Rightricide

A perfunctory Washington Post write-up on What Will Those Nasty Right-Wing Radio Hosts Talk About Now?, includes this welcome bit of gratuitous bloviator-on-bloviator dish:

Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman from Florida who now hosts MSNBC's nightly "Scarborough Country," says the challenge for conservative hosts will be to prove "that we're more than just the Pravda of the right." He adds, "I think that's going to be difficult for some people. I honestly don't know what Sean Hannity is going to be able to talk about. If you've been reading off the Republican National Committee's talking points like he has for the past four years, it's going to be hard to be critical of the status quo."

Comments

[thoreau]

A pundit from one network bashing a pundit from another network? Who'd've thunk?

[joe]

There's a world of difference between Scarborough and Hannity. I disagree with most of what JS has to say, but I get the impression that he is actually calling 'em like he sees 'em.

Hannity is just an obedient mouthpiece - whatever the Bushies want said that day, he's on it like ugly on a gorilla.

[R C Dean]

He's right about Hannity, though. Oh, he'll have plenty to talk about, but only because the Republican national committee will continue to generate blast-fax talking points.

[thoreau]

At one point I actually enjoyed Hannity and Colmes for comic relief. If they brought on a stupid guest of any affiliation then it was basically a remake of the 3 Stooges. If they brought on a smart guest who happened to be liberal, then I'd laugh as Hannit got his ass kicked without realizing he was losing. And if they brought on a smart guest who happened to be conservative, I'd laugh at poor Colmes, who would argue (and actually think he's winning) while Hannity would keep his mouth shut and nod.

I believe that Alan Colmes' main purpose in life is to make Sean Hannity look smart.

[gaius marius]

the challenge for conservative hosts will be to prove "that we're more than just the Pravda of the right."

i think mr scarborough operates on a mistaken assumption here.

[Call me snake]

If I'm home I flip between BBC News and Brit Hume...smart polar opposities. Agreed with everyone else, I would much rather watch liberals on MSNBC with Scarborough thrown in than the crapola after 7PM on Fox.

But....the newsbunnies on Fox are hotter featuring a diverse mix of babes, gotta give Ailes credit where it's due.

[Brian]

Arg. Hannity. I fear Limbaugh is being supplanted by Hannity as the go-to guy for the Republican minions. I actually have listened to Rush on and off for years and he's got a few problems:

1) He doesn't have a Leninist commitment to advancing the Party at all costs, principle and cognitive dissonance regardless. He occasionally strays into libertarian territory.

2) He was always a barely closeted libertine. Never a convincing social conservative. Social conservatives are calling the shots now.

This is part of my theory that when you get rid of one Republican (say Gingrich) you get a much worse one in return (DeLay). I suppose it works with Democrats too but they're not in charge of anything.

[Dan]

This seems like a strange thing to wonder about. Nothing changed; Republicans controlled every branch of the government both before and after the election. Presumably talk-show hosts of any stripe will keep talking about whatever it is that they talked about before.

[Brian]

Oh yeah, and Alan Colmes. You know what he is? Back in the day when Hulk Hogan or the Iron Sheik were going to wrestle some guy, the guy would always be some chump named "Toby Smith" or something. Deep down inside, you knew that Toby Smith was probably not going to beat Hulk Hogan. But Hulk couldn't fight himself could he? Alan Comes is Toby Smith.

[Ape]

"Hannity is just an obedient mouthpiece - whatever the Bushies want said that day, he's on it like ugly on a gorilla."

Fuck you, you speciest. You're just a hairless, pink version of us. Maybe WE think YOU'RE ugly!

[joe]

Now really, that was completely un-SPLAT!

[ATL]

Just as an observation: back when Hannity was doing the morning talk show run in Atlatna during the 1994 mid-term election, the host of the afternoon radio show was interviewing Newt Gingrich after the GOP won control of the House and he was poised to become Speaker. The afternoon host asked Gingrich if Hannity was still at the post-election party and Ginrich said he was. Gingrich was then asked to bend over and put the phone to his rear so Hannity could talk. Five seconds later, Hannity was on the phone. (This was for real!)

[BLG]

I live in the SF Bay Area and listen to our local AM rant (560 KSFO) from time to time. One afternoon during the run-up to the CA recall election Hannity was scheduled to debate a liberal state assemblyman from SF. Long story short, the assemblyman absolutely and completely shelled Hannity. Although I disagreed with the assemblyman on many points, the guy just plain beat Hannity with fact-based argument and well-developed opinion. The guy would quote a report or a statistic and Hannity would just stammer. After the debate, Hannity just couldn't stop talking about what a victory he had scored over this guy ... it was just sad.

[Brian Cook]

Brian, the official wrestling lingo for the Toby Smiths of the world is "jobber".

A public service announcement.

[The Lonewacko Blog]

He doesn't have a Leninist commitment to advancing the Party at all costs, principle and cognitive dissonance regardless. He occasionally strays into libertarian territory.

About a month ago Rush was discussing something like the flu vaccine shortage or al Qaqaa. He was trying to spin it for Bush, but he didn't too very good a job at it and he actually got a little truth out. I think he realized he was getting a little truth out, so he changed the subject or took a break. I wish I could remember what the topic was.

[Dan]

Um... "Rush was discussing something like the flu vaccine shortage or al Qaqaa"? That's a pretty vague memory there. That's like saying "he was either discussing lesbian pornography or backgammon" -- covers a lot of territory.

[Phil]

Presumably talk-show hosts of any stripe will keep talking about whatever it is that they talked about before.

Not really. For the last four years, what they've been talking about is, "It Was All Bill Clinton's Fault And We've Been Cleaning Up His Mess." That dog won't hunt anymore.

[Evan McElravy]

That dog won't hunt anymore. You wanna make a bet? They're already ginning up their new stab in the back.

[Evan McElravy]

That dog won't hunt anymore.

You wanna make a bet? They're already ginning up their new stab in the back

[joe]

Evan,

They've got a couple more years to work out plausible endings to the following sentence:

"We would have succeeded in Iraq, if it wasn't for..."

So far, "those meddling kids!" is the frontrunner, but "those cosmopolitian media types who don't share our Christian values" has a nice historic pedigree.

[trostky]

It's fascinating actually. This morning on my way to work, Rush Limbaugh was going on about the Marine who killed that wounded Iraqi in Fallujah. "When are they going to stop talking about this? ... The Geneva Conventions don't apply." On my way home from work, it was the Radio Factor, and O'Reilly was talking about the Marine, and saying that in combat, this awful stuff happens (which, shit, I can't really disagree with). I stopped at the gym, then caught the beginning of Michael Reagan, who said, "The liberals won't quit about this Marine in Fallujah, but I'll get to that in the next hour."

In other words, they're going to complain about liberal talk-show hosts who've beat them to the punch -- and they'll make apologies for war crimes. I gotta agree with the people who said a Kerry administration would have meant a revival of Fox News and talk radio.

[EvilIRS]

Maybe this means they'll start eating each other. They're already eyeballing Rush, and his tender, jiggley morsels. That's some well-marbled pundit!

Yeah, I definitely got $20 riding on the Right-wing talkies devouring each other like starving rats. But not on Air America ever getting off the ground. Maybe Libertarians (real ones, not Boortz or Stern, God bless their souls) will rise up to fill the void. Cross your fingers.

Come to think of it, when the entire Republican party collapses under the weight of it's own crapulence, cross your other fingers that maybe the LP will pick up some fiscal-conservative refugees along the way, maybe even a half-eaten, but still barely-alive Rush. Then, we will have to rebuild him with cybernetic replacement parts and turn him to the Dark Side of personal liberty and smaller government. And when we let loose our Libertarian/cyborg Rush upon an unsuspecting galaxy, we shall call him Darth Limbaugh, that he might inspire fear in the masses. Just like someone at Reason wrote something about not long ago.

-Darth Limbaugh transcript-
"You know, friends...[gasp]... this is just the kind of thing I'm talking about. I tell ya, it's the same crap we've been hearing...[gasp]... These people in the liberal media...[gasp]... just do not know the power of the Dark Side... join me... or die..."

I'm a nerd sportin' my big "L".

[Thomas Paine's Goiter]

"But....the newsbunnies on Fox are hotter featuring a diverse mix of babes,"

Kiran Chetry....oh my.

I have to leave now.

[Thomas Paine's Goiter]

"he was either discussing lesbian pornography or backgammon"

Strap-On Doubling Cubes Part IV

I've seen that one too!

[Wolf]

It is too funny. People talking like the BBC and other news stations are as biased as they come. Fox News is a little ballanced to the right but it is still the only THE ONLY news station that gives you BOTH THATS B O T H sides of the story. I see mostly idiots posting here. Go live in your little dream worlds and leave the rest of the REAL world alone. We dont want to hear the uninformed crap coming out of your mouths. Just shut them because your making the whole world look stupd LOSERS