The left and right commentary today has turned into a hypocrite battle. There are lots of people sharing wishful thoughts for Limbaugh’s death. Then people starting saying how awful it is to wish someone dead. Which, of course, leads to the comparisons of times conservatives were wishing a liberal would die. The next phase is comparing each side to the other, each claiming the other side is more hateful.
The religious hypocrisy will be overlooked by both sides. Liberals will make fun of conservatives for praying for Limbaugh’s recovery or say it’s bad karma to hope someone dies. The conservatives will point out for liberals its OK to talk about karma, but not about prayer. In the end, they will both point out the political incorrectness of the other–and the funny thing is they are right about each other.
The battles between these groups are often the news story of the day. Their battles are even less newsworthy and less entertaining to me than Britney Spears and Kevin Federline battles. The only thing newsworthy about the group of political entertainers would be if they spoke with each other without resorting to ad hominems.
The crew of Rush Limbaugh, Keith Olbermann, Bill O’Reilly, Chris Matthews are more akin to the world of professional wrestling personalities than to journalists or reporters. They’ll put their face right up to the camera or microphone and angrily besmirch and then challenge their counterparts to wrestle. They all keep each other in business–just as Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan battles made money for both wrestlers.
When Rush Limbaugh is back on the airwaves, we will hear this battle all over again. Rush Limbaugh will bring up all the death wishes and poke fun at the “caring and tolerant” liberals. Keith Olbermann will then drag out every clip available of Rush Limbaugh hoping someone else dies. The ball bounces over to Bill O’Reilly, who points out Keith Olbermann doing the same…and on and on it goes.
I don’t want Rush Limbaugh to die; I just want all attention paid to the news personalities’ battles with one another to die.
I’m not sure what the world would be like without Keith O’s “Worst Person in the World” or Bill O’s “Pinheads,” etc.–ironically often populated by one another. I sure wouldn’t be heartbroken to find out. But I definitely know that I’m a lot more interested in the various sides arguing for their own positions than for the lameness of the opposing side. That, at least, would have a possibility of adding something useful to the conversation.