Talk Radio Blows
That's hardly breaking news, I know. But, earlier today, I was flipping around the radio dial in the car, and came across Randi Rhodes on the local Air America affiliate.
And the show was god-awful. We all know that Rush Limbaugh is a boil on society's ass, and that right-wing talk radio in general is a vast and stinking cesspool, but, in case some of you thought that liberal talk radio would be an immense improvement (I confess that I once fell into that category), you were wrong (so was I).
Here's what happened: she was talking about the Abramoff debacle, which is looking very, very bad for DeLay and company. But she veered into a mistake-filled minefield, and started discussing the genesis of the K Street Project. She talked about how the Republican congress defeated the Clinton health-care plan in 1993-94--Newt Gingrich, Tom DeLay, and Dick Armey, with their lobbyist cronies, ran the idea into the ground. It's true that Republicans were instrumental in defeating the plan, but get this--the Republicans didn't win control of the House until January 1995--that's when the "Republican Revolutionaries" who won the 1994 mid-term elections were sworn in. The Clinton health care plan died a bloody death in 1994--before the GOP took control of the house (there's a great timeline here). At that time, the Democrats controlled the House and Senate. The Republicans, by themselves, could not have killed the plan. So get your goddam facts straight.
Perhaps I'm judging too harshly--maybe I'm just not hearing the good bits on liberal talk radio. And I am glad that the dial is no longer completely ceded to the rabid blatherings of Hannity, Limbaugh, O'Reilly, and the lesser jagoffs that follow in their repugnant wake. But come on. You don't need to lie (or misquote, or whatever) to make the Republicans seem evil. They are evil, end of story. They oppose any idea that might help ordinary people, protect the environment, promote smarter consumption, get medical services to people who need them (e.g., the 15.2% of Americans without insurance), give women control of their bodies, or anything else that's decent. They are all for cutting taxes on the wealthy, making everyone else shoulder the burden, raping the planet, weakening the country, cutting funding for veterans' care, or anything else that's obscene.
You don't need to make shit up about them--they're awful as is.
That's hardly breaking news, I know. But, earlier today, I was flipping around the radio dial in the car, and came across Randi Rhodes on the local Air America affiliate.
And the show was god-awful. We all know that Rush Limbaugh is a boil on society's ass, and that right-wing talk radio in general is a vast and stinking cesspool, but, in case some of you thought that liberal talk radio would be an immense improvement (I confess that I once fell into that category), you were wrong (so was I).
Here's what happened: she was talking about the Abramoff debacle, which is looking very, very bad for DeLay and company. But she veered into a mistake-filled minefield, and started discussing the genesis of the K Street Project. She talked about how the Republican congress defeated the Clinton health-care plan in 1993-94--Newt Gingrich, Tom DeLay, and Dick Armey, with their lobbyist cronies, ran the idea into the ground. It's true that Republicans were instrumental in defeating the plan, but get this--the Republicans didn't win control of the House until January 1995--that's when the "Republican Revolutionaries" who won the 1994 mid-term elections were sworn in. The Clinton health care plan died a bloody death in 1994--before the GOP took control of the house (there's a great timeline here). At that time, the Democrats controlled the House and Senate. The Republicans, by themselves, could not have killed the plan. So get your goddam facts straight.
Perhaps I'm judging too harshly--maybe I'm just not hearing the good bits on liberal talk radio. And I am glad that the dial is no longer completely ceded to the rabid blatherings of Hannity, Limbaugh, O'Reilly, and the lesser jagoffs that follow in their repugnant wake. But come on. You don't need to lie (or misquote, or whatever) to make the Republicans seem evil. They are evil, end of story. They oppose any idea that might help ordinary people, protect the environment, promote smarter consumption, get medical services to people who need them (e.g., the 15.2% of Americans without insurance), give women control of their bodies, or anything else that's decent. They are all for cutting taxes on the wealthy, making everyone else shoulder the burden, raping the planet, weakening the country, cutting funding for veterans' care, or anything else that's obscene.
You don't need to make shit up about them--they're awful as is.
Labels: General stupidity, Radio
posted by Jude at 1:49 PM
