“Wormtongue” is a character from Lord of the Rings, a counselor to a king who whispers defeat into the king’s ears. Wormtongue is actually working for the king’s enemies. Medved is Wormtongue, the king is his conservative audience.
Medved tries to manipulate his listeners. He counsels defeat for positions that run counter to his neocon agenda.
For years Medved argued that the issue of illegal immigration was too small to worry about (it wasn’t), then once it became obvious that it was a major concern for his conservative audience Medved did a 180 and argued that there were so many illegals in the country that you couldn’t possibly deport them. You had to give them all amnesty.
Of course the truth is that Medved had always been for amnesty. He’s a neocon and open borders and mass immigration has always been what he believes in.
Medved’s audience is mostly conservative and he’s clever at pandering to them while nudging them gently left. If you listen closely you’ll hear that he has no problem with gay marriage, Muslim immigration, amnesty, and a host of issues that many conservatives oppose. He’s sly enough not to stress his disagreements, unless he’s trashing some conservative he thinks is a threat.
Thanks for the explanation.
You obviously put a good amount of time and thought into it - I appreciate it.