Comments on: The Left’s Limbaugh http://frethink.com/2009/06/24/the-lefts-limbaugh/ You can afford to think. It's free. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:51:47 -0500 hourly 1 By: vjack http://frethink.com/2009/06/24/the-lefts-limbaugh/comment-page-1/#comment-517 vjack Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:44:42 +0000 http://frethink.com/?p=227#comment-517 rAmen! Once in awhile, I find Olbermann's over-the-top antics worthwhile but most of the time I feel like I'm watching less real news and more commentary on Fox "News." rAmen! Once in awhile, I find Olbermann's over-the-top antics worthwhile but most of the time I feel like I'm watching less real news and more commentary on Fox “News.”

]]> By: The Vicar http://frethink.com/2009/06/24/the-lefts-limbaugh/comment-page-1/#comment-515 The Vicar Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:17:48 +0000 http://frethink.com/?p=227#comment-515 I find TV personalities annoying, and here's my practical suggestion for dealing with the problem: if you don't like the guy, don't watch him. Turn the TV off. Go read a book, or bake cookies, or write a blog entry. Then he won't bother you a bit. Seriously, even when some media nitwit is in the headlines to the point where you can't avoid them, it makes them much less annoying if you just don't watch (or listen) to them.<br><br>As for Olbermann being some sort of mirror of Limbaugh: I don't watch either one so I can't say for sure, but judging by Limbaugh's history, I'd say it's not warranted until at least most of the following have happened:<br>1) Olbermann is busted for doing drugs, then buys his way out of prosecution<br>2) Olbermann defends preemptive war on right-wing countries<br>3) Olbermann starts making claims which prove to be false, is caught on them, and then repeats them anyway<br>4) Olbermann claims to be the equivalent of PBS<br>5) Olbermann gives direction to a national political party, and they not only largely take his direction but those who disagree in public end up having to apologize to him<br><br>For that matter, I don't think you can claim the left has a Limbaugh in this country, because the left and right are not mirrors. There's no real leftist political party these days -- there's the right-to-far-right Republicans, and the center-to-right Democrats, and between them they own (and are owned by) the media. Limbaugh himself has admitted in public that the idea of the "left-wing media" was a lie to rouse the right-wing rabble and to force media outlets to grant him (and his fellow-travelers) airtime, and it's not really fair to compare Olbermann, who is a lone dissenting voice, to Limbaugh in his echo chamber. I find TV personalities annoying, and here's my practical suggestion for dealing with the problem: if you don't like the guy, don't watch him. Turn the TV off. Go read a book, or bake cookies, or write a blog entry. Then he won't bother you a bit. Seriously, even when some media nitwit is in the headlines to the point where you can't avoid them, it makes them much less annoying if you just don't watch (or listen) to them.

As for Olbermann being some sort of mirror of Limbaugh: I don't watch either one so I can't say for sure, but judging by Limbaugh's history, I'd say it's not warranted until at least most of the following have happened:
1) Olbermann is busted for doing drugs, then buys his way out of prosecution
2) Olbermann defends preemptive war on right-wing countries
3) Olbermann starts making claims which prove to be false, is caught on them, and then repeats them anyway
4) Olbermann claims to be the equivalent of PBS
5) Olbermann gives direction to a national political party, and they not only largely take his direction but those who disagree in public end up having to apologize to him

For that matter, I don't think you can claim the left has a Limbaugh in this country, because the left and right are not mirrors. There's no real leftist political party these days — there's the right-to-far-right Republicans, and the center-to-right Democrats, and between them they own (and are owned by) the media. Limbaugh himself has admitted in public that the idea of the “left-wing media” was a lie to rouse the right-wing rabble and to force media outlets to grant him (and his fellow-travelers) airtime, and it's not really fair to compare Olbermann, who is a lone dissenting voice, to Limbaugh in his echo chamber.

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