TO THE LEFT: The absurdities of the Right

     There has been so much unreasonable right wing backlash against President Obama that their hot air has contributed massively to global warming.

     That sound of salt water lapping against your back door in Nevada can now be traced directly to psycho-crap from the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly and that screeching white-hot harpy, Ann Coulter.

     Anytime these and other New Rightists pontificate, it’s all about what “The American People” think. Whenever there is a “poll” spouted by them, it is usually culled from a tiny sampling that is then spun to supposedly represent ALL of America. In truth, most poll samplings are quite small in numbers, usually a few hundred, maybe up to 1000.

     How can so few represent 300 million Americans? It’s just not correct, yet, Limbaugh, O’Reilly, Hannity, Beck and Coulter use that microscopic sampling to persuade viewers that “THIS IS WHAT AMERICA THINKS!” I beg to differ. They know full well that few viewers will go to the trouble of analyzing, dissecting or investing in the time to figure they are being manipulated. Most American – including, yes, you - are too lazy to dig into the facts, take a few seconds and question what these “pundits” want you to believe is their truth.

     I write this because I have always been guided by one principle: Question authority. Yes, that 1960’s phrase that needs a dusting every now and then to shake up a sleepy America and bring to light the reality that things are not always as they seem. The powers-that-be want to stay in power – to use a phrase coined by the great Malcolm X—by whatever means necessary. Television is THE most powerful medium ever invented to control what people may say or do. Its predecessor, radio, proved to be both a comforting medium (Franklin Roosevelt’s fireside chats come to mind), and one to frighten (Orson Wells’ 1938 airing of “War of the Worlds” that paralyzed an entire nation is a classic case in point).

     Fortunately, there are counterpoints to those five “pundits.” Take time to watch MSNBC’s” Keith Olberman, Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews and Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert for views that face up to the absurdities Beck, Limbaugh and the others rant ad nauseam. Olberman and Stewart are particularly astute in chipping away at their mountain of errors and outright manipulations, while Colbert’s spot-on O’Reilly parodies reveals the utter pomposity the “New Right” espouses.

     So, while President Obama strains to right our economy, remember he hasn’t been in office a year, yet miracles are being expected. Limbaugh, Beck, O’Reilly, Hannity and Coulter have yet to point out that our previous president, for eight years, steered the boat into an economic reef. Unfortunately you will not hear it from them.