For Two Days, I Suffered With Conservative Talk Radio

I haven't posted for two days because my family was moving.

No Internet access. No television news. No newspaper. In the world of news-gathering, I was like poor Gilligan: "Not a single luxury." As I was in the car a lot -- last minute trips back and forth, traveling to the closings, etc. -- my main information source was the radio.

Although the family remains in blue New Jersey, we moved west -- away from New York City and its large radio market. The further I drove, the harder it was to pick up stations.

But WABC-AM -- home of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Monica Crowley, Mark Levin and other conservatives -- come through loud and clear. Hungry for any information, I tuned in.

One in five Americans say that conservative media -- talk radio and/or Fox News Channel -- is their primary source of information. These people, as JABBS has previously reported, are woefully misinformed. For two days, I was one of those people.

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I wasn't surprised by the lack of information provided. I had the same experience a year ago, when I drove through the Southeast toward Florida.

Listen to WABC and what do you hear? Morning host John Gambling told a listener unsure about the Iraq War that some people (read: those who support the Bush plan) understand the truth of the situation, and that we're fighting this war to spread democracy to the Middle East and to give Iraqis a chance to have a representative government.

What else do you hear? Hannity provided a scorecard for why Democrats are wrong on Iraq. His reasons? Democrats like Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton believe in "cut and run" and in weakening our ability to fight the war on terror. Democrats are hurting the troops by not supporting the president.

Some people are going to be on the right side of history and remembered decades from now, Hannity suggested. The various Democrats? Hannity believes they will be forgotten, just like the critics of Franklin Delano Roosevelt or Abraham Lincoln.

What else do you hear? An interview (I believe conducted by Crowley), in which the military analyst source said lots of positive things are happening in Iraq that the mainstream media (read: liberal media) don't talk about.

Conservative propaganda. Non-stop. News? Not available.

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In this alternate universe, most everything is going smoothly and as planned in Iraq. In this alternate universe, we are fighting to provide Iraqis with freedoms, but we lambaste war critics for expressing those same freedoms in the U.S.

The key is providing listeners with a lack of actual information. Opinions are stacked on top of opinions. We don't hear audio clips of Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi. We hear Sean Hannity describe what they said -- couched in such a way as to make them or anyone else seem wholly un-American.

One in five Americans are woefully misinformed by conservative "media." For two days, I got a first-hand understanding why.

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This item first appeared at Journalists Against Bush's B.S.

Satellite Radio.

I think its good to know what these guys are saying so we can counter the lies.Thats why Media Matters is such a great website and provides such a great service.

I know that Rush & Sean never served in the military & that they haven't been to Iraq to report the 'good' news the media doesn't report. Rush did go to Afghanistan - probably to check up on the opium crops :). Another Chickenhawk radio propagandist is Neil Boortz. I actually sent him an email suggesting he go to Iraq to help motivate the troops. His response was that I just wanted him killed there & that he cannot go because of his radio contract. What a lame ass... It is sad that so many folks believe this crap. At least now there is Air America.

Actually, I think he did go to Iraq last year, as part of that "get out the good news" campaign. He was listed among the conservative media types that was scheduled to travel and see the good-news side of Iraq.