Rush Limbaugh, Republican media bully
We all know that many Republicans are fine with a violent, illegal insurrection against our government, as well as lying, cheating, stealing, adultery, graft and corruption by GOP leaders and minions. But what many of us have learned over the past few years is that Republicans can also be so damned rude.
In particular, there is a noticeable trend of Republican strangers who hit us with their political beliefs within minutes of meeting us, as well as acquaintances who do the same thing without knowing or asking about our political beliefs and values.
–It’s the Uber driver who, with a captive audience in his car, starts complaining about “Biden” being responsible for “these gas prices.”
–It’s the neighbor who says the problem is “the New York libs” without knowing or caring that the person they are speaking to may indeed be one.
–It’s the a service person who walks into your house, and within five minutes, starts denouncing our “corrupt government” with its “high taxes” and how it’s “disgusting” that “they’re gonna spend another $1.6 trillion on the pandemic.” Yes, all of these are real examples, and the last one just happened here this week.
One thing these people seem to have in common is that they are white, which is a pretty good bet for Republicans. It appears that White Privilege is real. The other thing that these folks likely have in common is Fox “News.” It’s easy to identify the Fox watchers, because they often speak from the same script, like that week when more than one of them could be heard talking about shoplifting in San Francisco (“California Bad” being a staple of Fox).
Speaking of right wing media, we are surely now feeling the effects of decades of influential conservative media figures like Rush Limbaugh telling their audience to hate “feminazis,” gay people and “magic negroes.” As this 2021 NBC piece written after Limbaugh’s death explains:
Limbaugh all but invented the conservative convention of ‘owning the libs,’ which, of course, really just means ‘bullying.’
As a result, according to NBC:
Limbaugh’s brand of bullying has permeated our culture.
What that really means is that such bullying — and the confidence to spout it to strangers without regard to their viewpoints — has taken over the Republican Party. Coincidentally, Salon.com also has an article out today, noting a similar trend of “MAGA sadism” and “GOP ugliness.”
Often, it’s important to fight fire with fire, and go on offense against Republicans. When it comes to their rudeness and bullying, however, it’s possible that the best strategy is simply to ignore.
Photo by DonkeyHotey, used under Creative Commons license.
