Limbaugh's Fans Are Certain They're Right

Newsday.com ^ | November 12, 2003 | By Paul Ginnetty

[vladog]

The coming return of Rush Limbaugh to the famed "golden microphone" of his national bully pulpit invites us to ponder the reasons for the remarkable success of his kind of radio programming. Liberals have made numerous unsuccessful attempts to create an equally popular propaganda vehicle for the other side of the ideological spectrum. What they may lack is the element of simplicity.

Limbaugh's message is usually resoundingly and blessedly simple. (One should not assume that simplicity and truth are synonymous here.) His genius lies in reducing rather complex issues into deceptively straightforward terms. For example, the challenge of crafting environmental policies that balance legitimate economic considerations with a responsible awareness of the finitude of natural resources is dismissed as the neurotic hand wringing of tree hugging "environmentalist whackos."

[vladog]

This is a few days old, however I just found it.

The mind of a professor is a terrible thing to waste!

[Not A Snowbird]

Hannity, a "Limbaugh clone"? Not hardly.

As for the rest of it, "yawn".

[I still care]

Another pseudo-intellectual wringing his hands over the stupidity of the masses from his ivory tower.

The intelligent argument and discourse I see on FR surpasses anything I have seen from the liberal elite.

[JoJo Gunn]

You got that right.

"Intellectuals" exist only if you believe they do. Same as with Yeti's and flying saucers.

[Valin]

A waste is a terrible thing to mind.

[LisaFab]

There are constant sparks of apparent conflict that make for engaging entertainment as he shadowboxes (with one hand tied behind his back, of course) with select sound bites of Hillary Rodham Clinton or Ted Kennedy.

Um, that's with half his brain tied behind his back. Do these people ever actually listen to these shows?

Marty, "pathetic"? This great American stormed the beaches at Normandy! The condescension of liberals is, at times, breathtaking.

[Valin]

FYI Today is national Doublespeak Day.

[Conservababe]

Well, bless his heart. Pure liberal analysis from a professor who is patronizing, arrogant and totally out of touch with the real world. LOL

[Cacophonous]

The author misses the point. Liberals had their way in the media and access to the public because they made issues that really are not complex, and intentionally muddled and complicated them in order to hide their own messages and agendas. Rush succeeded because he returned the issues to their roots: right vs. wrong. That is why he succeeded.

[BillF]

For example, the challenge of crafting environmental policies that balance ignore legitimate economic considerations with a responsible awareness of and misrepresent the finitude of natural resources is dismissed as the neurotic hand wringing of tree hugging "environmentalist whackos."

That should correct the above sentence.

[Servant of the 9]

And this differs from the mindset of PETA Members and DU Democrats just how?

Mind Numbed Robots all.

So9

[netmilsmom]

>>That's perhaps the most maddening, diabolically clever thing about his show, the faux populism that persuasively claims to be looking out for the little guy, all the while touting policies that tilt tax codes and regulatory policies further in favor of him and his kind.<<

When did Rush say he was looking out for the "Little guy"?
That's a liberal term. Rush looks out for hard working, thinking guys and gals. That's it, that's all.

[Sgt_Schultze]

I read the link. The discourse by Prof. Paul Ginnetty seems to follow his derisive analysis of Limbaugh's listeners - breathtakingly simplistic. When you strip the fluff and characterizations from the rather pedantic argument, you find him discovering that Limbaugh listeners see issues in stark terms of right vs. wrong, true vs. false, good vs. evil, black vs. white.

As a behavior doc, he has the leisure of never being wrong while simultaneously never being correct. He lives in a gray world of half-truths and nuance. Limbaugh listeners are working folks who tune in during commute or lunch or break. They live in the world where actions have consequences. Failure is punished and excellence is rewarded. True is always true, wrong is always wrong and evil is always democrat (sorry, I couldn't resist).

[Pearman]

Anyone who writes an article about Rush Limbaugh should be required to take an oath under penalty of perjury that he has listened to every minute of Rush's show for at least three straight weeks.

Why do I want this?

Because the one constant in all the anti-Limbaugh articles I have read is that the writers of those articles have not listened to Limbaugh's program. This one is no exception.

[SwinneySwitch]

Professing to be wise, they became fools,
Romans 1:22 NASB

[Callahan]

Wow, what an original article. Never heard this one before. Liberal ideas are just "too complex" to succeed in the marketplace? It's a good thing the Left never engages in mind-numbing herd stupidity, like say, jumping on the back of a Democratic presidential candidate who dared mention the Confederate flag in the proper PC context. Here's a simplistic idea for the author: kiss off.

[duvausa]

Another vacuous pretense at analysis of something this pompous professor has obviously not bothered to actually listen to. It’s sad, really.

[nutmeg]

ping!

[Cobra64]

Hannity, a "Limbaugh clone"? Not hardly.

Agreed. Hannity is Rush's parrot. If Rush and Hannity were to have a conversation, Rush would have to "tie half his brain behind his back" just so that Hannity could understand Rush. Hannity is a radio-media Phil Donahue kinda guy. Finally, I doubt Hannity ever finished grammar school; given his mis-use of pronouns.

[nutmeg]

Marty, "pathetic"? This great American stormed the beaches at Normandy! The condescension of liberals is, at times, breathtaking.

Thank you for that reminder, Lisa. Marty is an American hero! I wonder what has Paul Ginnetty has ever done for his country... except whine.