Reaping the Whirlwind

Who is most responsible for creating the Frankensteinian, presidential candidate Donald Trump?

There are likely many who might claim a hand in molding Trump, including such nebulous groups as reality TV watchers and media outlets that currently give him constant free coverage.  For me I believe that the most influential hands that have sculpted this comic candidate Trump into leading candidate Trump belong to none other than Ronald Reagan. 

No, it's not because they both had names which had previously reached national recognition as part of the entertainment industry. Nor that they were both lifetime Democrats before having their come-to-Jesus-Republican epiphany.  

There is nothing we are aware of about Ronald Reagan, the man or politician, that inspired Trump, anymore than the Bible/Art of the Deal literary one-two punch inspires the Donald. It is merely coincidence that their first names rhyme. No, it was something Ronald directed in 1987 with all too little public debate.

In 1987, at the direction of then President Ronald Reagan, Dennis R. Patrick (Reagan’s appointed chairman of the FCC), ended an FCC doctrine that had been in place for 40 years.  It was called the Fairness Doctrine. 

Simply stated, it required that all licensed broadcasters (radio and television) present both sides of any controversy of public interest.  In the wake of the one sided broadcasting that helped make World War II possible, someone in the Truman Administration came up with the crazy idea that honesty, equity, and balance might be better served if the media, as part of their licensure, could not give just one side to any controversy they chose to report on.

Congress agreed, as did the Supreme Court 20 years later.  After seven Presidents, it took Ronald Reagan to see the wisdom in allowing mass media to spew whatever they wanted without the necessity of being held accountable. Congress passed legislation to make the doctrine law, but it was met with a Reagan veto. 

Who was the first person to take advantage of Reagan’s insight? Arguably, in 1988, it was the former disc jockey, college drop-out, four times married, drug addict named Rush Limbaugh.  At least he has been the most successful in taking advantage of Reagan’s acumen. Many followed. 

Initially, AM radio was the most utilized tool. It still is. Television prior to the advent of cable programming was too expensive to target select polarized audiences.  Even today, bias cable programming (Fox News, MSNBC and so forth) is reluctant to go too extreme for fear of poor ratings.  Not so for radio.

Targeted radio programs from Rush and other (almost exclusively) radical Conservative pundits have expanded their followers by the tens of millions.  Personalities such as Rush, along with notables as Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, Carl Levin, and a veritable host of Limbaugh wannabes reach every corner of the Country.

Like Wal-Mart, their audience started mostly in rural markets and slowly expanded to larger and larger urban areas.  Also like Wal-Mart, with the increased followers came the tens, then hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from sponsors and endorsements.  

It was an easy discovery that the more polarized, more vitriol, more fear laden the message was, the more dedicated and expanding their less educated listener base became.  Cha-ching. 
 
I have listened to all the big players and many small ones, sometimes at length.  More often I can’t even believe what I’m hearing.  The hate, lies, and half-truths presented as representing both nationalism and religious dogma is nearly an insult to the senses let along the intellect.

So how has the main street Republican Party, the bastion of political Conservatism, reacted to this growing Godzilla in their nest?  

As the audience numbers grew, Republicans embraced the talk show group enthusiastically and routinely included them as supporters in their campaigns.  What was said on these shows paled against the numbers delivered by the possibility of an endorsement or even simple supportive commentary. 

Then it began to change as the messages became more severe, the hate more expressive, and the fears more unstable.  Given that, you’d think the Grand Old Party would react by calling out these radio pit bulls and begin to distance themselves from them.  Not so.

To this date no major (or even minor, that I’m aware of) Republican politician has taken a proactive stand against Conservative Talk Radio and addressed the reality of what they espouse.  They have remained supportive by omission.  And what have they received for this tacit support? 

Ahh yes, a full grown Godzilla, otherwise known as Donald Trump.

The Conservative radio crowd loves Donald Trump without regard to his past and without regard to the fact that in matters of domestic and international politics, and in historical awareness, he is a complete, I repeat a complete idiot.  The Republican leadership cannot comprehend how the lunacy that spews out his mouth can resonate, but then I’m confident they really haven’t been listening to the radio either.  Or if they have, they discounted it as not meaningful to their Party.  They shouldn’t discount it any more.

They that sow the wind, shall reap the whirlwind  is a gem derived from old Hebrew texts.  Ronald Reagan planted the seeds and with each season the harvest gets bigger.  Donald Trump is truly the first major storm from that sowing and, all things being equal, he won’t be the last.