All I need to know to prove this country is almost beyond fixing......

[KansasVoter]

The popularity of

Sarah Palin
Michelle Bachmann
Rush Limbbaugh
Glen Beck
Fox News

[spanone]

1. they are not nearly as popular as the media would have you think

[KansasVoter]

2. Please check Fox News ratings compared to others.

[spanone]

8. it's miniscule.

[Winterblues]

14. Please check their viewership with the country's population.

Or their ratings compared to Spongebob Squarepants.

[Greyhound]

16. You could stuff FauxNews viewership into CBS eye and not even make them blink.

Highest rated cable network is like being the fastest paraplegic in a race with Olympic sprinters.

[DrDan]

3. au contraire . . .

I run into their fans everywhere.

I have an ex-neighbor who would tape pigboy when away from the radio.

They put out a simple message - easy to grasp - easy to repeat - that plays well into the insecurities and fears of many. Those faux listener numbers are not made up in my opinion.

[LargeGreenSpider]

5. And it bombards the airwaves

... from hordes of corporate-owned stations who have a stake in the ignorance. We are not free, folks.

[FiveGoodMen]

15. "They put out a simple message"

and it goes like this:

"You, my dear listeners, are the only people who really count, the only ones who are deserving, the only real reason for the universe to exist. If you're not living the life of kings, then there's some rotten bastard that you should go take it out on."

[FiveGoodMen]

11. And yet they wield tremendous influence

Which is what counts.

[Brickbat]

12. Well, Bachmann keeps getting reelected.

[Bonhomme Richard]

4. Their audience are the clinically paranoid. n/t

[stray cat]

6. Things were so good during the civil rights era or Vietnam?

[Angry Dragon]

7. Things are worse today than at that time in history

The media is more suspect today

[txlibdem]

9. May I add a couple of things to your list of indicators?

Our crumbling infrastructure
Wire tapping without need of warrants
Corporate owned media giving us fluff and spin only, never actual news or anything in-depth and always slant to the right
90% of talk radio is nutjob right wing
Big banks and big business get all the bailouts, workers get fired and foreclosed upon
Supreme court run by right wing psycho sympathizers
"Reform" that has so damn many holes in it the credit card companies just add a fee here and there to keep screwing us just as bad as before
61% of Americans now living paycheck to paycheck while the rich are awash in new cash straight out of your pockets

Citizens, get ready to fight for what is yours. Take it back if you want it back!

[RevStPatrick]

10. You need to read this.

It perfectly addresses this.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x551671

[robcon]

13. This is still the best country in the world.

Most just. Most democratic. Most economically fair.

There's a reason (or reasons) why immigrants still come to our country.