What a Rush...

Okay. I admit- I don't ever really recall sittin' and spendin' any more than a few seconds listenin' to Rush Limbaugh at any given time. Felt I'd heard enough clips and quotes via other avenues over the past couple decades to know that Me and Rush are basically without overlap- politically, idealogically, morally, ethically, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera... Nope, none.

So, I get in the company van earlier today. The radio is switched to AM (red flag, right there) and Rush is on. So, I assume out of some morbid personal curiosity, I leave it there.

And I listen...

Durin' the course of next three to four minutes that I subject myself to this "show"(?), I hear nothin' but a non-stop, ugly, name-callin', insult-slingin', mockin', derogatory, pessimistic, venom-spewin', piss-and-moan, hate-monger bitch-fest, the likes of which I don't think I have ever had the misfortune of hearin' before. No "meaningful dialogue.". No "discussion". Just mind-blowin', jaw-droppin' rhetoric! I am freakin' out! Yeah! Me...!

(Breathe...)

Damn.
If this stuff is indicative of the kind of thing that apparently shitloads of my Fellow Countrymen are choosin' to include in their regular diet of Sorry-Ass "Entertainment", then a good lot of things instantly become clearer for me to see and a little bit easier to fathom-

The Level of Hate and Intolerance I see around me every day is a Big Mystery no more. The Veil has been lifted.

The Blisterin' Contempt with which we so easily hold Our Down-Trodden and Less-Fortunate is no longer surprisin'. (Expected...?)

(Drink...)

The Deaf Ear and the Blind Eye that so often decide to ignore Fact and Reason, optin' instead to posit that Compassion is a Curse- a Burden yoked only by the Weak- these are now recognizd as Enviable Skills, as in "if I had been a bigger, more closed-minded prick, I might woulda had a better chance..."

The Capacity to be led by the Nose by our Opressors/Manipulators/Abusers- those loungin' across eider down pillows while bein' fed golden grapes by hosts of both Virgins and Harlots- as we relish in every minute of our Stupidity? This is the New Corporate Fascism. The True Face of Capitalism Run Amok and a Populace Turned Commodity. Rendered blind. Lazy. Blissfuly Ignorant. Mean-Spirited Mobs- all Pitchforks and Torches. Tens of thousands sharin' a Single Brain, and a shitty one at that.

Bigotry, Intolerance, even Racism? All dressed up in thousand dollar suits and white and purple robes, espousin' their Proclamations of Infallability and Unwaverin' Blockhead Conviction. Annointin' the Hoarde with their Faux Concern, dumped from heart-shaped boxes made of Death Warrants and Eviction Notices, pasted together with Blood and Bile. Uncompromisin'. Haughty. Swollen Fat with Pride. Drunk on the Sweat of Others.

These Abandonments of Collective Empathy are no longer recognized as Flaws of Character, Errors in Judgment, but are absurdly held up as Examples of the New Virtues, Badges of the Iron-Fisted. The Absolutely Righteous. These Cancers now displace Compassion, Understandin', Empathy- things which were once Treasured and Admired Values, but are now considered only Pathetic, Fragile. Crushable. So Crushable.

At Best? Instrumental in the Design and Implementation of an Untenable Situation.
At worst? Simple Doom.

Unbelievable?

Sadly, no.

Not so much now. No...

I think I might be sick...