Against talk-radio dogmatism

Rod -

The passages below, from the article, highlight the reasons I left the GOP a while ago.
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The second effect is electoral. It is, after all, extremely difficult to vote for a party when, for instance:

* That party’s guiding lights, rather than make principled arguments for various "anti-terrorism" policies, insist on labeling your religion as "Islamofascism";
* Rather than make principled arguments* for stronger restrictions on immigration, you and your family are portrayed as foreign invaders seeking to destroy the country from within because of the Mexican flag hanging on your balcony - even as nothing is said about the Italian or Irish flag hanging on your neighbor’s balcony
* Rather than make principled arguments against gay marriage, you are accused of wanting to destroy your country’s traditions because you want legal recognition of your relationship.
* Those same guiding lights proudly promote, rather than simply defend, the use of words and phrases with a well-known role in oppressing you or your ancestors.
* Rather than make principled arguments against an auto bailout, you and your friends are accused of bleeding the American people dry
* Rather than make principled arguments for the use of force and/or for restrictions on civil liberties, you are accused of being a "Defeatocrat" or wanting to "let the terrorists win."
* And so forth.
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The Right Before Christmas

Now, Ingraham! Now, Philgramm! Now, Graham, K-Lo and Zell!
On, Marksteyn! On Malkin! On Levin and Bozell!
To the Dem bums we’ll scorch! To the RINOs we’ll maul!
Now Rush away! Rush away! Rush away all!

With each but a nerd, they went straight to Judge Bork,
And hung up their bloggings, then barreled for pork,
And slipping their fingers inside of their ears,
And aping J-Pod, read “The Corner” for years;
They sang to DeLay, to his toe they were mistle,
While the Dems clover-leaf’d, as the shamrock o’er thistle.
But I heard them exclaim, ere they'd Rove out of sight,

“Barry Christmas to O., from what once was the Right.”

The level of discourse in talk radio is depressing. Rush Limbaugh hasn't been fun since Clinton was elected and gave him a big, fat target to make fun of, thus distracting him from his real talent, making fun of the hard-left progressives, and making him think he actually had something to substantive to contribute to the national discourse.

I have to wonder, if Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan were alive and involved today, how long it would be until someone labeled them RINOs too, for daring to deviate from the Party Line.

Reagan liked gays.
Reagan pushed, lobbied for, and signed Amnesty Legislation.
Reagan raised taxes - three times.
Reagan liked Hollywood.
Reagan signed, reluctantly, a pro-abortion bill as Governor of California.

RINO

Reagan, 1980 and Reagan, 1984 were my first two presidential votes.

Eddie, Reagan signed the amnesty on the condition that employers of illegals would get socked. That part wasn't enforced. That was an actual compromise, unlike the "comprehensive" garbage everyone spouts these days.

Well, Democrats do have a similar term, 'DINO', but it tends to be applied to 'Democratic' politicians who, in essence, vote the Bush party line in every way that matters. I.e, centrist-right 'Democratic' Congressmen. It's usually used in the context that there should be a primary challenge. (Re: Lieberman)

It's not applied to non-politicians, and no one is running around arguing what liberalism 'really' and saying they aren't that...they're saying DINOs are simply not far enough to the left to be 'D's.

This is probably because the left does know what 'liberal' and 'progressive' mean, even if they are often confused for each other, and can actually rank people in some sort of meaningful manner on left as to where they fall.

We sometimes debate over where someone does fall exactly, although we're usually pretty agreed on it. And we often disagree on where the ideal position is, how far to the left is where 'the left' is.(1) But, all things considered, we actually have a workable axis over here. Two, actually, progressive and liberal, although we just sorta add them together.

Unlike you guys, which seem to have three or four axis, which you've all named 'conservative'. I guess that makes it easier to remember, like naming all your kids 'Pete'. It sure makes it harder to talk about, though.

1) This applies to domestic stuff. We have no idea just what foreign policy is 'liberal'. As, like I said just a few weeks ago, neither party has a 'foreign policy' worth a damn, which is why the neocons were able to waltz in with a prepackaged one. It was full of suck, but it was a foreign policy.

The talk radio types are entertainers of the paranoid style, not serious analysts, and it shows how bankrupt the GOP constituency is to consider them as any type of leaders. I can't listen to talk radio anymore, can barely even read National Review online, and can't vote republican anymore either. I don't think there is anything that can be done at this point; let the evolutionary dead end play itself out.