A Message to America: We're better than Dr. Laura's Rhetoric
My disappointment with the rhetoric offered by the Sarah Palin’s, Dr. Laura’s, Rush Limbaugh’s, Don Imus’s and Glenn Beck’s of the world is that their messages resonate with so many Americans.
It seems that every time I begin to become encouraged and believe that there has been real substantial progress in OUR country something happens to remind me that many have merely put a more presentable façade on some of this country’s ugly unresolved issues.
America has so much more ability than is currently being realized. There has always been this illusion of ‘Promise’ but the continued appreciation and consumption of this dark rhetoric continuously dispensed by the aforementioned and others makes me truly wonder.
I’m not amazed that these media darlings spew forth this filth but I must admit that I am very disappointed and somewhat disheartened that so many of my nice neighbors agree with and enjoy it.
Many writers have attempted to re-cast the latest events as merely another ‘teachable moment’. But why must these opportunities continue to come at the expense of the dignity of other decent Americans?
In my heart, I continue to believe that WE are far better than this despite OUR continued consumption of non-productive chatter and worse.
Did the caller seek Dr. Laura’s professional help to be berated and publicly humiliated? Did the good doctor fulfill the highest standards of her profession? (Then again, what are the professional standards of a talk show host? Better yet- what is she a doctor of?) Or did Dr. Laura once again use a real person seeking help as just another opportunity to propagate her personal agenda and beliefs all for the sake of ratings and the almighty dollar?
Newsflash
These talking head, pundit, media darling, know-it-all experts are playing their listening audiences for fools with their outlandish, over-the-top and divisive commentary. They don’t care what they say and they certainly don’t care who they hurt. They are in the business of selling inflammatory provocation and fear mongering neatly packaged as entertainment and apparently business is very good.
Schlesinger, Palin, Imus, Limbaugh & Beck Inc. makes untold millions from doing exactly what constructive? This particular media conglomerate has done absolutely nothing to solve any of America’s numerous, very real and significant issues but the money keeps rolling in…and a sizeable portion of ‘we the people’ keep listening.
When will we support a talk show host that actually attempts to find meaningful and respectful resolution to some of America’s more difficult issues? Are we ready for a host that moderates an intelligent dialogue instead of one that preys on insidious, petty fears and tells the huddled masses what to think?
Instead of sound bites and obstruction what about civil discourse and production? Is America ready for insightful media voices that use their platforms for something more than merely catering to their massive egos and helping themselves to the low hanging fruit?
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: Dr. Laura Schlesinger
With regard to "Doctor" Laura's use of the N-word, I think she was right, in a way. That is, I think it should be acceptable for a non-black person to use the N-word when quoting others, particularly when used to illustrate racism.
By way of example, a few weeks ago I went to a barber shop in Whittier, California, where everyone in the place -- except me -- was Latino. I asked the men a few questions about life as Hispanics (they set me straight: "We're Mexicans.") in Los Angeles. I spent the next half hour being berated for the immigration laws in Arizona, and for a few minutes I wasn't sure if I would leave unharmed. Included in their tirades was the liberal use of the "N-word." In fact, I've never heard it used more frequently or with so much hatred. Now I don't think I should be forbidden from using the "N-word" when quoting those guys directly. Using their racial slurs and swear words drives home a sense of how angry and bigoted those men really are. One man said (and this is a direct quote): "If I knew my daughter was gonna have a f*ckin' n*gger baby, I'd make her get a f*ckin' abortion." I don't think it would be an improvement if I were to dumb down the man's hatred by writing "If I knew my daughter was going to have an effen N-word baby, I'd make her get an effen abortion."
Modern bigots -- especially educated ones and those who know they are in the spotlight -- are smart enough to avoid using racist terms to describe someone. So even if people never use a slang insult, it's important to remain focused on how they *treat* others.
Laura Schlessinger has proven to be a myopic, homophobic knucklehead full of anger and intolerance, and she seems to give pretty bad advice, too. And while she might well be a racist, I don't think that she is one just because she quoted black rap artists using the "N-word." If she actually used the N-word to describe someone, that would be really terrible. But I didn't hear that in the audio clip of her show.
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Re: The rising popularity of Republican fear-mongers.
Let's get our terminology straight: They are not "right wing" pundits. Instead they are "wrong wing" blowhards. They are not conservative. True conservatives can't stand the likes of O'Reilly, Coulter, Hannity, Liddy, Palin, Imus, and (most especially) Glenn Beck. These radical alarmists are neither thoughtful nor trying to conserve (the root of "conservative") anything except, perhaps, their own wealth.
Their listeners refuse to acknowledge important problems with this group, including alcohol and drug dependency. Few of them are educated, though some had degrees purchased for them by their employers once they became popular. Most of them have only been radio DJ's and talk show hosts, never having held a "real" job. None of them have any military experience, yet always encourage placing the lives of American servicemen and women at risk. They ALL exhibit symptoms of serious psychological problems, particularly with regard to anger management. They are hypocrites who tell others how to live, yet fail to live their own lives by those standards. They are blasphemers and heretics, claiming to be Christians while espousing the OPPOSITE of what Jesus taught. (LOVE YOUR ENEMY. DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU.) One might carve an exception in this regard for Glenn Beck, who is now a Mormon rather than Christian.
So why do these people have ANY political clout at all? It is because they provide the simple answers to even the most complex problems. You don't have to study ANYTHING -- not history, not economics, not military strategy, not math or English or engineering or medicine or law -- to understand what they are saying: War is good. Peace is bad. Anger is good. Love is bad. Capitalism is good. Socialism is bad. Poverty is good. Wealth (other than their wealth) is bad. White people are good. Non-white people are bad (unless they support Republican views...then they they are very, very good). Ignorance is good. Education is bad. Foreigners (other than Europeans) are bad. Hypocrisy is good. Integrity is bad. Lying is good. Truth is bad. "Christianity" is good. Living the teachings of Christ is bad.
Etc., etc., etc.
The other element of their success is this: They fill the shoes of the belligerent father figure many people are accustomed to. Right or wrong, it's "DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO" and people not only accept it, they PREFER it. So many Americans want to be told by a strong man (including Ann Coulter, I'm afraid) what to think, what to believe, or how to vote. They provide a sense of certainty (even if it is completely unfounded) that they are always right and everyone else is always wrong. And they invite people to become part of a pack of schoolyard bullies who get a feeling of superiority from muscling around the class "geeks" and "dweebs" who will one day be their bosses.
The problem is that these bullies are so very often WRONG.
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Great article, doc. I read all of your columns at the Junkie, and they're fantastic. It's great to have a reasonable, well-spoken voice in the sometimes obnoxious MMA crowd.
Anyways, I really like your perspective on this subject. It's nice to see my own opinion expressed eloquently by someone else. Keep writing!
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