Shut Them Up

I was listening to Laura Ingraham this morning in the car as I took the kids to school. She was talking to some moron about a statement he made about abortion and Trig Palin. What the person said was truly despicable, and borders on down right evil, but that is not what this post is about. I’m not going to give his name or even go into any detail about the conversation because it’s irrelevant. This is not about him; it’s about Laura and all the other hosts, both on radio and TV, who make the same mistake she made this morning.

When asking a question she just let him go on with his spin instead of answering. She tried to stop him, but this person wasn’t going to have any of that. His purpose in going on her show was two fold: First, to try to make her look bad in any way. At that, he succeeded, but just slightly. He looks a lot worse than she does, but I am sure he doesn’t realize that at all. His second was simply to get out his propaganda. At this, he succeeded wildly. Fortunately, most of what the person said was ridiculous on its face, but that does not change the fact that he got it out.

The real problem is tolerance. Yes, that’s right. Tolerance is the problem. If I were a TV or radio host and had guests on who refused to answer questions, especially if all they did with throw out a bunch of spin and propaganda, I would cut them off immediately and throw them out of the studio or hang up the phone. I’m sure there are a lot of people out there who believe if I did this my show wouldn’t last very long, and other’s who actually believe I’m trying to squash free speech.

The former may be right, but I am more interested in getting the honest truth out there, than I am about the viability of my proverbial show. To the latter I can only say this: I do not have the power to do that. I do have the power to decide not to subsidize your reckless, incompetent and filthy fascist bullshit, or give you a forum to spout it.

If all someone wants to do is spin, or spout some fascist inanity, let them pay for the air time. Why subsidize it? Now, if someone is a responsible spokes person, willing to answer a question with an actual answer that actually has something to do with the question, then I say go for it. Let’s have a real debate on the issue, but if all you are going to do is ruthlessly spew on your idiotic lack of moral or intellectual authority then hey, you can kiss my ass.

Related posts:

1. Whoopi and the Nominee
2. Shut Up…