Shouting At Ourselves

P.J. O'Rourke is, as ever, spot on.

I was listening to Rush Limbaugh shout about Wesley Clark, who had just entered the Democratic presidential-primary race. Was Clark a stalking horse for Hillary Clinton?! Was Clark a DNC-sponsored Howard Dean spoiler?! "He's somebody's sock puppet!" Limbaugh bellowed. I agreed; but a thought began to form. Limbaugh wasn't shouting at Clark, who I doubt tunes in to AM talk radio the way I tune in to NPR. And "Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop!" was not a call calculated to lure Democratic voters to the Bush camp. Rush Limbaugh was shouting at me.

This is of a piece with my earlier ramblings about The Purpose Of Argument (which desperately needs a rewrite), but I think he touches on something that I failed to recognize (or at least failed to write down - I can never remember all the thoughts that fly through my head as I scramble to jot them down): this is as much a problem in Mass Media as it is in our personal lives - probably more of a problem. And it's something I'll have to think and write some more on later, because right now, I'm too tired to go any further. Ah, well - see ya tomorrow!
-- posted by Austin @ 11:45 PM (PermaLink/Comment) ¶