Reasons I Dislike Conservative Talk-Radio

I spend a lot of time driving in my day job, and with the new ride came satellite radio. Sirius offers a Conservative talk radio station known as "Patriot", and in an effort to hear how "the pro's" do it, I've spent a good bit of time listening to the likes of Bill Bennett, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin on their radio programs. In the process, I've come up with a few reasons to explain my hostility to conservative talk radio--something that seems to be the lifeblood of the conservative movement in this country.

1. Ronald Reagan Worship. In my book, you don't get to make fun of the other side for worshiping "the One" and then turn around and act as if everything Ronald Reagan ever said or did was divinely inspired. At the point of execution, they believe in their man's ability, persuasiveness, ideas and aura as much as conservatives believe the same in Reagan. Hey, I lived in the Reagan era, I had a picture of Reagan above the door of my first year dorm room in 1983 (one young lady upon leaving the room in the morning told me she would not have provided such able companionship had she seen the picture the night before), I thought the guy was great--but he hasn't been President for 21 years. It's time to concentrate on the here, the now and the future--rather than wallow in past glory.

2. Gold Commercials. Clearly the gold industry has targeted the conservative talk audience as a "take to the fall-out shelters, the world is coming to an end bunch", as you can't go twenty minutes without a gold commercial. It really is pretty ridiculous.

3. Sycophantic Audiences. These shows are exercises in ego boosting for the hosts, what with idolizing sycophants calling in from around the country to tell them how great they are, how right they are, how smart they are, how they are saving the country from socialism, etc....there really is very little good analysis and conversation. There is plenty of misinformation and disinformation--both from the hosts and the callers--even blatantly false statements are rarely called out.

4. Overwrought Language. If I hear one more of these guys say that Obama is "shredding the Constitution" with his healthcare legislation, I'm going to scream. Are there portions of the healthcare legislation that may be suitable for Supreme Court review? Yes. Can intelligent people differ on the issue? Yes. Can both sides point to 20th century precedents to bolster their views? Yes. No one has "shredded" the Constitution.

I hunger on these drives for a "thinking man's" conservative talk radio, with real debate, where policy views are challenged and refined. It just doesn't seem to exist (except on Wednesday nights when The Conservative Wahoo is in the House!)