KVMR commentary - Pabulum, Placebo, or …?

George Rebane

[This is my bi-weekly commentary on KVMR FM 85.9 which aired today 14 May 2010.  I also write a column for The Union.]

The country’s tailspin is no longer a secret to at least half the voters.  Many of those people also listen to and watch the Limbaughs, Becks, O’Rileys, and Hannitys of our outraged rightwing media.  There the obvious and not-so-obvious problems with our republic and body politic are hyper-ventilated daily.  The audiences get a lot of satisfaction out of vicariously participating in the deft, and some daft, arguments that come streaming out at you.  Shouting ‘Yeah! Damn straight!’ in your house slippers seems to be the common response.

But I wonder how all that satisfying heat and light motivates people to actually get off their collective duffs and get involved.  Or do we feel that we’ve done our part for the Republic when Glenn says ‘Good night America’, and we know that we were there, nodding all the way?

I had a platoon leader in my Army training days who, after serving as an ‘adviser’ in Vietnam, described this problem succinctly in terms of the guerilla war then heating up in that country.  He told us that there are different responses to an order to attack, the desired one is for the troops to leap up and charge the enemy.  However, too many soldiers thought that Attack! meant just to scowl while leaning forward in your foxhole.  (In his second deployment to Vietnam, my platoon leader died while standing on the parapet trying to get his forward-leaning Vietnamese regulars to get up and attack the Viet Cong.  To the astute observer, the outcome of the coming war was already settled then and there.  But that’s another story.)

And so, to many of us, a dose of Rush in the morning, followed by an afternoon chaser of Glenn, turns out to be just about as much leaning forward as we’re prepared to do.  Besides, we can really show the jerks in Sacramento and Washington by doing it all over again tomorrow.

I’m George Rebane, and I expand these and other themes in my Union column, and on georgerebane.com.  The opinions here are mine and not necessarily shared by KVMR.  Thank you for listening. 

Comments

[Russ]

We can do more. Here is an example of how the Utah Tea Party gave "Bailout" Bennett the Boot. Details here. We can start by getting behind the local candidates that support our local Tea Party.

Also, the California Tea Party is supporting the AB32 Suspension Measure that will be on the November ballot. Support the Tea Party in that effort.

There are multiple opportunities to get out of the foxhole and from behind the TV set and take action. I will have some suggestions in the upcoming June CABPRO Magazine.