Americans cannot continue to allow a few well-coordinated talk radio blowhards reading think tank talking points to do so much damage to our democracy. There's been a lot of great work recently to hold Limbaugh accountable for his attack on Sandra Fluke but much more needs to be done relative to all of right wing radio, and before the next election.
Rachel Maddow did a great piece on 'fast and furious' last night but she credited Fox and the RW 'echo chamber' in general. She goes after RW radio regularly but if she credited radio for 'fast and furious' she would have to extrapolate from the written record of what the RW echo chamber in general is doing. Like so many analysts on the left, even someone like Rachel, who used to be in radio herself, doesn't really know what's going on on the radio over time because she doesn't have time to listen (and wouldn't want to). And there is no searchable record of transcripts of the main national and local talkers to allow them to factor in all that nationwide coordinated repetition and its effects over time. The Left and the Democratic Party ends up reacting after new 'facts' are created.
I'm not saying Fox doesn't do its part, but only radio can do the unchallenged repetition necessary to sell the big lies and keep them going. The blond perms and block heads on Fox ride a talk radio bandwagon. They get the talking points concurrently but it's a lot harder to sell turd pie on TV, where the sales team can be seen chewing it. It's a lot easier to sell if Team Limbaugh has all day to prechew it, smack their lips, and convince you it's apple pie.
'Fast and furious' would have been a blip in the news if it weren't for 1000 plus coordinated radio stations pounding away across the country for months. The GOP would not have the courage to hold these absurd hearings on it without unchallenged talk radio repetition at their backs.
Not only are the national talkers blowing it up, your local talkers are making it a priority now (heard it again this morning) and are probably moving paid callers from national think tanks to the top of their caller lists to comment on it. Now it's another idiotic distraction and swiftboating by the GOP for political gain. Like so many other issues over the last 20 years thousands of dittoheads/teabaggers have been mobilized to scream into phones and emails to enable and intimidate media and politicians. One more made-to-order constituency the media can label 'popular'. Like the 'climategate' PR success that set us back years in dealing with global warming (my first diary). Like single payer and public option. Like Bush and Afghanistan and Iraq. And on and on, issue after issue, candidate after candidate.
A lot of Citizens United money is going into PR campaigns that will rely heavily on the fact that the left largely ignores the right's most important weapon. RW radio does the groundwork for everything they do. That's why the Limbaughs and Hannitys and Becks get the big bucks. It's not for selling flooring and hair tonic.
According to my search for 'fast and furious', xxdr zombiexx did the first diary on it on 7/6/11. I commented last year about 'fast and furious' because I had been hearing the classic RW radio build up for it. I usually only listen randomly and occasionally but had probably been noticing it for months previous to commenting on it. I pasted these comment excerpts below.
the pushing of the 'fast and furious' ATF gun story and the solyndra story to the point where weeks of repetition on radio enables the MSM to spend significant time on it and congress to hold hearings are two recent examples of talk radio driving politics and media. radio was essential for pushing those, as so many issues before them.
by certainot on Thu Nov 17, 2011 at 05:36:02 PM MST
another success for invisible republican radio (5+ / 0-)
the solyndra story, like "email gate" owe their success as GOP political footballs to invisible talk radio repetition.
just like the "fast and furious" ATF guns to mexico story a few weeks or months of unchallenged repetition, ignored by the left, turns into PR ops for the GOP.
by certainot on Thu Nov 17, 2011 at 05:51:20 PM MST
The Left will lose many important messaging battles until its organizations stop ignoring RW radio and make a long overdue effort to challenge it.
The major RW stations in blue areas need to be picketed, all sponsors on RW radio stations need to be shamed and boycotted, and Americans must make it impossible for our universities to allow their athletics programs to be used to endorse and promote this crap (see link in sig).