By Wayne Allyn Root, former Libertarian Vice Presidential Nominee
The progressive left’s lynching of Rush Limbaugh reminds me of why conservative talk radio is successful and leftists can never duplicate that success.
For years liberals have tried to compete with conservative talk radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh, to no avail. Why is liberal talk radio an abysmal failure? Simple…talk radio is all about going to and from…WORK. People listen to talk radio in their cars during morning or afternoon drive time, to and from work. The magic ingredient leftists and progressives don’t understand is you have to appeal to people who work.
Who drives to and from work? Taxpayers! Taxpayers working to put food on the table, pay a mortgage, raise a family, and yes, pay the damn taxes. And, the vast majority of taxpayers are fiscal conservatives angry at the way government spends and squanders the tax dollars they have worked so hard to earn. That makes them fans of conservative talk radio hosts like Rush.
On the other hand, many (but not all) people sitting at home during commuter drive time are waiting for their welfare, food stamps, aid to dependent children, and other government entitlements to be delivered to them. Others, whose unemployment is running out, are plotting how to qualify for disability. These people tend to vote Democrat to keep that “Obama Money” coming their way. They are not the typical conservative talk radio listeners.
The sit-on-the-couch-in-the-daytime crowd watches the boob tube. That is why daytime TV is dominated by time-wasting, mind-numbing, soap operas and low brow TV talk shows (almost all of which have a liberal/progressive agenda). Daytime television advertising is dominated by ambulance-chasing lawyers aimed at Democrat freeloader viewers looking for another get-rich-quick opportunity where they can play the victim and blame anyone but themselves.
Having lost the battle for the talk radio airwaves…badly…the Obama-loving progressive cabal has now taken a different tact. Now, they want to destroy the careers of the conservative talk radio hosts through protests and email campaigns aimed at the advertisers. It’s a strategy called “If you can’t beat ‘em, lynch ‘em.”
As always, this is based on a major difference between liberals and conservatives. Those who work and pay taxes don’t have time to complain or protest. We’re too busy working so we can pay our “fair share” of the tax burden. “Fair Share” by the way means essentially 100% of the taxes are being paid by 50% of the population (almost all of whom drive to and from work) while the other 50% (many of whom sit at home collecting government handouts) complains and protests that we should be paying even more. And how about the business owners- they are probably the single biggest audience for conservative talk radio. That “greedy” top 3% of income earners pays more taxes than the other 97% combined. No wonder they’re angry.
The business owners and the top 50% who are part of the taxpaying group don’t have time to watch MSNBC, let alone send letters to complain. But, many of the other 50%, the typical leftist voter, has plenty of time. They don’t work or pay taxes. They are sitting home collecting checks from government, watching Oprah, the View, MSNBC, and the so-called mainstream media, who all tell them how terrible conservative talk radio is. And, they have plenty of time to write letters and emails and make calls complaining about what they are told are the “vile words” of some conservative talk show host.
That explains why Rush Limbaugh is under assault for calling a female law student who had the audacity to demand the most insulting entitlement yet- free contraception- a bad word. Was it a bad choice of words? Yes. Rush should have just called her a “sexual freeloader.” She can have all the sex she wants…but she has no right to ask taxpayers to pay for it. That’s the only issue here. She wants S&H- “sex and handouts.”
The left is trying to destroy Rush by sending emails and making calls to his advertisers. It’s nice to know progressive Democrats have all this time to waste in the middle of the day. Me? I’d be working three jobs. I’d be burning the phone lines putting deals together. I’d be looking for ways to better myself. But hey, I’ve got a mortgage to pay, taxes to pay, and a family to support. Silly me. That’s how I made it into the 3%.
Have you noticed these despicable tactics are only used by the progressive left. Conservatives have not tried to destroy HBO host and big-time Obama donor Bill Maher, who uses much more vile language to describe women- in particular, Sarah Palin. http://www.mediaite.com/tv/bill-maher-calls-sarah-palin-the-c-word-during-his-stand-up-act
Or to destroy leftist MSNBC host Ed Schultz for using the exact same word as Rush to describe a female conservative talk show host. http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/ed-schultz-suspended-from-msnbc-after-calling-laura-ingraham-a-right-wing-slut/2011/05/26/AGOcV2BH_story.html
Or to destroy leftist radio host Mike Malloy for mocking Christians of faith who were killed by tornados in the Midwest. http://www.mediaite.com/online/liberal-radio-host-ridicules-tornado-victims-their-god-keeps-smashing-them-into-grease-spots
Their comments defined “vile.” Yet where are the howls of protest about these vicious, despicable comments? Where is the media, or women’s rights organizations? Cat got your tongue? The double standard is as wide as the Grand Canyon.
But it all starts and ends with the difference between conservatives and leftists. We’re too busy working and paying taxes to waste our valuable time protesting and complaining about Bill Maher. We’ll leave that to the leftist S&H “sex and handouts” crowd.
Wayne Allyn Root is a former Libertarian Vice Presidential nominee. He now serves as Chairman of the Libertarian National Congressional Committee. He is the best-selling author of “The Conscience of a Libertarian: Empowering the Citizen Revolution with God, Guns, Gold & Tax Cuts.” His web site: www.ROOTforAmerica.com
