I understand everything except the "convincing arguments" bit. If it's filled with flat-out lies, how can it be worth taking seriously? I guess I'm just mystified as to how someone can listen to that quote from Rush about AIDS, for instance, or hear him talk about how gay marriage will ruin the sanctity of marriage when they know full well he's on his fourth one now, and still think that those comments contain anything resembling truth. I'd like to think it's simply a matter of the listener not having been educated on the facts, but that seems too simplistic, since some people who listen to Rush and like him have decent educations. I'm just really confused by that.
When I say convincing, I mean that he's adept at sophistry--not necessarily that his arguments are based on unassailable factual evidence or well-reasoned logic. What he says sounds true to a lot of people (in large part because of the other reasons I mentioned). I think Steven Colbert coined the term: "truthiness." At any rate Limbaugh and his cohots remind me of that scene in "Thank You for Smoking" where Aaron Eckhart's charcter, who is a tobacco lobbyist is talking to his son's grade school class about what he does for a living. One little girl raise her hand and says:
"My mommy says that smoking is bad for you."
Eckharts Character: "Is your mommy a doctor?"
Little Girl: "No"
Eckharts Character: "Is your mommy a scientist?"
LG: "No"
EC: "Does your mommy have any kind of training in research?" (I'm paraphrasing the dialogue here, but this was the gist of it).
LG: "No"
EC: "Well, then how does your mommy know anything about whether smoking is bad for you?"
LG: --Left flummoxed, speechless, and utterly defeated.
The fact, that incidentally, her mommy was right, was completely sidelined.
This is how Limbaugh argues, and that is what I meant by "convincing."
To be honest, I've not really listened to much NPR. Bits and pieces here and there, and I'm certainly aware of it, but I haven't really listened to it much.
I love NPR! You should listen to it more. It's about the only real news out there anymore.
That's really bizarre that Elton John played at his wedding. I'm guessing cori's reasoning has to be why he did that, 'cause otherwise I'm at a loss to explain his presence there.
Angela
It's probably the Dittoheads that should be more upset about this than us. It ought to reveal that at the end of the day Rush really doesn't give a shit--it's all about the money.
For some people, that's convincing. They also believe that Obama is Kenyan by birth and that the earth is flat.
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