Agile Tortoise
Greg Pierce’s blog
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These guys
I had a 3 hour drive in a rental car today and ended up listening to talk radio most of the way. Specifically, I listened for a while to the Sean Hannity show, with today's guest host, Oliver North. I haven't had much exposure to crappy right-wing talk radio, so I was a bit surprised just how incredibly stupid it was. Mind you, my expectation were low…but…
The part that really got me, was the repeated use of the phrase "These guys" to refer to anyone that didn't have the same beliefs as either the host or the guest. It was used to refer to Democrats in general, the UN, and a few other token "left" groups…mainly in sentences that were intended to reinforce how crazy "these guys" were.
The best moment, however, came while Oliver North was trying to plug the anti-UN book written by the guest he was talking to by saying, "If you are going to read a book, this is a good one." I think that pretty much says all you need to say about the target audience of the show.
That was about when I decided to surf the dial again and found an NPR station, and listened to a very interesting interview on Fresh Air with the author of a book about the history of African-American Pullman Car Porters and their impact on creating a Black middle class and supporting the civil rights movement. What a difference.
