“I was sitting in therapy describing an in-law I like, and quickly heading for a “but.” “He’s a loving, caring, selfless man — but his politics are all about hatred,” I said. “He’s not educated, and more significant, he’s ignorant — he actually listens to Rush Limbaugh.”
I waited for a “Whoo boy!” or a sympathetic smile, but my shrink just stared at me, expressionless.
“I assume you’re not a Limbaugh fan,” I ventured, assured that this woman, so nuanced in her thinking, couldn’t possibly be a Dittohead. She was so reasonable that I couldn’t imagine her getting off on Rush’s demented tirades. She didn’t seem square enough for his politics, and I was certain no hate radio fan was capable of her intellectual sophistication. Besides, she was an educated urban Jewish professional, and Rush’s audience consisted largely of white suburban males.
She held my gaze a few excruciating seconds longer. “Actually, I am,” she said. My moral compass began spinning wildly. I was suddenly sitting with someone new. The levelheaded sage in whom I’d confided for nearly a year had been replaced by an off-the-rack ideologue.
There were five minutes left in the session, and I felt like running. “Well, this could devolve into a whole political discussion, so I’ll just finish the story,” I rallied.
For the next week, I struggled with an overwhelming sense of betrayal.” – Margot Mifflin, Salon.
BLOG RANKINGS: How knows what to make of them? I used to be hooked on daily traffic readings and then I realized I was going insane. Some of you may have come to that conclusion a long time ago, of course. Anyway, here’s some crack for the weak, as Mickey would say. According to RightwingNews, this blog is the second most influential (in terms of who links to it) and the most popular (according to one unreliable ranking system) on the web. Generally speaking the right still dominates – but the left has all but caught up. That’s a good thing. The more voices the better.
THE BEST CASE: If your mind is in any way open to persuasion on the matter of gay marriage, you really n eed to read Jonathan Rauch’s extraordinary new book, “Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good For Gays, Good for Straights, and Good For America.” It’s calm, clear, relentless and, to my mind, irrefutable.
The Dish 