Marilynne Robinson Robinson wonders if the reason people prefer Rush Limbaugh and “Jay Leno” (no longer a current example) is because they instruct viewers as to what it is “cool to think.”
The present dominance of aspersion and ridicule in American public life is a reflex of the fact that we are assumed to want, and in many cases perhaps do want, attitude much more than information. If an unhealthy percentage of the population gets its news from Jay Leno or Rush Limbaugh, it is because they are arbiters of attitude. They instruct viewers as to what, within their affinity groups, it is safe to say and cool to think. That is, they short-circuit the function of individual judgment and obviate the exercise of individual conscience. So it is to a greater or lesser degree with the media in general. It is painful to watch decent and distinguished people struggle to function politically in this non-rational and valueless environment.
One of my college professors once said, succinctly, if I may, “Reality has way of intruding upon political rhetoric”. Rush doesn’t tell you what to think, he just reaffirms and helps to clarity what you were already thinking. The truth is a rare commodity these days. Rush.
in his satire, pretty much gets it right.
Rhetoric/attitude takes over and the facts get lost.