Conservative Hypocrisy (again)

[Mortos]

Here is the text of a letter I sent to a local paper. I also sent it to one of the conservative talk show hosts I enjoy calling and debating. He ignored the context of my letter and went straight to attacking me for trying to tell him how to run his show (huh?). Anyway, here it is.

Recently several conservative radio talk show hosts have been lamenting the negative tone of the Presidential campaigns (specifically the things democrat supporters have said) They speak of the recent Kerry celebrity fundraiser and how disgusted they were with the hateful comments expressed by some of the entertainers. One of the claimed core tenants of conservatives and talk show hosts specifically is a intense dislike of hypocrisy so I was wondering how they resolve their own comments bashing Democrats and the truth about the actual campaign ads run by both presidential candidates?

From a Washington Post story:

Three-quarters of the ads aired by Bush's campaign have been attacks on Kerry. Bush so far has aired 49,050 negative ads in the top 100 markets, or 75 percent of his advertising. Kerry has run 13,336 negative ads -- or 27 percent of his total. The figures were compiled by The Washington Post using data from the Campaign Media Analysis Group of the top 100 U.S. markets. Both campaigns said the figures are accurate (emphasis added ).

If this campaign is the most negative in recent memory, then President Bush and his handlers are leading the charge.

I have also heard local talk show host Jim Trabor use the most hateful ad hominem attacks against Kerry calling him crazy, stupid, a liar, a sissy and Mark Shannon and Larry Stein refer to homosexuals as deviants, butt boys and perverts. On July 12, Dax Davis attacked John Edwards wife Elizabeth as being too obviously unattractive to warrant a peeping tom.

Many conservative talk show hosts mock blacks, Hispanics, gays, women, aids victims, Muslims, the poor, soldiers and their families who take political stances in opposition to their beliefs and others too numerous to mention. Callers are labeled as "solid" who advocate the killing of homosexuals as prescribed by their twisted interpretation of the Bible.

Most conservative radio hosts make their living by mocking, ridiculing and viciously attacking those who don't conform to their narrow view of acceptability. Where is the the outrage over hateful comments by the callers who agree with the conservative's own hateful rhetoric and usually carry it further than even the host is comfortable with publicly stating? These glorified DJ's are not journalists, they are entertainers. The only thing that separates them from the "Hollywood stars" they claim to despise is the size of their audience and paycheck (although Rush and Hannity are pulling in millions). It is the height of hypocrisy for them to turn around and self righteously attack others for adopting the tactics they perfected.

Another favorite tactic of conservative DJ's (they hate that title) is to quote the bible in support of their arguments. I wonder if they are familiar with this parable (hint; a guy in a Mel Gibson movie said it):

"Why do you see the tiny speck of sawdust in your friend's eye, but you cannot see the large beam of wood in your own eye? How can you say to your friend, 'let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you don't see the beam in your own eye? Liar! First, kick out the beam from your own eye. Then, you will see the speck in your friend's eye clearly enough to wipe it way.