Media Matters for America: Women, minorities, autistic children: Conservative radio's vitriol not reserved for Obama
Eric Boehlert and Jamison Foser
As Media Matters for America documented, the nationwide network of conservative radio hosts -- personalities without the national prominence of Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh -- engaged in an all-out effort to foment hate and suspicion of Barack Obama by participating actively in an echo chamber of smears and falsehoods about the primary candidate and then Democratic nominee. But these same radio hosts were by no means discerning in their vitriol and did not save their ire solely for Obama. The smears ran the gamut, both in the context of the 2008 election, as Media Matters noted in the previous report, and beyond. Immigrants, female politicians (and women in general), the LGBT community, the poor and homeless, minorities, progressives, unions, college students, and even autistic children were targets of these radio personalities' invective. Media Matters and Colorado Media Matters have compiled some of their more noteworthy attacks on these groups.
(NOTE: Transcripts of many examples of attacks on each group appear in this article.)
Immigrants
In discussing immigration reform or immigration in general, conservative talk-radio hosts have repeatedly smeared immigrants -- Latino immigrants in particular -- as violent, uncivilized, or having sinister motives against the United States. Media Matters has documented several instances of talk-radio hosts baselessly blaming undocumented immigrants for the mortgage crisis, citing bogus statistics -- refuted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development -- to claim that they held a significant percentage of subprime loans....
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Sex and gender
As Media Matters noted, right-wing talk-radio hosts have also repeatedly made sexist comments about female politicians -- Republicans and Democrats alike -- often highlighting a woman's physical characteristics, in one instance referring to Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin's "smoking-hot" looks while calling Obama a "little bitch." Others referred to Sen. Hillary Clinton as a "bitch" and, in numerous instances, remarked on her voice, with one describing it as "screechy, fingernails-on-the-blackboard voice." Also, as Media Matters noted, hosts and guests have attacked progressive women as "ugly skanks" or "whores," impugned women's abilities as political leaders, and some have even questioned allowing women the right to vote....
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LGBT-related smears
Media Matters has identified numerous examples of smears pertaining to sexual orientation or targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans that are routine among conservative talk-radio hosts. As Media Matters noted, legal rulings and ballot propositions regarding same-sex marriage prompted several radio hosts to target the LGBT community, in some cases suggesting that same-sex marriage will "lead to legal human-animal marriage."...
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Race and ethnicity
Several right-wing radio hosts have promoted insulting stereotypes regarding African-Americans, Mexicans, and other groups....
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Attacks on the poor
Several talk-radio hosts have attacked low-income and homeless Americans over the past year, characterizing them as "welfare broodmares" and "lacking values, morals, and ethics." Some have advocated that the poor be disenfranchised, or even that the homeless be sent to "work camps."...
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Other attacks
Beyond smears of Obama, his supporters, racial and ethnic minorities, women, gays and lesbians, and the poor, talk-radio hosts often directed their ire toward a broad range of other groups of people: those with HIV/AIDS, people with autism, teachers, other radio hosts, comedians perceived as progressive, Democrats in the House and Senate, and the organizations that document their attacks....
http://mediamatters.org/items/200811130002?f=h_latest
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