative point-of-view at least, because that will ensure a likely socialist/left takeover of all three branches of then highest offices in the land; if Hillary or Obama become President, and the congress remains held by liberal democrats (likely at this juncture, though things change), then liberal socialist judges, including Supreme Cout nominees, will be appointed for life and change the face of our country in ways we can barely imagine. If anyone knowingly does that, then you bet they’re traitors. Our soldiers have died in wars on other countries defending American values from scourges which struck much less into the very heart of the operation of this nation.
But you’ll keep blathering and I’ll keep correcting you and I guess that’s just how it’s going to have to be, Ragsy.
Get the picture, professor?
Barry,
Obvious Dakine disagrees with you. So do others who use the same technique.
The only form of yelling online anyone has ever mentioned is CAPS.
This issue is obviously subjective. We disagree. Thanks for the opinion. I’ll stick with my style of posting. Done.