And so it begins...

[TheWalrus]

I hate when people compare Hannity, Beck, or Rush to Bill Maher. There is a huge difference. Bill Maher is a comedian talking politics. Rush is a political radio host. You don't see Rush going on tour doing comedy gigs.

I was trying to be fair by comparing them. Maher is a comedian. Limbaugh was a disc jockey. Neither one are politicos or journalists, yet both do shows on politics. And while I don't think Maher is nearly as inflammatory as Limbaugh, he has and does say "extreme" things, sometimes just to piss off the conservatives.

[jared81]

Oh, Ed Schultz. He's definitely a putz. Terrible commentator. But... Schultz gets like 4 million viewers weekly on his TV show, while Limbaugh gets 14+ million listeners weekly on the radio.

It's not equivalent.

understood. But that is just a fraction of the electorate still. Just cause rush gets ratings doesn't mean he should be scrutinized more.

[TheWalrus]

understood. But that is just a fraction of the electorate still. Just cause rush gets ratings doesn't mean he should be scrutinized more.

Sure it does. Because ratings=influence which means that when he says something crazy Republicans are too scared to criticize him.

[jared81]

I was trying to be fair by comparing them. Maher is a comedian. Limbaugh was a disc jockey. Neither one are politicos or journalists, yet both do shows on politics. And while I don't think Maher is nearly as inflammatory as Limbaugh, he has and does say "extreme" things, sometimes just to piss off the conservatives.

Calling republicans racist (weekly). Making fun of palins Down syndrome baby, constantly ripping on Christians or Muslims. I am pretty thick skinned so I don't mind when Limbaugh or Maher say something off color. But don't act like its not the same. I watch Maher's show weekly and he says **** like this all the time.

[Megatron]

Sure it does. Because ratings=influence which means that when he says something crazy Republicans are too scared to criticize him.

I agree with you here. If you look at the total Republican voter turnout and take Rush's listener base out of that I'd say 14 million is a sizable chunk if they all are lock step with his beliefs. 14 million from 56 million. Can't ignore that.

[jared81]

Sure it does. Because ratings=influence which means that when he says something crazy Republicans are too scared to criticize him.

Sure rush has influence and that does matter. But as a conservative, I would make the argument that public schools, unions, universities, liberal print media, msnbc, unions, etc, have a far more reaching audience than the likes of Limbaugh, hannity, Fox News, etc. I know I may be getting into the bigger picture, but if you are talking about influence in our daily life, the forces I just named are far greater.

[Megatron]

Sure rush has influence and that does matter. But as a conservative, I would make the argument that public schools, unions, universities, liberal print media, msnbc, unions, etc, have a far more reaching audience than the likes of Limbaugh, hannity, Fox News, etc. I know I may be getting into the bigger picture, but if you are talking about influence in our daily life, the forces I just named are far greater.

So is a more liberal message more palatable to the majority? It can't just be that people don't have ready access to the Repiblican message. I saw an interesting graphic breaking down voting lines by education levels.


To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

[Spesh]

Sure rush has influence and that does matter. But as a conservative, I would make the argument that public schools, unions, universities, liberal print media, msnbc, unions, etc, have a far more reaching audience than the likes of Limbaugh, hannity, Fox News, etc. I know I may be getting into the bigger picture, but if you are talking about influence in our daily life, the forces I just named are far greater.

The institutions you meanted might lean to the left in the way they present things and the stories/subjects they cover. Conservatives consider it insidious but i feel its quite different then blatantly calling people socialist, commie, dog eating, keynan born sluts. If MSNBC covers a Republican sex scandal for 3 minutes and only covers "Fast and Furious" for one minute, that doesnt give Glenn Beck and Fox News the green light to call Democrats Nazi's 200 times in 18 months.

At the end of the day we can argue which is more offensive or inflammatory or biased, but the fact of the matter is others are correct: conservative entertainment is currently hurting their cause. Republican politicians need to stop catering and rewarding this type of inflammatory commentary. People will always gravitate towards amusement at other peoples(or in this case, party) expense, but it would do wonders for independent voters if Republican politicians spoke out against, say, Limbaugh when he calls a slut instead of booking a Fox News appearance on the subject(and yes, i understand some did speak out, just an example).

[jared81]

The institutions you meanted might lean to the left in the way they present things and the stories/subjects they cover. Conservatives consider it insidious but i feel its quite different then blatantly calling people socialist, commie, dog eating, keynan born sluts. If MSNBC covers a Republican sex scandal for 3 minutes and only covers "Fast and Furious" for one minute, that doesnt give Glenn Beck and Fox News the green light to call Democrats Nazi's 200 times in 18 months.

At the end of the day we can argue which is more offensive or inflammatory or biased, but the fact of the matter is others are correct: conservative entertainment is currently hurting their cause. Republican politicians need to stop catering and rewarding this type of inflammatory commentary. People will always gravitate towards amusement at other peoples(or in this case, party) expense, but it would do wonders for independent voters if Republican politicians spoke out against, say, Limbaugh when he calls a slut instead of booking a Fox News appearance on the subject(and yes, i understand some did speak out, just an example).

Despite the disappointing election a few days, the republicans have had more success the past 20 years then the past 50 years before that. All with Limbaugh on the air, Limbaugh isn't the problem, it's the political machine.