Like many of us, I grew up indoctrinated with my parents' political beliefs, to the extent that is really possible. I rode in the car as Rush Limbaugh spoke, washed the dishes as my well-to-do parents complained about over taxation, and bought the personal responsibility selling point hook, line and sinker. I was a true believer.
I even read both of Limbaugh's books, before I was even fifteen years old. And I loved them. His nasty attitude towards those he disagreed with, his snarkiness, his willingness to mock and use humor against his ideological foes.... lovely. It was easy to believe that environmentalism was an overblown scam, that all feminists were lesbians and abortion-lovers hell bent on forcing "political correctness" on us, that allowing wealth to grow at the top helps those on the bottom....
All of these things seemed to make sense to my adolescent mind. But most of all, I loved the succinctness of talking points. One-liners to disarm and flummox your opponent, painting them into a corner. How great is that? Just memorize your line, and bang! Argument won.
Then, like many of us, I left the suburban blanket that had comforted me for my whole life, moved to the city (Austin) and from there my views diverged, drastically. I won't recount all the details, but I went from voting Republican to canvassing for Greenpeace in the span of about two years.
To this day, though, I continue having political discussions with my father. He's a very intelligent man, brought up in a very large Catholic household, college educated, naval aviator and now a 20 year veteran of the commercial aviation industry. He's done well for himself, and is rightfully proud of his accomplishments. But despite all of this, he still forms his political opinions based on right wing talking points. (amazingly he says he does not watch tv news or listen to talk radio... I'm not sure if I believe him.)
And herein lies what I think is the real problem. The right wing media has debased the level of political discourse in this country to the point that having a discussion on the issues is nearly impossible. When I say "I think Palin is unqualified." I get "I thought liberals were all for women's lib. I guess that's only if they're abortionists and lesbians." When I say "I think our policies of military intervention have driven anti-American sentiment, and contributed directly to the attacks of 9-11." I get, "Terrorists hate America! I don't buy into the blame-America crowd!" I say, "Due to my pre-existing condition (spinal injury), I will never be able to get quality healthcare in this country until we mandate universal insurance." and I get, "Socialized medicine has never worked, anywhere, and it never will!." He doesn't even have opinions anymore. All he has is talking points. Many of them based on outright lies. Just don't try bringing that up, you'll be branded a "sniping, arrogant liberal".
This is a guy who can speak knowledgeably about quantum physics, Buddhist philosophy, world history, string theory, economics and business. He's brilliant. I respect and adore him. But somehow, the media (I'm assuming it's them) has destroyed his ability to make observations, draw conclusions, analyze policy, and judge candidates in any way when it comes to politics.
How did we get to this point? Every one of his friends are the same. I meet people on the street who seem to be living in a parallel universe. We have a massive population of individuals in this country who have forgotten how to think about this country. Murdoch is doing the deciding for them, and they're gung-ho on the train to social meltdown.
Just how do atheist, liberal, city-dwelling, civil rights supporting, passionate Democrats reach out to the crash-and-burn-conservatives we love? Reason and nuanced analysis don't seem to be doing the trick. Appeal to their humanity falls on deaf ears. 20 years of economic observation, statistics and analysis is "liberal garbage". The Clinton years were "devastating" to America in their eyes. The last 8 years haven't even been enough to convince them... What the fuck are we going to do?