Steve Gill's Legacy

* Although Steve Gill hosted a talk-radio show for about 15 years and was a leader of the anti-Tennessee-income-tax protest early in that tenure, I first heard his voice about four years ago, after Obama's election victory. I was shocked that someone could despise our new president so viciously before any new policy had been enacted. As I recall, he characterized Obama as vile and despicable or vile and contemptible. That pretty well snuffed my inaugural buzz, my dream of national reconciliation.
* Since then, I've tuned in to Gill's radio show two or three times per month, because he awakened my curiosity about the role of tribalism (hate, contempt, self-righteousness, etc) in a society. Clearly there is an appetite for it. Is there a need for it? Unconstrained it can lead to retribution or genocide.
* Gill lays all economic ills at Obama's feet, though they antedated Obama's administration. For example, Reagan's tax and spending programs increased government debt 300%; Obama's will increase it about 80%. Reagan granted amnesty to all undocumented aliens; Obama is contemplating comprehensive immigration reform. Gill occasionally used dialect to belittle black people, providing succor for white supremacists.
* Gill is brilliant at recalling names and events for his narratives, which are laced with sarcasm, irony and exaggeration to the point of dishonesty. I don't understand why someone as talented, intelligent and fortunate as Steve Gill would grovel in gratuitous hate. He has spent the last 1/4 of his life persuading successful people to resent unsuccessful people. Is that a legacy to be proud of?

Republican hatefulness

* Sue Heilman (Aug 23, Tennessean Letters) complains that Republicans have an undeserved reputation for hatefulness, just because they disagree with liberals on issues.
* I know Republicans. Some of my best friends are Republicans (as are my smartest kin). Not one has repudiated or apologized for Rush Limbaugh--the mind and heart of today's conservative movement now dominating the Republican party, who regularly characterizes me and my peeps as vile and despicable, who encourages non-renewable-resource profligacy out of hate for Al Gore and for my grandchildren, who has an insulting name (nazi, socialist, communist) for those in need of justice (labor, women, blacks, gays, poor) and those seeking to extend justice (liberals, progressives, Democrats), who says that our president hates America and whites and is destroying our economy. He uses a variety of deceptive devices to engender hate for progressives, including straw-man arguments, where he attacks Democrats for attributes that he falsely assigns to them.
* All hosts on Fox News Radio (AM 1510) are similarly hateful and deceptive. It was Steve Gill who called Obama a vile and despicable or contemptible nit wit early in 2009, intentionally squandering an opportunity for some redemption in our society.

Talk Radio

Almost from its beginning and especially since 9/11, AM1430 Public Radio has been the sound track of my retirement (that punctuated by episodes of recreational music making). I like its objective, almost academic, presentation of current events, history, ideas, science, policy implications, etc. Public Radio helps with my inner debate about what policies might enable the US and the world to be happier and more peaceful for a longer time.
Occasionally Public Radio addresses a pop-culture topic, so I dial AM1510 Fox News, to see what's eating them. Its hosts and callers praise Republicans obsequiously and vilify Democrats hatefully--this despite growing prosperity under Clinton and deterioration under Bush. Their attacks on Barack Obama seem libelous. Fox News behaves as an arm of the Republican party, tasked with distracting listeners with trivia so they will vote against their own interests.
A few more years of unbridled budget deficits, labor outsourcing, offshore banking, offshore incorporation, deregulation, unnecessary wars, profligate lifestyles, neglect of family planning and neglect of renewable energy will bankrupt the nation. That's a high price to pay for the agendas of Fox News, George Will, Cal Thomas & Phil Valentine. An influential Republican thinktanker, Grover Norquist, desires national bankruptcy. Do you?