Why Do Right Wing Talk Radio Hosts Hate Democracy?

Posted by Mary Mancini on August 19, 2008 under Uncategorized |

There’s a Russia-Georgia conflict meme working its way through conservative talk radio that, until recently, I had shrugged off as juvenile. It wasn’t until our local shill wrote about it last week in the City Paper and repeated it ad nauseum on his show today that I was struck with how much it reveals a deep-rooted misunderstanding and hatred of democracy.

The basic idea behind the coordinated attack - besides distracting the American people from John McCain’s foreign policy blunders and lobbyist problems - is to demonize U.S. anti-war protesters by accusing them of being “anti-american.” If they were real anti-war protesters, the meme goes, then they would have taken to the streets to protest the “unprovoked” Russian attack on Georgia. Instead, because “the anti-war flag burners been so slow to mobilize,” it must mean that they don’t hate war, but rather, they just hate America.

They’re wrong, of course, and in typical right-wing Rovian fashion, they accuse their target of what they themselves actually feel - a hatred for our country.

How else do you explain their attack on these true patriots who, by taking to the streets, continue a long tradition of peaceably assembling “to petition the Government for a redress of grievances?” Protesting is one of the cornerstones of our democracy - an important tradition sealed in the First Amendment of our Constitution and handed down from generation to generation. It’s as American as free speech, freedom of religion, and a free press.

American citizens who take to the streets aren’t motivated by blind, ideologically-driven loyalties. Instead, they believe in the power of our democracy and the concept that accountability moments should come every day - not just once every four years.

Public demonstrations. Protest marches. Political rallies. Teach-ins. Pickets. Non-violent resistance. All examples of a healthy democracy. With this in mind you have to wonder, why do right-wing radio talk show hosts hate our freedom?