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Limbaugh’s Demons Take Him by monty keeling “Too many whites are getting away with drug use. The answer is to ... find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them, and send them up the river.” – Russ Limbaugh
Russ Limbaugh, like other conservative media stars, has a habit of demonizing people. Well, last week Limbaugh’s demons took him. For some reason folks seem to have a need to turn to demonstrative demagogues when we feel threatened by the way things are going. Definition of a demagogue: someone who appeals to people’s feelings or prejudices rather than their reason.
Another demagogue, Pat Robertson, said on his 700 network that the state department should be “nuked.” And some of us still remember Jerry Farwell's televised support of Ronald Regan’s military buildup against Russia by reasoning that Jesus said we should turn the other cheek, but he was only talking about other Christians. And there are no Christians in Russia.
I actually feel sorry for Russ for the fall he is now taking. And I feel sorry for the 20 or so million Americans, probably many of them Christians, who take this guy seriously on a daily basis. What is it about the new conservative movement in America, that the most outrageous, thoughtless, spiritless, among them seem to be afforded all the attention?
Perhaps it has more to do with the workings of our capitalistic society than the making of the new conservative intellectual cloth. All that matters is getting an audience, the ratings, which, or course, translates into money. So even presidents, like the first Bush, are seen carrying Limbaugh’s bags into the White House.
Conservatives are now discovering that those who throw the first stone usually end of getting clobbered. Perhaps the misfortune of Limbaugh, and others of their ranks, will convince new conservatives that you don’t have to be a liberal to have compassion.
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