by Carl Conrad

Created on: June 09, 2009

With Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity leading the way, talk radio has become as indispensable to the Republican Right as frothy foam is to latts. And, frothy foam may not be restricted to coffee when we think of the rabid mouths of this group of glorified gabbers who use half-truths, selective phrasing, and bombastic innuendo like Lucy used Ethel in her schemes to get her way with Ricky.

Talk radio is the voice that hacks down the opposition like machete-wielding bushmen while promulgating a leave-us-alone agenda as austere and shameless as Jerry Lewis asking for help on his telethon. In the name of doing what's right not by admitting what parts of it are wrong and by calling it being consistent, following one's core values, and being committed not by admitting to being stubborn, unlistening and obstinate as others might more accurately call it the talk radio pundits have become an unchallenged flag waving glibly over our virtues. But, today's teenagers are used to this kind of aggressive assault on their values.

Still, one may ask how has this happened and what are some of the techniques that have made it so successful?

Slogans, Symbols, and Deceptive Names

The method of attracting listeners and swaying voters that is used most often in talk radio is to put forth grand, complicated ideas in the form of bumper sticker slogans, wrap them in the American flag, then to silence any opposition or criticism, insist that people who speak up against them are unpatriotic or undermining the effectiveness of the things that are being done.

Take, for example, the phrasing of such ideas as the War On Terror, the Patriot Act, and Homeland Security. These phrases capsulize the professed INTENT of these acts while neglecting or obscuring the MEANS by which they will be achieved. This is like inducting all 18 to 24 year old men and women into the military and calling it the Make America Safe initiative. The name implies a result that most will find desirable while never mentioning the means of achieving it and avoiding any reference to the compulsory nature of it, both of which may be highly undesirable.

The War On Terror, for instance, uses the term war so that it opens up the use of tactics and powers that would not otherwise be allowed if it were only called something like the Program to Investigate and End Subversion. By using the word war, the military can be used to implement tactics of interrogation, detention, killing, destruction,

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