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?

Liberals vs Conservatives

The contempt that conservatives have for liberals seems gratuitous to me. Liberals believe that sharing is an imperative and should be systematic, whereas conservatives believe that sharing should be optional, random and limited to ones own tribe.
Liberals are likely to respect and wish the best for people different from themselves as regards race, ethnicity, national origin, language, religious preference, gender, sexual orientation, age, economic status, geographic location and political system. I shudder to imagine America without such liberal initiatives as: the Bill of Rights, women's suffrage, abolition of slavery, public education, Social Security, child labor laws, limited working hours, minimum wage, integration of public accommodations, workplace safety, Medicare, affirmative action. Liberals are likely to believe that we should protect the environment, encourage cultural involvement, restrain the waste of nonrenewable resources, encourage family planning and regulate corporate behavior. Liberals are unlikely to quote authorities or doctrines. Considering how America benefits from the liberal agenda, it is hard to understand why so many people are receptive to sensationalistic, liberal-bashing talk-show hosts.
I would urge conservatives to imagine a society in which they have won every argument and all their wishes are public policy and to imagine a future with Republican domination of all branches of government. Do they really want a theocracy, more overpopulation worldwide, a military-industrial cleptocracy, a plutocracy, more federal deficit, more trade deficit, more people carrying fire arms, more disaffected citizens, more racial inequities, more global warming, more invasions of countries engaged in neither foreign aggression nor genocide? Do they believe their grandchildren would celebrate their success?