Why do right-wing pundits have so much power? (nationalist, Sanders, ratings)
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It's because the majority of Democrats aren't interested in what actual liberals stand for so you get a very small audience. By and large the Republicans support what Rush says. He says what he says because that is where the support and ratings are.
That's an intriguing point. At the risk of moving the proverbial goal points, two incipient questions:
1. In brief, what is it, for which "actual liberals stand"?
2. Where in the spectrum of media and public discourse do we place those Republicans who are disgusted by Limbaugh-Hannity coarseness?
Right wing pundits - specifically Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity - have done nothing more than remind the President, who pays way more attention to media than any President before him, who voted for him, why they did and why they won't in 2020 if he reneges on his central campaign promise.
I mention those three specifically because their criticism has been the most direct, most pointed and most harsh. Coulter and Limbaugh savaged him when it looked like he was going to cave and let Democrats have their way. But all three have savaged every GOP president, Senate majority leader and House Speaker for the same thing as long as they have been famous. They have a platform, they have a microphone, and they speak their minds freely.
I disagree with all three about 75% of the time, but when they point out that the single biggest item that got Trump elected was the immigration issue, they are speaking truth to power. That was the number one reason cited for voting for him. Period. Coulter especially has been harsh about "you may forget why they voted, but THEY HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN, see you in 2020, Knucklehead." And she's right.
I realize the mainstream, establishment media that is purely in the tank for the Democrats/Left gets super bothered by Coulter being a permanent fixture on every bestseller list, Limbaugh having the highest rated radio show and Hannity having the highest rated cable news show, but that's consumer choice for you. Doesn't always go the way some people would like.
Plus, Hannity was pals with Trump before he was ever elected, same as Limbaugh. Not much different than the deference Obama gave various media buddies during his time.
More than once we have seen Trump change his mind at the very last minute based on criticism from the likes of Ann Coulter. Clearly it is a big reason why he refuses to give ground on the Wall. My question is, who are Coulter, Hannity and Limbaugh anyway and why does anyone give a rat's patoot what they think?
I don't see the same phenomenon on the left. I don't think Pelosi is saying "I gotta fight this wall, or Anderson Cooper and Rachel Maddow will be upset".
i am glad some people are waking up to this point....the FCC deregulated the airwaves in 1987 and the result is anger driven rightwing talk radio which to me was just the local drunk at the bar who knows everything and has all the answers....it is they who have driven the whole country to the right!!
i am glad some people are waking up to this point....the FCC deregulated the airwaves in 1987 and the result is anger driven rightwing talk radio which to me was just the local drunk at the bar who knows everything and has all the answers....it is they who have driven the whole country to the right!!
IMO they are only reinforcing what people already believe. Reagan would have made a good talk radio host (good as in popular). He won 49 states because he tapped into what people were thinking. They didn't want to be relegated to wearing a sweater in the winter to stay warm.
Its because their base has no intellectual curiosity. 80% of the misleading or outright false claims made on those stations are EASILY shown to be so but the base simply doesn't have the intelligence or desire to seek facts. Because of that, they are easily controlled. Easily put into a state of fear. Easily steered towards policies that harm them.
There are so few of them and they represent a large number of people, whereas leftist pundits are a dime a dozen each representing a few and all of them are insane or dumbed down by propaganda.
Its because their base has no intellectual curiosity. 80% of the misleading or outright false claims made on those stations are EASILY shown to be so but the base simply doesn't have the intelligence or desire to seek facts. Because of that, they are easily controlled. Easily put into a state of fear. Easily steered towards policies that harm them.
I want to challenge this assertion. Since you made the assertion, the burden of proof lies on you.
So here's the challenge - find any 5 things Coulter, Hannity or Limbaugh have stated as fact since Jan 2017, and prove that 4 of those 5 things are clearly misleading or outright lies.
Provide links for all proofs.
Until then, wildly subjective, unfounded assertion is wildly subjective and unfounded.
...I disagree with all three about 75% of the time, but when they point out that the single biggest item that got Trump elected was the immigration issue, they are speaking truth to power. That was the number one reason cited for voting for him. Period...
You might be on to something there. One wonders: given the various issues of our times - healthcare, taxes, decline of smaller-cities/towns, demographics, retirement, taxes, job-retraining, automation, energy, the environment,... why would immigration become the #1 issue?
Quote:
Originally Posted by pknopp
In a brief bumper sticker answer, helping people as opposed to controlling them.
I’m going to attempt to answer my own question. First, “liberalism” in American politics is fractured between the traditional interests of the lower classes, and those of the upper. By “lower” I mean, oddly enough, both workers in occupations toward the lower end of skill-set, education, prestige and remuneration; and non-workers, which is to say person who rely primarily on public funds. By “upper” I mean highly compensated professionals, investors and persons who regard themselves as being of a trans-national, post-nationalist bent. Fusion of these two groups is largely accidental, and is in response to a much more monolithic “right wing”. These are’t natural allies, but instead, are allies of convenience against a common opponent.
Second, recent rumors notwithstanding, doctrinaire classical socialism never had much appeal in America, and never will. A rousing chorus of “workers of the world, unite!” sounds somewhere between silly and dangerous. Truly leftist voices would enjoy little audience, outside of a few (and only a few) universities or “fringe” towns such as our local Yellow Springs, Ohio.
Third, the sort of person inclined towards what might be termed upper-class liberalism, is unimpressed by shrill posturing of any flavor, even by ideological allies. A fast-talking, excessively dramatic delivery would be viewed as buffoonery and dumb cant – and wouldn’t attract good ratings. Instead, such listeners have their radio-dial almost permanently tuned to the local classical music station.
Fourth, liberal punditry did itself a disservice, and a devastating one, via “political correctness”. However well-intentioned, the idea is antithetical to sharp and incendiary discourse – that is, the sort that garners attention. It’s necessarily milquetoast and boring. Self-censorship in effort to avoid offense or controversy has resulted in lack of voices of consequence.
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