I think one of the great mistakes of those of us today who call ourselves liberals (I used to consider myself a mainstream Democrat) was allowing Rush Limbaugh, et al, to peddle hate radio unanswered for so many years starting in the 80s. I remember the rise of Rush and right wing talk well as a high school student who loved sports and listened to tons of AM talk radio. I saw the gradual change in the mood of the country as a young adult amazed that even folks in my own chosen profession of public education were faithful listeners, even buying all sorts of trinkets like giant "Rush is Right" coffee mugs. I was disheartened as people I went to church with became adherents to right wing social policy. As I still am a sucker for sports, to this day my radio stations are all tuned to the AM dial in my car. My job requires me to be in my car for hours during the week during Rush's show and those who copy him (Beck, Hannity, local right wingers), so every now and then I listen to a little tidbit. I guess I'm a little masochistic. I dialed in Rush this Friday for a mere five minutes and found out a little bit about myself from the cigar lover...
According to Rush on Friday (as he defended the great American Herman Cain), I'm waging war on my own country. Yes, I'm a "collectivist parasite" that is currently at war with the good people of the United States. I'm joining in with those at the Occupy Wall St. movement to destroy the economic system of my country. Wow. Should I be flattered?
Our side didn't answer to right wing radio for the longest of time. To this day my mother and my step-father who are life long Democrats, intellectuals to say the least, don't take me seriously when I talk about the tremendous power of Rush and his buddies. They don't feel that rational folks listen seriously to Rush. Surely, they take what he says with a grain of salt and it's limited to a small segment of Republicans. Wrong, I answer back. Outside your circle of friends limited to your book clubs and liberal leaning church, the folks in your home state of North Carolina swallow what Rush says as gospel.
Certainly, the people of Texas that I live amongst are bombarded with Rush, et al. I'll give you an example. My father-in-law lives in a small southeast New Mexico town. When we travel to visit him and the rest of my wife's family we travel into west Texas. Out in the badlands of Texas where the wealthy are given sweetheart deals to bury nuclear waste over people's drinking water I can tune Rush in on three stations at one time. Three stations of Rush on AM, a couple of FM radio stations playing classic rock or country, and about four Spanish language stations. I'd say close to fifty percent of what I can tune in out on west Texas highways is Rush. All these people are exposed to are right wing opinions. What they know of progressive opinion is what they hear from Rush and a media controlled by Fox. Any wonder the Democratic party is dead in this state?
But on top of that, the rhetoric towards us liberals grows more hostile. There is no quid pro quo that is given when most Democrats speak of Republicans. You know, the "I know Mr. Republican loves his country, but..." argument that our side makes (cowardly in most cases). No, the right wing is unapologetic about characterizing people who think like me as "collectivist parasites."
And we could go on with tons of examples, couldn't we? And our failure is not standing up to the bully. It's not confronting the bystanders - Rush's listeners who are our family members and neighbors. Well, I'm done with that. I've already started and I've alienated a few family members and friends, but I'm stopping this pretending that these words don't have real consequences. I'm tired of being characterized as a parasite, a godless perpetrator of treason, a free-loader, a communist, a reverse racist, as someone who wants to destroy my country. Tired of it.
These forums are great for us to share our experiences and opinions as like minded thinkers. We tolerate the occassional troll or even disagree on certain subjects at times, but on the whole we agree on a progressive agenda. But, we aren't going to change any minds without confronting our friends, neighbors and family members who subscribe to Rush, Beck, et al lines of thinking. I don't mind them holding legitimate differences mind you, but I'm tired of sitting back letting people just accept that because I'm a liberal I hate my country, share common ideology with Hitler, or am a freaking "collectivist parasite."
It might be uncomfortable this holiday season. I hope the turkey tastes good.