While I was out taking care of a few things this afternoon, I've was also doing some thinking regarding the previous post I made in this thread. When I came home, I sat down and typed this into notepad. There's no real reason to read the responses to a post that probably deserved no response. Besides, to respond and reply to those posts would just continue the debate/discussion/argument, and as you'll read below, I have no interest in that.
First, I want to apologize for the tone of the post. Advice to self for the future: Don't post about things that make you angry if you are very hung over. It doesn't help.
Second, I've decided I don't care about global warming. I'll be dead before it has much of an effect on the environment (if global warming is real). I have no children, and prospects in that area look poor at best, so there you go. I have no dog in this fight. Post away, I'll never post a rebuttal or a link. If anyone DOES have a dog in this fight, it's their own lookout to decide whether there's anything to worry about, and I don't need to be involved in that. It was silly of me to even care what other people think. If I'd come to this realization a day or two ago, this post wouldn't even be necessary.
Third, I was thinking about conservative radio, and what it is about it that bothers me. I find myself generally agreeing with most of what they say whenever I listen to these shows (Hannity, Limbaugh, Glenn Beck...), but that doesn't make me like them more, or make me feel better about what I think. I pondered this today. I'm not going to argue and fight over it, but I chimed in, and now I need to say what the hell I was all worked up about, or I'll look even more like a rambling, inarticulate idiot than I am.
I thought maybe it was because they remind me of a hard-sell salesman, but on further reflection, evangelist fits better. They are evangelists, substituting Conservatism for God. Preaching with the self-satisfaction and assurance that can only come from the knowledge that they are never wrong, and those evil, stupid simple non-believers are ALWAYS wrong, and will surely burn in hell. The hosts preach away to the converted, and "ditto-heads" devour the daily topic, and never miss an opportunity to regurgitate it in an effort to convert an unsuspecting co-worker. I get the idea that if a liberal were to say the sky was blue and the grass is green, the conservative talk-show hosts would spend the next week proving it wasn't so. Bear in mind that the same thing almost assuredly applies if you replace every "conservative" reference in this msg with "liberal", and vice-versa, so I'm not fond of ANY of these assholes.
This was fine. I don't care for them and while I find it annoying that they, and their liberal counterparts eat up hours of radio time every day, I accept that I should not turn on the radio and expect anything different. I even accept that they serve a useful purpose. However, what blew my lid was when they stepped over the line from politics to science. Their listeners, conditioned by years of "hallelujahs" and "Amens", came to think there was a LIBERAL view of science, and a CONSERVATIVE view of science. Science is science, and either science has a conclusion (given current knowledge), or they have theories that require further testing and knowledge. There should be no such concept as liberal or conservative involved, and only an idiot would try to apply it.
They have as much business getting involved in this as the Creationists have trying to force Creationism into public school science classes. If you're gonna preach religion, stay out of science. If you're gonna preach conservatism, or liberalism, same thing. Not your damned area of expertise.
I suppose I'm being naive. Everyone seems to feel the need to belong to something. It makes them feel more secure, gives them a sense of support, of belonging. . .and it seems once you do belong to something, a kind of group-think takes place, where everyone starts to think the same about EVERYTHING. It can't be limited to one area.
So, in the future, I'll shut up and avoid any threads that indicate politics or global warming are going to be a discussion. I have really had it up to here with politics in general, and I think I'd be happier if no one ever broached the subject with me again.
EDIT:
Just a clarification. As noted under my third point, the comments here are related to conservative talk radio in general(with many parallels to liberal talk radio as well), and not to any individual here.