In Which Conor Friedersdorf Succumbs to Stockholmm Syndrome...
He writes:
The Man with the Golden Microphone | Politics | The American Scene: Americans regard Rush Limbaugh as the face of the Republican Party, he is able to drive the agenda of the conservative movement, and a lot of people on the right don’t find that problematic. Okay, it is what it is. Mr. Limbaugh isn’t going away anytime soon, and I wouldn’t want him to stop doing his radio program even if I could choose it. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to quietly stand by while Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck or Mark Levin jockey to be his successor. Should this be the last time that a talk radio host breaks the 10 percent barrier in a poll like this, the GOP and the conservative movement will be a lot better off, and so will our country, which suffers when its public discourse is largely driven by a medium that rewards bombast, oversimplification, the vilification of political opponents, and engaging paranoid straw men rather than the strongest arguments offered by the other side...
But if Rush Limbaugh were to stop doing his radio show today, move to the Upper Amazon, and take up a life of anonymous service to others--well, then, the country and the Republican Party would be much better off: there would be less "bombast, oversimplification, the vilification of political opponents, and engaging paranoid straw men..."
So why doesn't Conor wish that Limbaugh stop? I can understand "I wouldn't want to shut him down even if I could..."--free country, free speech, et cetera. But I cannot understand "I wouldn't want him to stop..."
It looks to me like Conor Friedersdorf has succumbed to Stockholm Syndrome...
