And I also enjoy listening to conservative radio talk show hosts such as Rush Limbaugh, Dennis Prager, Hugh Hewitt , Bill (Poppa Bear) O'Reilly all the Michaels: Medved; Savage; Gallagher. (However, even I have my standards, so I avoid Hannity and I haven't yet been able to figure out Glenn Beck, who seems more like a harmless buffoon being pulled along by forces much larger than he can comprehend. And is it merely a coincidence that I've never seen Ann Coulter and Montel Williams in the same room together?)
Now, you may be thinking "Ah! Know Thine Enemy." That I'm eavesdropping on the "other side" the better to anticipate their nefarious plots and prepare a counter strategy. Honestly, I suppose there's a bit of that, but the fact is I tend to agree with a number of positions championed by traditional conservatives (e.g.: economic frugality; the sanctity of individual rights; a deep appreciation and trust in the concepts laid down by the Founding Fathers; a genuine love of country). Tuning in, I often find myself nodding in agreement (especially with Hewitt).
But the main reason I tune in is the same reason most folks do: it's entertaining. The talk show hosts listed above command huge audiences, and certainly (hopefully) all the folks who tune in are not accurately represented by the brainless wingnut "Dittoheads" who make it past the call screener. No, we of the masses tune in because it's fun to listen to the wingnuts and fun to hear how the host bats them around like a cat toy. It's fun because it scratches satisfyingly against the rash of political correctness from which so many of us suffer. It's the illusion of danger–without the risk–that we enjoy. And the danger here is represented by how close the host and his callers will get to taboos such as racism, sexism, and advocating the armed overthrow of the government.
Make no mistake, I have a lot of admiration for the talents of these radio hosts. Sure, they stack the deck a bit. They have call screeners who know in advance the position of the caller. They have admins who evaluate those positions and quickly feed related statistics, quotes and headlines to the host's video monitor. The result is that the host can sound always in control as the authority, the Wizard who has deigned to allow the Simpleton Strawman to address him. And, of course, the host can curtail the call anytime it threatens the host's position or (worst of all) gets boring.
Because the most important part of a talk radio host's job is to keep listeners listening. But let's boil that down just a bit more. The only job of the talk radio host is to convince people to listen to his show. If he doesn't do that, advertisers won't give money to the radio station, and the radio station won't give money to the radio host. Simple as that.
But let's put this in
proper perspective:
Just because John Wayne played
a Marine doesn't make him one.
I'll single out Michael Medved here, for no other reason than that he lives in Seattle, has a show on Bonneville's local KTTH ("The Truth") and appears to be willing to be the shill of any advertiser. Seriously, there are ad "clusters" (those logjams of radio spots you commonly hear every seven minutes or so on talk radio formats) where you'll hear MM as the featured voice/endorsement in nearly half the spots. Now–good on him. He has to pay for his kids' tuition same as me and there's not the slightest thing unethical about him selling his services like this. (I do, however, sometimes question the judgement of the advertisers who want their spots to sound virtually indistinguishable from others).
No, my point is that Michael Medved, et. al are first, foremost and unequivocally entertainers. I don't know what any of these guys really thinks in their heart of hearts. They're playing the role of conservative pundit right now because that's what sells. But let's put it in proper perspective: Just because John Wayne played a Marine in the movies doesn't make him one. His job was to sell movie tickets. Rush's job is to sell advertising. For all I know, Rush clandestinely contributes to Planned Parenthood, the ACLU and the Al Franken senatorial campaign.
I don't want to be stupid about this. I know that these guys have influence beyond bumping up sales of the advertiser's products they hawk. That what they say can feed fear, hatred and desperation to people who already have enough fear, hatred and desperation to float a boat. I don't yet know how I feel about bringing back the Fairness Doctrine (which would probably result in these guys losing their jobs). But I suspect that they also might fulfill some valuable purpose in this raucous democratic republic.
And I like a lot of John Wayne's movies.
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