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Opinion An Independent Attitude Crossover voters dishonor tradition In almost two years of publishing The Amarillo Independent, this is probably the most personal and intense column I've written. I am not setting out to offend, but I suspect I will offend.
When my father got really angry at my brother or me while we were growing up, he would rail at us. And he would say, "g--d--- you, g--d--- you." Damn you to hell! He claimed to be agnostic, although my mother wasn't and my brother and I were raised in a mainline Christian church. I don't know if my father understood, or cared, about the Christian theological implications of saying these words to us. The idea that he was wishing for his children to spend eternity in hell likely never crossed his mind, but as I grew older and began to understand my Christian theology better, I realized how horrible a curse this was. And I especially find the idea of God's actually damning someone a little foreign in light of the view that Jesus came in love and wished us nothing but love. When I am intensely angry, I sometimes think, "g--d--- you." It's not something of which I'm proud and in my calmer and more thoughtful moments, I realize I really don't wish it on anyone, especially if one clings to the idea of eternal damnation. But recently I've found myself invoking damnation more often and it is particularly aimed at Rush Limbaugh and his hate-mongering ilk. Vote for Hillary Limbaugh in the days leading up to the Texas primaries on March 4 urged his followers — mostly Republicans — to cross over to vote for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary. The rationale was that GOP presidential standard bearer John McCain would have a better chance to beat Clinton than Barack Obama in the general election. I don't know to what degree anyone will be able to document or tally crossover voting in the Panhandle or in other parts of Texas. I know some of the callers to Limbaugh's show last week bragged they had voted for Clinton, casting what some have termed "mischief votes." That's un-American I don't think "mischief" is the right term. I think it's un-American voting. I know it's not illegal in Texas, or in other states that permit crossover voting in open primary states, but it violates the spirit of the process. When I listen to Limbaugh, I find myself indulging in invective intensely and often. He is, as are some of his confreres, a master propagandist — I refuse to call him a conservative radio talk show host. By the way, a little research into the business side of this blowhard shows that he is one small cog in the goliath Clear Channel, purveyor of a whole truckload of hosts running on the right side of the road, including Glenn Beck and Laura Schlessinger. Limbaugh's own language shows his disrespect for civility and decency. He calls Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, "Dung Heap Harkin"; Mary "Cute Little Baby Fat" Landrieu is his nickname for Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La.; and "Sen. Ubama" is a clear way to try to demonize Obama, a current presidential candidate. He calls one of the finest papers in the country, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the "Atlanta Urinal-Constipation." And his dittoheads buy into this rhetoric and don't think this is wrong — they see nothing wrong with the propagandistic hate and show no skills at critical or analytical thinking. Think for yourself My faith teaches me not to repay evil with evil and so it teaches me not to ask God to damn Limbaugh and his like. The only thing I can think to do is ask my readers to educate themselves and tell their friends that this country — and this city, if you look carefully — faces difficult times ahead. Those problems won't be solved by the corrosive hate coming from talk radio. George Schwarz: Editor and publisher of the Amarillo Independent. george@amarilloindy.com E-mail
comments about this story Posted: March 13, 2008
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