Miss Me.

A Moment of Clarity.  

WORDS.

"There was plentiful schadenfreude on the Internet this morning at the news that Rush Limbaugh (along with Sean Hannity) is apparently parting ways with the company that distributes his show on some 40 stations around the country. Limbaugh’s been a liberal bugbear for as long as he’s been a right-wing poster boy, and as such, the former are responding to news of his apparent downfall with glee. But really, this should be a source for celebration for everyone, because Limbaugh both personifies, and has at least partially responsible for, much of what is problematic about American politics in the 21st century.

...it’s that exact polarization that speaks to a more fundamental reason why Limbaugh shouldn’t be missed: the type of political discourse in which he trades has been responsible for the sorts of deadlocks that have plagued Washington over the last few years. It’s easy to forget these days, but politics doesn’t have to be the sort of adversarial spectacle we’re used to seeing today, where the two sides behave like spoiled schoolchildren, where filibustering and other obstructiveness for the sake of political point-scoring take priority over effective governance. It’s been on the rise since the 1960s and 1970s, but really took hold during the 1980s — there’s some interesting statistical analysis here.

...Pundits tend to underestimate the general public, to see them as a bunch of simpletons who only appreciate the lowest common denominator. Those more optimistic about human nature, like your correspondent, might argue that, in fact, we tend to adapt to our cultural surrounds in the same way that we adapt to any other environs. American political discourse doesn’t have to be like this, and indeed in the past it has been very different. It’s the way it is because we’ve chose to make it this way, or at least allowed it to devolve into what it’s become. And if we want this country to be able to function effectively, we need to stop shouting at one another and start listening to one another."

FLAVORWIRE: Why Everyone — Liberal and Conservative — Should Root for the End of Rush Limbaugh