#rush limbaugh

Jack Winstanley at MMFA:

With the midterms approaching, the Trump administration and its allies seem desperate to suppress the vote. The president has pressed Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, a package of legislation that experts say would create new barriers for voters and potentially disenfranchise millions. He has signed executive orders restricting mail voting and pushing for proof of citizenship in voter registration, and there has been significant chatter about sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to polling locations, which analysts say would be illegal.  The executive orders have been struck down, and the SAVE America Act faces an uphill battle in Congress. President Donald Trump’s efforts to suppress the vote have a significant ideological precedent. For decades, right-wing media have advocated restrictions on voter eligibility, laying the groundwork for Trump and his allies to undermine the upcoming midterms and push for policies that would make it harder for some Americans to vote. In a review of our archives, Media Matters found that primetime hosts, podcasters, columnists, and the like have attacked women’s right to vote, encouraged limiting the vote to property owners or heads of household, and advocated civics tests as a voting eligibility requirement. Some have outright stated that they only want people who share their political beliefs to be eligible to vote, or suggested kicking recipients of government assistance off the voter rolls.  More recently, right-wing media figures and online influencers have claimed that opponents of the SAVE America Act “want to steal elections” and “want the illegals to be able to vote,” continuing a years-long campaign of misinformation about mass election interference and widespread fraud. In light of this supposed fraud and interference, some commentators and election deniers have advocated more policies that could suppress voter turnout: restrictions on mail-in voting, getting “rid of” voting machines, or sending ICE agents to “surround” polling places. Others have called on Trump to sign an executive order declaring a “national emergency” to give himself “king-like powers” over the midterms. 

Gotta be honest, it says a lot that (at least at the moment) the scummy representation of everything bad about television has turned out to be less scummy than the radio demon.

But I guess it makes sense, Vox used to run a cult. Which is bad…but less bad than being a flat out serial killer who not only knows he's gonna rot but makes a literal deal with a devil for power. At least the desire for people to love and adore and respect and even worship you is somewhat understandable. It's childish and selfish, but at least it shows at some level you care about what others think and want them to care about you. Alastor was way worse.

Plus, to be fair…radio kinda made things worse for TV, because right wing radio you can argue, folks like Rush Limbaugh and others?

That led directly to the rise of overly political tv programs and networks like Fox, who thus contributed to the coarsening of the culture.

Before that, TV news was more objective and had more editorial standards.

BTW, I KNOW what some folks might say. "You gonna try to argue networks like CNN or MSNBC aren't biased"?

To the level of Fox? Fuck no. Fox LITERALLY lost THE LARGEST DEFAMATION LAWSUIT EVER because they were KNOWINGLY LYING about Dominion Voting Machines. KNOWINGY. None of the other two networks had to pay that much. And CNN and MSNBC weren't engaging in partisan behavior as long as Fox has been. Fox was literally saying Bill Clinton was a pedophile who killed two boys with a train when he was governor of Arkansas, and a serial rapist, AND his wife was actually secretly a lesbian who killed Vince Foster, all the way back in the 1990's. CNN and MSNBC weren't saying that s--t.