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shakran · 06-25-2009, 06:34 AM

How about we cool off on the personal arguments and get back to arguing about political philosophies now?

I find it interesting that liberal and conservative talk show hosts are being glommed into the same boat so consistently in this thread. While I think anyone who exclusively gets their news from talk shows on either side of the aisle is begging for ignorance, I think there is a fundamental difference between the two.

I've heard left-wing firebrands like Thom Hartman, Mike Malloy, and Ed Schultz blast Obama several times already, and we're less than a year into his presidency. I don't recall ever hearing Limbaugh blast Bush. Ever. Only now, that the Republicans have imploded, is Limbaugh finally starting to criticize his party - and not over philosophical issues, but over the fact that they aren't good enough at tricking people into voting for them anymore.

I'm not saying the 3 liberals I mentioned are always, or even often, right. But I do think that they tend to be more willing to crucify anyone, Republican/Democrat/or other, if they think it's deserved.

I think that points to the fundamental difference in philosophy between left and right wing radio/TV hosts. The right wing tends to have a philosophy of "get him elected and keep him there as long as possible no matter what." The left tends to slant more toward "find the guy who will do what we think should be done and then keep on him after he gets elected to make sure he actually does it."

They've actually been getting pretty pissed off at Obama for not getting rid of "don't ask/don't tell," and for not trying to push through state-run/single payer healthcare, and for not prosecuting Bush & co. for war crimes.

It's also interesting to note that rightwing hosts tend to be in lockstep with the Republicans, while leftwing hosts tend to be more liberal than the "liberal" candidates. This, of course, is easy to understand when one realizes that this country does not have a left wing. The republicans are far to the right, and the democrats aren't quite as far out to the right.

06-25-2009, 06:34 AM	#43 (permalink)
shakran Tone.	How about we cool off on the personal arguments and get back to arguing about political philosophies now? I find it interesting that liberal and conservative talk show hosts are being glommed into the same boat so consistently in this thread. While I think anyone who exclusively gets their news from talk shows on either side of the aisle is begging for ignorance, I think there is a fundamental difference between the two. I've heard left-wing firebrands like Thom Hartman, Mike Malloy, and Ed Schultz blast Obama several times already, and we're less than a year into his presidency. I don't recall ever hearing Limbaugh blast Bush. Ever. Only now, that the Republicans have imploded, is Limbaugh finally starting to criticize his party - and not over philosophical issues, but over the fact that they aren't good enough at tricking people into voting for them anymore. I'm not saying the 3 liberals I mentioned are always, or even often, right. But I do think that they tend to be more willing to crucify anyone, Republican/Democrat/or other, if they think it's deserved. I think that points to the fundamental difference in philosophy between left and right wing radio/TV hosts. The right wing tends to have a philosophy of "get him elected and keep him there as long as possible no matter what." The left tends to slant more toward "find the guy who will do what we think should be done and then keep on him after he gets elected to make sure he actually does it." They've actually been getting pretty pissed off at Obama for not getting rid of "don't ask/don't tell," and for not trying to push through state-run/single payer healthcare, and for not prosecuting Bush & co. for war crimes. It's also interesting to note that rightwing hosts tend to be in lockstep with the Republicans, while leftwing hosts tend to be more liberal than the "liberal" candidates. This, of course, is easy to understand when one realizes that this country does not have a left wing. The republicans are far to the right, and the democrats aren't quite as far out to the right.