Rush Limbaugh Laziness

While I do not frequently agree with Rush Limbaugh, I listen whenever I have the chance. I sincerely believe that those unwilling to entertain contrary points of view do a disservice to their intellectual development. Putting aside those issues that rise to the level of media firestorms (i.e. the Michael J. Fox and Donovan McNabb debacles), he often provides well-crafted arguments in defense of his points of view. At least as often however, he spouts disingenuous nonsense by cherry-picking "evidence."

One recent instance that comes to mind is Rush extensive reading of a WaPo piece regarding Nancy Pelosi's fashion sense juxtaposed against outgoing Speaker Hastert's anti-fashion sense. Rush stated emphatically that this was prime evidence of the "drive-by media's" bias against republicans. Breathlessly, he decried the placement of the piece of the "first page of section C."

The piece was extraordinarily complimentary to future Speaker Pelosi's fashion sense, and said it wouldn't even get into Hastert's fashion sense. Rush dedicated at least 10 minutes of his show to this article. Never during his soliloquy did he tell his listeners what should have been readily evident to any media savvy listener - he was quoting the lead article in the WaPo's Style section. While the piece was written by a Pulitzer winning journalist, the journalist is the fashion editor. Rush skipped this little detail and thunderously warns his listeners that this is a mere harbinger of the kid glove treatment to come.

That is really bullshit. Moreover, it often seems that much of Rush's topic "research " is lifted (often with citation) daily from the Drudge Report. While I check Drudge at least daily, and it possesses an impressive number of links to an array of media sources, it headlines ain't exactly a one-stop shop for the well-informed.