Addictions

Addictions 

Beyond just being activists, the people whose angry shouts are drowning out civil discussions are addicted, not to drugs but to the hate and blame being dished out on AM talk radio, Fox News, right wing websites, forwards of right wing propaganda by other addicts and other participants in what Hilary Clinton once branded as the vast right wing conspiracy. Like drug addicts, the RWPA  (Right Wing Propaganda Addicts) need constant fixes to maintain their habit and, as with drug addicts, they need to stay away from sources for their fixes and away from other addicts, if they are to kick their habit. Unfortunately it isn't as easy to do so for RWPA as it is for drug addicts. Even if they don't seek right wing propaganda it will be treated as news and disseminated by the mainstream media.

Long gone are the days when a Walter Cronkite could declare that propaganda about such things as successes in the war in Vietnam were lies. Today any anchor or reporter who brands right wing propaganda as lies or who exposes right wing coverups risks his or her job because the pawns of the right will come after them with a vengeance. Only exposing liberal lies and coverups seems to be safe. Dan Rather was brought down because the right wing latched onto one forged document (a letter from the general in charge of the Texas National Guard) in an otherwise factual report concerning George Bush's preferential treatment in the Texas National Guard, and his failure to fulfill his military obligation, to trash the whole report and Rather himself. Totally ignored in the process of destroying Rather was the fact that the secretary who typed all the general's real letters said that she had typed many that said essentially the same thing as the forgery. Although never reported, because doing so would probably end their careers, it is common knowledge among mainstream media reporters that questioning right wing propaganda would at least end chances of further advancement in their careers.

Such full court presses targeting media types who might question right wing propaganda isn't new. Back in the 80s I wrote quite a few letters to the editor questioning Reaganomics and whether the Reagan administration was violating the constitution. One such letter, actually a poem titled "The Great Pretender" was picked up by other newspapers as far away as Florida and led to my being interviewed by a talk show host. The plan was for me to read my poem on air and to be interviewed for only a few minutes but the host and I hit it off and the segment stretched for nearly an hour with us bantering about many nonpolitical things such as musical tastes and favorite books. When the host returned to taking calls he was greeted by angry callers demanding his head as was the station's management. The shows sponsors also received calls threatening boycotts if the host and his "Commy friend Charley" were allowed on the air again. The angry calls worked and within a couple of days the host was no longer employed by the station. I didn't get fired but the interview and my letters to the editor did lead to property damage, threats (including one to burn my house and "roast my family if I wrote another one of my commie letters to the editor"and abuse of my son in school by sons and daughters of people with good family values. 

My favorite T-shirt for some time was one that said "Support our troops" on the front. I was wearing that shirt when heading for my car when a young man approached. Upon seeing the message on the shirt he smiled and said. "I really like your shirt". I smiled back and asked, "how do you like the back" as I turned to show a message that said, "End The War". Upon seeing the message the young man's smile was replaced with an angry expression and he said, "Go to hell you (…) liberal". Passing his pickup I noticed a McCain Palin bumper sticker on the back bumper. My expressing an opinion that only a RWPA could possibly object to, led to a personal attack. 

Prior to that I sent two e-mails from my son, who was serving in Iraq at the time, questioning whether the war was going to make our children and grandchildren safer, to a local paper that printed them. Within a few days our home was shotgunned with over $3,000 in damage done. I have no proof that there was any connection to the e-mails being printed but ours was the only house that was fired on. I have bought and sent tools and books to soldiers in Iraq. Wonder if the person who pulled the trigger did the same.

The addiction of RWPA in one respect is more insidious than that of junkies. Junkies don't use threats and violence to silence voices opposing drug use. 

Sincerely,

Charles Leach

Lynchburg

To the editor:

Beyond just being activists, the people whose angry shouts are drowning out civil discussions are addicted, not to drugs but to the hate and blame being dished out on AM talk radio, Fox News, right wing websites, forwards of right wing propaganda by other addicts and other participants in what Hilary Clinton once branded as the vast right wing conspiracy. Like drug addicts, the RWPA (Right Wing Propaganda Addicts) need constant fixes to maintain their habit and, as with drug addicts, they need to stay away from sources for their fixes and away from other addicts, if they are to kick their habit. Unfortunately it isn't as easy to do so for RWPA as it is for drug addicts. Even if they don't seek right wing propaganda it will be treated as news and disseminated by the mainstream media.

Long gone are the days when a Walter Cronkite could declare that propaganda about such things as successes in the war in Vietnam were lies. Today any anchor or reporter who brands right wing propaganda as lies or who exposes right wing coverups risks his or her job because the pawns of the right will come after them with a vengeance. Only exposing liberal lies and coverups seems to be safe. Dan Rather was brought down because the right wing latched onto one forged document (a letter from the general in charge of the Texas National Guard) in an otherwise factual report concerning George Bush's preferential treatment in the Texas National Guard, and his failure to fulfill his military obligation, to trash the whole report and Rather himself. Totally ignored in the process of destroying Rather was the fact that the secretary who typed all the general's real letters said that she had typed many that said essentially the same thing as the forgery. Although never reported, because doing so would probably end their careers, it is common knowledge among mainstream media reporters that questioning right wing propaganda would at least end chances of further advancement in their careers.

Such full court presses targeting media types who might question right wing propaganda isn't new. Back in the 80s I wrote quite a few letters to the editor questioning Reaganomics and whether the Reagan administration was violating the constitution. One such letter, actually a poem titled "The Great Pretender" was picked up by other newspapers as far away as Florida and led to my being interviewed by a talk show host. The plan was for me to read my poem on air and to be interviewed for only a few minutes but the host and I hit it off and the segment stretched for nearly an hour with us bantering about many nonpolitical things such as musical tastes and favorite books. When the host returned to taking calls he was greeted by angry callers demanding his head as was the station's management. The shows sponsors also received calls threatening boycotts if the host and his "Commy friend Charley" were allowed on the air again. The angry calls worked and within a couple of days the host was no longer employed by the station. I didn't get fired but the interview and my letters to the editor did lead to property damage, threats (including one to burn my house and "roast my family if I wrote another one of my commie letters to the editor"and abuse of my son in school by sons and daughters of people with good family values. 

My favorite T-shirt for some time was one that said "Support our troops" on the front. I was wearing that shirt when heading for my car when a young man approached. Upon seeing the message on the shirt he smiled and said. "I really like your shirt". I smiled back and asked, "how do you like the back" as I turned to show a message that said, "End The War". Upon seeing the message the young man's smile was replaced with an angry expression and he said, "Go to hell you (…) liberal". Passing his pickup I noticed a McCain Palin bumper sticker on the back bumper. My expressing an opinion that only a RWPA could possibly object to, led to a personal attack. 

Prior to that I sent two e-mails from my son, who was serving in Iraq at the time, questioning whether the war was going to make our children and grandchildren safer, to a local paper that printed them. Within a few days our home was shotgunned with over $3,000 in damage done. I have no proof that there was any connection to the e-mails being printed but ours was the only house that was fired on. I have bought and sent tools and books to soldiers in Iraq. Wonder if the person who pulled the trigger did the same.

The addiction of RWPA in one respect is more insidious than that of junkies. Junkies don't use threats and violence to silence voices opposing drug use. 

Sincerely,

Charles Leach

Lynchburg