When I was 13, I begged my parents to get cable television. “It’s quality, not quantity,” I read from the Viacom brochure that was sent to our house. “I won’t watch more TV, Mom; just better TV!” I said. After our suburban Cleveland neighborhood was wired with coaxial cable, my “quality versus quantity argument” quickly became a big lie. Within weeks I was watching an incredible amount of bad television. I became hooked on WTBS wrestling and persuaded my friends to become equally addicted. We re-enacted the wrestlers in our backyards. The wrestlers not only physically pounded on one another, but they hurled insults at each other as host Gordon Solie stood poker-faced holding the microphone.
Little did I realize that years later I would be witnessing the same type of discourse in popular culture starting in late 1990. It was then when I stumbled onto Rush Limbaugh syndicated radio program. Operation Desert Shield was in full swing so I turned to AM radio to become informed. What I discovered was something that I never heard before. My young skull full of mush was intrigued as Rush was throwing criticism at the so-called mainstream media that he felt were undermining the military operation. Here was an obviously talented radio professional mixing policy discussion with below-the-belt insults much like professional wrestling. I must admit that I found Limbaugh to be entertaining, so I once again became hooked to bad media.
Through the subsequent Operation Desert Storm and the 1992 presidential election, I turned to Limbaugh with a serious dedication. At a local pizzeria, I would join a fellow dittohead at their Rush Room. My friend became so devoted to Limbaugh that he bought many of the products he pushed on the radio show including Snapple drinks.
Very soon a bumper crop of copycat conservative talk show hosts developed in every U.S. market. I was intrigued by folks like Sean Hannity, who I got to personally know here in Atlanta. To me, the shtick became a phenomenon. These people were getting rich and famous for their cultural wrestling!
Political awakenings
I think my awakening came when I attended Newt Gingrich’s election night victory event in 1994 hosted by Sean Hannity. I’m not sure what it was, but something hit me: These supporters were obnoxious dolts who acted like sheep. When Hannity instructed the crowd to annoy the media, they did so. When Hannity told them to take Newt’s newsletter off the cart, they did so. The scene reminded me of the way Jim Jones’ people lined up to drink the Kool-Aid.
That night the Republican Revolution in Congress was born. A part of me was excited to see history being made. I had the chance to get a few words with Newt who I found to be one of the most intelligent people I ever met. But what I saw that night was ultimately the undoing of the GOP. The cockiness that I witnessed infected the party which had some excellent ideas including a commitment to balance the budget.
After stepping out of the box from the wrath of talk radio, I was once again able to be objective. Not too far after that night Newt rose to power, FOX News came into existence – catapulting Hannity to stardom with his nightly program. Rush would one day become a drug addict and Newt would resign from Congress.
Today, political discourse has become nastier as women have entered the conservative talk radio and TV wrestling ring. Wow, can they hurl the putdowns better than the men. It all reminds me of the film “Mean Girls.”
Pundit Ann Coulter, author and frequent FOX News guest, has taken Rush’s and Hannity’s neo-con torch to unprecedented levels. The queen of conservative media gets U.S. society’s dander up with shocking comments. The latest was when she referred to John Edwards as a “faggot.” Almost instantaneously, the media examined the comment repeatedly for days.
Honestly, did Ann Coulter’s “high school-like” thought need to be discussed in detail? Something tells me that giving attention to Coulter only adds fuel to her fire. Let’s get real: Just like pro wrestling, this is pretty much theater. Conservative talk media can only get dangerous when these self-elected pundits are taken too seriously. Does anyone remember Father Coughlin? Admittedly, there are segments of the American polity that gets their news from them and as a result, they are largely influenced by the likes of Coulter, Rush, O’Reilly, Hannity and their copycats.
But, can society or government stop them? While I might disagree with much of Coulter and her contemporaries, they have a right to express themselves however repulsive their statements. They aren’t instructed anyone to do harm to their opponents – not yet anyway. As for Ann Coulter, she seems like an overgrown teenager who is mad at the world. So, why give her the attention she so obviously craves? Can we ignore her? From the looks of it, that will not happen anytime soon. Physical and verbal wrestling thrives.
