Rush Limbaugh

[HoneySuckle]

Do you listen to him?

I have only read of the man, but wouldn't listen to him because I have better things to do.

The person I know of who seems to love him comes across very right-wing, ultr-conservative and actually belives the b.s. he says. Why she can quote him on any issue!  I'm amazed that my friendship has lasted this long to be honest, but I was trying to figure out what kind of person could actually listen and believe his crap?

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by HoneySuckle

Do you listen to him?

I have only read of the man, but wouldn't listen to him because I have better things to do.

The person I know of who seems to love him comes across very right-wing, ultr-conservative and actually belives the b.s. he says. Why she can quote him on any issue!  I'm amazed that my friendship has lasted this long to be honest, but I was trying to figure out what kind of person could actually listen and believe his crap?

First and foremost, people have to understand that Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly, Olbermann, Matthews, etc. are all entertainers.

Limbaugh has brought up issues in the past the rest of the media has neglected or were too afraid to shine the light on.  I trusted his motives a lot more back when he started really gaining popularity and momentum during the '92 elections.

Rush is like anyone else who gets exposed to a certain level of power, fame, and money- they eventually sell out their ideals and they become myopic to the issues, only looking at one side.

Rush has some entertainment value, other days he can be pedantic and it's an old act.

I seldom listen to the radio except when I'm driving and I find I'm keeping it on the FM band more lately.  I'm already burned out on the 2008 Presidential election.

Rush used to be a lot more relevant.  With so many others who rode in on his coat tails, his drum beating has become somewhat muffled.

Neil Boortz is pretty entertaining and I find he has less of an arch conservative slant.

[mr.jaynes]

quote:Originally posted by HoneySuckle

Do you listen to him?

I have only read of the man, but wouldn't listen to him because I have better things to do.

The person I know of who seems to love him comes across very right-wing, ultr-conservative and actually belives the b.s. he says. Why she can quote him on any issue!  I'm amazed that my friendship has lasted this long to be honest, but I was trying to figure out what kind of person could actually listen and believe his crap?

I mean not to insult this person if she is in fact a friend of yours, but is she the kind of person that does not research matters for herself? Does she get adopt a political ideology from someone else's viewpoints, rather than reach these conclusions on her own? Because I've known a few people like that. If Rush or Sean Hannity says it, well, then, it must be true, and why debate it any further! I may be liberal on many things, but i didn't come by it by recycling the opinions of the many liberal pundits out there.

Unfortunately, too many take the words of Rush Limbaugh as the political equivalent of coming straight down from Mt. Sinai.

[HoneySuckle]

quote:Originally posted by mr.jaynes

quote:Originally posted by HoneySuckle

Do you listen to him?

I have only read of the man, but wouldn't listen to him because I have better things to do.

The person I know of who seems to love him comes across very right-wing, ultr-conservative and actually belives the b.s. he says. Why she can quote him on any issue!  I'm amazed that my friendship has lasted this long to be honest, but I was trying to figure out what kind of person could actually listen and believe his crap?

I mean not to insult this person if she is in fact a friend of yours, but is she the kind of person that does not research matters for herself? Does she get adopt a political ideology from someone else's viewpoints, rather than reach these conclusions on her own? Because I've known a few people like that. If Rush or Sean Hannity says it, well, then, it must be true, and why debate it any further! I may be liberal on many things, but i didn't come by it by recycling the opinions of the many liberal pundits out there.

Unfortunately, too many take the words of Rush Limbaugh as the political equivalent of coming straight down from Mt. Sinai.

No insult taken.  Have you ever had a friend that you thought you knew (and liked) and found yourself re-evaluating and wondering about the friendship?  That's where I am at this point. She is very kind and would do anything for others, but the last year or so I have gotten tired of her snickering and snide remarks about liberals.  She blames everything in this country on liberals, and cannot see past her nose.  She preaches and repeats everything out of Rush's mouth, and last Mother's Day her family gave her a 6 CD set of Rush, who else?

I think these elections too will definitely cause more friction in our already strained friendship because she cannot begin to cope with the idea of a female president, much less a black one!  Not that she has brought up Obama, but when I mentioned that I had no problem with CHANGE, she knew what I was hinting at.  She immediately said, "America will never be the same."  I didn't ask what that meant.

No, she does not research anything from what I've seen and tend to believe whatever her right-winging/ultra conservatist idols say.

[Conan71]

If that's what she lives for and all you guys talk about then she's got an un-healthy obsession w/ politics.

There are plenty of good friends I have who are polar opposites when it comes to politics.  We learn to tolerate each other's views.  Some of us simply avoid talking politics altogether.

[mr.jaynes]

quote:Originally posted by HoneySuckle

quote:Originally posted by mr.jaynes

quote:Originally posted by HoneySuckle

Do you listen to him?

I have only read of the man, but wouldn't listen to him because I have better things to do.

The person I know of who seems to love him comes across very right-wing, ultr-conservative and actually belives the b.s. he says. Why she can quote him on any issue!  I'm amazed that my friendship has lasted this long to be honest, but I was trying to figure out what kind of person could actually listen and believe his crap?

I mean not to insult this person if she is in fact a friend of yours, but is she the kind of person that does not research matters for herself? Does she get adopt a political ideology from someone else's viewpoints, rather than reach these conclusions on her own? Because I've known a few people like that. If Rush or Sean Hannity says it, well, then, it must be true, and why debate it any further! I may be liberal on many things, but i didn't come by it by recycling the opinions of the many liberal pundits out there.

Unfortunately, too many take the words of Rush Limbaugh as the political equivalent of coming straight down from Mt. Sinai.

No insult taken.  Have you ever had a friend that you thought you knew (and liked) and found yourself re-evaluating and wondering about the friendship?  That's where I am at this point. She is very kind and would do anything for others, but the last year or so I have gotten tired of her snickering and snide remarks about liberals.  She blames everything in this country on liberals, and cannot see past her nose.  She preaches and repeats everything out of Rush's mouth, and last Mother's Day her family gave her a 6 CD set of Rush, who else?

I think these elections too will definitely cause more friction in our already strained friendship because she cannot begin to cope with the idea of a female president, much less a black one!  Not that she has brought up Obama, but when I mentioned that I had no problem with CHANGE, she knew what I was hinting at.  She immediately said, "America will never be the same."  I didn't ask what that meant.

No, she does not research anything from what I've seen and tend to believe whatever her right-winging/ultra conservatist idols say.

I have friendships with many on the right who practically live by every word that comes from right wing talk radio, but we don't generally talk politics, and when we do, sometimes, we even find some common ground. But I also know that they are there for me and I for them. And it's that common ground that keeps me and them in good stead as far as our friendship is concerned. Find that commonality with your friend, and I think that will be something you two can overcome.

[rwarn17588]

HoneySuckle, whether you want to continue this friendship is up to you.

However, there should be limits.

If someone constantly rips you for your closely held beliefs, then perhaps you should re-evaluate. Or at least tell them to knock it off for the sake of the friendship.

[MichaelBates]

There's a new interview with Limbaugh on Time's website. Worth reading if you want to understand what he's all about. Some excerpts:

quote:
Look it, I've been fascinated, honestly Jay, with the attention paid to me by people who really have not undertaken to understand how I succeed, how I define my success. I don't define my success by who wins elections, because politicians are going to come and go, and I'm going to be around as long as I choose to be....

I treat it as a business. My definitions for success have nothing to do with who wins elections, but rather, Is the program growing audience-wise? Are we attracting new sponsors? Are those sponsors paying confiscatory rates? Are we able to charge confiscatory rates? Which we are. Are they getting results for their advertising? Yes they are. We're sold out constantly, we've got a waiting list for people to get on. That's how I define it.

Now, in terms of the content, I just come here and I try to have fun every day. And I'm honest. I don't say outrageous things I don't believe just to get people in a tizzy. I have the benefit here of not having anybody tell me what I can or can't say. It's totally up to me. But I'm very serious about a lot of things. And so I get very passionate about those things, and I do so with honesty. But I also — it's show biz, too. There's a lot of radio out there. There's a lot of TV. There's a lot of competition. And you have to do certain things to cut through the noise. And that's where the showbiz characteristics will surface, such as "Talent On Loan From God." You know people think I'm saying I'm Christ, which I'm not. But it's just these little signature things that sometimes rub people the wrong way or make them think that I'm an arrogant and pompous person. Those are just the showbiz things....

And the media thinks that [talk radio listeners are] all hayseeds and hicks without minds of their own. When in fact, they are totally independent thinkers. And most of my audience is there not because I have Pied Pipered them to where they believe. They already believed what they believe — I just came along and validated it. When I started in '88, there was CNN, the three networks, your magazine and Newsweek and US News and the newspapers. That was it. I started in '88 and I was the first so-called national voice espousing conservatism and people glommed onto it because finally, "Somebody who agrees with me!"

He's succeeded in large part because he doesn't take himself too seriously, doesn't see himself as the leader of a movement, and isn't trying to steer the public to some sort political outcome. He talks about the topics in that day's news that are interesting to him and makes observations from his admittedly right-wing point of view. Before he got into political talk, he was a music DJ, and he has an "ear" for radio and a sense of timing and flow that most of his imitators lack.

While I still enjoy listening to him from time to time, it's not a "must" as it was back in the '90s. One of the valuable things about his show was that it brought to light stories that might not otherwise have received national attention. In particular, Rush gave prominence to stories that would be of interest to conservatives but might not strike left-leaning mainstream media types as newsworthy. With the growth of the web, with blogs and forums and social bookmarking sites like Digg and del.icio.us, there are plenty of other ways to have access to that information.

[Conan71]

Michael, I have to disagree with one point:  He and Hannity had tried to steer listeners to Romney.

[guido911]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

Michael, I have to disagree with one point:  He and Hannity had tried to steer listeners to Romney.

Has somebody taken away Limbaugh and Hannity's belt and shoelaces following Romney's endorsement of McCain?

[rwarn17588]

<Michael Bates wrote:

Before he got into political talk, he was a music DJ, and he has an "ear" for radio and a sense of timing and flow that most of his imitators lack.

<end clip>

I'm sure a lot of that was because he listened to KMOX in St. Louis when it was a pioneer in talk radio in the 1970s. He more than once has mentioned KMOX hosts Bob Hardy and Jim White as influences.

White had the late-night slot for decades before he retired about five years ago. He sometimes said, "You're listening to Jim White, who taught everything Rush Limbaugh knows, but not everything that *I* know."

But you're right. Limbaugh is less-essential listening than he was 15 years ago. He's slipped. He used to be more entertaining; now it seems he's become increasingly an old crank.

[mr.jaynes]

quote:Originally posted by rwarn17588

<Michael Bates wrote:

Before he got into political talk, he was a music DJ, and he has an "ear" for radio and a sense of timing and flow that most of his imitators lack.

<end clip>

I'm sure a lot of that was because he listened to KMOX in St. Louis when it was a pioneer in talk radio in the 1970s. He more than once has mentioned KMOX hosts Bob Hardy and Jim White as influences.

White had the late-night slot for decades before he retired about five years ago. He sometimes said, "You're listening to Jim White, who taught everything Rush Limbaugh knows, but not everything that *I* know."

But you're right. Limbaugh is less-essential listening than he was 15 years ago. He's slipped. He used to be more entertaining; now it seems he's become increasingly an old crank.

The thing about Rush Limbaugh, is that he never seems to be challenged by anyone on his claims and assertions, and I've yet to see him sit in on a panel discussion where he'd have to give facts and figures. And unfortunately, I don't see his listening audience holding him to that standard.

[inteller]

the problem with Rush is not rush, but the ****ing wackos that followed in his footsteps and are bigger zealots tham him.  I'm thinking Laura Ingraham and Coultergeist.  Those two *****es are ****ing scary.

[mr.jaynes]

quote:Originally posted by inteller

the problem with Rush is not rush, but the ****ing wackos that followed in his footsteps and are bigger zealots tham him.  I'm thinking Laura Ingraham and Coultergeist.  Those two *****es are ****ing scary.

Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter are mistakenly labeled as pundits and commentators, when demagogue and polemicist are more appropriate terms for who they are and what they do. Well, yes they are scary, and the unfortunate thing is that they have a devoted following that seems to blindly accept everything that they hold forth on.

[Breadburner]

Coultergeist....heh...