As a rule, I don't listen to political talk radio while in the vehicle or at home. This is because (a) I already have high blood pressure, and (b) I live in Dallas, where the radio signals skew so far right that someone like Rush Limbaugh is considered a piker.
However, I listen to sports talk, and my usual station (KTCK - the Ticket) seems to be having trouble filling out ads for one of their daytime shows. Today I heard the semi-mellifluous tones of Fran Tarkenton advertising something. And when I heard the ad, I realized that what conservatives want and what fundamentalist religious people want are the same thing: a completely separate world.
Fran is now a spokesman for AMAC, the Association of Mature American Citizens. They cater to the "over 50 and conservative" set, and their reason for existing is laid out by Tarkenton as follows:
AARP seems to lean liberal.
AARP supported Obamacare.
Therefore, AARP are communists and must be balanced by a "true patriotic" organization.
AMAC is that organization.
Don't trust liberals.
Don't trust anyone that doesn't agree with you.
Maybe that last sentence was imagined by me. But to me, it seems like time after time, people who aren't happy with the way things are going are attempting to find alternatives that don't mesh with the rest of society.
Are schools bad for your kid? It's not your kid or your support or your parenting style, it's the school's fault! Charter Schools! Vouchers! Homeschooling with religious curricula!
Is your political party not conservative enough? Branch off and form your own group!
And now this.
To me, AARP has always been a good resource for seniors. I'm not in that age bracket, but when I read their services, they do a lot of good for the benefit of ALL older people, not just "liberals".
For me, an organization like AMAC, which probably will espouse the "limited government, support wars, defund things we don't like" line of policy, just doesn't seem to jibe well. This age range will be involved in one of the Government's biggest (and arguably best cost-controlled) programs -- Medicare. They'll get Social Security benefits. The entire attitude comes off as "I got mine."
It's this fracturing that really defines the difference between progressives and conservatives. Where should your taxes go? To helping others or bombing them? To help everyone earn a bit more money or to let the rich get richer? To support people or to support corporations?
Fran, you had a great career, but you never won the big game. And now, after football, you can live in a lakeside house and play golf all the time and shill for conservative causes, but that still doesn't make you a winner.