Andrew Klavan is daring liberals to listen to Rush Limbaugh. What genius!
Full disclosure - I'm an EIB subscriber; I love Rush and listen to him whenever I can. When I can't listen live, I can go back and listen to the recorded show. I think he's a genius.
Klavan sums it up for me when he says: "I listen to Limbaugh every chance I get, and I have never heard the man utter a single racist, hateful or stupid word. Do I always agree with him? Of course not. I'm a conservative; I think for myself. But Limbaugh, by turns insightful, satiric, raucously funny and wise, is one of the best voices talking about first principles and policy in the country today."
The problem many people have with Rush is that they fall victim to The Ransom Note Method and hear only distorted clips of what he says as reported by the media they already prefer to listen to. A prime example is the "I hope he fails" comment. Widely reported to have been taken out of context, everyone jumped on Rush for being unpatriotic and unwilling to support our new president; they accused him of wishing certain doom on the Obama presidency. Rush is powerful, but if doom comes to the Obama presidency it won't be because Rush wished it so.
No, the media chopped that comment out of context and skewed it the way they wanted it. And what's with the New Yorker Octo-Rush cover?
Klavan calls on liberals to spend some time listening to Limbaugh before judging him based on what they have heard about him. And as Klavan correctly asserts, they will say, "I have heard him!" but they haven't, really. Or you might get the "I can't STAND to listen to him!" Tolerant souls. But you can stand Al Gore. Bore.
The thing about Rush is that yes, he is an entertainer, but he is brilliant. He can knock the dirt away and get to the root of an issue faster than anyone else out there. He has a quick and a logical mind and the logic is the thing that scares the liberals off.
So I'm going to second Klavan's dare. Listen to Rush. You may never be converted to conservatism, but at the very least, you'll laugh. Rush is funny. And you will occassionally feel the synapses in your brain fire off as he makes a truly logical and clear point.
As Arsenio Hall used to say, ...things that make you go "Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm!"
I mean, it's hard to argue with facts. Rush on the Notre Dame invitation to Obama:
"We secure the truth on this program, and the truth is, that President Obama -- by virtue of his votes, as a member of the Illinois Senate, and as a member of the United States Senate -- is perhaps the most anti-life president. Well, there's no question. He is the most anti-life president we have had in American history. This is a man who three times voted for infanticide in Illinois. He tried to excuse it any number of ways, but this is a man who voted three times, that if a baby survives an abortion, it may still be killed because of the mother's original intent to abort it. "
Klavan promises to run an update if any libs take his challenge and let us know how it comes out. If you're a liberal and you take the challenge, let me know how you do. Comments are open.
So, willingness to listen to Rush Limbaugh is the standard by which liberal open-mindedness is judged? How funny.
ReplyDeleteI don't listen to Rachel Maddow, or Air America, or Ann Coulter, or Rush LImbaugh, or anyone else who simply wish to skew the truth and incite anger. ESPECIALLY someone who skews facts about Obama's vote on infanticide, and would pointedly use the term "anti-life". Anti-life? What an insult to listener intelligence. Yes, he's logical and insighttful to those with little ability to critically think.
He's a talk show host. That's entertainment, not fact. His job is to sell ads for local car dealerships and restaurants on his show, not to provide fact.
The fact that he's a keynote speaker for a group like CPAC, again explains alot about the intelligence of the conesrvative stance these days.
And this is not a liberal vs. conservative viewpoint. I'd give no respect to a liberal talk show host if they told me that Bush started the war because he just liked killing Iraqi children. That's just as ridiculous as the Limbaugh quote.
Anonymity, perhaps, is the actual last refuge of a scoundrel.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: "So, willingness to listen to Rush Limbaugh is the standard by which liberal open-mindedness is judged? How funny."
Open-mindedness is the willingness to listen and to fairly evaluate others' point of view. Failure to listen or in any way acknowledge others' opinions can hardly be construed as open-minded.
Anonymous: "I don't listen to Rachel Maddow, or Air America, or Ann Coulter, or Rush LImbaugh, or anyone else who simply wish to skew the truth and incite anger."
Perhaps you'd be willing to gift us all with what the exact truth is? Obviously you know it and it's so simple to you...
I do listen to Rachel Maddow and, on occasion, Air America. But more often I read their arguments in interviews, blogs and articles. I evaluate and, ususally, reject based on logical inconsistencies, hypocrisies, and misinformation. I don't claim to magically know truth.
By the way, entertainment and truth are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Neither is commercial success and truth. Ever hear of the concept of art before?