Charlie Sykes’ conscience is nagging him.Yes -- did Sykes not see that? Did he somehow overlook that racist anger when he was airing the kind of material described in this 2014 New Republic story?
Since last year, the most influential political talk show host in Wisconsin has found out just how hard it is to be a #NeverTrump conservative on right-wing radio....
Sykes’ many arguments with listeners over Donald Trump’s serial outrages have exposed in much of his audience a vein of thinking -- racist, anti-constitutional, maybe even fascistic -- that has shaken Sykes. It has left him questioning whether he and his colleagues in the conservative media played a role in paving the way for Trump’s surprising and unprecedented rise....
“When I would deny that there was a significant racist component in some of the politics on our side, it was because the people I hung out with were certainly not,” Sykes says. “When suddenly, this rock is turned over, there is this -- ‘Oh shit, did I not see that?’..."
Sykes is credited with, among other accomplishments, having blocked public funding for needle-exchange programs and having helped drive into bankruptcy an urban mall after harping on security issues there. In April 2013, he played a clip of “It’s Free (Swipe Yo EBT),” a viral video produced by a right-wing activist in which an African American woman raps about liquor stores where one can allegedly use a food-stamp card. Returning to the same theme later in the year, Sykes declared, “The number of Americans who receive means-tested government benefits -- welfare -- now outnumbers those who are year-round full-time workers.”Yeah, nobody could have foreseen that playing an excerpt from this video would stir up white racial anger:
And no one could have predicted that the author of this book would have stirred up Trumpite anger in the years before the rise of Trump:
On immigration, here are some pre-Trump tweets from Sykes:
Unexpectedly. Illegal immigrant freed pending drug trial flees https://t.co/mdzLdl154B
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) February 6, 2016
Illegal immigrants could receive Social Security, Medicare under Obama action http://t.co/e7g4TF6H1J
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) November 26, 2014
“@IBDeditorials: Ramirez cartoon: Speaking of illegal... http://t.co/SFEGzQhCxZ #immigration #amnesty pic.twitter.com/bIcQypxCRj”
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) November 15, 2014
And here's one referencing a murder victim frequently cited by Donald Trump on the campaign trail (an undocumented immigrant has been charged in the case):
Megyn Kelly: Why hasn’t Obama commented on the killing of Kate Steinle by an illegal? - Hot Air http://t.co/P3xjT2DoCr
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) July 13, 2015
On Islam and refugees:
I'm actually glad USA Today published this. No, islam is not a religion of peace... http://t.co/gssQN3yNVv via @usatoday
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) January 8, 2015
ISIS Burns Jordanian Pilot: Mr. Obama, when will you get angry about radical Islam? | http://t.co/EaUrWJFQA1
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) February 4, 2015
Obama refuses to acknowledge ‘Muslim terrorists’ at summit http://t.co/wu1llxZEWz via @nypost
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) February 19, 2015
"It is clear that the influx of Syrian refugees poses a threat," said Walker. https://t.co/nYELtScPFe
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) November 16, 2015
Sen. Ron Johnson: Americans Don't Trust This Administration to Vet Refugees - Right Wisconsin https://t.co/gqFL60J5Kx
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) November 17, 2015
Oh, and that angry mother of a Benghazi victim who spoke at the Republican convention on Trump's behalf? Sykes was an admirer three years ago:
Pat Smith to Hillary Clinton ‘Happy Mother’s Day’s you’ve got your child I don’t have mine’ http://t.co/QWt1h4Qkmr
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) May 12, 2013
(Go here for more on Benghazi from Sykes.)
And while Sykes may not endorse the nuttiest conspiracies, he traffics in the kind of right-wing conspiratorialism that's utterly mainstream. Hillary Clinton says she'd like to overturn Citizens United? Sykes responds by tweeting a link to an inflammatory Power Line post:
Hillary Wants to Make It Illegal to Criticize Her - Power Line https://t.co/h80yIKuL7r via @powerlineus
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) May 1, 2016
Are you a climate change denier with a book to hawk? You're welcome on Sykes's show.
Sykes is hardly the worst of the right-wing talkers. But did he do his part in preparing the ground for Trump? You bet.
8 comments:
Man handing out matches to arsonists, is shocked when they burn his neighborhood down.
Film at 11.
(Why do they keep saying that? No one uses film anymore in the "news" field).
Also worth noting that Sykes is pushing the "boy who cried wolf" theory of Trumpism--the notion that liberals calling every single Republican a racist are somehow partly or mostly responsible for Republicans nominating an actual racist.
Calling the party of personal responsibility! Your table is ready.
What? You don't like what's on the menu? But you'd approved every item when the restaurant was established!
Grand Inquisitor To Burn At Stake.
Robespierre Astonished To Learn Of His Execution Date.
Imperial Guard To Put New Senator On Imperial Throne.
The conservative white tribe does not believe in evidence, reason, or history. The only recognize strength and the perverse satisfaction from thwarting liberals, which at this point is threatening governance and national security of the United States.
At this point, a "true conservative" in America would gladly turn traitor to Russia or China, or sell arms and make deals with Islamic Radicals, as long as it hurt the real enemy in America: liberals.
As Sykes is finding out, one cannot waver on this path. To doubt the fitness of Trump is to doubt whiteness and "conservatism" itself. But in reality, it's the new generation of grifters lashing out in jealousy at the established older generation, and both are blaming each other for exposing the con, while the media is desperately trying to maintain the con for their own benefit.
Sykes is jammin' out 'cause Trump's too overt.
Sykes has always been just fine with white supremacist pols sufficiently subtle about it that Sykes can seem edgy. But once the white race power genie's out of the bottle for good (which Trump has come as closing to doing as anyone other than David Duke), where Sykes has been no longer seems edgy or audience lucrative: it's simply white power nihilism, which being identified with tends to lose you your corporate sponsors.
Wouldn't you know it? Conservative revolution threatens liberal imperialism!
Exhibit A
Lit3Bolt
Obama did not favor the MB over Mubarek? Well, as long as it would hurt the "real enemies" of American imperialism if it panned out.
"The conservative white tribe does not believe in evidence, reason, or history. The only recognize strength and the perverse satisfaction from thwarting liberals, which at this point is threatening governance and national security of the United States.
At this point, a "true conservative" in America would gladly turn traitor to Russia or China"
Full spectrum world dominance demanded by liberal imperialists here! Very transparent. Liberal McCarthyism. Sad, corrupt and doomed.
@ KenRight
Yes, because it's backed up by historical data.
Nixon's October Surprise.
Reagan's October Surprise and Iran-Contra.
Bandar Bush and W.'s ties to the Saudi Royal Family.
Trump all but sucking Putin's cock and defending his aggression this entire election.
I'm curious, how much does being a Putinbot pay? Or are you doing it for free, because you love strong bare-chested dictators so much?
http://www.juancole.com/2016/08/president-offers-facilities.html
.
Yes, let's hope Russia gives Bush's--and Obama's Saudi pals (he is supporting their decimation of Yemen) a real bruising.
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