Conservative talk radio is a cancer

(Oh the irony of this meme format…)

The very first time I could vote, I voted Republican. And the next. And the next. It made so much sense, it was clearly the right choice. I was raised in a conservative home by parents with conservative views. Contrary to what some will say, we were not raised to hate anyone. We were taught to show love and respect to everyone and we tried to do so. The conservative viewpoint was correct, was the only way to view the world. I truly believed that, well into adulthood.

In college I began to seek out voices that echoed my own views, and started listening to AM conservative talk radio. Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck… they were saying what I was thinking. They were right. They had the answers. Those dumb liberals, why couldn’t they get on board? Why couldn’t they see that what they believed was wrong? I laughed at their jokes, nodded in agreement with their wisdom, and voted who they told me to vote for. To me Fox News WAS “fair and balanced.” It all seemed so true, so right. So rational. I truly was afraid that the insane overspending by the Democrats would sink the nation, that the gays were poisoning the minds of our youth, and that we were becoming a godless society. I drank the Kool Aid, and I drank it deep.

It reached a frenzy in 2012 when I was so convinced that Obama was the source of every ill that we faced as a nation and that Mitt Romney was the one who was going to lead us back to normality and sanity. Glenn Beck was the talking head of choice at the time and he was so sure that the Republicans would take back the White House that I was SURE it would happen. I told everyone about it. In my mind the election was just a formality.

Unhooking myself from the drip feed of poison that is conservative talk radio made me realize just how destructive it really is. At the time I told myself it was because I was upset that Romney had lost and that I just needed a break. It took some time for my views to shift but year over year I began to formulate my own opinions on things. I stopped looking for news from polarized sources and started looking for what was considered to be center and truly balanced. I started to see how much the things that I had previously believed could be harmful and hurtful, and actively hinder those who weren’t like me. I began to see the injustices that so many deal with on a daily basis that I am fortunate enough to never have to experience myself. And I began to be horrified at how I had viewed the world and what I had helped establish and uphold, either by my action or inaction. I didn’t realize at the time how much of a bullet I had dodged, getting out of that cesspool when I did. There is every chance that I would have been chanting in the cult of the Cheeto with the rest of the MAGA crowd today.

I would not define myself as a democrat, or even liberal. I still hold some conservative views, but those are mostly fiscal. I would say I am center with liberal leanings. I also would not say I will never vote for a conservative again, because I probably will, at least on a local level (I live in Utah so my choices are very limited). But I approach every election, local and national, with much more care. I research my candidates and issues and look for those whose views most align with my own. It just so happens that these days, more and more those candidates are democrats.

I have watched the Republican Party collapse under the weight of the ego of tRump. I have watched the party in this state in particular move so far to the right that they would consider me a liberal. They have abandoned their conservative principles in favor of fascism and devotion to their Dear Leader (just as a side note, my phone kept trying to auto correct “fascism” to “racism”). When your party has pushed Mitt Romney out because he’s not far right enough…

I have a lot more in my head about this that probably needs to come out, and this is likely just screaming into the void, but the main point is that I am glad I got out and got my head straight when I did. I look back on who I used to listen to and what I agreed with and can’t help but feel a sense of deep shame and embarrassment that I ever held beliefs anywhere near what they espouse.

But I would say this: I have so many friends and family members, people for whom I have the utmost love and respect for, who continue to vote red and probably will for the rest of their lives. And I try to engage them when topics arise, and try to help them understand why I feel the way I do about those things that we disagree on. And we will probably never see eye to eye on everything. And for the most part that’s ok. They can have their opinion. That’s what this nation is all about. But I will push back on injustice, on hate, and on discrimination. But I also know, having been there myself, just how real their fears are, and just how deeply they feel them, and how those fears can shape and inform their views. A little love and understanding goes so far. Just as I know I will never be convinced that I am wrong by someone in a MAGA hat yelling in my face, they won’t be convinced by someone wearing a rainbow pin doing the same thing. But a frank exchange of views, without vitriol, without hatred, without personal attacks or preconceived notions about what each other believes, and a willingness to listen and empathize without compromising your standards would go so far in helping avoid the extremes that we are experiencing now, in finding common ground, and moving forward. And not listening to inflammatory sources like cable news or talk radio is a huge step in the right direction.

Vote. Even in a heavily red state like Utah where I know that under the current climate my vote for Harris is swallowed up in the red, I will vote nonetheless. Because hey, weirder things have happened. And how hilariously awesome would it be if enough people who didn’t think their voices would ever break out of the majority, that a Republican stronghold like Utah flipped blue? So I’ll say it again, VOTE.

Most Viral Edit: I’m glad this has resonated with so many people. Please be kind, even to those who think differently from you. You don’t always know why someone holds the views they hold, and to them their fears are rational and justified. Talk, love, and be awesome. Except to Nazis. Fuck them.

Additional Information and Sources Edit: a few of you have asked what I consider to be my balanced news outlets. I get the vast majority of my news now from the AP. I feel like my BS sense is good enough now that I can tell when a story is skewing too far one way or the other, and I’ve always found them to be fairly unbiased. In addition to them I’ll check Reuters from time to time, but they seem to echo AP for the most part. I’ll read NPR for their op ed pieces as they tend to do more “human story” articles than the others do. And BBC is pretty good IMO for an English speaking international perspective. And for local I go to KSL, one of the local news outlets here in Utah. Because it’s Utah, there are slightly more right leaning, but they seem earnest and genuine and I just skip the articles that are obviously skewed. They are much more centrist than some of the other news outlets here though, so I take what I can get.