Why do right wingers believe what the conservative talk show hosts say?

[Sapere aude]

Now that the elections are over, I've paid attention to what some conservative talk show hosts are saying, hoping to hear some sour grape rants from them.

What I am hearing are not the same attacks on Dems that I heard before the election, but I'm hearing some new lies. This morning I listened to a wing nut on 760AM in San Diego who inferred that Hillary supports voting rights for non-citizens. Basically he was making false accusations about the new Dem Congress. Most of the stuff was over the top and yet callers regurgitated the same bull shit a few minutes after they've heard it.

I really don't understand how some people accept that crap as truth. I guess that they are predisposed to think bad things about Hillary, for example, and when a talk show host makes up a lie about her listeners just accept it because it fits they paradigm. I think the talk show hosts know that what they are saying isn't true, but the way they get good ratings is to hang onto as many wing nut listeners as they can and the lies are what keeps them tuned in.

I have the feeling that as long as conservative radio exists we will never really come closer together in this country because the wing nuts will always believe the lies they hear on the radio. They are a bunch of ill informed voters. They are never exposed to the truth and wouldn't believe even it if they were.


I have a friend here at work who is a wing nut and I've given him the PNAC information and much more to try to show him were I think his thinking is off but in the long run I have less influence on him than does Micheal Savage and Limbaugh who he really likes to listen to. He told me to watch Glen Beck on CNN the other night because Beck was going to tell the truth about Arabs.

So I am wondering why he is missing critical thinking skills. Why doesn't he research what he hears on the talk shows to see if it makes sense. Why does he just lap it up then regurgitate it back as if it were fact?

[kenny blankenship]

1. Not thinking for themselves, not thinking at all--that's the whole point of Wingnuttery

Believing the incredible as told by the untrustworthy is the central method and aim of their religion.

[LilyLibber]

9. Wingnuttery...lol

Great term! :thumbsup:

It's like a gang mentality - hate unites them more cohesively.

[indepat]

11. Brainwashed ideologues have nary a critical thought in their heads ever

[Arkansas Granny]

2. It's much easier to let someone else do your thinking for you than

to take the time to explore an issue and come up with your own opinion about it.

[Nite Owl]

3. The only conclusion I can come to

is it's the hate that they themnselves feel and hearing it from these people sort of makes that hate that they feel valid. It says to them, see it isn't only me who feels that way. They aren't inclined to look up facts, they don't want to be disproved.

[MADem]

4. Because they are bright and shining .... empty vessels!!

I say bring back the damned FAIRNESS DOCTRINE! It would raise the actual amount of debate, though maybe not the LEVEL of it. They'd probably put two clowns on to debate the issues while engaging in pro wrestling!

[Atman]

5. Blind faith is how the make their judgements on everything

As long as it already agrees with the bullshit dogma they've swallowed. That is why it is impossible to debate with any of them on the freeper or CONservative boards...when you demand proof of their bullshit, after having shown them twenty various newspaper, magazine and web articles refuting them, they see nothing ironic or comical about using a White House press release as "proof" that the Iraq war is going swell, or the economy is the best in history. Just blind faith. Researching and making up your own mind takes effort, and hell, that takes away from quality time beating the kids and swilling JD while working on the old Barracuda.

.

[Cocoa]

6. the hosts flatter their listeners

they tell them they're better than the liberals. People tend to like that.

People also tend to like the truth, however. The question is how to make it easier for those listeners to get the truth.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

18. Yes. Cheap flattery and racism.

They offer reassurance that no matter how bad it gets, you're still better than the gay/black/female/immigrant/Muslim/whatever next door.

[Cocoa]

20. they also appeal to people's desire to be good people

they tell them they are more "moral" than the others.

Some of them also appeal to their sense of guilt. I am embarrassed to say that I actually fell for Dr. Laura's crap when I was in a bad emotional state.

Right this moment, Dennis Prager is telling people Republicans are "happier" than Democrats, and telling people why.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

24. That, and they are right once in a while

Like a broken clock is correct twice a day. I had a friend who used to worship Dr. Laura and hung on her every word. A few times I was forced to listen to her entire radio broadcast. I noticed that in between berating her callers, making stupid blanket pronouncements and snap judgements, she'd occasionally offer some reasonable advice to a caller who was very distressed about something. For the most part though, I felt really sorry for anyone who turned to her for guidance. She is usually condescending and sanctimonious. And then when the stories of her own personal foibles surfaced, she lost the tiny sliver of credibility she had with me. Everyone makes mistakes but she acted like she never made any. I can't stand that crap.

[no_hypocrisy]

7. Easier than the process of thinking, analyzing, integrating, and

forming an indepedent opinion.

[arcane1]

8. exactly- the hosts speak emotion, not information

thinking not required, just make the listener feel like he/she is "better" than, and a victim of, the people being talked about

[Cocoa]

15. they actively discourage thinking

it's a cult mentality. They say, don't trust anyone except me. They continually attack the press, the whole concept of the press. They try to get people to value opinions over facts. Colbert has a brilliant take on that.

While discussing the kidnapped Fox reporters, one radio guy's theme was that there should be no reporters in Iraq because it's too dangerous. I was stunned.

Compare with Chomsky, for example, who repeatedly tells his audience "don't believe me, read it for yourself." It's a theme of his.

[thoughtanarchist]

10. I think John Dean's book addressed this...

He characterized them as "authoritarian followers", meaning they have such an over exaggerated sense of and devotion to authority that they will mimic anyone who seems to fulfill their need for a powerful paternalistic figure in their lives.

In short, they are regressive children in adult bodies.

[BuyingThyme]

12. They feed on hate. It's like trans fat.

Add a little hate, or trans fat, and they're hooked. No thinking involved.

Have you ever eaten something and said, "Boy, that trans fat sure hits the spot"? No. The hook is subliminal.

That's the way these people are with hate. Mix in a little hate, and they'll keep eating.

Of course, deeper down, it's probably about insecurity.

[Hand]

13. Coprocephaly.

I.e., shit for brains.

ON EDIT: Not the world's best translation, I grant you, but hey...

[Karenca]

14. because -

"The masses are asses".

Alexander Hamilton

[Vinca]

16. They're stupid, pure and simple.

That's why it's so easy for the Republicans to keep their numbers in lock step. If you can't think past the the lint in your belly button, you're their kind of person.

[Cocoa]

22. I think that's exactly wrong

I think they are the same as you and me.

Their hosts try to convince them otherwise, but it's a lie. We're all in the same boat.

[Vinca]

25. I strongly disagree.

Why else would Gomer vote Republican when he's too poor to buy health insurance and suffers food insecurity by the end of every month? You can rarely have a reasonable conversation with these people. I tried talking to someone yesterday about how universal health care would be a good thing and cheaper all around. All they know is their taxes might go up. That and Ronald Reagan was the greatest president in the country's history. They aren't the same as you and me - there's a vital screw missing.

[Cocoa]

26. I've been talking to a bright RW kid at work

approx. 18 years old, loves politics, but he has only heard the one side, so everything he says is just regurgitating the lies he's been told. He doesn't know he's regurgitating it, and he doesn't know it's lies. I've been encouraging him to look for a Chomsky video online. He's resisting because he's heard about Chomsky and has all these wild ideas about who he is. I'm telling him he'll see none of it is remotely true as soon as he hears him speak. He's resisting because of the natural desire to hold onto one's current view of things, but I think he'll come around, if only so we can talk about it, which he likes to do as much as I do. I'm also encouraging him to read Ayn Rand because he calls himself a libertarian but he's never heard of Rand. I'm careful to tell him I think she's completely wrong, but she can be interesting to read.

[Bobbie Jo]

34. You're right...

A friend of the family recently had his house foreclosed upon. Driving past the home, I noticed a lone and forgotten campaign sign for a defeated Rethug.....sad but true.

[Julien Sorel]

29. I don't think their hosts have to work very hard

at convincing them of anything. I agree with you posts above much more than this one.

I used to work with a bunch of Sean Hannity fans. They would turn his program on, and it was amazing to watch them -- how Hannity would get them nodding their heads at the stupidity of the liberals (much like you see people in this thread doing about the stupidity of the conservatives, but I digress), by knocking down absurd straw man after absurd straw man. But those people never thought past the absurdity of the things Hannity said, because they didn't want to, because Hannity was telling them what they wanted to hear. They were perfectly intelligent people, but when it came to politics they became stupid as rocks -- willfully so. I think this is because it's pleasing to hear how stupid and illogical people who hold different points of view and subscribe to a different value system than you have are, because it frees you from the responsibility and hard work of thinking things through and challenging your own assumptions. Very few people want to do this (on our side of the fence as well), so the Hannitys and the Limbaughs and so on thrive. It's politics as entertainment, and politics as religion. No wonder something like that is popular. What I don't fully understand is why the left wing equivalent of the right wing gabbers produce such a frail sound by comparison. The difference in numbers is one reason (there are almost 2X as many "conservatives" as there are liberals in this country), but there have to be other reasons.

[Cocoa]

33. I agree with the part you emphasized

"because they want to." And your answer about why they want to is the same as mine.

But people want other things too. In addition to the desire to feel right, they also want to be right, which might involve changing their minds. And people have changed their minds, like about the war.

People also might see that while they themselves have admitted they're wrong, they might see that the people that sold them the war have not quite admitted it. And they might contemplate what that means. That would be good. I am optimistic that that will happen.

[ProfessorGAC]

17. Dumb!

No more needs be said.
The Professor

[BornagainDUer]

19. It's all alot of them ever listen to.

[Orsino]

21. People love being told that they are conspired against...

...because it can explain anything wrong in their lives.

[BrotherBuzz]

23. P. T. Barnum Never Did Say "There's a Sucker Born Every Minute"

but he would have had he thought about it.

[stonecoldsober]

27. They need to believe them

because it is the only way they can get the 'real unvarnished truth that the liberal media doesn't report on'. It fits their worldview. It acknowedges and reinforces their greatest fears. It provides comfort by making 'sense' of a world which does not reflect the simple-minded, back and white, racist pea-brains in their empty skulls.

[KharmaTrain]

28. Call It Conditioned Reflex

I've spent a professional life attempting to learn what makes people turn on radios and listen to them. The most common reason is it resonates with a lifestyle the listener either enjoys or hopes to enjoy. They relate to the voices since they're always heard in an intimate setting and are always there for them to tune to.

Hate radio thrives on the ignorant, arrogant and selfish. It's a feel good thing and it's backed up by the "positive re-inforcement" of the constant repetition of talking points and like-minded callers...making the listener feel they feel they're part of a bigger world than they are. The "host" isn't a voice, but becomes a "trusted friend" and they play on a wide variety of stereotypes...constantly pushing buttons to get a reaction. It's hard to speak reason to many of these people...even with reams of fact as you're a stranger in their world, while the "host" is a long accepted friend. There is no logic...it's almost tribalistic.

[omega minimo]

30. Because they're bullies

[BeachBuckeye]

31. Have you ever noticed the crowd at ringside during a "professional wrestling" match?

Same thing as Right-Wing radio listeners. They don't have the collective IQ of a chicken.

[SoCalDem]

32. Think about it.. If ALL you ever heard on the radio, was ONE opinion

played over and over and over and over... by EVERY "talk-host" you found on the dial..and then you picked up a newspaper or a magazine, and those publications more or less mimicked the same perceptions...and

then your boss and coworkers repeated the same stuff over and over and over, as did your own family members...why would you NOT believe it.

It's what's at the heart of dismantling of the Fairness Doctrine and the consolidation of media..

If you have an idea that you really want to push, then buy up any competing media so that YOUR idea is the ONLY idea..

That's why so many people "believe" what they hear.

If this process continues for say...2 generations (like it pretty much has), when something (Like AAR & the internet(s)..), pops up to start refuting the lies...well you can also see why they may not take to them kindly. People do not like to have longstanding views challenged.

[Ksec]

35. In all seriousness..

I honestly believe they are a different type of people.

The same mindset type that allows Hitler to take over Germany. Or the same type thats easily led to slaughter by propagandists. Honestly, why else would they allow themselves to be in the position they are.
Blind allegiance to an ideology at any cost.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

36. Because they're suckers.

And besides, if it's on the radio, it must be true, right?