Is there really anyone still listening to the O'Reilly's, Hannity's and Limbaugh's of this world who believe this bunch to be straight shooters?

If there are, being manipulated is the least of their worries.

When Republicans had both houses of Congress it was actually quite a burden. But now the gloves can come off and for the first time in 12 years we don't have to hold back any longer. We can tell you what we really think and we are ecstatic about our ....

But they have an enormous (and frankly dangerous, IMHO) influence on public attitudes...

That's not surprising. I heard a caller on yesterdays Dennis Prager show pine for a reinstatement of the fairness doctrine, tacitly admitting that he just wanted to impose gag rules on those with whom he disagreed.

Of course for people like him, and I suspect you legion, the fact that the majority of this country has their news filtered thru the left leaning biases of the MSM is insignificant.

One can simultaneously say Denny Hastert should be fired and nonetheless prefer him to Nancy Pelosi; that Lincoln Chafee is barely a Republican but better than a Democrat; that Conrad Burns or George Allen have proven themselves to be dolts but that they’ll at least vote your way a lot more often than their opponents.

Based on this I suspect that Dr. Joyner (and probably Steve Benen as well) dont listen to Rush or Hugh all that much, for both have been highly critical of the GOP, especially Congress - and both frequently say the same thing. One ought not conflate supporting the President with cheerleading for his party's majority Congress.

Right wing radio hosts first have a duty to themselves, to keep themselves on the air.

On paper, you're right. And intellectually I agree - they're just another groups of info-tainers, and they should be treated with the same level of respect you seem to have for them. But they have an enormous (and frankly dangerous, IMHO) influence on public attitudes, and considering the amount of "patriotic" flag-wallowing those guys indulge in, their hypocrisy just triggers something deep inside my bile glands.

I commend to you his latest Newsweek opinion column. I always read it because I know that even though I might not agree, he won't insult my intelligence.

I don't know is I characterize it quite that way. Say, rather, that they felt, as I still do, and as America will two years hence, that the republicans were the better the two.

Limbaugh, within my your shot, has never suggested that the republicans were perfect, particularly this latest bunch. But by comparison to what else was available?

Macaca indeed. I see a lot of time and money saved on that one!

As a fellow liberal, I beg of you to please stop reading this blog. They use this insidious, evil strategy of actually assuming that you have a brain, and can succumb to logic and reason.

So far, I've been able to resist, but it's been quite a struggle.

I doubt they flat out lied to the listeners. They talk policy and politics, one of the simple rules in politics is to not talk your side down, let the other side take care of that. By enduring the loss of values by the conservatives I expect they feel cheapened but why aid the opposition by pointing out every flaw on the airwaves? Party conferences and private conversations are the proper place to sort things out. The problem is no one listened early enough to right the ship.

RiverRat is right talking about compromise in politics. Sometimes you look wise when compromising and sometimes you look undisciplined. The Republicans demise comes from a perfect storm of circumstances both nationally and locally. Disappointed conservatives, independents wanting a change and a basically butt ugly slate of candidates. We knew months ago this could be a loss of congress to the Dems so why is everyone acting like it's an unforeseen disaster?

Everyone has known that talk radio personalities are partisans hacks. Why all the indignation over it now?

Anderson, I'm still waiting for you to expand and explain your comment concerning my supposed selective ignorance and how googling me exposed it. Can I expect a reasonable response?

In other words, for guys like Limbaugh and Hewitt, they knew congressional Republicans were awful. They knew these lawmakers didn’t deserve their support, didn’t earn their trust, and didn’t perform as they promised. But they went out, day after day, and told their audience how great these Republicans are anyway, despite not believing it.

Nonsense. They told their audience how much worse the Democrats would be. I never heard a lot of praise for the Republicans in Congress. I heard a lot of talk about the horror of Democrats in the majority leading Congress.

Have you never heard of compromising, to the extent necessary, to achieve an imperfect goal without admitting it?

There's an enormous difference between making a necessary compromise and completely sacrificing all moral standards. Saying that there were a number of Repubs that didn't deserve to be in power kinda implies that there were some Dems that did. I'll freely admit there are some Repubs I trust enough to have power. But guys like Rush and Hugh never did.

They flat-out, unashamedly lied to their listeners for the last six years, just to keep the people in power happy with them. To the detriment of this nation's physical and economic security during a time of so-called war. I say so-called because it's obvious that these people didn't care what sort of threat this country faced, so long as they & their masters kept power.

Guys like Rush and Hugh are traitors. They've as much as admitted it. And anyone who listens to them and doesn't feel betrayed, or at least deeply unsettled about the way they've been manipulated, is far too stupid for me to care about offending with this rant.

Don't forget the shrill Dems in the comment threads.

But yes, seconded -- the election coverage has been up to JJ's usual high standards.