Klavan On The Culture

March 27th, 2009 10:21 am

Me in the LA Times

If you have a chance to grab the Los Angeles Times for Sunday March 29th, you’ll find me opining on Rush Limbaugh. It – and the reaction to it – should be pretty interesting. I’ll put a link up here when it’s available.

Kudos, by the way, to the always fair op-ed page editors at the Times. I have written for the Washington Post and the New York Times as well and getting a conservative point of view past their editors without being gutted is virtually impossible. The LA Times, liberal as are their news pages, really does allow conservatives to speak on the op-ed page.

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9 Comments

1. David Thomson:

Rush Limbaugh provides brilliant insights concerning the issues of the day to his listeners. That is why I laughed so hard when Barack Obama targeted the famous talk show host. Limbaugh is far more brilliant than the president. He would humiliate Obama in a debate. It would not be a fair fight. Obama’s people blundered badly in raising Limbaugh’s profile. It increased his radio audience by a full 50%. Rush is now more powerful than he ever was.

Mar 29, 2009 - 4:12 am 2. Ed Driscoll » Take The Limbaugh Challenge:

[...] PajamasXpress blogger Andrew Klavan makes L.A. Times readers an offer they can’t accept: By lifting some typically Rushian piece [...]

Mar 29, 2009 - 11:10 am 3. Bob:

I’ve attempted to listen to Limbaugh, and find the man dull with very little to offer. The man attempts to rewrite history and his listeners lap it up. Short on facts, high on hillbilly heroin. As much as I enjoy your books, it surprises me that you lionize this hypocritical chicken-hawk.

Mar 29, 2009 - 3:02 pm 4. David Thomson:

“The man attempts to rewrite history and his listeners lap it up.”

Would it be too much to ask you to provide a few examples? These vague allegations leave something to be desired.

Mar 29, 2009 - 4:20 pm 5. elvis:

It is time to throw down the gauntlet and instead of complaining about the media… fire all barrels at them and their allies.

With a real decisive blow, Andrew Klavan does just that. He nails the incredible intellectual dishonesty of the left wing pseudo -intellectual.

Mar 29, 2009 - 5:38 pm 6. e:

Decent opinion piece. The most vocal people against talk radio personalities HAVEN’T listened to the actual programs.

However I wonder what the right approach to make this point is. Direct argument never seems to work as people with less thought out opinions tend to lock up. I haven’t much skill in how to do it, but I think the best strategy is to trick the liberals into seeing the truth.

Make them think that its another piece to tell them how right their opinion already is. Then slowly curve the argument so they follow their own logic, morals and feelings into your conclusion.

Of course its much easier when your argument would be theirs if not for unthinking hypocrisy.

Mar 29, 2009 - 6:20 pm 7. Chip:

I haven’t listened to Rush, but I’ve listened to hours upon hours of Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, Mark Levin, Sean Hannity, Michael Reagan and Rusty Humphries. I’ve read a great many articles on sites like the National Review, Townhall and WorldNetDaily.

I’m going to guess that my reaction towards these outlets is similar to your reaction towards the likes of Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow and the Daily Kos.

I disagree with all of them them vehemently (usually). What reason do I have to believe that Rush will do a better job of changing my mind?

Mar 30, 2009 - 9:55 am 8. Lynn:

I applaud your attempt at getting the libs to exercise some intellectual honesty, but really Mr. Klavan, nailing Jello-O to a tree might prove easier.

Your analysis of the typical liberal rant against Rush was spot-on. May I add an observation of my own?

The I-Don’t-Like-Rush-Limbaugh Syndrome feeds heavily on the assumption that a person’s validity is measured by the emotions he/she evokes. Since libs don’t like Rush and he evokes an emotional, and many times, physical response, it is only logical for them to assume that what he says isn’t valid. Never mind that his monologues rely heavily on citing direct quotes and using soundbites in their proper context(a skill not yet mastered by the MSM). Never mind that the facts expose the out-right lies of the liberal deity. None of that matters. All cognitive function flies out the window once the blanching starts.

Mar 30, 2009 - 5:16 pm 9. Jim Treacher:

“I disagree with all of them them vehemently (usually). What reason do I have to believe that Rush will do a better job of changing my mind?”

Whatever you do, don’t try to find out.

Apr 4, 2009 - 3:11 pm