It is becoming increasingly apparent that were it not for talk radio, many stupid thoughts would never see the light of day.
My prime example comes from a discussion on the Joe Pags Show on KTRH-AM in Houston this morning, which I listened to en route to a work site. Pags, short for Pagliarulo, has an occasional thoughtful caller or two but had some real idiots this morning as he discussed what the moderator believed to be one of the biggest mistakes a presidential candidate could ever make.
Apparently, Barack Obama said something during a speech during which he referred to the “57 states.” Obama’s spin doctors supposedly chalked up the miscue to fatigue. Pags remarked how he could not imagine anyone being so tired, drunk or otherwise incapacitated that they would not know that the U.S. has only 50 states. (Apparently he hasn’t known some of the drunks I have known). One caller had supposedly taken from that great mind of the right, Rushmore Limburger, that Obama was referring to the 57 states of Islam.
If indeed I thought that Obama really believed the U.S. had 57 states then I think there would be a great reason to shake my head and go “tsk, tsk.” Just as if I thought Obama’s remark about John McCain losing his “bearings” referred specifically to the presumptive GOP nominee being age-addled then I would have charged the Dem hopeful with taking a cheap shot.
But I believe that people, especially those prone to taking remarks out of context and making them into something supremely absurd, want to think what they want to think when it comes to their political world. So, if a person wants to believe that Obama doesn’t know how many states are in our union (excluding the state of confusion)or is a secret Islam man or an age-ist then those folks should have at it. Let them pronounce their great conspiracies all over talk radio land while the rest of us worry about whether Obama or Hillary or McCain can keep us safe from ists or prevent our economy from doing a repeat of the Roaring 20s.
Such pursuits will help me sleep better at night knowing there are plenty people around this land who are willing to stay awake in order to sweat the small stuff.