The Radio Shift

Well, it’s clear that the right-wing radio shows figured out that the world is a very different place for them post-election than it was before the election.

Each of the shows I’ve listened to had a dramatically different tone to them than they did before. The one that really amazes me is Rush Limbaugh. He essentially came out and told his listeners that he’s been full of crap during the run of the entire administration by saying that he feels liberated to not have to carry the water for people who don’t deserve having their water carried for them.

In other words, he’s been giving people perspectives on the issues that he doesn’t even believe in. He said, among other things, “”some of this legislation coming out of there that I have just cringed at, and it has been difficult coming in here, trying to make the case for it…” Here’s the top punditry show in the country admitting that the legislation was so bad that its star had to cringe over it. Yet that didn’t stop him from selling his listeners on the “wisdom” behind it.

He came out and essentially said that it was okay to lie to his audience because “the stakes are high”. He believes that lying is fine because, he claims, that the Right could solve their own problems but only from a position of strength. Of course that suggests that if they did win that they’d have the viewpoint of needing to correct anything, but hey, that’s part of Kool-Aid dilemma. He said that he did it simply because he didn’t want to take part in any Democratic victory.

It’s much the same story on the other shows. Sean Hannity is still crying and making up all sorts of nefarious plots that, like almost all of his predictions, have no chance in hell of coming true.

Local pundit Dom Giordano was an exception. He seemed genuinely perplexed by the chain of events. He kept asking how it makes sense that soon-to-be-ex-Senator Rick Santorum could be so soundly beaten by “novice” (and that’s the best word used to describe him) Bill Casey Jr.

He went over the numbers last night and couldn’t understand how, across the board, Santorum was rebuffed. I genuinely felt sorry for the guy. He clearly just doesn’t have the pulse of the people. Rick Santorum epitomized everything that we dislike about George W. Bush. He was the poster boy for being in lock-step with the President and, as a result, was soundly defeated. How is that a mystery? Giordano kept asking, “How can the wealthiest voters have voted so heavily for Bob Casey?”

Dom, it’s simple; Everyone is simply that fed up with just about everything this administration and Congress has done (or not done) that we’d vote for just about anyone else. I have grave reservations about New Jersey Senator Robert Mendendez. I just have this feeling that the guy isn’t on the up-and-up. However, nothing official has been tied to him yet so my currently unfounded concerns weren’t enough to vote for Tom Kean, Jr. for fear that he’d win and give the impression that I, in any way, support the current state of the Republican agenda. I would rather risk a single embarrassment of a Senator than to risk giving the party currently in control any hint of support.

I voted Republican in some local state-level races but that hasn’t seemed to help much either. New Jersey is the most heavily taxed state in the country and that’s after having had Tom Kean and Christie Todd Whitman in charge for 16 years collectively (both Republicans of whom I supported). Only now, with a Democrat I don’t really trust in office (and didn’t vote for), Jon Corzine, is the state legislature making serious overtures towards major property tax reform. I suspect it has nothing to do with Corzine but I have to wonder why the conservatives couldn’t get this on the table.

In Giordano’s case I think the problem is even more disturbing. Time and again he kept asking how the rich could vote for Casey, how the Jews could vote for Casey, how the soccer mom’s could vote for Casey. It didn’t make any sense to him. I hate to say this but I think the reality of the situation is clear. People like this guy want to believe that the only reason they lost is because, in their minds, stupid blacks came out and voted because they’re so easily misled and stole the election from the smart white people. I know that’s harsh but Giordano coupled his comments with commentary on how rain affects voting and that it’s a proven fact that, if it rains, blacks don’t show up to vote. He went on to say that, given this, he was praying for rain.

Anyway, the bottom line is that the listeners to these shows need to wake up and realize they’ve been lied to and deceived. These shows were all part of a coordinated effort to consolidate power for the purpose of those at the top of the food chain. It never had anything to do with the listeners and their concerns. You were just used for everything you were worth and now that the punditry has been so soundly rebuffed as false, these charlatans are doing whatever they can to convince you to keep listening so that they can keep their paychecks coming in. Sean Hannity is greater American than any other. He’s just a shrewder one.