one thing that was very effective against the loony right wing was humor. it takes itself very seriously. brecht often used satirical humor against the nazis (which went right over their heads, or around their other ends) according to my uncle who was a personal friend of his.
the crazy ideas and attitudes of the right used to be seen as humorous during the 1960s and early 70s. even some TV anchor people would laugh openly at certain bizarre, rightwing "news" stories. but as the right organized and started drowning advertisers and station execs with mass mailings and telephone campaigns containing threats not to buy products, complaints about being mistreated, complaints about the "liberal" media, etc., the humor stopped and serious media faces announced the most gross and farcical absurdities in right wing beliefs as if they weren't comedy and stupidity.
the eventual outcome was respect for right wing craziness that it doesn't deserve -- and the trickle down effect this had on the population at large. the kind of pure idiocy like cheney's comment that if kerry's elected, the US will be attacked by terrorists as if it wasn't when shrub/cheney, et al, were running things on 9/11, and isn't in greater danger now due to bush/cheney. and cheney's follow up about ebay. people began taking this garbage seriously.
what we have in the media today, with its emphasis on how wonderful antediluvian right wing notions are, shows like hannity, o'reilly, show "liberals" who are right of center, etc., is what we get for forgetting to laugh at stupidity, failing to speaking truth to abject ignorance, allowing wedge issues to be taken seriously, avoiding "controversy," and refusing to confront the oxymoron "rightwing thought" for what it is.
R
>>"If we only included bake sales and how much money kids make at lemonade
>>stands, this economy would really be cooking," Edwards said in a statement.
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