It’s like the double-take a person makes when passing an accident scene: we’re disturbed by the possibility of seeing blood, but we still turn our heads to look.
In a similar way, I confess to listening to a lot of radio and watching TV that’s bothersome. It started in late 1999, when I took a job as a recruiter for the U.S. Census Bureau. That job kept me on the road six days a week, through six northern counties.
Radio reception is sketchy, and the only station powerful enough to get picked up all over the state is KKOB in Albuquerque. And that, dear readers, is how I tuned in Rush Limbaugh.
Rush has a legion of faithful minions who gladly call themselves his “ditto-heads.” Rush himself touts his abilities this way: “I have talent on loan from God,” and, “Just to make it fair, I can perform with half my brain tied behind my back.”
Invariably, when one calls in to disagree, that person gets shouted down. Any attempt at logic gets cut off by “says who?” or “prove it” or “that’s a lie.” Because Rush, ensconced in a luxury studio in New York City, has a staff of Limbaughtomized engineers and technicians to screen the calls, it’s easy for them to simply cut off the pesky caller, get in the last word, brand the caller as a “wacko” and go to the next caller, screened to make sure it’s a supporter.
My criticism of an arch-conservative divulges my own political leanings, but I believe I’d be similarly repulsed by liberals using the same tactics. Such personages may exist, but they’re hard to find on the radio spectrum.
Any reference to Michael Moore, of “Fahrenheit 911″ fame, ends with “He’s an idiot.” Anyone who cares about preservation of our forests gets labeled an “enviro-wacko.” People concerned about women’s issues get branded “Femi-Nazis.” It’s hard to sustain an intelligent discussion amid the vitriol-spewing.
Now, in the heat of the presidential election, Fox News has been playing particularly nasty. Non-Bush-supporting guests on Fox’s No-Spin Zone, for example, customarily get set up by the avuncular Bill O’Reilly, who will listen patiently until the guest dares to utter a sentiment either anti-Bush or pro-Kerry, whereupon the “Fair and Balanced” anchor interrupts, belittles and insults, spicing his diatribe with expressions like, “That’s YOUR opinion,” or “Come off it!”
On two occasions he met his match when Michael Moore, of “Fahrenheit 911″ fame, and Bill Maher, host of “Politically Incorrect,” appeared on the O’Reilly Factor. Bill O’Reilly’s recourse was to reduce the argument to an absurdity. The term, referred to as “reduction ad absurdum” in Latin, is a simplistic rhetorical device used when logic and reason expire.
As members of debate teams at Immaculate Conception School in the O50s, we gave up that juvenile technique while in our teens. But for people like O’Reilly when facing Bill Maher, it’s proper to keep interrupting him by asking about some mythical “Lola,” Maher’s putative girlfriend. That technique is akin to the way some people’s quarrels devolve into personal attacks on the other person’s appearance, mannerisms or voice.
More noxious is the series of anti-Kerry ads sponsored by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. In the heat of any polarizing political campaign, people go to great lengths to express their point of view. The SBVT group, however, has gone too far.
One TV spot shows a much younger Kerry testifying before Congress about atrocities committed during the Vietnam War. As he’s testifying, large letters appear with phrases like “burned entire villages” “shot innocent people.” The implicit message is that Kerry himself committed the atrocities.
Already, the subliminal aspects of the commercial have had results. In the press yesterday was a letter from someone swearing he would never vote for a person (Kerry) who committed such crimes. On Fox News’ Hannity and Colmes, one of the conservative guests asked, “And what can we say about Kerry’s committing all those crimes?” How quickly the messenger becomes the perp! Damaging as well is Limbaugh’s blanket assertion that Kerry’s injuries “were probably self-inflicted.”
As for the indignation the SBVT group feels, let’s not forget that the Vietnam War was the first televised conflict delivered live and in color into our living rooms. Long before Kerry’s testimony, the world knew about atrocities such as the MyLai Massacre. Apparently to some, in the heat of war, killing innocent people is inevitable. However, one must never talk about it. As least not if you’re John Kerry.
Doubtless, Bush supporters will disagree with these opinions, and I welcome that. As a Democrat, I of course, deplore scurrilous attacks on Kerry. Yet, I admit the Memo-Gate matter, aired last week on 60 Minutes, attacking Bush’s conduct at a National Guardsman, was a cheap shot against the president.
Did someone once warn against arguing about religion or politics?