We returned from Hilton Head today, and drove through Atlanta. That little yuck-yuck cost us an extra hour....at 3 pm. I tuned in WSB AM750 to get traffic reports, and Rush Limbaugh was on. Many of you know I have not watched network TV in 44 years, and I haven't listened to commercial radio in about 25. I have therefore never heard Rush Limbaugh. I listened to nearly an hour of him today. These are my impressions.
Limbaugh's voice and delivery are very annoying. He uses an overly emotive speaking style, with exaggerated paralogisms to convey unspoken meaning, that generally being that Republicans are under siege and grossly misrepresented. He takes simple factoids and spins them out for many minutes, repeating himself and making loose associations that grated on me. During the hour that I had to endure in order to get three (three!) traffic reports, he covered only three items. He said coal was an cost-efficient source of electricity, and would not be replaced any time soon, he said Tesla had been heavily subsidized, and that The Washington Post and CNN had wildly misrepresented whether Trump was under investigation. Here is what I have learned this evening.
Coal is the number one source of US electricity generation, accounting for 39% of all electricity in the US. Here is the graphic breakdown-
Furthermore, coal is one of the very most cost-effective ways to generate electricity, rivaling nuclear without the construction costs. Here is another graph-
Here is data on US coal production-
92% of US coal production is used for electrical generation. The downturn in production correlates with the decrease in cost of natural gas, which is a much cleaner fuel to burn. Bottom line- coal is not going anywhere soon as a source of US electricity, and it is a cost-effective fuel. Limbaugh's claim is correct.
Tesla was founded by two men, not Elon Musk. His name has become synonymous with the company, however, which he bought in 2008. Musk made his money with PayPal, an internet pay service he no longer owns. He invested the profits of that sale into founding SpaceX. He has a wide variety of interests. Tesla the auto company sold 76,000 vehicles last year. It has had rapidly increasing sales, and plans to produce a US vehicle for under 35,000.00. Despite this, it has never shown a profit. Here is profit and revenue-
There are several articles noting subsidization of Musk's activities, totaling 4.9 billion dollars. Some of the subsidization is simply ordinary business incentives for factories- tax abatement, cheap land sales, etc. Some, however, is direct federal subsidy for electronic vehicle development. Limbaugh's claim of subsidization is correct, as is the total amount, but the significance and nature are dramatically presented and distorted.
Whether Trump is under investigation is an interesting question. CNN made a huge banner headline out of a Washington Post article stating he was. Trump reacted on Twitter, questioning why he was under investigation for firing Comey by the very man who advised firing Comey. It turns out both stories appear wrong. The DOJ made a statement that any claim Trump was under investigation did not come from them. That is not quite a denial, as rightly noted by Limbaugh. It leaves open the possibility that Trump is under investigation but that the information was leaked (now there's a surprise these days!). CNN toned down its banner, but there is no doubting the positive glee from CNN and WaPo that Trump was being investigated. Their ongoing claims would finally be true!
Despite the ongoing investigation media frenzy, Trump has been doing his job, while being denigrated. Press coverage of Trump has been overwhelmingly negative from the major networks, between 89 and 93% of stories being negatively framed. Despite this, he retains his original popularity. Here is the RealClearPolitics.com average of polls for Trump- his popularity has varied only 6% since February 1st. He is not very popular, but it is remarkably close to the proportion that elected him. Limbaugh cited only the Rasmussen poll that gives him 50% popularity, but this is misleading, since Rasmussen leans Republican and is the only poll showing him anywhere near 50%. Despite media eagerness, it is unclear whether or for what Trump is under investigation, investigation is not the same as wrongdoing, and coverage is overwhelmingly negative. Once again, Limbaugh's basic point is correct- media coverage of Trump is wildly negative- but his selection of data and presentation distorted.
My takeaway from listening to an hour of Rush Limbaugh? He is a poor speaker and debater. He speaks emotively and manipulatively, selecting material to 'prove' his points. Nonetheless, if you can stand the long harangues and the hooey, and do your own research, much of what he says is true. This general point applies to all media sources. I take none of them as 'gospel', read widely across the political spectrum, and look up data myself. I can read much faster than I can listen to Limbaugh, and with less annoyance. That goes for most political commentary and documentaries of all types, which is why I have not watched TV in 44 years....
Ted
Limbaugh's voice and delivery are very annoying. He uses an overly emotive speaking style, with exaggerated paralogisms to convey unspoken meaning, that generally being that Republicans are under siege and grossly misrepresented. He takes simple factoids and spins them out for many minutes, repeating himself and making loose associations that grated on me. During the hour that I had to endure in order to get three (three!) traffic reports, he covered only three items. He said coal was an cost-efficient source of electricity, and would not be replaced any time soon, he said Tesla had been heavily subsidized, and that The Washington Post and CNN had wildly misrepresented whether Trump was under investigation. Here is what I have learned this evening.
Coal is the number one source of US electricity generation, accounting for 39% of all electricity in the US. Here is the graphic breakdown-
Tesla was founded by two men, not Elon Musk. His name has become synonymous with the company, however, which he bought in 2008. Musk made his money with PayPal, an internet pay service he no longer owns. He invested the profits of that sale into founding SpaceX. He has a wide variety of interests. Tesla the auto company sold 76,000 vehicles last year. It has had rapidly increasing sales, and plans to produce a US vehicle for under 35,000.00. Despite this, it has never shown a profit. Here is profit and revenue-
There are several articles noting subsidization of Musk's activities, totaling 4.9 billion dollars. Some of the subsidization is simply ordinary business incentives for factories- tax abatement, cheap land sales, etc. Some, however, is direct federal subsidy for electronic vehicle development. Limbaugh's claim of subsidization is correct, as is the total amount, but the significance and nature are dramatically presented and distorted.
Whether Trump is under investigation is an interesting question. CNN made a huge banner headline out of a Washington Post article stating he was. Trump reacted on Twitter, questioning why he was under investigation for firing Comey by the very man who advised firing Comey. It turns out both stories appear wrong. The DOJ made a statement that any claim Trump was under investigation did not come from them. That is not quite a denial, as rightly noted by Limbaugh. It leaves open the possibility that Trump is under investigation but that the information was leaked (now there's a surprise these days!). CNN toned down its banner, but there is no doubting the positive glee from CNN and WaPo that Trump was being investigated. Their ongoing claims would finally be true!
Despite the ongoing investigation media frenzy, Trump has been doing his job, while being denigrated. Press coverage of Trump has been overwhelmingly negative from the major networks, between 89 and 93% of stories being negatively framed. Despite this, he retains his original popularity. Here is the RealClearPolitics.com average of polls for Trump- his popularity has varied only 6% since February 1st. He is not very popular, but it is remarkably close to the proportion that elected him. Limbaugh cited only the Rasmussen poll that gives him 50% popularity, but this is misleading, since Rasmussen leans Republican and is the only poll showing him anywhere near 50%. Despite media eagerness, it is unclear whether or for what Trump is under investigation, investigation is not the same as wrongdoing, and coverage is overwhelmingly negative. Once again, Limbaugh's basic point is correct- media coverage of Trump is wildly negative- but his selection of data and presentation distorted.
My takeaway from listening to an hour of Rush Limbaugh? He is a poor speaker and debater. He speaks emotively and manipulatively, selecting material to 'prove' his points. Nonetheless, if you can stand the long harangues and the hooey, and do your own research, much of what he says is true. This general point applies to all media sources. I take none of them as 'gospel', read widely across the political spectrum, and look up data myself. I can read much faster than I can listen to Limbaugh, and with less annoyance. That goes for most political commentary and documentaries of all types, which is why I have not watched TV in 44 years....
Ted
- I have also listened to RL; he is broadcast locally here. I agree that, for a thinking person, Limbaugh's delivery is virtually impossible to listen to, regardless of the content.
ReplyDelete- Coal may generate 39% of US electricity now, but that's DOWN from almost 60% in the 1980's. (See graph on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_power_in_the_United_States)
- Coal-electricity is cheap, but according to your graph, it's getting more expensive, and it's more expensive than nuclear (and about the same as Natural Gas, now that fracking is common). But that's irrelevant: the debate about coal is certainly not the expense - it's the filth that it pours into the atmosphere, without a lot of expensive "scrubbing" equipment (which is one of the reasons why, I'm sure, your graph shows its cost almost doubling).
- Why on earth does RL care about Tesla's subsidies? Much of US policy is "enacted" by government subsidies. As a nation, we have subsidized beef, tobacco, corn, airplanes, automobiles, sports arenas ... there's no end to subsidies, mostly enacted for political reasons rather than any enlightened interest of the United States. (When viewed this way, Republican attacks on the minimal subsidies received by Planned Parenthood are clearly hypocritical and political.)
- The Trump/Russia investigation, as led by the Republicans in Congress and the FBI, is not to be seen with glee, but with great sadness. Terrible damage has been inflicted on our democracy, far more than any investigation (regardless of outcome or lack of it) can undo. As I've said to you, I fear that we will not recover as a nation.
You did correctly identify RL's plain message: "that generally being that Republicans are under siege and grossly misrepresented." This, also, is a grotesque exaggeration. (I know you don't agree!) But the fact that he essentially has to bully and "gaslight" his listeners makes it pretty obvious that it's not the Republicans who are now under siege; he wants you to forget that Republicans actually are completely in power! How misleading is that?
Much of what RL says (spews?) is true as far as he states, but, as you point out, the facts are selective, out of context, and misused to mislead his listeners. And plenty of it is ad-hominum attacks, or outright lies. There can be no comparison of RL to CNN or the Washington Post; they are hardly equivalent. RL would be the first to agree.
I'm just saddened that you apparently missed my entire radio career of forty-something years.
ReplyDeleteThat's almost as bad as me saying I have never visited a doctor or specialist. Hahahaha!!