Mental Distortion

David Brooks has an interesting editorial today in the New York Times about the real world effect of right-wing political shock jocks such as Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and their actual effect on the political process.

Over the past few years the talk jocks have demonstrated their real-world weakness time and again. Back in 2006, they threatened to build a new majority on anti-immigration fervor. Republicans like J.D. Hayworth and Randy Graf, both of Arizona, built their House election campaigns under that banner. But these two didn’t march to glory. Both lost their campaigns.

In 2008, after McCain had won his nomination, Limbaugh turned his attention to the Democratic race. He commanded his followers to vote in the Democratic primaries for Hillary Clinton because ‘we need Barack Obama bloodied up politically.’ Todd Donovan of Western Washington University has looked at data from 38 states and could find no strong evidence that significant numbers of people actually did what Limbaugh commanded. Rush blared the trumpets, but few of his Dittoheads advanced.

This sounds about right, but it’s difficult to actually think so, because they are continually given a pulpit in which to spew from time and time again all under the banner of ratings. Not only do fans of Limbaugh and Beck watch their shows, but a large amount of people who can’t stand them watch the shows too along with the commercials that go with the program. While someone like Rupert Murdoch may have an obvious right-wing slant, he knows where the money goes and would most likely support a left-wing candidate if it meant them being in front of the camera for at least the next 4 years.

Brooks continues:

But this is not merely a story of weakness. It is a story of resilience. For no matter how often their hollowness is exposed, the jocks still reweave the myth of their own power. They still ride the airwaves claiming to speak for millions. They still confuse listeners with voters. And they are aided in this endeavor by their enablers. They are enabled by cynical Democrats, who love to claim that Rush Limbaugh controls the G.O.P. They are enabled by lazy pundits who find it easier to argue with showmen than with people whose opinions are based on knowledge. They are enabled by the slightly educated snobs who believe that Glenn Beck really is the voice of Middle America.

I would think that the silent majority is the people who can’t these political shock jocks, both Democrats and centrist Republicans who would like for their party to gain a scent of respectability again.

(Via New York Times.)