|
Everyone who has made the comparison between right-wing media and religious institutions is spot on. Listening to Rush or watching Hannity on Fox is exactly like attending church and listening to a sermon. Whoever is at the lectern makes constant references to holy figures (God or Reagan), devious actors (Satan or Obama) and an appealing narrative (good vs evil and left vs right) all within the framework of dogmatic principles. I'd like to examine this briefly by going through the myth of Reagan and how it relates to the modern right-wing story line. Deregulating and cutting taxes are ideas as old as capitalism itself, but since these ideas are the very foundation of right-wing economic policy, they need be romanticized in order to appeal to listeners. The most effective way to do this is create a narrative with a strong antagonist, difficult conflict and clear resolution. This narrative needs to be played out in real time, but with a history behind it to provide context. In this case, the historical context is Ronald Reagan and his glorious administration. He is said to have captured the American spirit during the 1980 election against opponents full of malaise and dangerous economic policies that were stifling the good people of this country. Once taking office, he brought down a tablet from bullshit mountain stating that tax cuts and deregulation were the miracle cures to our economic woes. As a result, the country experienced one of the biggest economic boom periods of history. Meanwhile, the forces of evil, communist influences from the far east and at home, were soundly defeated. Reagan is nothing less than a true hero of the American republic. Notice how the real-time narrative is following these exact same arcs. Mitt Romney is the new force for good in this country. We are promised that he is going to follow the messages first espoused by the prophet Reagan, primarily tax cuts and deregulation. He is the only defense against the leftist scourge inhabited by Obama and his socialist cronies, just as Reagan was the only defense against Carter and communism. Maintaining this narrative requires that the right-wing media mislabels Obama as a socialist/communist at every opportunity. Since there is no Soviet Union anymore, the enemies created within the original book of Reagan must be created from modern figures. Obama is now the most left-wing president in history despite all facts proving otherwise. He is foreign, not of the true nature of this nation. These are themes that must be hammered in day after day at the pulpit. The world of religion and right-wing media relies on figures larger than life and solutions as simple as good versus evil. Levin and Savage are our priests, Roger Ailes and the Koch's our cardinals, Romney is our pope, and the holy Reagan is our God, Jesus and Moses all wrapped up into one.
|
#
¿
Oct 18, 2012 02:36
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 5, 2024 11:13 |
|
|
Fallom posted:How are the right wing talking heads spinning the disaster response in New York/New Jersey? Inefficient and slow response (i.e., a response that isn't 100% comprehensive and 100% immediate) is low-hanging fruit, but the media is inundated with people begging for federal and state help and there's nary a libertarian to be seen gathering hundreds of like-minded individuals and helping out in a more significant way than food drives. Where is the evidence for a non-governmental mechanism for feeding and housing thousands of people? You see, the government artificially lowers the price of emergency supplies so that free market forces can't compete to provide disaster relief. If the government would simply get out of the disaster rescue market, companies would be able to provide cheap and plentiful supplies to the people in need at lower prices with greater efficiency. FEMA is actually making it worse for disaster victims by driving businesses out of the emergency marketplace. 
|
|
#
¿
Nov 6, 2012 19:53
|
|