Homo Superior (Not!)

Garrison Keillor must have a tough time tearing his eyes away from the mirror in the morning. Via Arts and Letters Daily I find a piece where he expounds on his taste in radio and his nostalgia for what he calls "neighborhood radio". As it happens, I agree that some of what existed on the old 'CCO was a good thing I am sorry it's gone, and I too like Tommy Mischke. Unfortunately, he then decides to opine on conservative talk radio. First, he explains to us proles what it is made of. Apparently the primary feature of talk radio (conservative division) is the abuse of dental work:

People like Tommy Mischke, a nighttime guy on a right-wing station in St. Paul and a free spirit who gets into wonderful stream-of-consciousness harangues and meditations that are a joy to listen to compared with the teeth-grinding that goes on around him. Not that teeth-grinders are to be disparaged: I enjoy, in small doses, the over-the-top right-wingers who have leaked into AM radio on all sides in the past twenty years. They are evil, lying, cynical bastards who are out to destroy the country I love and turn it into a banana republic, but hey, nobody's perfect. And now that their man is re-elected and they have nice majorities in the House and Senate, they are hunters in search of diminishing prey.

But he does like it, in small doses. Hallelujah! Then he deigns to inform us why right-wingers are so popular as opposed to the low-ratings district at Air America or other liberal talk radio:

The reason you find an army of right-wingers ratcheting on the radio and so few liberals is simple: Republicans are in need of affirmation, they don't feel comfortable in America and they crave listening to people who think like them. Liberals actually enjoy living in a free society; tuning in to hear an echo is not our idea of a good time. I go to church on Sunday morning to be among the like-minded, and we all say the Nicene Creed together and assume nobody has his fingers crossed, but when it comes to radio, I prefer oddity and crankiness. I don't need someone to tell me that George W. Bush is a deceitful, corrupt, clever and destructive man--that's pretty clear on the face of it.

Naturally, he can't get through the article without taking a personal shot at President Bush and those who voted for him. Does that cross the line, Mr Iggers? And it is edifying to know those of us who are politically to the right of Mr. Keillor (most of us, based on the last two elections - ed. ) are uncomfortable here in America, and just can't enjoy and appreciate a free society, because you have to be an enlightened liberal to do so. If that's so, why is it that the liberals are the ones who are shoving their agenda down our throats via the courts?

Lastly, he takes some time to describe (and dismiss) the audience for conservative talkers:

I don't worry about the right-wingers on AM radio. They are talking to an audience that is stuck in rush-hour traffic, in whom road rage is mounting, and the talk shows divert their rage from the road to the liberal conspiracy against America. Instead of ramming your rear bumper, they get mad at Harry Reid. Yes, the wingers do harm, but the worst damage is done to their own followers, who are cheated of the sort of genuine experience that enables people to grow up.

How nice. How condescending. What cow excrement. Gar, it's nice to be aware that the talk radio listeners among us whom you dismiss are merely suffering from a case from retarded development, and all we had to do was listen to public radio, vote Kerry and nod our heads to be cured.

It does illustrate one of the problems the Democrats face: with supporters like these, who has time to worry about the GOP?