Limbaugh Smear Letter: Why Talk Radio is Needed

[MiloMinderbinder]

[ QUOTE ]
So Limbaugh doesn't have a right to disagree with this man, for the sole reason that he served in the Military.

[/ QUOTE ]

Exactly. It's the Sean Hannity rule -- anyone who says anything negative about anything having to do with our foreign policy or our military is an unAmerican liberal commie bastard who should be on their knees kissing the feet of every soldier they can find for the very air they breathe.

[DblBarrelJ]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
So Limbaugh doesn't have a right to disagree with this man, for the sole reason that he served in the Military.

[/ QUOTE ]

Exactly. It's the Sean Hannity rule -- anyone who says anything negative about anything having to do with our foreign policy or our military is an unAmerican liberal commie bastard who should be on their knees kissing the feet of every soldier they can find for the very air they breathe.

[/ QUOTE ]

That wasn't exactly my point, but ok. I respect soldiers for their service, and what they do for this country. However, soldiers are just like any other large group, they have varied intelligence levels, some are very smart, others are very dumb.

Also, just to get this out there, statistically, from several Arbitron type media studies, people who regularly call talk radio programs aren't usually on the high end of that intelligence scale.

I have a friend whom I went to college with who works in the radio industry, after seeing this thread we talked for a while on AIM. According to him, the average wait time to talk to Limbaugh is around 45-50 minutes. You've got to ask yourself, what type of person has that kind of time on their hands? I mean, I've got a girlfriend, 1 1/2 jobs, and I still manage to play poker for 3-4 hours a day and message you guys too. I certainly don't have an hour to waste to talk to some jackass on the radio.

The guy may have been a soldier, and he deserves our thanks for that, but he's still an idiot.

[yukoncpa]

[ QUOTE ]
That wasn't exactly my point, but ok. I respect soldiers for their service, and what they do for this country. However, soldiers are just like any other large group, they have varied intelligence levels, some are very smart, others are very dumb.

Also, just to get this out there, statistically, from several Arbitron type media studies, people who regularly call talk radio programs aren't usually on the high end of that intelligence scale.

I have a friend whom I went to college with who works in the radio industry, after seeing this thread we talked for a while on AIM. According to him, the average wait time to talk to Limbaugh is around 45-50 minutes. You've got to ask yourself, what type of person has that kind of time on their hands? I mean, I've got a girlfriend, 1 1/2 jobs, and I still manage to play poker for 3-4 hours a day and message you guys too. I certainly don't have an hour to waste to talk to some jackass on the radio.

The guy may have been a soldier, and he deserves our thanks for that, but he's still an idiot.



[/ QUOTE ]

Double barrel,

I don’t know if this guy was an idiot or not, but waiting 45-50 minutes to talk with someone is no indicator of intelligence at all. You simply dial, put the phone back in its nook and on speaker mode. Then you do what you do. Multi table etc.. When someone answers the phone, then you can pick up. It’s not like some dummy has to hold a phone to his ears for an hour, and do nothing else.

[DblBarrelJ]

Thats not the only indicator. According to my source, the survey company comes into the radio station with a checklist, and answers the phones during different shows, basically gives the caller a series of questions concerning income, education, etc. before turning them over to the screener to be screened in.

According to my friend, these studies show that, regardless of the show, the average education level of the caller is "Some High School" and the average income is 20k-25k annually.

I'm supposed to be e-mailed some of these reports tomorrow. If they're true, I wouldn't be suprised if the caller was holding the phone to his ear for an hour, doing nothing else.

You must keep in mind, less than 2% of people who classify themselves as "Talk Radio Listeners" will EVER call a talk show. That's why these hosts are so rude and spiteful to the callers, because the people who call the show are a drop in the bucket.

Also, I don't know how good your memory is, but mine is very good, and I know that I hear some of these callers at least once a week.

While you are correct that calling a talk show/waiting an hour to talk to the host isn't enough alone to call you an idiot, I don't see how most people could disagree that the signs you send out to others by doing so are pretty damning.

Note, I'm not calling everyone who's ever called a talk show an idiot, because I know occasionally people hear something that upsets them so bad they feel compelled to call. However, I would be willing to bet, if I could find that caller, and he would answer me truthfully, Limbaugh would not be the first radio program he's ever called into.

I'd lay money on it.

[yukoncpa]

[ QUOTE ]
Thats not the only indicator. According to my source, the survey company comes into the radio station with a checklist, and answers the phones during different shows, basically gives the caller a series of questions concerning income, education, etc. before turning them over to the screener to be screened in.

According to my friend, these studies show that, regardless of the show, the average education level of the caller is "Some High School" and the average income is 20k-25k annually.

I'm supposed to be e-mailed some of these reports tomorrow. If they're true, I wouldn't be suprised if the caller was holding the phone to his ear for an hour, doing nothing else.



[/ QUOTE ] ok, awesome, thanks, you just taught me something.

[Misfire]

[ QUOTE ]
So I'm to take it that Rush Limbaugh frequently makes a rude ass of himself (like he did in this case) while debating people who might be making rude asses of themselves, and that if only I would take the time to subject myself to listening to this take place more often I'd see that it's not so bad because it happens quite regularly. That about that?

[/ QUOTE ]

You'd at least see that this guy wasn't insulted for being in the military.

[ QUOTE ]
He brings this up not as an irrelevant detail like gender, but so as to legitimize his belief to some degree, as coming from someone who "really knows" as opposed to an armchair hack.

[/ QUOTE ]

The debate was over whether he was Republican. His military service was only relevant if it indicated that he was Republican. Either being in the military indicates he's a Republican, or it's irrelevant. Which is it?

[ QUOTE ]
When Limbaugh responds that this guy basically can't be a Republican, he is very much belittling the caller.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why? Is it bad not to be a Republican?

[ QUOTE ]
The caller is a serviceman, this has been brought up and is relevant to the discussion.

[/ QUOTE ]

The guy's status as a Republican would have been challenged either way. Why is it relevant? The only reason I can see is so someone can take it out of context and go, "ZOMG INSULTING THE MILITARY!!! RIGHTWINGATTACKMACHINESWIFTBOATTREATMENT1!11!ONEON E"

[Copernicus]

"According to my friend, these studies show that, regardless of the show, the average education level of the caller is "Some High School" and the average income is 20k-25k annually."

Average income is highly deceptive. Half of the radio audience is housewives and retirees, and during a lot of the day you have to add in a bunch of students. If you look at family income for non-wage earning listeners you will be WAY above 20-25k. The "some high school" is total BS.

[DblBarrelJ]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
"According to my friend, these studies show that, regardless of the show, the average education level of the caller is "Some High School" and the average income is 20k-25k annually."

[/ QUOTE ]

Highly doubtful, unless they are including $0 for homemakers and not looking a family income. The "some high school" is total BS.

[/ QUOTE ]

Remember, we're talking about the callers, not the average listener. Do you listen to much talk radio? Do you really think that these hosts would be speaking to these callers like this if the amount of people who called the show were a significant part of the overall listening audience? They're not. They know they can say anything they want because they know that 98% of the listening audience will never pick up the phone and call the show. The other 2% will call daily.

The average Howard Stern listener makes $86k a year and has at least one college degree. That's in the Scarborough Report. The average Howard Stern caller, I'd be afraid to hire to mow my lawn.

You've got to understand we're talking two very different statistics. You are correct. Talk radio listeners are generally the wealthiest and most highly educated of any of the radio markets, but that's not what we're discussing here.

Lets make it very personal. How many times have you called talk radio shows? I've read some of your prior posts, and I would assume rarely to never.

[xorbie]

[ QUOTE ]

The guy's status as a Republican would have been challenged either way. Why is it relevant? The only reason I can see is so someone can take it out of context and go, "ZOMG INSULTING THE MILITARY!!! RIGHTWINGATTACKMACHINESWIFTBOATTREATMENT1!11!ONEON E"

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't even want to argue this anymore because it is ridiculous. You didn't say he doesn't insult every single member of the military. You didn't say he insults people for being in the military. He had a serviceman on his show, this fact was brought up as relevant to the political discussion and the guy was belittled and insulted. If you want to continue to defend Rush as reasonable and insist that his regularly being an ass excuses it in this case, fair enough. I'll continue not tuning in.

[Felix_Nietzsche]

[ QUOTE ]
Do you think labeling Harry Reid "stalinist" is right minded?

[/ QUOTE ]
Stalinist use threats to intimidate their opposition. Limiting free speech is a classic stalinist tactic.
The Dem party is the primary mover behind suppressing free speech in this country. e.g.
*McCain-Feingold: Limiting free political speech 30/60 days before an election.
*Fairness Doctrine: an attempt to make talk radio unprofitable so that political talk will no longer be aired...

So yes, Harry Reid is a classic stalinst who seeks to squelch political speech that disagrees with him.