General Discussion

"Screaming Bigot Show" and as I would drive during the day through one market area after another I would see how they were all the same in reality. Attack the schools, attack government programs and services, attack the poor as being lazy, attack people of color as not qualified, attack paying taxes, attack environmental programs, attack regulations, attack science, attack higher education, attack LGBTQ+ people, attack equal treatment for women etc. all in a recurring loop.

The part that always got me about these shows is the "callers" and listeners believing what they hear as being truthful. Shows would have staff call in and pretend to be plain citizens calling in to tell the bigoted host how right they were. It even got so crazy as scientific or medical topics for example would come up and phony "experts" would call in. If the discussion was nuclear weapons for example they would suddenly get a call from a guy claiming to be a nuclear physicist working at the highest levels with 30 years experience. The "caller" would back up whatever view the show host was pushing. The brain dead listeners never thought to ask themselves "Gee does it seem legit that such a topnotch guy would really be in Sioux City, Iowa listening to this show at 11:00 a.m. and call in?" But of course they would hear this kind of thing and take it as validation of the view pushed by the host. Just like a propagandist wants.

These shows always should have been required to be labeled as propaganda. If a show is truly just exchanging views that is one matter but when shows veer into "production" enhancements and phony callers etc. it is then clearly staged propaganda.