Why the "Limbaugh Isn't That Important" Crowd are Wrong

[Vinnie From Indy]

After reading so many Limbaugh posts over the last few weeks, I have been surprised by how many folks believe that the gargantuan, right-wing, AM hate radio propaganda network has been neutralized by the results of the last election or that right-wing radio has never been a significant influence in our political system. While some posters are obviously trolls and closet Dittoheads, there are others that I believe simply do not understand the impact and reach of the hate and lies that get launched from AM radio.

While it is easy to offer that AM radio's total listenership is only a fraction of the American public, that is not the whole story. The way the game is played today is that the grand poobah's of propaganda like Rush and Hannity deliver the initial attack and then that attack is greatly magnified by being picked up as "news" by national, mainstream news outlets. I think that the proof of this happening can easily be seen in the recent past. Everything from the Swiftboaters attacks on John Kerry to the attacks on Al Gore to attacks on Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame all testify to the influence of AM hate radio. These are just a FEW examples of how Rush Limbaugh and others in radio have shown their influence in politics.

In short, the extremist right-wing has built and uses it's massive AM radio presence for a reason. That reason is to give them a starting point to launch their lies and propaganda knowing that these attacks will find their way into the mainstream fairly quickly. To deny the impact of the GOP's very own national propaganda network is folly. AM hate radio must become a priority for all on the left that want change. It is one of the fundamental underpinnings of the modern GOP strategy to attain and hold power.

[whistle]

1. Isn't Limbaugh in detox now? That's what should be exposed, the man is

...a floundering drug addict!

[county worker]

2. All the right wing talking heads had little or no effect on the last election.

The thing some people don't understand is that when the reality that people are living doesn't match the bull shit they hear the stop listening.

You have to give credit to some people being able to figure things out for themselves. About 12% to 30% of people let others do their thinking for them, the rest of us know better.

[liberal N proud]

4. But Rush will spend the next 4 years spreading the hate

louder than the last 8 and wider than before.

They now have a focus, regain control so they can pass out more tax cuts.

[bridgit]

8. That's correct, it's not the last one it's the 8+ previous and then some...

And what is already following, never stopped really they just got caught off balance and they do know that. Saxby Chambliss is back in there in no small measure cause RW hate radio was able to rally round his recount via their tried & untrue methods *in the middle of* what was supposed to be a sea change away from RW politics.

[county worker]

9. The way I see it, Rush is not talking to those of us who want more opportunity for

everyone. I think I am in the majority and he is not talking to us. My guess is that he is trying to hold on to the freeper types. If they scatter to the wind then the right has a lot more rebuilding to do in 1210.

Another thing I think will happen is that the media will want to get on the good side of Obama like they did with Bush. They will not play it like they did with Bill Clinton.

I think the Obama administration will have taken lessons from the Clinton administration and tie the right up in knots.

If you hear the repubs lately all they have to offer is more of what people have voted against.

[Faryn Balyncd]

10. Without the RW propaganda machine Obama would have won by perhaps 20 points or more . . . . . . .

The effect of the RW propaganda machine has been to control the dialogue by defining the terms of the debate.

It is hardly conceivable that circumstances could have been less favorable in 2008 for the RW, yet they came close by aghain convincing millions to vote against their own interests.

[OneGrassRoot]

3. I completely agree. K&R n/t

[Wapsie B]

5. Limbaugh/Jeff Christie/whatever he calls himself now

has made a fortune playing up to those who will never get it. It's almost like shooting fish in a barrel for him. Focusing on the anger and fears of those who refuse to think for themselves is the way to make it in repug radio. Is his audience the future of this country? No and his minions are beginning to realize that fact.

[Kahuna]

6. You're 100% right. The, 'right wing noise machine' is NOT a figment

of our imagination. It exists. And if the results of repukes in office had not been so visibly disastrous, they would continue to operate without the spotlight being cast their way. Obama did the right thing when he cast the spotlight on their leader, rush limboob.

[cobalt1999]

7. At risk of being branded a troll or dittohead...

You claim that AM radio is the "source" of all the attacks and the media just repeats and runs with those attacks.

So, isn't the REAL issue the national mainstream media?

The 24/7 news broadcasts is a beast that requires continual feeding. Mainstream media is now done without a budget to develop and research their own stories, so in order to fill space they go where they can. AM radio is one of their sources, but so is the internet, so are local media outlets, so are partisan organizations, so are book authors, and on and on and on...

There are DOZENS of sources. Rush making stuff up is one of them, but w/o him there are legions of others willing to do the same.

[GeorgeGist]

11. Rush is an obsolete ...

failure. He Lost.

[gratuitous]

12. Limbaugh and his ilk work the refs; it's time we worked 'em back

Phil Gingrey (see this week's Top 10 Conservative Idiots) made the mistake of dissing Rush, and wound up looking like Henry II. Republicans don't cross Rush, and neither do the popular media. In fact, remember Katie Couric's very first guest on the Evening News? None other than Rush Limbaugh, who apparently doesn't have quite enough air time three hours a day, five days a week to get everything said that he wants to say. The popular media are more than accommodating to let him come on and "work the refs," that is to say, frame the issues and put forth his demented arguments.

Putting Rush up front as the porcine face and rage-filled voice of the Republican party is an effective way to work the refs the other way. The Republicans don't dare disown Rush, who will pout and pule, pick up his ball and go home. Rush appeals to a smaller and smaller segment of the public each year, and tying him securely around the Republicans' necks is a sure way to consign them to oblivion.

Let's see if the Republicans once again take the path of least resistance in their headlong dash to perdition, or if they actually grow a spine and cut Mr. Limbaugh loose. The party of Lincoln is now the party of Limbaugh. Let the Republicans explain why they're distinguishable from a man that some people say is a junky pedophile.

[Froward69]

13. While do not forget

that same propaganda machine then blames other Main stream media of a "liberal" bias to cement their lies onto the information flow.
attaching it with guilt so the legitimate truth tellers cannot seperate Truth from lies. As if they do, or rather, report anything other than positive spin on the gop they then become labeled as the "Liberal Propagandists."

[blueclown]

14. Rush Limbaugh has a bully pulpit, and those that ignore that do it at their own peril.

Rush has been propped up by a near monopoly over radio airwaves during his show, and a large and loyal group of listeners. That has given him a bully pulpit and a tremendous amount of power over the GOP.

[2 Much Tribulation]

15. They're wrong because one attacks a debate opponent at WEAKNESS, not at strength

This is when Limbaugh and all his minions or claimed millions need to be defined (or need to abandon their position)