I agree with many points in the article and think too many people think in political terms like there are only 2 teams and you must defend your team no matter what. For a minority of people on both sides, all political discussion stops at the point of defending your team no matter what and their mind is already made up, don't confuse them with the facts. Unfortunately for us, most of these people work in the media, politics, think tanks, colleges and as unofficial (read useless) spokespeople for different groups and minorities.
I disagree with this article in that I think most people will argue and defend their beliefs but will also read/listen to opposing viewpoints, consider them and then adjust their beliefs/ viewpoints if they are persuaded to do so. I'd guess that a clear majority of members who post in the political section have been persuaded to change/alter their viewpoints.beliefs by cogent arguments posted on this forum.
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Clinton haters invented Rush Limbaugh and a whole new talk-radio genre taylored to righties filled with hatred for all things democrat - be they conservative or not.
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Statements like this gloss over salient facts and perpetuate the concept of the 2-team analogy. Rush Limbaugh (whether you like him or not) felt driven to do what he's accomplished because he was intensely interested in things political, believed that the media overlooked people with views similar to his and was honestly prescient (and lucky) enough to see a golden opportunity (no pun intended) and take advantage of it.
Actually, Rush began his national show in 1988, during Bush 1's presidency. At that time, most Americans had never heard of Bill Clinton. Yes, Clinton provided a lot of ammo for Rush during his presidency 4 years after Rush had already started his show and still does to a smaller extent but Rush began his show with a Republican President and the belief that the media at that time was not addressing the needs of conservative thinkers. Obviously a lot of conservative people agree with that theory as Rush has the most popular radio show in history and has helped create a market and demand for several other conservative radio and TV shows.
I know a lot of people bash Rush on this forum but he still serves a useful purpose in that he does direct the national attention to certain issues that oft times get short shrift from other media sources. And once Rush addresses something, the rest are somewhat compelled to address that issue from their respective liberal and/or conservative viewpoints because that subject becomes a part of the national political discourse. And that isn't a bad thing. People need to talk about and think about more than just the limited political items portrayed on the evening TV news.
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