During my hectic workweek, I get bored in the car and feel this sick, compelling urge to listen to talk radio - right wing talk radio to be specific (I used to listen to Amy Goodman's Democracy Now alot, but my commute got a lot shorter, and she's not on when I'm in the car now). I would like to justify the fact that I listen to the most moronic people in the country out of a sadistic, mischeivous pleasure, as well as a desire to be ever vigilant against the cultural depredations of such refuse - a sort of ennobled schadenfreude.
Oh these foolish mortals, such ideas that enter their tiny little heads!
Flipping between Sean "Ham-Head" Hannity and Dennis "I was funny on SNL but when I left I had no writers" Miller today, I had the pleasure of hearing the following gems:
On the Hamity show, a Republican caller said he thought that the Environmentalist movement had been "hijacked" by the Democrats, and that he would "like to hear more about environmental concerns and less about Global Warming."(??? - this is kind of like saying, 'I'd like to hear more about IEDs and less about terrorism') and that the industrial boom of the "last century" (AKA how we got in to this mess) demonstrates that technology can find a way. To which Hamity responded that the U.S. needs to give incentives to the Big Guys in Detroit to get us out of our dependency on foreign oil.
"You know, let the Free Market decide." he said.
I had to switch the channel and shout at my radio for a little while at this point. Anyone with a 3rd grade proficiency in critical thinking skills (and who hasn't taken Economics or Business 101) can see the stupidity of offering corporations 'incentives' (money) as a way of promoting Free Market doctrine. Incentives are anathema to Free Market Economics. Doesn't anyone know what laissez-faire means anymore?
So I changed the channel and found - Dennis Miller! He was great on SNL when I was in High School!
Now he just sucks.
At least he's more intelligent than his callers:
"I have to agree with you that Hillary doesn't have a chance of becoming President. I live in a bastion of liberalism here in Portland and I haven't seen one Hillary bumper sticker."
.........
You know in the Sunday funnies when someone gets so mad that words can't describe it, and the cartoonist just draws a thought bubble with a big angry, angular black mess of pencil scribbles to express the 'toon's emotional state? Well I wish I had a key for that on my computer right now.
He's absolutely right, I thought.
I live in Northern VA, a 'liberal bastion' itself but also right outside of the Nation's Capital and full of people from all political stripes. You could say that D.C. is pretty political, I guess. And I haven't seen one durn Hillary sticker.
Come to think of it, haven't seen any Obama stickers, or Edwards stickers, or Richardson stickers.
Nor have I seen any Romney stickers, or Giuliani stickers (NYers help me out here) or Brownback stickers, ad infinitum, ad nauseaum.
Come to think of it, I don't believe its even close to the General Election yet, is it?
Boy, that Hillary; she sure is unpopular.
I guess Rudy Giuliani is too...