Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Matthew Yglesias makes a good point here about the most discussed feature of Sean Hannity's new solo TV show -- but I think Matt doesn't quite understand the beliefs of right-wingers:

If I may pile on a bit late, the truly odd thing about Sean Hannity's "Enemy of the State" feature is the specific locution -- state -- which is so deeply at odds with the quasi-populist tradition of the American right. Not enemy of the nation, enemy of the country, enemy of the people, enemy of America, but enemy of the state. The particular blend of authoritarianism and anti-statism that's typical of American conservatism from Tailgunner Joe to Liberality for All is incoherent, but at least it gives crypto-fascists the comfort of staying crypto.

But, see, it's only incoherent if you think the state has any power. Right-wingers don't -- or at least they don't when they control the state. Here's a Dennis Prager column from 2003:

Conservatives have talk radio, liberals have everything else

... That Democrats chafe at conservative dominance in talk radio is almost incredible – because liberals dominate everything else.

Liberals dominate television: Aside from some Fox News shows (remember the conservative Sean Hannity is paired with the liberal Alan Colmes), the liberals dominate everything on television (with the exception of John Stossel's specials on ABC). They dominate CBS, NBC, ABC, MSNBC and CNN news broadcasts, and they dominate all television entertainment.

Liberals dominate the education of our young: The ratio of Democrats to Republicans among liberal arts professors at universities is routinely 20 to one. And the deans, the presidents, the curricula, the speech codes and the campus newspapers are all liberal. Liberals also run the schools of education, the law schools, the high schools and the elementary schools.

Liberals dominate Hollywood....

Liberals dominate the public airwaves: National Public Radio has been dubbed National Palestinian Radio for good reason....

Liberals dominate the biggest foundations, such as the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations.

Liberals dominate almost every major newspaper both in news coverage and editorial page positions....

Liberals dominate virtually every professional organization....

Liberals dominate much of organized religion....

Liberals dominate activist groups....


So, see, it doesn't matter if you control all three branches of government and are about to start a huge war (as was the case for conservative Republicans in early 2003, when that Prager column was published) -- you still have no power if you're a conservative. Therefore, "Enemy of the State" doesn't mean "Enemy of the Powerful" -- it means the exact opposite.

If you were right-wing, this would make perfect sense.

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