Why KO calls Rush an "entertainer" and why it's important we hammer this home....

[OneGrassRoot]

I was thumbing through Neal Boortz's book -- I know, I know...I humored a RW relative and was going to try to read when, upon thumbing through, a particular passage caught my eye.

Boortz is a radio guy, just like Limbaugh and Hannity, and people need to be reminded that it is their JOB to stir up shit. Period. They are NOT journalists. They are indeed entertainers, with controversy being the focus of their particular brand of entertainment. They are entertainers, like Howard Stern.

In his book, "Somebody's Gotta Say It," Boortz reveals a truth behind all of these right-wing radio types:

A couple of times a week, I tell my listeners, in almost these exact words, "Do not believe everything you hear on this radio program. In fact, do not believe ANYthing you hear on this radio program, either from the callers or me, unless it is consistent with what you already know to be true, or you have taken the time to research that issue for yourself. Because, I'll flat-out lie to you to make the show interesting.... I lie to get a rise out of the audience. And sure, it's fun."


That's when I closed the book. There was no need to try to read, not for any serious political commentary. I don't want to read fiction right now, especially not hate-filled fiction.

PEOPLE MISTAKENLY FOLLOW THESE PEOPLE LIKE SHEEP, THINKING THEY ARE KNOWLEDGEABLE IN SOME WAY, THAT THEY ARE POLITICAL COMMENTATORS. ALL THEY ARE DOING IS MAKING MONEY OFF OF PEOPLE WHO CAN'T OR WON'T THINK FOR THEMSELVES...BY STIRRING SHIT. THAT IS THEIR JOB DESCRIPTION.

They appeal to the followers who are angry and unhappy and need a target, a common enemy to rally behind to feel better about themselves. Thus their hatred of liberals took on a life of its own.

That's also why they aren't held responsible for what they say...because they are merely entertainers, not journalists or serious media professionals.

They need to exposed and any legitimacy as political commentators removed, and they need to be made irrelevant. There is nothing in Limbaugh's background, nor Hannity's, that lends credibility to their political opinion.

They have a right to these opinions and have a right to be paid for spouting them, but for people to follow their words as gospel is where it's gone off the rails. Then again, these are often the same people who listen to televangelists. 'Nuf said.

That's all.


:patriot:

[BridgeTheGap]

1. I'm sure the Nazis had people doing the same shit... n.t

[OneGrassRoot]

2. Indeed. Lockstep talking points for the masses. n/t

[Bluenorthwest]

15. Why go across a sea? The roots are far closer

Right here at home in the USA, a priest named Charles Coughlin virtually invented hate radio. He started out as a Democrat. He devolved into an anti-semetic spewer of bile and constant attacker of FDR.
Coughlin and his millions of listeners actively protested giving asylum to Jews fleeing Hitler. Here is one of Priest Coughlin's quotes:
"When we get through with the Jews in America, they'll think the treatment they received in Germany was nothing." This was said in the Bronx, New York, USA, before a huge crowd. Coughlin gave the Nazi salute. Coughlin's church, the Roman Catholic Chruch did nothing to stop his mass broadcasts, rallies and hate speech.
So sadly, if the Nazis did have people doing the same, they had learned it from Coughlin's program, which started in the late 20's and went on unabated by the Roman Catholic Church for more than a decade.

[BridgeTheGap]

19. I had forgotten about about Coughlin...Eugenics, another Nazi favorite was

also concocted in the U.S.

[phaseolus]

3. Exactly.

And, when the history books are written, I really believe that Limbaugh and the rest of the RW echo chamber will get most of the credit for the Republican party's implosion.

It's more than the economy or a badly-run McCain campaign or 8 years of Bush. Create a shadow media, make it adhere strictly to one party's dogma, plug all of 'em into a support network so that everyone knows the day's talking points and doesn't stray too far from the script, and within a few years the programs & their listeners are so divorced from reality that their message just seems weird to the rest of the population.

There's a cautionary tale in there somewhere...

[BridgeTheGap]

5. There are examples of our divided society down through history, but the last 15 or

so years has taken the cake. How have they been allowed to get away with blatant political activities while passing themselves off as "news media?" Oh, that's right: they're ENTERTAINMENT!
How refreshing! Propaganda passed off as entertainment.

[OneGrassRoot]

7. So true. It's easy to list rightwing media "celebrities"...

whereas I think most of us would be hard-pressed to cite leftwing radio and TV people we are in lockstep with.

Most of us here listen to, watch and read a variety of sources. That's the difference. We are capable of critical thinking and reasoning and forming our own opinions.

Those who listen to Rush and Hannity et al -- all spouting the same message --are not capable of or are simply too lazy to think and discern what is being spoonfed to their listeners on a daily basis. It is dangerous, and I hope they are all soon irrelevant.

We would all be wise to heed the cautionary tale of being in lockstep and not thinking or criticizing, and how this can destroy all we hold dear.

[deminks]

4. Comedian Rush Limbaugh.

His 'jokes' are offensive and outdated. Nobody is laughing anymore, except maybe the wing nuttery of the reich.

[Justice]

6. Totally agree. The amount of money they make for the entertainment

is evidence of their being entertainers and not journalists. So when they bash Hollywood actors for speaking out, they are in a sense no different. It is their job to be provocative.

I wonder why people don't question Rush and Hannity more knowing how much $$ they make.

[Bluenorthwest]

18. Except that journalists

Often make far more than entertainers. So the big money does not prove they are not jounalists. Their work does that. Keith makes millions a year, lives in Trump freaking Tower, for crying out loud. Still he is a journalist. People here loved Tim Russert, many worship Luke in his stead. Tim made huge mountains of money. Was he an entertainer?

The reality for actual entertainers is that the vast majority don't even make a living in entertainment. Just saying. The work is the proof, not the money or lack of money.

[KharmaTrain]

8. Personal Flashback: July, 1988

I had been working with talk radio for several years and met a big name "consultant"...at our meeting he told me about a new form of talk radio...one he claimed would be more "engaging, entertaining and controversial"...this was the first time I was introduced to Rush Limbaugh and the concept of hate radio.

The concept was to "spice" up talk radio and avoid any and all equal time provisions by turning political and controversial talk into "enterainment"...specifically to have it listed at "Entertainment" programming rather than News or Public Affairs that could fall under equal time or fairness doctrine provisions. Instead of playing records (radio was still a jukebox in those days), your callers would be your "hits"...and the louder and angrier the better.

I was told at that meeting that the balanced talk radio was boring...or playing devil's advocate (which I enjoyed doing) was a waste of time...that people wanted to hear passion and heat. If they wanted policy discussions, they would turn to NPR, but "talk radio" was to be brash and outrageous...just like "shock radio" or even sports talk.

Rushbo is the one who claims he's an entertainer...that's why KO uses it. It's not unlike BillO whose show is on a supposed "News" Channel, but his defenders always say his show isn't "News". It's a shell game that provides for lying and sliming with little redress.

Cheers...

[OneGrassRoot]

10. Thank you for sharing that. :)

You're right that Rush, himself, says he's an entertainer.
There is something so very insidious about it. But, again, I liken it to the televangelist movement and how they gained a following -- ironically, about the same time as rightwing hate radio, yes?

Ahhhhh, the Moral Majority Movement has so many tentacles of hate and corruption and manipulation.......

[KharmaTrain]

13. Religious Radio Is Another Game...

Yes, there's a strong relationship between the rise of what we used to call "enterevangelists"...the tele-evangelists who learned to master the medium through shtick. Giving sermons weren't cutting it...so throw in some "entertainment" and the preaching goes down a lot easier (and the phone lines rang with lots of donations). It also was a big attempt by Wildmon, Falwell and Robertson, among others, to try to blur the lines between religion and entertainment.

Religious radio is another world unto itself...the world of the Dobsons and other "dollar-a-hollar" preachers who also slip in a good dose of political spreaching in their broadcasts. They represent a silent, but very strong, network that worked in conjunction with hate radio as a very valauble tool by Rove...the place where wedge issues such as abortion and gay marriage played big time. This is Palin territory now.

We're witnessing the disentegration of an unholy alliance that started in the 70's, turned into the "Raygun" revolution that was hijacked by Gingrich, DeLay, Rove and Cheney and has led to the destruction of their corrupt party. That corruption and manipulation has been its own undoing as the more these people avoid reality, the further into the political wilderness they will go.

I am firmly convinced that we've seen the peak of hate radio...with so many of the parent companies going bankrupt and the medium itself dying, the popularity and influence of that medium will diminish as well.

Cheers...

:hi:

[Vinnie From Indy]

9. Pills Limbaugh is NOT an entertainer and it is a HUGE mistake to label him as such

He is a hate mongering, propaganda pimp of the worst kind. There is a difference. IN addition, labeling Pills Limbaugh as an entertainer actually diminishes the responsibility of all involved in bringing his hate to Americans on the radio. The fact of the matter is that Democrats and Liberals desperately need to address the current state of AM hate radio. They need to do this by holding the stations, and advertisers accountable through boycotts and public awareness on a LOCAL basis. Dems in Indy, for example, need to let the local Ford dealer know that he will lose their business if he continues advertise on Limbuagh's show. It is the ONLY way that Limbaugh will be diminished. Calling these hate mongering, lying pieces of shit entertainers is EXACTLY what Limbaugh and the rest want.

[OneGrassRoot]

11. I completely agree about the boycotts against advertisers....

it worked with Imus.

I understand your anger and frustration. While Limbaugh and company say they are entertainers, they have succeeded in convincing their audiences that they have some sort of moral and intellectual authority and thus deserve to have a following...that they are spouting truths that they can't hear elsewhere.

They need to be diminished and made irrelevant in some way. That was the point of my post. It's difficult to curtail free speech and label it inciteful hate speech given the insidious manner in which they have set up their operations.

I don't have answers. I'm sure there are decent, patriotic attorneys working every day to find a way to expose Rush and Company legally. I hope so.

[Vinnie From Indy]

12. Me too!

Cheers!

[laureloak]

14. I call him a HATE CLOWN.

[harun]

17. I like that one, entertaining yet accurate (n/t)

[Fla Dem]

16. First time I heard Limpballs was in the late 80's driving from Philly to DC.

Was looking for something on the radio that would take my mind off the boring drive. I came across this guy who was saying just the most outrageous things against blacks. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't grasp the reality that here was someone on radio spewing all these stereotypes about black people. At first I thought it was a joke, a parody. But the more I heard the more I realized this was no joke. What made me realize that was the people who were calling in, and basically saying yes, yes, we agree with you, and he was egging them on. I didn't know who Rush Limbugh was then. But my impression then and reinforced ever since, is that yes he is an entertainer, but he is also a racist disguised as an entertainer. He appeals it to all those people out there, that on a day to day basis interact with blacks on a business level and personal level, but who in their heart of hearts feel superior. They hate minorities and the Democratic politicians who have supported equal rights, whether it's Blacks, Hispanics or women.....remember "Femme Nazis". The whole "American/Family Values" came from his rantings. Pitting one group against the other. So he appeals to the lowest common denominator. Yes he's an entertainer, and he knows what entertains his audience.

[TWiley]

20. Stump-trained Christians accept by faith alone and do not question.

It is beyond their mental faculities to be open minded.