Influence of Limbaugh, Beck is a Total Myth - Brooks - NYT »
Posted By deathray 1 month, 2 weeks ago in Political Opinion
Let us take a trip back into history. Not ancient history. Recent history. It is the winter of 2007. The presidential primaries are approaching. The talk jocks like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and the rest are over the moon about Fred Thompson. They’ re weak at the knees at the thought of Mitt Romney. Meanwhile, they are hurling torrents of abuse at the unreliable deviationists: John McCain and Mike Huckabee.
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deathray
Hm...summarizing a life...Investment banker, sailor, unintentional gourmet cook. Ex US Naval officer, also Foreign Service. Split my time between NYC and Miami Beach ...
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deathray1 month, 2 weeks ago
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so, are limbaugh and beck just empty windbags who cant deliver, as brooks believes, or not?
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fta:
" Over the years, I have asked many politicians what happens when Limbaugh and his colleagues attack. The story is always the same. Hundreds of calls come in. The receptionists are miserable. But the numbers back home do not move. There is no effect on the favorability rating or the re-election prospects. In the media world, he is a giant. In the real world, he’s not.
But this is not merely a story of weakness. It is a story of resilience. For no matter how often their hollowness is exposed, the jocks still reweave the myth of their own power. They still ride the airwaves claiming to speak for millions. They still confuse listeners with voters. And they are aided in this endeavor by their enablers. They are enabled by cynical Democrats, who love to claim that Rush Limbaugh controls the G.O.P. They are enabled by lazy pundits who find it easier to argue with showmen than with people whose opinions are based on knowledge. They are enabled by the slightly educated snobs who believe that Glenn Beck really is the voice of Middle America.
So the myth returns. Just months after the election and the humiliation, everyone is again convinced that Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity and the rest possess real power. And the saddest thing is that even Republican politicians come to believe it. They mistake media for reality. They pre-emptively surrender to armies that don’t exist."-
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tadair9191 month, 2 weeks ago
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this is a good snippet. i hope this author is right. unfortunately i think they do influence many, but it tends to be merely arm-chair joes that have no affect on the political realm, anyway. it's just what they want to hear to pass the time. the net effect is about the same as those who keep up with the latest episode of 'Lost.' Watching keeps them in "the know."
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that's not to say their power is not nefarious.
Recently, limbaugh joined cheney in attempting to re-brand the GOP. Somehow, they managed to trick the masses into accepting Colin Powell and Meghan McCain as potential new spokesmen for a "new" GOP. Read: neo-neocon. That meme died down, and i suspect powell has been shelved until he can be used as a mouthpiece at some later date; while Meghan McCain polishes up on her PR.
Another thing of major significance was glen beck's co-opting of the tea party movement and re-branding of it. While FOX news trumpeted up the protests, the rest of the networks treated it was just an ugly red-headed step-child. It reminds me of the quote. And, I'm paraphrasing because I can't find it on the Internet at the moment.
"To control the masses, simply look to see where they're marching, stand in front and lead the way."
I still have a flyer from a Tea Party I attendeed in '08. Back when an anti-big government crowd was just a glimmer in his eye.
Surely, they don't have the influence that the blogosphere would have you imagine. But they certainly do make all the right moves to keep the world divided, now don't they? -
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donald511 month, 2 weeks ago
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...a party that offers nothing has to be inspired by something, however un-american! Limball as the keynote speaker at the CPAC.... and getting how many apologies from leading repugs who momentarily stood up to his stupidity and slandering! The un-american slandering and fear-mongering from Hannity and Beck!
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The repugs, even their sexual hypocrites remain in office while dems resign: Craig, Vitter, Ensign, Sanford... Hastert even covered that pedophile Foley for years!
The repugs still dominate the CREW list of Most Corrupt Congressmen ( actually under investigation), even while the minority!
Repugs just look at breaking the law as a political prerogative like Cheney claiming torture was just a politcal option. No wonder that all the repug convicted felons from Watergate, Iran Contra & Plamegate are heros to the lawless, un-american right!
The true party of terrorism (preemptive war, torture, eavesdropping w/o warrant, taking away habeas corpus, outing a CIA agent, Abu Ghraib/Gitmo, outing federal prosecutors for political reasons, callous disregard for collateral damage in war, unilateralism, ignoring congressional subpoenas...) should be declared as such and banned in America! -
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Progressive1 month, 2 weeks ago
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I'm glad to see that Senator Graham at least is speaking out against Beck:
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#33131102 -
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Bkumm1 month, 2 weeks ago
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Limbaugh, Beck and Hannity (with O'Lie, dangit O'Reilly close behind) are a pack of jabbering, pseudopopulist monkeys. They toss poo in the general direction of whatever person they happen to think will generate them the most air time, money or ratings and hope that some of it sticks. Not one of them actually believes the smack that they continue to run, but they continue to run it, because people buy their books and watch or listen to their shows. They are nothing but intellectual and ideological prostitutes that will do whatever dirty, nasty thing they think the people will enjoy so that they can keep paying their undocumented housekeepers and $500 an hour wives and/or girlfriends.
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But, that's just one guys opinion.-
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deathray1 month, 2 weeks ago
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capecoralMComment removed: Retracted by user11 Replies
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gamahuche1 month, 2 weeks ago
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I'm happy to say that I have never ever heard or seen these individuals. I have read enough about them to be convinced that they are ignoramuses of the first magnitude. The premise that they are ineffectual and irrelevant seems sound enough.
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So how do they become household names and wealthy simply for being thick sh**-stirring idiots in the wonderful USA?-
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vor1 month, 2 weeks ago
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You're lucky. I once offered to monitor Limbaugh for research project for 5 solid months. By the end of it I could barely stand to turn him on. What a pompous jerk. Why anyone would relish the though of listening to him is beyond me. Even if a dittohead calls and slightly disagrees with him Rush will point out the error of their argument. You are either part of the flock or the enemy. Just the thought of hearing Rush's voice again makes me cring. Rush is just an egotist but Beck is a very sick man. Any psychiatrist in America would love to evaluate him. He is just full of phobias and delusions.
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But they both are preaching to a specific flock. Even if they claim that their ratings are going up (Rush has claimed to have 25 million listeners) it is the same demographic politically who is listening. Rush is so crazy he has also claimed 50% of his listeners are liberal. Sorry Rush,very few of us are into such masochism. I learned the hard way.
There must be twenty people in my office that listen to Rush everyday and likely Beck as well. We even have one that wears this bizarre headphone radio with 2 antennae that stick out at least a foot. And we also have a black guy who just loves Rush. These are the real crazies on the Right. To me they are nothing more than brainwashed dolts. No one should give up so much of their mind to someone elses beliefs. There is no balance on these shows because there is no real debate. It's their way or the highway. -
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Endoscopy1 month, 2 weeks ago
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What the obscene one and vor ignore is that you are so far to the left that anything conservative is evil and hateful. The problem you have is there are a lot of conservative people who think what you believe is twisted and losing in the long run. Government controlling everything and spending a ton of money and in your fevered brains the rich are to pay for everything. The problem is you want to believe that people will lose their rights and be content with that. Like forcing young adults to get insurance whether they want it or nor. If they refuse they have to pay a penalty tax of over a thousand.
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The fact that liberal programs do not work as intended never stops you from pushing for more. The fact that the talk show hosts only say what the conservatives already think is never thought about by you who believe they are just trivial.
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pokydoke1 month, 2 weeks ago
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Their audience is angry impotent old white men who yell at the TV. These people usually don't even vote because they can't fathom how one vote can make a difference or they don't vote because the opposition stuffs the ballot box so why bother. You see them here on Propeller all the time. I'd name names but we all know who they are.
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buckncindykill1 month, 2 weeks ago
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Charlson1 month, 2 weeks ago
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ForrestPhelps1 month, 2 weeks ago
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To: buckncindykill
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You wrote:
"The ONLY person who actually enjoys such bilge is Janeane Garofalo.
Extremely funny...."
So, you ENJOYED it, ergo . . . you are Janeane Garofalo? :-)
[This is humor, I know buck was just typing fast and didn't catch the unintended implication.]
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cherev1 month, 2 weeks ago
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"The talk jocks like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and the rest are over the moon about Fred Thompson. They’ re weak at the knees at the thought of Mitt Romney. Meanwhile, they are hurling torrents of abuse at the unreliable deviationists: John McCain and Mike Huckabee."
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From The Politico:
"Ladies and gentlemen, Gov. Huckabee, mighty fine man and is a great Christian, is not a conservative, he’s just not," Limbaugh said. "If you look at his record as governor, he’s got some conservative tendencies on things but he’s certainly not the most conservative of the candidates running on the Republican side."
So much for the "torrents of abuse". -
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simonsez1 month, 2 weeks ago
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You don't listen to them so how would you know what they say.
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Actually ... I don't have time to listen to them either much, but I know they are coming from the same place I am in their thinking.
What they say is not going to persuade you one iota. We ALL hear what we want to hear -
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simonsez1 month, 2 weeks ago
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Good grief! The left is out in force today to condemn those of us who believe differently than you.
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The commentators mentioned in the article are not persuaders as you seem to believe ... they are merely expressing the views that many of us share. Like it or not, the country is about 50-50 on what we want our government to be involved in. That is not apt to change very much.
It's a shame that Obama was not more in the middle with his agenda. He could have accomplished a great deal if he had taken a more centrist view of where the country should go.-
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deathray1 month, 2 weeks ago
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apparently david brooks does, although i can't see why, and this is his sated opinion.
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i don't know enough to say either way, although i dislike their delivery enough so that i can't be bothered to ascertain if they have any substance...although some of their quotes referenced are really beyond the pale.
what i am confused by is the double role these commentators play in conservative politics. on the one hand, their words are gospel and they're 'political commentators, until they say something stupid and outrageous and then the right claims they are 'entertainers.'
go figure. -
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Jeboba1 month, 2 weeks ago
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Simon,
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It's not what Limbaugh, Beck, etc. believe, it is their delivery filled with hatred for anyone who would slightly deviate from their ideologies. They stir up a lot of crap, tell a bunch of lies, and there is a certain percentage of total nutbags that hang on their every word. The 'validate' the absolute extreme crazies. While they are very careful to not use the exact word, the entice the less stable to act out. Someday, somebody will be killed by one of these loonie tunes and it will come out that they believed that Beck and Limbaugh gave them 'permission'. Truly frightening.
No one on the left uses the kind of rhetoric that the right wingers do. Generally, the lefties, like Olbermann, produce facts and figures and proof to back up their claims unlike Limbaugh and his ilk that just spew crap and lies. -
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Jeboba1 month, 2 weeks ago
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I just saw that you say the country is 50-50! In your dreams! Only about 25% of the country believes as you do. The other 75% abhor the hate speech from your side.
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I'm part of the 75% but I really don't mind because all Limbaugh and Beck, etc. are doing is PROVING that you guys are crazy as hell and we don't want to have anything to do with a party that quivers and slobbers at their every word.
Rush and Glen are just making it more and more likely that the GOP will continue to die out unless they disavow themselves from the bloviators and extremists. Until the good Republican folks out there vote out the only thing left in their party, total loonies, and elect some reasonable people, their party will shrivel up and blow away.
In general, Limbaugh and Beck and O'Reilly and Savage, and Schnitt, etc. are not reasonable in their approaches. They manufacture and exaggerate only to titilate and encourage the dumbest of their listeners. -
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Jeboba1 month, 2 weeks ago
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Obama....a more centrist view? Jeeeez, what are you smokin? He is about at centrist as they come...trying desperately to work with the right wing who only know how to say NO and to hope he fails. Until the GOP gets rid of their terrible reps in office, the GOP will not command the respect of the average THINKING American voter.
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NoWayMan1 month, 2 weeks ago
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sadly, the media seems to give attention to those who are loudest over those who have a substantive message, and beck and his followers are a great example. prolly cause its easier to cover some nutjobs who give great soundbyte rather than doing some real journalistic work.
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beck is a guy who is basically afraid of everything who fear mongers to those who are also afraid of everything. his following is rather small in reality (he only had an average of 480,000 viewers during his best week ever) and their message, whatever that is, is iffy at best.
so it is a wonder that he and his teabagging sycophants get so much play when there is so much going on that isn't getting attention.-
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Beau78901 month, 2 weeks ago
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And the fact that the media gives them so much attention is exactly why they do have so much influence.
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The problem isn't that a majority of voters necessarily buy what Limbaugh and Beck are selling, which is what Brooks appears to be arguing. It's that their followers are so loud, and create such a ruckus, that our elected representatives are afraid there's a large bloc of voters paying attention and that they'll lose their next elections. So they cave.
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Charlson1 month, 2 weeks ago
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Limpball and Becky do command a loyal following. But their following are malcontents, lunatics, bigots & racists, and the myriad others who are on the fringes of society. These hardcore "Lemmings" will follow their leader over the cliff and into Hell. But these are not the folks you want on your side because they are more of a hinderance than a benefit. You won't win any elections that comprise of a majority of these nut jobs.
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Limpball and Becky's affiliation to the Republicans have hurt the party more than it has helped. -
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icono11 month, 2 weeks ago
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In a way I see them as being no different than Rev Wright in intent, ie stirring the believers with inflammatory rhetoric, although their logic is truly about 'divining' public political sentiment to pursue goals that they find populist and to a large degree effective in obtaining ratings and controlling 'political minority opinion' at the national level via their media outlets instead of from a church pulpit.
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Are they the only people to have done this in American history?
No.
Yet on the other side of the political coin, there are people that state, either directly or indirectly, that we of an opposing political bent are 'mindless racists', or "knuckle dragging Neanderthals" & etc, that need to have our minds made up for us by 'benevolent' politicians and pundits that are self assumed, by natural selection and social status, to be smarter than us 'other' Americans.
So the question really becomes who is controlling the political destiny of American? Is it the politico-educational elite of the benevolent Socialist Left with their 'Change you can believe in' mantra or is it the racist "knuckle dragging Neanderthals" that are the Constitutional and free speech advocates of the American right.
Only time will tell. However it looks like the 'knuckle dragging racist Neanderthals'that belive in the US Constitution and the right of free speech for all are winning this one for now.-
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donald511 month, 2 weeks ago
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icon, you have to be a racist to not even give Barack a 100 days before slandering him, when Dumya had 8 years to ruin this country!
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Beleive in the Constitution? Is that why dumya called it "just a piece of paper", violated it with eavesdropping without a warrant and the Patriot Act? Why Huckabee ran on the platform of changing it to make Christianity the law of the land? The constitution makes international law once approved by Congress the law of hte land too, so why the Geneva convention violations by Dumya for which this country helped hang Japanese and Natzis?
You delude yourself as usual, right wing un-American!
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Newperson1 month, 2 weeks ago
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You know here while back I was setting in my boat fishing. The fish was no good so i turned on the radeo. And there was Rush. Most of the time i would have turned the station and never gave it a thought. But on this day people were calling in about the elderly not being able to pay for food.
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Anyway some one ask rush what would he do if his mother had to eat cat food.
He said he would buy her a can opener.
That is the kind of person he is so.
I turned the station but i could not believe what he said about his own mother. That was the last time i ever listened to that pig.-
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capecoralMComment removed: Retracted by user1 Reply
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ritamweep-131 month, 2 weeks ago
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That is where most make their mistake, by not listening to Rush, and Fox News along, with, the Government media.
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Rush is not the person you portray him to be.
Dispute the things Glenn Beck corroborates. But, listen to him first. Watch his show. Must you not have both sides, or all the information to make your truly, informed decisions?? -
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Bkumm1 month, 2 weeks ago
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What important (dis) information would that be? President Obama not being a US citizen? Death panels? Massive pork barrel spending?
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And I'm amused that Fox News (which bills itself as the number one rated news channel) and Rush Limbaugh (who bills himself as the "most listened to man in America") are still not considered part of the mainstream media. -
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Wolfie20071 month, 2 weeks ago
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If it wasn't for people like Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh a lot of important information would still be hidden. You may not like them but they're better than CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, NYTimes and the other fringe media at telling what's important and the truth. But of course, you liberal progressives know that don't you? That's what makes you hate them so much, huh?
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ritamweep-131 month, 2 weeks ago
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deathray1 month, 2 weeks ago
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donald511 month, 2 weeks ago
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rit, beck corroborates? Like the other day he threw up pictures of barack and his staff on a board, then talked about him going to Copenhagen to fight for the olmpics, then pulled out a can of copenhagen and read the danger warning.... which he in turn slapped on the board with Barack ans his staff.... wow, a copanhagen corraboration! Dah?
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MeanMrMustard1 month, 2 weeks ago
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wow,look at this
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http://snafu-ed.blogspot.com/2009/10/video-outs-gl... -
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donald511 month, 2 weeks ago
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georgia, the true bigot, chimes in... how about the new generation of terrorists Dumya has created and inspired?
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Also, it will probalby take a generation to overcome all the damage Dumya and the repug party has done to this country, both here and abroad!
Amazing that you are so ignorant to think that 78% of America are liberals.... since 78% of America knew Dumya took the country the wrong way. Oh well, you bigots aren't known for math skills.... anyone left of far right extremists like you has to be liberal right?
Poor weak minded Georgia... such a victim of the right's fear-mongering!
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Icantwait1 month, 2 weeks ago
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My Fellow Americans: It looks like Propeller bit the dust. Disappeared from the Main Browsers. Conservatives finally drove it off the Web Ways into obscurity. How? By successfully combating all the Liberals with the Honest Truth.
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Now, what is Left? Hidden in the background with no permanent home and hardly any responses to the one sided news post that are presented.
Now, only Liberal, and Radicals can try to impress one another with their Obama trained comments. Most Conservatives have moved on to greener landscapes. Oh, a comment or two will be tossed in once in awhile but generally all the intellectual endowed Conservatives have jumped ship.
I am able to sit here and gloat at all the useless responses now being exchanged by the Radical Liberals. Now, they spend their used up lives punching the keyboards and hoping to impress their fellow Radical Liberals while the most interesting Conservatives Posters are slowly trickling away. Just call me the ultimate gloater. Rave on Radical Liberals your comments are not being Read. You have no minds to indoctrinate they have all gone to more successful sites.
We Won! The Real American-
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Bkumm1 month, 2 weeks ago
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Are you delusional? UncleBob'sRedNecksearchengine.com is not one of the "Main Browsers". If you use a real search engine like Google or Yahoo it's the number one retrieved item.
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Gloat away, but like many of your kind, you are gloating about something that isn't real. -
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CRYMTYPHON1 month, 2 weeks ago
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There was a far-side cartoon some years ago.
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A large, impressive room has a large, impressive desk.
At the desk sits a man; behind him are flags and a huge portrait
of himself.
The door opens; a scientist with a clip board stands there.
He says:
"You are not an absolute dictator. In fact, you are a postal clerk
named Eddie. This was a psychology experiment in delusions of
grandeur. The experiment is now over; and Eddie, it's time to go home."
When I read ICantWait's ravings, I am not reminded of Eddie.
Eddie was funnier. -
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donald511 month, 2 weeks ago
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ican't, the right wing bigot who slanders true americans by still using "THe real American" self-descriptor... but hasn't the baallls to even answer if he/she has served in the military to validate whether he/she was even willing to die for their country!
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You are an un-american puke too!
Hey ultimate gloater... have some real baalls!
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kerengga11 month, 2 weeks ago
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Gloat away, but like many of your kind, you are gloating about something that isn't real.
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