Right wing pundits not being held accountable

[Oldpals]

I have really enjoyed my time coming here and viewing some of the fine comments,articles and news available on this forums. What really intrigues me is that when I go to other sites and see what has passed as opinion by right wing pundits during the course of the day I am appalled that even now,four years since the first election this administration and the countless misrepresentations by these people they are still there and still spewing hate, bile, slander and pure hypocritical bile.
How is it that only one of these people has lost his job? Savage did but did not do him any harm. He is still out there with the most extreme views I have ever heard apart from those expressed during the 30's and 40's by two European fascists. That is not being melodramatic when I say this. Anne Coulter is another and I find it appalling that she can smirk with disdain when challenged and then suggest that humor is the reason for her comments.Limbaugh the same.
Then we have Hannity and O'Reilly. Both totally and completely living hypocritical lives. They are so absorbed in their hatred of anything "liberal" that they can without any semblance of recognizing their hypocrisy that it is really frightening to me.
When are the people like you and I going to be able to voice our opinions? When are there going to be shows on TV when the left can have a forum to speak and exchange a point of view that is not shouted down by these people. The closest I ever cam to seeing anyone say on TV anything that was controversial and could have being a good debate was when a comedian on the Bill Maher show stated that Anne Coulter was dangerous and a completely hateful person.
It's high time that when Savage and the others that use the public airwaves are held accountable for their hate. Have it on the news, or damn it somewhere that it can be shown to those that believe the lies but never hear about them. They have to be exposed and exposed to the nation not just those of us that peruse these sites and know about them.
They are winning because they have monopolized talk radio and TV.
Finally, WLS890 Chicago recently got rid of the last liberal on their daily schedule, Jay Marvin. The station now has a completely right wing slant. Along with Eileen Byrne and Terry O'Brien you have Tony Snow, Rush Limbaugh and Hannity. It is a shame.

[cthrumatrix]

1. you are confused... there is only a liberal media bias

ask the the above people you mentioned.

[fertilizeonarbusto]

2. They are not held accountable

because the owners of the media write and/or approve their statements. This is the same reason there won't be any liberal voices on the MSM any time soon.

[Colorado Blue]

3. I don't understand where they get their rage. After all...

most of these folks, Republicans, are in the upper income brackets. Many were BORN there and have no clue what it's like to be poor, struggling, disenfranchised - so what are they so mad about? Are they frightened? Maybe they're afraid that, without their property, they really don't have anything - no real talent, no skill honed in the school of hard knocks, no real, heat-tested core. So they're afraid? Maybe! And that especially goes for the loud blond ladies and the likes of O'Reilly.

There's another strain that's supporting Bush, though, and they're the remnants of the Confederate Army, I think. Shortly after the 2000 "election" I visited the Rainbow Coalition website to leave a supportive message for Jesse Jackson and was greeted with a blizzard of hideous, hatefilled, gloating, rascist Nazi BS.

So we apparently have a coalition of the rich, privileged business classes and the Aryan Supremacists? Oh help. Also the folks who take the bible literally and still believe in dinosaurs. Not that they lived, but that they LIVE. Dragons too.

Civil discourse can't possibly survive in this environment but we can keep on trying.

[Stirk]

6. I heard Hannity ranting like a child yesterday about

Democrats in the Senate seeking to filibuster Bush's more extremist court appointees. He was livid, shouting about how horrible liberals are, and what a threat we are to the country.

Then he said, "this court thing is ALL they've got!". He said that the whole government is Republican, and the Democrats are just desperately clinging to this one issue.

It's like he doesn't even hear his own moronic, self-contradicting argument. Liberals are both a threat, and impotent. They have been completely marginalized, but they're responsible for our problems.

[JHB]

7. Woim Syndrome

(named for the toady to the Little Rascals' bully, Butch)

Some people get off on displays of power, especially if it's sticking it to some grup or faction that annoys them. As long as they're not the direct targets, they'll cheer "their" side because its winning.

[Wickerman]

4. well said

thanks and welcome to DU!

[rwork]

5. Well written.

It is a national nightmare.The only news I listen to is Democracy Now.Even my local affiliates are slanted to the right.Over the weekend local NBC talked about their latest poll that said 6 out of 10 people approve of AWOLs running of the country.They also said 2 thirds of people in their poll of 1000 people liked AWOL and thought he was smart.My god what is happening to our country?Who are they polling?

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. kick

Good thread.

[Oldpals]

9. Right wing pundits

When this radio station, WLS got rid of Marvin the only liberal on the entire station, although they claim another in the form of Roma, it is surprising that still it is the top listened to station in Chicago. This is a liberal town. We are subjected to the absurd view points of some of the more extreme such as O'Brien, Hannity and Limbuagh.

with regards to Eileen Byrne I find it amazing that even though points she makes have been discredited , IE, the stingy Americans help for Tsunami victims she still repeats it. She still will not at anytime give credit to any politician or point of view that does not sit well with her politics no matter how credible. The conservative snickering in the background is enough for me.


I would love if there was some type of group that would do what George Clooney did last week to O'Reilly. Call him out. Take him and his ilk away from their security blankets. Every show they appear on they are kowtowed to. They never are subjected to the same type of questioning they subject others to. O'Reilly walks. Coulter will only appear if she is plugging a book. Hannity, if you heard him on Air America controlled the damn interview.

We should organize some type of mass mailings to the TV networks and the advertisers on them to let them know while they have it good now, 52 million people being made aware of Michael Savage and Anne Coulter desiring the deaths of innocents may cause irreparable damage to their image since they are associated with them.

I for one am tired of these people. I want action.

[Robbien]

11. There are quite a few sites on the web trying to hold

right winger pundits accountable. Just a few:

http://mediamatters.org/
http://www.freepress.net/
http://www.mediachannel.org/
http://www.publicintegrity.org/default.aspx
http://www.fair.org/index.html

Read through, follow their forums. Join in on their calls for action. Many out here are trying. Its just that the right wingers have been organized and at this for thirty years and are pretty entrenched.

[KharmaTrain]

13. There's Still Nate Clay...I Think...

On the weekends...but WLS was long since removed from my dial and this comes from a 30+ year listener to the station.

Marvin was emasculated in his last years on the station and ended up as a foil for Byrne...like the oafish, goofy male with a "heart of gold" but just can't get the issues right. It was sad to listen to in his last days...I hope Jay takes some time off, travels and gets his head together. He used to be a great voice of interest and reason...seems like he got lobotomized when he went off to Denver and was never the same.

This station is now another hate radio clone...since "data" says this format attracts rich, white males and it's then sold to banks and brokerage houses and car dealers and others that want to reach the 35-54 white male. Hopefully a new Air America or Progressive Talk station will find its way into this city soon...in the meantime, there's great alternatives on FM.

[Oldpals]

15. WLS Chicago

Kharma, have you heard Eileen Byrne and how she defends
everything that comes from the WH and has Hannity,Limbaugh and
Snow on such high pedestals?
I'm Irish and find it amazing that so many of these hate
spewers are Irish, mostly first generation. I emailed Byrne
once but never got a reply when I informed her that the
positions she held on so many topics were the same as those
espoused by the bigot of northern Irish politics, Ian Paisley.
I also informed her that many of his "disciples"
were members of the UDA, UFF and UDR, groups that cruised the
Nationalist areas of Belfast seeking innocent catholics to
murder in the most cruel fashion imaginable. The Shankhill
murders come to mind.

I sent the same to Hannity and O'Reilly without a reply from
either. In the case of Hannity I was emphatic to point out
that the Bob Jones University is a Paisley supporter, one that
suppresses the Catholic religion. However, in Hannity's case I
doubt he knows very little about Irish politics. It is just
convenient for him to sate his rashness to cater to those that
think he is cute and cuddly. 
O'Reilly! No words can allow me to express my contempt for a
man who audaciously continues to tout moralist priciples as
though he actually practices them, even after his recent
debacle.

[sphmug]

10. and?

You write this as if right-wing pundits have <em>ever</em> been held accountable for anything.

[Az]

12. Who's going to hold them accountable? Other right wing pundits?

We have to stand up ourselves and reclaim the airwaves.

[cthrumatrix]

16. we have no other media

[mcscajun]

14. Kick (n/t)

[Cocoa]

17. don't forget Novak

tell me again, why am I still seeing him all over the fucking place?