Why Rush to Hate?

5 March 2012

I guess old Rush Limbaugh did it again! Once again his controversial viewpoints have managed to shock people everywhere and this past week mainstream and social media alike are fully engaged in yet another campaign to silence him. Calls for boycotts against anything Rush and those advertising during his shows are rampant. Rightly so? Maybe. He called Sandra Fluke a prostitute on nationwide radio and said that he wanted to see videos of her having sex, seeing as how he was paying for it. Seems to me that no matter what your position is on the core issue here, that incident seems like slander to me. Sandra Fluke is a law student. Maybe she should sue him. After a weeks worth of public outcry, advertisers dropping him and ratings increases, Rush finally apologizes to MS Fluke.

Still, after the apology and his attempt to make things right, the calls for Anti-Rush activity continue. Whether Ms. Fluke accepts the apology or not, people are still clamoring for the removal of Rush Limbaugh. He should be tarred and feathered!!!! I say that with a small bit of sarcasm but don’t get me wrong. I think it is disgusting for him to have carried on in such a way. You can make your point without the hateful commentary. If Rush Limbaugh cannot maintain a solid level of performance, as indicated by his ratings, without slandering people and participating in hate filled rhetoric then maybe his advertisers should review that before waiting for the next big “wardrobe malfunction”. But we all know that won’t happen.

Media outlets and advertisers alike are fed by guys like Rush Limbaugh, Bill Maher and any other pundit you can think of. Their commentary is meant to be sensational. They have every intention of raising the eyebrows and ire of anyone listening to them. And they know full well that their words fuel the debate of countless Americans. Often times their commentary is firmly lodged in hate and no attempt is made to form conclusions or reach understanding. I wonder if the crap I hear is even their true opinions. Their efforts are rewarded through advertising dollars and the enduring support of those that latch onto their words and form their opinions based largely on the input they get from them. That’s the real shame here, that some people cannot form their own opinion unless they hear it from someone else like Limbaugh or some regurgitated blurb seen on social media.  If we answered every call to boycott those shows, we’d have a lot of dead air on radio and TV.  

I’ve said this in a previous article. I don’t listen to any of the talking heads or political pundits. I don’t watch the Sunday morning talk shows and I don’t watch the daily shows presented on any of the major news networks. I simply don’t want to waste my time listening to other people bitch and whine about their opinions and beliefs on every little thing and simultaneously trashing anyone that doesn’t agree with what they are saying. It doesn’t matter the topic or the opinion. It doesn’t matter the form of the media. People say “liberal bias” or “Conservative bias” like it’s a disease. Bias is bias the only difference is whose doing the finger pointing and who’s returning the finger in the form of a wave.

It is easy to hate. It is easy to make fun or deride something or someone. Our country is festering with more than enough people who make this their daily bread. It’s just another way that the forces of hate and ignorance maintain the polarization that exists in our country today. As much as possible, I try to find the issues myself, do my own fact checking and make my own opinion from that. And in so doing, I find I am much more tolerable to opinions or choices that are different from my own. I don’t mind another person’s opinion or belief, so long as I know it is truly their own. You may not like what I have to say but at least I am ready to talk.

Have a Blessed Day Ya’ll!

Todays “Did Ya Know”? Did ya know its National “Multiple Personality” Day. How many people you got in there?? Well bring them all out so’s we can give them all a big hug!!!!! Do you have a good side? A bad side?? Is there a bear in there in dire need of a good poking? I know a few people that have a couple of different sides to them, me included!!!