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Division and partisan activism is always with us to some extent. The early adversarial debates on point/counterpoint, 60 Minutes, etc. were seen as entertainment and novelties for all but a few. That was an earlier time. There was not a tremendousLy deep divide over Nixon and Watergate and other things seemed petty by comparison. Then came new challenges. The pardon, Iran, hostages, secret negotiations, Reagan, Nicaragua, Iran Contra. It turns out that Watergate was maybe not a one off. People start paying attention. Reagan's administration pulled the plug on the fairness doctrine. Within a few months we see Rush and then others and we are off to the races. Rush Limbaugh created an audience of 20 million by 1994. By 1995 there were over 1,100 talk radio shows and conservative listeners were over 70% of the audience. We are now almost 35 years down the road. Talk radio was just entertainment but listeners did not see it as that and some hosts lost sight of that fact. Now, nobody believes anything, information authority does not exist, all sources are credible - or none are. Science no longer has value, all hail YouTube, opinion is fact, lies are truth, information manipulators are amplified by gullible dupes. The great divide is now part of America for the foreseeable future. People in power on both (all) sides want it and benefit because it is like a Christmas tree that they can hang things on. Every day brings new ornaments. If you plumb the depths of the divide you will find all sorts of ridiculous things that really don't matter more than a day or two but they kept the home folks worked up. We are being manipulated.
Division and partisan activism is always with us to some extent. The early adversarial debates on point/counterpoint, 60 Minutes, etc. were seen as entertainment and novelties for all but a few. That was an earlier time. There was not a tremendousLy deep divide over Nixon and Watergate and other things seemed petty by comparison. Then came new challenges. The pardon, Iran, hostages, secret negotiations, Reagan, Nicaragua, Iran Contra. It turns out that Watergate was maybe not a one off. People start paying attention. Reagan's administration pulled the plug on the fairness doctrine. Within a few months we see Rush and then others and we are off to the races. Rush Limbaugh created an audience of 20 million by 1994. By 1995 there were over 1,100 talk radio shows and conservative listeners were over 70% of the audience. We are now almost 35 years down the road. Talk radio was just entertainment but listeners did not see it as that and some hosts lost sight of that fact. Now, nobody believes anything, information authority does not exist, all sources are credible - or none are. Science no longer has value, all hail YouTube, opinion is fact, lies are truth, information manipulators are amplified by gullible dupes. The great divide is now part of America for the foreseeable future. People in power on both (all) sides want it and benefit because it is like a Christmas tree that they can hang things on. Every day brings new ornaments. If you plumb the depths of the divide you will find all sorts of ridiculous things that really don't matter more than a day or two but they kept the home folks worked up. We are being manipulated.
Indeed. I laugh now to recall way back in the 80s listening to Rush, ages before I had any political opinions at all. We just considered it entertainment while we were building houses. Sometimes A.M. was all you get on the truck radio. Same with Dr. Laura. Just entertainment. I don't recall a single thing either one said.
Never would have guessed he single-handedly got this runaway train going and running off the rails to this day.
The cancellation of the fairness doctrine was a very palpable loss. Almost as bad as the loss of science.
Bad people use social media for bad purposes. But the vast majority of people use social media for positive things in their life.
Bad people, like those robbing stores, usually get away by using a car. We don't outlaw cars.
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