Divided, he profits

News is entertainment now. And folks like Rush Limbaugh have been given power, not because what news he’s reporting is factual, but because he can say whatever he wants with no accountability, because it’s entertainment, an opinion. Plus, as some of his supports have said, he does what he does because he knows he can get people’s panties, especially the far left, in a twist. So, whether he believes what he says is irrelevant. What is important to him, and thus his audience, is just being a provocateur. 

The issue that I realize is that for people like Limbaugh, since he’s amassed so much power, is that no one can tell him NO. And that is a dangerous power to have. We know fear is the ultimate tool of those prescribing to a certain dogma, this he feels –whether it’s real or not- threatened by people just as smarter as or smarter than he is. So his defensive mechanism is to pull the victim card, not for him because I believe he can hold his own, but for a certain group of people who need their ideology legitimized, however questionable it may be. Our opponents –be it a neighbor or someone on websites like Facebook- stop trying to share any common ground and become our enemies.  Limbaugh sees himself as an aggressor to help defend the envy and the greed of the world. And that resentment of others motivates him, and sanctifies him in the eyes of his followers, as acting in self-defense. 

Those who oppose his point of view are seen as evil and a menace, so the first step he took was to use fear as weapon for his listeners. Again, whether he actually believes anything he says is moot, because he learned that to succeed in what he is doing, is to give his listeners the impression that he passionately believes in everything he says. And the reason I note that is because he is an entertainer, nothing more. Much as Glenn Beck is, as much as Anne Coulter is. 

So Limbaugh uses fear as gunpowder, and hatred as his fuse. And then he uses dogma to light its end. 

For him and others, it’s not enough for his audience to believe him, he’s telling them this is what they should believe in; and thus they want them to believe him. It’s a magical circle of perfection. And his audience does not question what he says, because his dogma and their dogma have formed an identity in itself. So who ever do question it is the enemy, an evil creature that must be torn down like a cancer. They feel it is their right and duty to confront them, and destroy them. To them, the only road to salvation is to believe in the order Limbaugh is offering. Sadly, I see his stratagem as a way to generate and channel hatred.  

But it’s entertainment, no more, no less. Of course he cannot control how his fan base reacts to provocative statements, claiming no responsibility for whatever action or words they use, which gives him a sort of variation on the Monopoly’s Get Out Jail Free Card. But I’ve said it before; it is one thing to want less interference and a smaller, fiscally responsible government. It’s is another thing to sell yourself out to the highest bidder in hopes fattening a CEO’s campaign chest.