Again with the politics (to some degree), so ignore this if it’s not your thing…
Over at salon.com I found the following article written by Eric Boehlert:
Rush Limbaugh hit where it hurts: World’s greatest troll faces steep pay cut
Salon.com tends to skew to the left, politically, so therefore one must excuse the “take that!” nature of the headline/link.
Like many liberals, I have no use for Rush Limbaugh and can proudly state that I’ve listened to no more than 1/2 hour of his show over all the years its been broadcast in my area. The bits and pieces I’ve heard here and there amount to less than that time and after listening to a few seconds (or perhaps a minute), realized he simply was not for me.
Regardless and as much as one may wish to, it is impossible to dismiss Rush Limbaugh as a political force. In my opinion he not only rode the conservative wave which gained its first popularity with Ronald Reagan’s presidency, I feel he was one of the primary forces behind keeping that wave strong.
But like many things in life, the moment appears to have passed to some degree. The ratings are quite as high and, it appears, the conservative movement focuses on an increasingly elderly audience.
I found this quote from the article particularly interesting:
…the conservative talk radio format has morphed into the Classic Rock of talk; super-serving the same aging demo for the last twenty-plus years.
Of course, the conservative movement is far from “dead” but I do agree with the article that Mr. Limbaugh’s radio misfortunes could be viewed as a window into the popularity of conservative politics as a whole.
Some ten or more years ago I had a conversation with my wife’s cousin, a very charismatic young man who also happens to be gay, and the topic of conservative politics reared its head. He despaired at what he viewed as the power of this movement and the way it affected him personally.
Even though it was many years ago, I urged him not to despair. Like so many things, I had a feeling the conservative movement at that time had already reached its peak and there was evidence the pendulum had shifted and was moving the other way. Back then, a conservative candidate could fluster a liberal rival simply by calling them a “liberal” and saying it as if it was some dirty word. Liberal candidates, to their eternal discredit, never could adequately fight back. Instead, they re-labeled themselves “progressive” to try to remove the “stigma” of the word liberal.
But things changed and the fight returned to them.
Today, I get the feeling young people view the word “conservative” in much the same way conservatives tried to get people to look at the word liberal. That’s not to say, obviously, there aren’t any conservative youths out there. But the days of conservative superpower appear to be receding. Yes, conservatives still hold power in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, but their grip appears to weaken as their politics take them further and further into areas many disagree with.
Who would have thought, ten or so years ago when I had that conversation with my wife’s cousin, that gay marriage would be legal? And though it isn’t perfect, we now have a form of universal health care and, despite so many years and so much effort in discrediting it, there are even Republicans who are thankful for this. With the passing of Justice Antonin Scalia, we’re finally getting a peek into what a Supreme Court may look like without as strong a conservative presence within that body. At least for me, the difference is incredible and the future, should we elect a Democratic President, certainly looks brighter.
And that’s the key, isn’t it? Things can obviously change and, depending on this election, things can move the opposite way. While I feel either Hillary Clinton (the likely Democratic candidate, at least as of today) or Bernie Sanders would wipe the floor of either Donald Trump or Ted Cruz, this isn’t by any means a foregone conclusion.
Unlike years past, however, there appears to be reason for optimism.
As the pendulum swings the opposite direction, we may indeed see a more liberal government in the coming years and it is my hope it features more tolerance toward others as well as a devotion to the protection of our resources.
As with all dreams, this requires hard work.
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