Do you listen to Rush Limbaugh?

TPS, very good points. But one of the things that you and others don't seem to want to even think about or admit is that Rush listeners do not get their thinking from him but that the precise reason for his lasting success is that he very eloquently(sometimes;) ) puts into words exactly how alot of his audience already feels about certain issues. I don't need him to tell me I am a fiscal conservative and have been for many years, I don't need him to tell me I don't like Hillary Clinton, I don't need him to tell me I support being on the offensive on the war on terror. Rush was not around to tell me what a disaster Jimmy Carter's Presidency was, I figured that on my own, He was not around to tell me that Ronald Reagan was a conservative's conservative, I figured that on my own. I also absolutely do not agree with everything he says, which is another thing that Rush haters seem not to be able to admit about his audience. I have some liberal thinking on alot social issues, but am a political conservative.

I would say this runs contrary to simple human nature.

Humans want to be herded and led. It's the way we are. It's why ideologues on both sides are so successful. What they are able to do is convince us that these are our opinions when really we're just herding up because that's what we do.

Unlike most I'm willing to concede this happens to me as well. If I listen to too much of one side it starts to have a serious effect on my opinion. It's why I try and go to such a wide variety of sources. Now that I have Sirius it's awesome switching from Patriot to Left to the new Independent (110) because I'm getting a ton of views on an issue in the same day.

The problem is there are lots of people who limit the information they intake to certain ideologues. They are easy to spot because they use the same talking points and are completely unable to express themselves when their views are challenged. If Rush or Hannity or Moore or Frankken hasn't covered the subject or facts they are completely unprepared with the proper verbiage to compose a response.

Here those people get no quarter given (though they ask for rolls of quarters) because somehow we have managed to gather up on the EE some pretty strong thinkers from all political persuasions and positions.