President Obama = Goodbye to Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'reilly

Goodbye To All That

A few days ago, Timothy Burke wrote:


"It's schadenfreudey fun to read the ongoing psychotic meltdowns at various far-right sites like the Corner, I agree. But there's little need to take the really bad-faith conservatives seriously now. For the last eight years, we've had to take them somewhat seriously because they had access to political power. You had to listen to the hack complaints about academia from endlessly manipulative writers because it was perfectly plausible that whatever axe they were grinding was going to end up as a priority agenda item coming out of Margaret Spelling's office or get incorporated into legislation by right-wing state legislators. You had to listen to and reply to even the most laughably incoherent, goalpost-moving, anti-reality-based neoconservative writer talking about Iraq or terrorism because there was an even-money chance that you were hearing actual sentiments going back and forth between Dick Cheney's office and the Pentagon. You had to answer back to Jonah Goldberg not just because making that answer was arguably our responsibility as academics, but also because left alone, some of the aggressively bad-faith caricatures he and others served up had a reasonable chance to gain even further strength through incorporation into federal policy.

There are plenty of thoughtful, good-faith conservatives who need to be taken seriously. And the actual conservatism of many communities and constituencies (in Appalachia and elsewhere) remains, as always, a social fact that it would be perilous to ignore or dismiss. (...)

But I think we can all make things just ever so slightly better, make the air less poisonous, by pushing to the margins of our consciousness the crazy, bad, gutter-dwelling, two-faced, tendentious high-school debator kinds of voices out there in the public sphere, including and especially in blogs. Let them stew in their own juices, without the dignity of a reply, now that their pipelines to people with real political power have been significantly cut."


I think he's right, and I plan to act accordingly. Until last Tuesday, I felt I had to take arguments made at, say, The Corner somewhat seriously. They were, after all, arguments that were likely to be taken seriously by people in charge of our government, and by some voters. Starting now, though, that changes. I will write about those arguments if they seem to be gaining broader currency, and I can imagine writing a thoughtful post on, say, what's gone wrong with the conservative movement in which I might quote them. I will also keep reading them, just because I think it's a good idea to know what other people are saying. But I will not feel any general need to point out when they are wrong. They have no more power. Some of them have gone so far over the edge that they have lost any credibility they might ever have had. I wish them well, but I will not comment on them unless I see some particular reason to do so. I now have the luxury of debating only thoughtful, sane conservatives who argue in good faith, and I intend to enjoy it.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_11/015593.php

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Keith
• olbermann
• worst
• person
• world
• countdown
• special
• comment
• President
• elect
• Obama
• Barack
• William
• Kristol
• bill
• O'Riley
• rush
• Limbaugh
• Sean
• hannity
• fox
• news
• commentary
• analysis

[jdz416]

keith is a... oh wait, with the conservative movement in full swing thanks to obama, keith doesint matter anymore!

[Volumesofdoom]

This is the same attitude that drove more viewers to Fox News.

[Sumoto999]

Keith said he is... o wait. Keith got fired from MSNBC. Keith Olbermann doesn't matter anymore!

[LordKaisen]

@plzfuckme1 when my children grow up I hope they have the same integrity and good spirit as Bill and Rush. Look up "Rush imitates Chinese President." How inspirational!

[IoEstasCedonta]

@eldolac ...that really shouldn't be a compliment.

[cdnerds]

LOL talk about eating crow my god!!!! The elections, and now his suspension.. Talk about people who dont matter anymore.

[plzfuckme1]

ha ha keith got suspended because he is a douche bag

[Dav1dZMan]

That's funny last time I checked Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly were both the most popular and successful people in there respective trades, Oww what the hell do I know? Lets just all listen to the most popular man of them all Keith Olbermann!

[IoEstasCedonta]

...charming.

That's really the way to win elections: proclaim a priori victory based on track record and shamelessly mock your opponents without challenging them directly. Worked so well for Coakley.

[upsettingthetown]

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this guy is the NIGGER of a ALL NIGGERS

[erikdoubbleu]

Keith Oberman hasent had this many views since he was on ESPN. check out my new song hey there obama on my page.