Who do you mean by “they”, the extreme right and left wingers? I didn’t mean they are the ones fighting ignorance, but the one’s whos ignorance is being fought here.
While I agree that many radio talk-show hosts (whether right- or left-leaning) can be reasonable and smart, there are some pretty genuinely stupid ones out there.
Case in point: I was listening to one of our local talk-radio channels yesterday, KIRO in Seattle. I heard not one, but two examples of such utterly inane positions, expressed by two different hosts, that I had to turn it off in disgust.
The first was trying to make a point that Republicans were the “party of God,” while Democrats were “Godless socialists.” Yes, the words in quotes are his exact words. His evidence for his assertion? When asked if they agree with the statement “We will all be brought before God on Judgement Day,” supposedly 68% of Republicans agreed strongly with the statement, while “only” 57% of Democrats agreed with it. He never cited where he got these numbers, but he made much of this 11% difference. Despite the fact that over half of Democrats still made a strong statement of belief in God, he dismissed then as “Godless” and without moral code.
Dumb as a bag of hair? Oh my… yes indeed.
I turned him off and listened to some music for a while, then later turned KIRO back on. Now Brian Maloney, Mr. “No Bologna” himself, was on. He says some pretty dumb things on a regular basis, but yesterday he won the prize right off the bat.
Yesterday there were some anti-war protests in Seattle, and they took place near a “support our troops” rally. Inevitably, there were some confrontations, but for the most part it was all pretty civil. However, “No Bologna” Maloney was attracted to it like flies to shit.
(Paraphrasing from memory): “Y’know, I really don’t understand the anti-war position. I mean, I know they’re against war, right? But what are they protesting today? I mean, the situation in Iraq… it’s not a war. It’s just some terrorists, and from what I understand, we’re pretty much owning the country anyway. It’s just not a war.”
Maloney, You stupid asshole. I doubt that the thousands of troops deployed on the ground in Iraq would call it anything but a war. I doubt those being called up to duty even now, including one of my oldest and best friends, a reservist, who learned that she is being called up next month (on her birthday no less), would call it anything other than a war. Even the most extreme Bush apologists acknowledge that it’s a war. Hell, even Bush himself characterizes the “situation” in Iraq as part of a war on terrorism.
And more than these things… yesterday, at least 17 Americans died because of the “situation” in Iraq (a fact which “No Balogna” Maloney new quite well by the time of his broadcast), and hundreds have died in the last few months. They died fighting in a war. And yet Mr. “No Bologna” has a point to make, so he has no problem with spitting on their graves, and on those still fighting, to make it. And this in the name of “supporting our troops.”
Stupid. Fucking. ASSHOLE.
Airman Doors, I doubt you would defend Maloney’s statements at all. Please correct me if I’m wrong. I mention them mainly to point out that, yes indeed, some of the talk-show hosts really are that dumb. I don’t know if the OP was talking about stupidity on this level, but some talk-show hosts are more than just dumb… they are profoundly, offensively stupid.
Just so’s you know… 'coz knowing is half the battle. Yo Joe.
Possibly not stupid at all, actually (obviously I didn’t hear the guy). There’s a difference, both semantic and legal (from a UK POV), between conflict and war. The situation in Iraq now appears to be moderately similar to Northern Ireland in the 1980s. If we were to declare war upon an opponent, all sorts of legal matters come to bear (q.v. the Falklands). We did not dignify the IRA by declaring war upon them; so we similarly do not dignify the Saddam loyalists.
Too true my friend.
qts, I understand what you’re saying, and I can respect that opinion, even if I disagree.
However, that was not the distinction “No Bologna” Maloney was making. His point was nothing so cogent; he obviously just wanted to dismiss the anti-war protestors and so said they were protesting against nothing. He said that the Iraq conflict didn’t rise to his standard of “war,” but never defined what that standard was.
As far as I’m concerned, if there is an organized military occupation force on the ground, it’s a war. If pretty much everyone who talks about it refers to it as a war, it’s a war. Maloney never defined his standard… if he has one at all. Had he presented it the way you did, he might not have merited what I said.
unclviny - your friend’s conversion is simply balancing out my 19-year-old female friend who, now that she’s attending university where she’s enrolled in a “women’s studies” course, has turned from her conservative upbringing in favor of parroting the radical feminist agenda she’s being fed.
After reading all the posts, all I can say is Ditto.
Careful, Phase42.
According to some around here, there’s no such thing as a radical feminist bias to ‘women’s studies’ programs.
Although I’d be interested to know which university this is, and what books they are reading.