A recent story in the LA Times [http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-onthemedia9-2008nov09,0,4216330.story] described with apparent shock the right-wing media machine's response to the election of Barack Obama. Sean Hannity takes a subtle tack, holding out an insincere pretense of unbias, stating that he is going to wait and see "what kind of person" Obama is, by definition inferring that Obama is the mystical, muslim, socialist, terrorist that the GOP attempted to paint him in the election. (Why is it that conservatives can never trust their own senses?) And then there's the straightforward tack of Rush Limbaugh. In his latest oxycontin-inspired delusion, he has already begun blaming Obama for the current economic mess. Well, what a shock.
Did anyone think that these a**holes were going anywhere? Sure, the country voted for a new direction, but nobody EVER asked for any of these clowns in the first place, so why would they just up and disappear? Besides, Limbaugh doesn't have any skills other than bullying, spreading gossip and blowing hot air. Where would he go?
Rush won't be losing his job as High Minister of Propaganda for the Conservative Republican Caucus anytime soon, as he has served them well lo these many years. Ditto to elitist vitriol-spitter Ann Coulter [check out some of her gems here: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0111.coulterwisdom.html] and her spastic, fellow hatred-spewer Michelle Malkin. Bill Kristol, though proven wrong over and over and over again, is also still employed by the "liberal" media as a supposedly respected prognosticator. Just because the whole country is fully aware of the fact that these people are paid to spread lies and innuendo, tarnish reputations and assassinate characters, all while spreading the gospel of conservative policy doesn't mean that they are going anywhere now that the country is also aware of how wrong-headed those policies turned out to be.
Though I obviously despise the aforementioned people and consider them the lowest form of reprehensible sub-reptilian creatures, it is not because their opinions differ from mine. You will note that Jonah Goldberg is not mentioned above, nor is George Will. These are two columnists with whom I differ greatly, but they are not hacks for the fascist wing of the GOP. My disgust is reserved for those that are paid to support someone else's agenda; authorial prostitutes. If columnists and opinion writers had to base their writings on such things as FACTS or EVIDENCE, they would be called JOURNALISTS. Limbaugh and Company could never be called journalists. Yet it is either a generous kindness or an Orwellian machination to call Limbaugh and Company COLUMNISTS or POLITICAL COMMENTATORS when they are pure propagandists.
The sad truth is that these people will be around until either a huge majority of public sentiment will no longer tolerate them or until the GOP no longer has a use for their services. Kristol clearly has other gigs, so we may never be rid of him completely. I would love to see the NY Times finally admit that the guy is so out of the mainstream as to be delusional, and therefore they have decided to drop his column. Unfortunately, I don't see it happening while the neocons still have breath. Kristol is a neocon insider and his column provides opportunity to spread the neocon agenda. Malkin (née Maglalang), a self-hating anchor baby, ( her own terminology) is the GOP voice on the immigration issue, which will continue to be a hot-button issue in the near future. Limbaugh is a tool (in more than one sense of the word) who still has a strong following among the most misinformed members of society. As long as the GOP still has access to an audience of any kind, they will utilize all of the tools at their disposal, as was clearly evident during the last weeks of the McCain campaign.
However, for all of us who continue to scratch our heads at the notion that ANYONE would listen to ANYTHING that these people have to say after having been so thoroughly discredited by all that has taken place in the past ten years, there is another way to look at the situation. Limbaugh and Company are a vivid reminder of where this country has been and where we never want to go again. And, as long as they make their opinions public, they will provide an accurate picture of the GOP strategy for manipulating the masses in the future.
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