G20 and Friday Radio

I watched a good portion of the events and speeches of the G20 Summit Conference and I felt so very proud of President Obama, the substance of his remarks, and the way he delivered them. I felt a sincere hope that we would over time renew the respect that we once enjoyed in Europe.

As a counterpoint to that pride and pleasure at watching our new President and his First Lady in an international setting, I was genuinely frustrated and annoyed, though not surprised, at the critique by the right wing conservatives of these more than encouraging events. Media Matters brought attention to just one of their sins of omission: Media Matters

I bring attention to their sins of commission, namely the Limbaugh and Hannity radio shows:
I won’t go into this at length. You can find out the total content elsewhere but on Fridays both Limbaugh and Hannity elect to have “call in” day. Just a brief opinion:

LIMBAUGH this Friday said that Monday through Thursday he talks about the subjects of his choice so that he doesn’t have to put up with stuff that bores him. On Friday I guess he suffers his boredom stoically so that his 20 million listeners (not in this lifetime) can have an opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns. Of course that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t dominate the conversation anyway. The highlights of my 10 minutes or so of listening gleaned that Limbaugh’s criticism of President Obama was that he did everything all wrong and was just being tolerated particularly by France’s President, Nicholas Sarkozy, and German Chancellor , Angela Merkle. He went on to say that Merkel is skeptical of Obama’s whole personality. After finding copious fault with President Obama’s words and demeanor at the G20 Summit he went on to say that he didn’t watch it because it was only a dog and pony show. He accused Obama of giving up America’s sovereignty adding , “He [Obama} handed them quite a lot of America.” Thanks Rush, for critiquing someone else’s critique…AP I think it was, since you couldn’t be bothered to watch actual history. Before the commercial he was making these Daffy Duck sounds..I couldn’t quite figure it out for sure.

HANNITY also on Friday took callers. I could only stand listening to one. Anyway I didn’t linger there for very long. FYI, if you’re not familiar with Hannity’s call in hour, he invariably gets angry at any caller who even slightly disagrees with him and hangs up on them. This particular Friday I just couldn’t take the over talking which he does to anyone who finds fault with or questions the right. Why have callers if you don’t let them speak? Oh right, to further your own agenda. Never mind.

Usually I just switch to NPR. I enjoyed listening to the Terry Gross/Leonard Cohen interview. When asked about desire and passion changing in his songwriting over time, Mr. Cohen replied: “Passion fades because one isn’t as welcome in the garden.” What a great almost whimsical, yet somber, quote! Friday’s show: Fresh Air