Almond writes in this past week’s NYTimes magazine that “Liberals are Ruining America. I know, because I am one.” And what is the horrible sin that liberals commit? According to Almond, they, (oh, it is so dreadful) listen to Rush Limbaugh secretly in their cars, and shake their fist in anger—and then they politely return the station to NPR. Yes, liberals, says Almond, are destroying America because they cannot stop being obsessed with ogres like Limbaugh and Hannity. They, as it were, feed the beast, and if they did not, the beast would become a lap dog. Oh Please.
The liberal blogosphere that does not indulge in self-flagellation has been happy to rebut the silly politics of the piece, but let me add a few more comments.
Almond is not so much wrong as sort of beside the point. First off, this just isn’t that big of a problem. Yes, I agree, my friend if you share Almond’s fixation, you should swear off, Rush and Sean; but I don’t have to because I am not listening. This is not to say I don’t read or listen to conservatives or Republicans, but I don’t read or listen to these guys. But for that matter, I rarely watch Maddow on MSNBC or Ed Schultz either. There are good conservatives, liberals, libertarians, progressives to read and listen to, why bother with hacks? I don’t read Harlequin romances or watch (many) bad sitcoms–just not enough time.
Next, if you do listen, stop suffering the guilt pains for doing so; it’s not that big of a deal. How about this analogy? I think people probably should not do much health research on the internet because it scares the bejesus out of them and probably increases hypochondria. BUT, WEB MD does not cause cancer or the common cold. Those are real things out there. You might scare yourself or waste a doctor’s time by heading to the clinic every time your symptom matches something nasty, but that is not the real medical problem or causing more cancer. So with the right wing nuts. They are real, and their negative affect on the Republican Party and public discourse is real. Liberals can over react to it, and its own blowhards can feed its fire I suppose, but you riding in your car fuming at Rush does not make his effect on Republicans or public discourse worse, it just makes your life a little sadder.
Finally, the piece conflates too many things. Stewart and Colbert are like Limbaugh in one way, they are all basically soap sellers. Limbaugh has been fabulous at getting and keeping an audience, and until recently, pretty good at keeping and attracting advertisers. Stewart and Colbert are also entertainers for a network and have increased Comedy Central’s viewership and ad rate at 11:00 EST. I happen to think they are funny and witty in a way that falls flat when right winders try to be funny. Quick name a truly funny right winger …. yes? …. I am waiting ….maybe Christopher Buckley, but his funny stuff is mostly nonpolitical and it is not part of the noise machine. At any rate, even in tenor Stewart and Colbert are very different than Maddow, or the writer of the piece. Almond also says almost nothing of the main stream press. Death Panels and Sandra Fluke came to our attention and stayed because of FOX, CNN and NPR, not because of Maddow and Colbert.
He is correct about one thing. I was shocked and awed by how many lefties and progressives sat back after Obama was elected and nit-picked. Did they form marches to push health care reform or financial reform to the left? Did they organize to respond to death panels crap? Nope. They bitched and moaned that Obama wasn’t a magician able to pull progressive policies out of the hat. They complained he didn’t respond effectively to Republicans, but what did they do? They complained about the TEA party, but like the author notes, did not act in kind for a few years with the interesting–if quixotic–Occupy movement. How sad. So yes, get moving and organizing, not just reacting to your crazy goldbug uncle at the 4th of July picnic.
Go ahead, stop listening to Rush. You will feel better—probably a lot better. But that won’t stop Rush or the Republicans or save America from ruin.
