The decline of the Loud Right
Jun 9, 2009 Politics and Poker
I am resolutely tired of politics.
Now, matters of policy and governance and statecraft and law remain, as they have been throughout my life, of great importance to me.
But I am bored and disgusted with politics, certainly with politicians, and to a great extent with people who are either obsessed with politics or whose public output is in the main dedicated to politics.
Some people, such as Patrick Ruffini, have the ability to pull this sort of thing off with real style and dignity. I can’t get on board even a fraction of his initiatives because of my exhaustion with the whole thing, but the way Patrick does it all, I respect the whole thing of it. And for me, Rush Limbaugh is Rush Limbaugh. He’s an American institution.
And, hey, you know — there’s Frank J. He demonstrates how to be an absolute right-wing nutter without taking yourself in the slightest bit seriously.
OK, so I love Stephen Green, too.
But I’d have to say that a slight majority of others whose “feeds” I keep tripping over, mainly bloggers but also talk radio guys, who try to do what these guys do in their respective roles, just can’t. By slight I mean slightly more than 99.9%, that is.
And this is what led me screaming from #TCOT. And, finally, I unsubscribed tonight from PJTV’s annoying emails, because, let’s face it, PJTV is obviously done with me so I can stop pretending to be interested rather than appalled, but if I didn’t tell you who on earth would notice? I do appreciate the free lavalier mike they gave me, though.
I am tired of the crassness and the grossness, but also, substantively, I have had it with the Loud Right’s politics.
I am tired of the Loud Right’s reaction, as in reactionary-ness. Sonia Sotomayor – that’s a nomination to go to war over? What on earth does the party that lost gave away everything think it’s going to get that’s a better, more mainstream nominee than Judge Sotomayor from the party, however undeserving, to which it gave everything?
I’m tired of the Loud Right’s petty, vindictive obsession with personal assassination in politics. Every photo of every member of Obama’s family has to be the occasion for nastiness? The President has to be called “Barry”? Every policy disagreement has to be cast as a venal, wicked or brainless move by the other side?
And I’m tired of a still corrupt and fundamentally unreformed Republican Party that still sends me mass mailings that read as if I were a mental retard, when in fact, well, I’m brilliant, okay?
If my far-more-famous-than-I political-blogger friends really read my blog, I think a lot of them would de-link me over this. Luckily, they don’t. But they’ve managed to make me embarrassed to be a conservative blogger. I mean, not that embarrassed obviously; it’s me we’re talking about here.
But, enough, really. Give it a rest. Try building something, whaddya say? Something America might want besides negativity, anger and desperation.
UPDATE: I’m not the only one! Hat tip to my mom.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Ron, I’m mostly on board with you (save, perhaps on Judge Sotomayor, where I think a fight is a good idea because she strikes me as a very shallow thinker about the law). I try hard not to be one of the Loud Right though I freely admit I get ticked and let fly sometimes.
In truth, over the last few months, I’ve used you as a model of the sort of person I want to attract to my blog and I’ve tried to write my posts accordingly.
I’m not fishing for a complement here, by the way. I like the way you think. It’s good for me to have folks like you around, so I make out on the deal!
June 9th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
Thanks, Jimmie. I do think you and I are like-minded. Maybe we should write one good blog together. Unless you insist on keeping your one good blog to yourself.
On Sotomayor, she is not a Major Thinker, but — again — how much better are we going to do? Indeed, a Major Thinker from that side would be a nightmare, and that’s why Obama knew he couldn’t get one on the court.
June 10th, 2009 at 12:52 am
Amen! I’ve been wishing for a sane Republican Party since I stopped being one (a member, that is, not a party!) around 1995..
Punning Pundit’s last blog post..3 Quick hits:
June 10th, 2009 at 9:22 am
As an unabashed liberal and partisan, I welcome your capitulation to the “Loud Right” as you label it. It means the GOP will stay in the wilderness that much longer … but I do worry that in the long-term, if other conservatives of the more “sane” persuasion follow your lead, it will have unhealthy results for our democracy.
June 12th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
I like Micheal Savage because he has such emotional range – how many people are melancholy on the radio? But I very rapidly tire of the ranting and the shouting.
I like Mark Levin because his book is great. But his radio show is way too hostile.
The best radio show host is George Noury of ‘Coast of Coast, AM’. Nobody is better with an actually certifiable person than George.
My preference is always a host who can handle an opposing caller with respect and dignity. Limbaugh actually does pretty well at this, and we’ve had a couple of locals in my area who are good, too.
As far a Sotomayor goes, she seems like a nominee who should be confirmed – but also a great excuse to have that honest conversation on race we were promised – not that we will get that conversation….
And as regards Colin Powell, (the quiet middle), well, OK, but does he have any Republican beliefs other than National Security and love of the military? Getting actual policy details out of that man seems to be like pulling teeth. He could improve my party, but to do so he needs to let us know what he thinks about the issues, not slam our favorite people. Come on, you moderate Republican solon, say something!
Yours,
Tom
Tom DeGisi’s last blog post..How To Develop A Political Grassroots Movement
June 13th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
I totally agree.
There are probably a lot of people out there who are tired of the hatefest that politics has become, but, since they’re the not-loud ones, we don’t hear much from them.
June 17th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Interesting take on Rush Limbaugh. I may have to rethink him. However, my knee-jerk reaction (good liberal that I am) is one of utter disgust when it comes to him.
Ann Coulter I find amusing/bemusing. I think that she is merely using her schtick to make money and that if people acutally believe she’s real and buy into her, more power to her. She’s smart. (not necessarily so ethical, but smart, so she’s earned some sort of grudging respect, oddly) I do, however, detest that she takes advantage of people’s stupidity to spread messages of hate. That’s my beef with her. I still think she’s just doing it to sell books (so her motivation is amoral, not immoral)
Okay, I’m done. My new mom brain is fried and I’m no longer very coherent.