How Radio Wrecks the Right

http://www.amconmag.com/article/2009/feb/23/00006/

How Radio Wrecks the Right  by John Derbyshire

Limbaugh and company certainly entertain. But a steady diet of ideological comfort food is no substitute for hearty intellectual fare.

Derbyshire makes some good points, but I don't think Talk Radio wrecks the Right -- it's merely insufficient to achieve our goals.  Rush didn't drain away the political energy from what could have been a middlebrow conservatism.  Rush created his own world.  He is more an entertainer than a political leader.  He supports the good guys and has the right enemies.  It's up to political people to make the most of what Rush has to offer: an audience and a knack for publicity. Magazines like National Review and organizations like the Heritage Foundation need to promote the cause of the intellectual Right.

I think Derbyshire is a bit unfair to suggest that Limbaugh and Hannity supported Bush's "Compassionate Conservatism".  I heard them speak out strongly against it.  They didn't necessarily like Ron Paul, but that didn't make them Bush apologists.

Rush has a good sense of humor and isn't afraid to make fun of the left.  In that respect, he is somewhat of a counterweight to the late-night comedians who really dominate political talk in this country.  The liberal media shapes the news, but the comedians shape public opinion.

By the way, Derb should give himself some credit for his own "Radio Derb" podcasts.  I find his cynical attitude refreshing and funny despite the doom and gloom that pervades the broadcasts.  I encourage everyone to give "Radio Derb" a try.

http://radio.nationalreview.com/radioderb/