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Date:         Wed, 27 Jan 1993 15:30:18 -0500
From:         Andrew Allen <E7L8ALL@TOWSONVX.BITNET>
Subject:      Rush Limbo...that's entertainment ?!?
Comments: To: politics@ohstvma.bitnet

Stan asks:

>How does Rush Limbaugh's political discussion fall into the category
>of entertainment?

Well, lets see, there's the dead give away that he is not a candidate
for any office, not a civil servant of any sort and not working for
any specific candidate nor organization that provides political
information in the public interest (eg., the League of Women Voters).

Then, there is the fact that Rush is presented by the media (and he
does nothing that I am aware of to alter this image) as a "personality."

Rush's "political discussion" will continue just as long as his ratings
stay up and his syndication deal continues; Rush is more comparable to
Howard Stern than James Kilpatrick.


> I find it highly hypocritical for one in this
>forum to categorize Rush Limbaugh as entertainment unless the speaker
>is willing to admit that this entire forum is dedicated to the same
>purpose that Limbaugh's television, radio, and literary messages are.

Let's suppose for a moment that there is a spectrum of possibilities here,
and that various media differ in the degree to which programming that
they disseminate must be entertaining. Network television and radio
(due to their desire to make money through advertising revenues) require
that the programming that they carry be entertaining to a large degree.
It is possible for something that is entertaining to carry some serious
content, and to have an effect upon the "real world," but this does
not alter the fact that it is entertainment and follows the dictates
of entertainment rather than that of "serious" discussion.

When Jay Leno makes a political joke on his TV show, it follows the
requirements of entertainment, despite the fact that it is political
and may influence the political opinions and actions of his audience.
The main thing is it must be funny and keep the audience's interest.

When a newspaper's political writer makes a joke in the text of a
serious analysis piece, it follows the dictates of political analysis,
it must be germane to the issue being analysed; it's relative merits
as a joke are secondary.

So ok, in some strict sense this list is a form of entertainment.
With the exception of the Virtual Government (tm); there is no formal
political or educational structure for this list, there is no curriculum,
specified required reading (other than the list rules) and no responsibility
to the public at large.

On the other hand, the terms of membership/participation on this list
are that the primary purpose of the list is for political discussion,
rather than entertainment.


>On this forum, speakers simply say whatever they wish, which is then
>criticized or supported by other list members.

That's cuz' this is uh-Muraka, dontcha know. What are you some kinda
commie comin' round here tryin' tuh tell usn's we don't know whut
pollytics is? B)


>As far as I know,
>Limbaugh advocates the same principles-- that his message is right
>(in his opinion, of course) and he is willing to debate others on a
>logical and statistical level (with evidence) to prove that his point
>is the more logical one.

As far as I can see the principles that Limbaugh advocates are directly
related to his paycheck; he is no different in this respect than for
example, Phil Donahue. I would not be in the least bit surprised to
see Rush "mellow out" a bit in the years to come and make a bid for
a network talk show like Donahue's. In Limbaugh's case he could be
a sort of polished version of Morton Downey Jr.

As for his willingness to enter into serious debate, I seriously doubt
that he would do it for long if the "Ditto heads" stopped watching.


>--STAN JACOBS

-other Andy
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