The Chattering Classes

Right-wing radio is horrified at the candidacy of Barak Obama. As if he’s a ghoul swathed in yuppie clothing. Laura Ingraham, self-professed Christian who tends to ridicule what she doesn’t like or understand, plays a clip of his voice and clucks her disapproval at whatever he’s saying. That is, after all, her job. “His middle name is Hussein,” Michael Savage (the former Michael Weiner) points out on his “Savage Nation,” as if that says it all. But then again, Savage likes to tell his audience that liberalism is a mental disease. Sweeping generalization is his middle name.

This afternoon on his show Neil Boortz was offended because, he said, the New York Times would not print a McCain op-ed piece about his plan for because it didn’t contain an exit strategy. Whatever. I take Boortz's commentary with several grains, hell, a container full of salt. It’s not that I disagree with everything that is said by these folks. But truth often gets lost amid the blather and who’s to know or care? Left-wing radio, at least what I know of it, is, with a few exceptions, not as loud and as slammin'. I used to listen to Air America occasionally, when it was available on Portland radio. But I disliked the endless commercial breaks featuring the same commercials over and over and well, you get the point. Then, there was the tone. Talkers lacked the nastiness of their counterparts, but also the passion.

My partner Steve doesn’t understand why I listen to these guys and gals. I’m not sure why, but it’s something akin to watching a train wreck. There’s an element of fascination and a little revulsion. And isn't it good to know what others are saying?

What, after all, should we expect from listening to these opinionated radio voices? Accuracy? An education? An open forum for ideas? The brassy Randi Rhodes, a former Air talker, has pointed out that she is, after all, an entertainer. Which is not to be confused with a Rhodes Scholar. Still, some people listening to the diatribes of Michael Savage take him, and his often hate-filled views, very seriously. In the marketplace of ideas, talk is very cheap. But the effect on an already under-educated, vulnerable populace could prove to be very costly. I suspect Obama has grown a thick skin in preparation for this contest. He'll need it.