Con talking heads are morally bankrupt

[Vox_Reason]

Yes, I know, not exactly "breaking news"...

For context, I posted this originally (minus a few edits) in response to this thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x616771

Conservative commentators are absolutely vile, black-hearted, hate-filled individuals that make their large sums of money by feeding the most infantile and antisocial prejudices of their under-educated and xenophobic audiences.

These commentators are supposedly spokespeople for "everyday conservatives", and Arbitron says they have a lot of listeners who apparently support and share their views. The comments of their callers seem to confirm that.

Granted, the excerpts in the thread linked above are cherry-picked for egregiousness, but after many years of sampling conservative talkers and their callers in small, as-tolerable doses, my sense is that these are merely more blatant eruptions of the prevailing undercurrents that dominate the message of these commentators:

Hatred of poor and otherwise disadvantaged people
Hatred of racial and sexual minorities and people with non-Christian religious backgrounds
Hatred of people from foreign countries
Hatred of people who care about animals and who want to conserve (oh, the irony) our environment
Hatred of artists and intellectuals
Wild-eyed jingoism, nationalism, and glorification of military violence
Support for the ultra-wealthy elite and scorn for those of lesser means who support the success of the elite with their hard work

I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

These people are terrified at the concept of political "progress", which to them means:

It's less acceptable to call poor people and minorities "lazy" and "morally inferior"
It's less acceptable to call women of color "ghetto sluts" and "nappy headed hos"
It's less acceptable to gratuitously foul and rape the environment and abuse and exploit animals for personal financial gain
It's less acceptable to express base hatred for minorities and foreigners
It's less acceptable to bemoan the loss of power and prestige of those formerly in a position to use those things to oppress others for the purposes of their own personal financial and social improvement
It's less acceptable to label those that don't agree with them politically as "traitors" and "anti-American"
It's less acceptable to call artists and intellectuals "faggots" or other more repellent slurs

Frankly, looking at these "values" espoused by these well-compensated and well-patronized commentators, these people might as well be from Mars, much less people from my own country. I have absolutely nothing in common with these people, and frankly do not believe that reconciliation with them is possible. I don't believe that they would welcome it, and I certainly wouldn't. Their positions are clearly staked out, and I cannot compromise on any of them without feeling a strong need to take a long hot shower, which in the end would not wash away the stain of hate and injustice. They obviously can live with that; I simply could not.

These people are living fossils:

They wore sheets and carried torches during Jim Crow.
They cheered on Joe McCarthy.
They manned the fire hoses and loosed the dogs during civil rights.
They quietly cheered the assasinations of JFK, RFK, and MLK.
They railed against the "injustice" of Nixon's disgrace.
They sneered at Jimmy Carter's attempts at energy conservation.
They sent boatloads of money to swindling and hypocritical TV evangelists.
They dismissed Iran-Contra and its implications.
They decried Clinton's very successful application of the military in Bosnia as "nation-building", but overlooked the bloody mistake dubya comitted in Iraq.
They screamed for the middle east to be turned into a "glass parking lot" after 9/11.
They heartily swallowed the lies about Iraq's alleged WMD.
They supported illegitimate and illegal imperialism in Iraq and subjecting Iraqis to years of daily double-digit death tolls so they could continue to fill their SUVs with cheap gasoline.

These "people" are not "Americans" that I want anything to do with. They are throwbacks to a less enlightened era; they want to preserve what is shameful and bad about American history and avoid progress toward a better future for all people, regardless of their orgins and means. These people cling to antiquated, outdated beliefs and values that time and societal progress have shown to be obsolete, ignorant, and deadly.

"WWJD"? He certainly wouldn't be a modern American republican, that's for sure.

Maybe Oxycontin is a good sleeping pill...