The Politics of Hate...Fueled by Fear...

A couple of days ago Matt Yglesias had posted about the Fox Effect.  He was responding to Richard Ramsey's post about the "Fox Geezer Syndrome" in which discussed how even conservative adults were growing increasingly perplexed and frustrated by the extreme effect that the politics of hate (courtesy of the Glen Beck Show) is having on their parents.

Its the end of the world as we know it….and I feel scared.

I suppose that the politics of hate is particularly effective on those who are shut-in and see their savings dwindling.  After all, when something is repeated often enough people tend to accept as truth.  This is particularly true in the case of the social isolation that is often associated with being elderly.  Certainly, my late father was an example of such extremism.  Prior to his death in April of this year, FOX news and hate radio was always blasting away 24/7.  A practicing attorney right to the end, but always conservative - he became more so as he spent his days recovering from chemo watching the likes of Beck and Hannity.  He kept encouraging me to buy gold and silver and hunker down with freeze-dried food waiting for the end of the world.  Sadly, after a long fight, he lost his battle with cancer last April.  But my memories of the last three years of his life will be laced with visions of Beck and hate news permeating his thoughts.

Rachel Maddow had some clips from the Glenn Beck Show on her show the other night…and watching them - truth merged with fiction almost seamlessly.  To the point that Maddow herself couldn't determine parody from propaganda!

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The Nazi/Socialist/Commie Analogy:

Certainly, the Nazi/Socialist/Commie analogies are coming fast and furious - even the progressive side of the equation we can easily succumb to propaganda….Just watch how easily  Sarah Palin morphed into a Soviet Spy at the hands of Jon Stewart….

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But the "mainstream media" is mostly to blame….after all they were the masterminds of the Nazi rhetoric…..as FOX news has proven over and over again….

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So the question remains…is it simply that the public wants its politics served with large portion of red meat? Is it because the economy is still in the tanker?  Or is it simply sly propaganda that creates the devotion the ultra-conservative clap trap?  One thing is certain.  Those who manipulate facts by lacing them with hate have the upper hand in a world where the fairness doctrine and net neutrality are a thing of the past.
© 2011 - Ruthmarie G. Hicks - http://www.therobberbaroneconomy.com