Propaganda: Talk Radio Demagoguery

It is often difficult to tell the difference between truth and fiction in politics, to tell who is the brainwashed sheep and who is the free thinker. But one truth has to stand out above all debate: Nobody has all the answers. The average citizen of any country has learned in their lifetime only an infinitesimal part of the complexity of any civilization. Even the leading "experts" in their fields - economists, politicians, military generals, or scientists, can only do their best. While this may be a thousand times as good as the average person-in-the-street who doesn't even remember one percent of the stuff they learned in high school, which would already be a dumbed down version of an already obsolete textbook, it is still no guarantee of having the right answers.

But in times of stress, where wars and jobs are being lost, security is degraded, and people are on the edge of panic, the average Joe still wants the answers. A responsible leader would tell something close to the truth - that we're doing our best, we're consulting with experts, that stuff like this has worked before. An irresponsible leader will play on the fears and uncertainties, will blame certain people, will claim they alone have all the answers. This irresponsible leader is referred to as a demagogue.

Demagogues, if they manage to gain a majority following are actually dangerous to a democracy. But it is almost impossible to make a law against demagoguery, it's impossible to define. But sometimes you can know it when you hear it.

Rush Limbaugh has a radio show with millions of devoted listeners, who look to him for the truth that they apparently cannot get from anywhere else, as they don't trust the mass media, or the educational system. Here is a conversation from a caller to the show ( I am paraphrasing, but trust me the basic elements of demagoguery are here. If you want the original video, here's a link)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvmgnEKoGkE&feature=channel_page

Caller: Rush, what do those Democrats want? Why are they destroying our wonderful Nation?

Rush: It's because they are addicted to power. They can't fight the addiction. An addict can only think of one thing - where is my next fix coming from? They are entirely irrational, and can't help themselves. These people are addicted to power because they think it is their birthright.

Caller: But after they destroy our country, where's their power?

Rush: That's what addicts do, they destroy themselves. And they destroy the things that are most important to them.

Caller: Well, they're doing a good job!

Now unless this is a joke call and I'm not getting it, this "power addiction" explanation could only exist in the very active imagination of somebody who was himself an addict. On the other hand, it is no more fantastic than believing in "The Rapture" and according to a Newsweek poll in 2004, 55% of Americans believe in that!

If Rush Limbaugh himself really believed this alleged addiction to power by Democrats, then why waste time on all the entirely trivial but entertaining issues such as Obama putting mustard on his hamburger, bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia, or not wearing his suit in the Oval Office? All of which according to Rush mean the end of the world as we know it.

The thing is I really do detect the note of panic and desperation in many callers to Rush Limbaugh - or the people yelling "Kill Him" at Sara Palin rallies. If ever, by some horrible stroke of bad luck, this type of mindless panic infects more than half the country, democracy may very well be on its last legs. And as you can plainly hear in the video, this is what Rush is encouraging.