Just two weeks ago, Republicans were told by Fox News’ resident genius Dick Morris the election was in the bag. So, what happened?
David Frum may have the answer.
“The problem with Republican leaders is that they’re cowards, not that they’re fundamentally mistaken,” said the conservative pundit and former George W. Bush speechwriter. “Republicans have been fleeced and exploited and lied to by a conservative entertainment complex.”
That “complex” includes Fox News’ Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly, along with Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham, and scores of other far-right flamethrowers.
“Mitt Romney ... was twisted into pretzels,” Frum explains. “The people who put cement shoes on his feet are now blaming him for sinking.”
Right-wing opinion entertainers are successful because they tap the anger, mistrust, and resentment conservatives feel about the role of government by comingling entertainment and politics.
This combination has attracted large audiences by demonizing and disparaging those with whom conservatives disagree, people like Democrats, environmentalists, feminists, and civil rights activists.
If conservative pundits said only, “Gosh, I think you’re wrong and here’s why ...” nobody would ever pay attention to them.
But if they say, “You’re wrong and, what’s more, you’re an un-American terrorist appeaser who was probably born in Kenya,” that’s entertainment!
Thus, where we once had agreeable disagreement to solve our big problems, America now endures a relentless stream of right-wing conspiracy theories, distortions and falsehoods designed to incite conservative audiences.
And, unfortunately, too many conservatives confuse entertainment with the truth.
Republicans have been fleeced and exploited because conservative politicians who know better dare not criticize or even contradict far-right entertainers lest they be vilified on the airwaves, too.
Remember Romney’s muted response to Limbaugh’s vicious and relentless attacks on Sandra Fluke, the law student who spoke out about contraception?
And Limbaugh had the temerity this week to suggest he didn’t hurt Romney.
If you think the conservative entertainers are chastened and will pause to consider or even care that they’re killing the Republican Party, think again, because they were back at it this week with a vengeance.
America, observed Fox News host Brian Kilmeade, is “the shallowest country in the history of man,” because voters rejected Romney.
Columnist Cal Thomas, echoing Romney’s “47 percent” crack, claimed the 62.2 million Americans who voted for Obama are “freeloaders” and “moochers.”
Hispanics and Latinos voted for Obama by a 7-to-1 margin, so columnist Charles Krauthammer thinks the way to attract them to the GOP is to pass a reform bill that would “legalize their (undocumented immigrants) status enough to live in the shadows.”
Aging rock star and Washington Times columnist Ted Nugent labeled Obama’s supporters “subhuman varmints.”
Ann Coulter blames “purist show-offs” Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock for torpedoing Republicans, yet she routinely makes polarizing statements like, “Jews need to be perfected by becoming Christians.”
Fox’s Steve Doocy baselessly asked if Gen. David Petraeus was, “being blackmailed by the White House to toe the company line” on Benghazi.
Incendiary opinions like these might entertain the audience, but they aren’t a basis for the serious governance of a country as large and diverse as America.
And, what’s really alarming if you’re a GOP moderate, many conservatives believe more intolerant and extremist entertainment is the way they’ll win the national political debate.
Except, in 2012, conservatives decisively lost the debate.
Kevin Foley is a public relations executive, author and writer who lives in Kennesaw.
Kevin Foley is a public relations executive, author and writer who lives in Kennesaw.
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Keep it up conservatives -- us liberals are counting on you!
Of course folks like Chris Matthews, Kieth Olberman, Ed Schultz, Rachel Maddow, and Martin Bashir on MSNBC or Hollywood luminaries such as Michael Moore, Alec Baldwin, Barbra Striensand and others ad nauseum, should be considered middle of the road by Republicans and moderates alike. Not to mention the absence of any bias in news coverage by Public TV, ABC, CBS, NBC, the New York Times, The Washington Post, the L.A. Times. These organizations speak only truth and focus like a laser on fact finding related to any Democratic statement, while allowing Republicans to say anything they choose without comment.
But indeed, Fox News is to be admonished for failing to repeat without examination or comment the many well meaning beliefs of the left. Now that’s what I’d call Fair and Balanced.
One has to wonder what happened in the evolution of humanity that led to the development of Conservatives.
Allow me.
In the beginning, humans existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters and gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish in winter.
The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into 2 distinct subgroups: Liberals and Conservatives.
Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early human ancestors were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed.
Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to BBQ at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as "the Conservative movement."
Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly BBQs and doing the sewing, fetching and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement. Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. The rest became known as 'girlie-men.'
Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy and group hugs and the concept of democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided.
Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth - the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass.
Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare.
Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn't "fair" to make the pitcher also bat.
Conservatives drink domestic beer. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big-game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, corporate executives, Army Rangers, athletes and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.
Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America. They crept in after the Wild West was tame and created a business of trying to get MORE for nothing.
Here ends today's lesson in world history.
The GOP keeps thinking that if they put out a moderate candidate, then they will get crossover votes from the more moderate Dems - but that just doesn't happen. Moderate Dems have shown that they will not cross party lines, they will either not vote, or they will vote for the extreme Democrat, not the moderate Republican.
Anyone that thinks McCain, or Romney are strong conservatives, is simply a partisan idiot. McCain was one of the original 'Gang of 14' members, and Romney was the Governor of the most liberal state (commonwealth) in the union.
By picking these moderate candidates, the base of the party chooses not to vote - this would be no different than if the Democrats put up a moderate, the base would stay home.
What this election has shown, is that a moderate candidate, from either party, can not win. People can complain about how devided the country is, but until people are willing to vote across party lines, NOTHING is going to change!
Why don't you address the 68 precints, primarily in Philly, where Romney did not get a single vote? I bet you are just willing to swallow that BS, hook, line and sinker, because it fits your biased views. Add to that the fact that some, if not many, of these precints are the same ones where the New Black Panthers were present.
Oh, I forgot, voter fraud, voter suppression and intimidation are okay, as long as the liberals are doing it. Right?
You're also likely jealous of all the millions the conservative talkers are making, having found a way to affirm what so many of us are already thinking. And if readers have never tuned in to listen to Rush in particular, you really ought to try his show. Informative in a way this guy can't even imagine, analytical and funny, though since most libs just spout without ever listening to the shows, they wouldn't know that. Libs prefer to listen to their Bagdhad Bob news channels, where truth is AWOL and Bush is still president.
Fortunately, we have truth tellers like Boortz and Limbaugh. For example, where else will you get the news that unemployment figures in the short week since The One took the election are up, with almost 200,000 new people applying for unemployment? Hostess going under, thanks to the unions and this president's pro-union agitating.