Talk radio

I heard today that the new policy at CNN is to no longer have talk radio personalities on their programs. This doesn't surprise me, for a number of reasons; ultimately it is just one more attempt to silence the Conservative voices.

One of the biggest ironies right now is that the people who vilify and rail against Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Bill O'Reilly, etc., are people who never have (and never will) actually listened to their shows. I have heard the most hateful things said about Bill O. by people who have never heard him, have never picked up one of his books, and don't have the first idea of what he stands for. Bill frequently reads (often hilariously) letters and e-mails from people calling him a huge liberal and a right-wing nut job who are talking about the SAME STORY!! I've seen it over and over and it never fails to crack me up.

This morning I heard Glenn Beck quoting an article in which he was taken completely out of context and misrepresented - it has become commonplace for Rush to replay segments of his show from which he has been misquoted and/or misrepresented. Which brings us to the "I hope Obama fails" brouhaha. I got an e-mail from someone who wrote an indignant letter to Michael Steele about this and the divisiveness of the far right. I have great respect for this individual, but it is obvious from his writings that he heard the left-wing media's version of what Rush said, not the actual statements in context. What Rush actually said was that he hoped Obama's policies failed; or that he hoped Obama failed in implementing his policies. This might seem like semantics, but Rush, like many of us, realized early on that Obama's policies were going (and have proven) to be disastrous for this country.

I have my own feelings about Rush, Sean, Mark Levin, Bill O., and others, some of which would undoubtedly surprise those who think that we conservatives are all automatons that are spoon-fed our opinions and information by these folks. Anyone who has followed my responses to feel-good e-mails over the years (I have been accused of curmudgeon-like behavior) knows that I don't take much at face value and research the things that I question. It is not hard to spot the hypocrisy of the Left or the Chicago strong-arm tactics of the current administration if you simply open your eyes and ears.