Clinton White House Created Secret 'Seminar Caller' Program for Talk Radio!

[NightHawkeye]

Everyone knew about seminar callers in the 90s. Limbaugh used to joke about them and call them out. This isn't new stuff.

Yeah, but ...

... they were called conspiracy theories at the time. Now ... confirmed FACT.

 

[Redwingfan9]

Yeah, but ...

... they were called conspiracy theories at the time. Now ... confirmed FACT.

Limbaugh is hardly a purveyor of conspiracy theories. He mocked those folks back in the 90s, calling them the keepers of odd knowledge society (kooks). In any event, Limbaugh picked out the seminar callers, attacked them and hung up on them. It was routine and at the time because he was the first big talk radio personality, it was funny.

 

[NightHawkeye]

In any event, Limbaugh picked out the seminar callers, attacked them and hung up on them.

Incorrect. Limbaugh never hangs up on people. If you listened to Limbaugh you would know that.

It was routine and at the time because he was the first big talk radio personality, it was funny.

It is still funny ... because he never hangs up on them. He plays them. It never gets old.

 

[Gigimo]

It would be funny ... if it weren't so sad.

Some of the most obvious examples are non-political.

The site he runs is political and some of those folks were so obvious because they all sounded the same (and all came from the same IP address)

 

[Redwingfan9]

Incorrect. Limbaugh never hangs up on people. If you listened to Limbaugh you would know that.

It is still funny ... because he never hangs up on them. He plays them. It never gets old.

I used to listen to him when I was in college back in the 90s. It's true he would play with them for awhile. Eventually he would get rid of them, often at a commercial break. I agree more often than not the caller panicked and hung up.

 

[NightHawkeye]

I used to listen to him when I was in college back in the 90s. It's true he would play with them for awhile. Eventually he would get rid of them, often at a commercial break.

Sure. Nobody gets to hog Rush's show ... except Rush.

I agree more often than not the caller panicked and hung up.

Don't know about the hanging up part. Seminar callers, by definition, are persistent. I've always had to work so listening to Limbaugh was only an occasional pleasure.

Mark Levin will hang up on them ... but Levin has a short fuse. Rush has the patience of Job.

 

[Redwingfan9]

Sure. Nobody gets to hog Rush's show ... except Rush.

Don't know about the hanging up part. Seminar callers, by definition, are persistent. I've always had to work so listening to Limbaugh was only an occasional pleasure.

Mark Levin will hang up on them ... but Levin has a short fuse. Rush has the patience of Job.

Admittedly I haven't listened to Limbaugh in well over a decade. I'm old enough to remember when every caller said ditto ( they seemed to stop that at some point) and I'm old enough to remember when Algore Paradise was first played. That has to be the best parody Shanklin ever did.

 

[DaisyDay]

Now you see why I ask some posters how they verify the veracity of what they believe and post, I've not gotten a good answer yet other than they're "critical thinkers"

I see that mainly from libertarians and conservo-anarchists.

 

[NightHawkeye]

Admittedly I haven't listened to Limbaugh in well over a decade. I'm old enough to remember when every caller said ditto ( they seemed to stop that at some point) and I'm old enough to remember when Algore Paradise was first played. That has to be the best parody Shanklin ever did.

Dittohead was a thing for a while ... after Democrats accused Rush of having an entire army of listeners following his every order - a one man leader of the resistance.

Democrats tried to get rid of Rush via the IRS. States attorneys have gone after him. They've attacked his advertisers. They tried the "fairness doctrine". Now we know they even had an entire cadre of paid seminar callers. When all else failed, Democrats attempted to compete with Rush by starting "liberal" talk shows ... but apparently their "liberal agenda" sounds better in sound bites than in logical narrative format. Who knew?

 

[Redwingfan9]

Dittohead was a thing for a while ... after Democrats accused Rush of having an entire army of listeners following his every order - a one man leader of the resistance.

Democrats tried to get rid of Rush via the IRS. States attorneys have gone after him. They've attacked his advertisers. They tried the "fairness doctrine". Now we know they even had an entire cadre of paid seminar callers. When all else failed, Democrats attempted to compete with Rush by starting "liberal" talk shows ... but apparently their "liberal agenda" sounds better in sound bites than in logical narrative format. Who knew?

The only reason why his show ever made it on the air was because Reagan got rid of the Fairness Doctrine. Before that it was impossible for conservatives to get a show presenting their side. With news overwhelmingly controlled by leftists, prior to the mid 80s conservatives had no broadcast outlet. I'm sure the left would love to return to that, though I think with the internet they're after bigger things than talk radio.

 

[NightHawkeye]

The only reason why his show ever made it on the air was because Reagan got rid of the Fairness Doctrine.

Correct.

They attempted to revive it because of Rush though.

Before that it was impossible for conservatives to get a show presenting their side. With news overwhelmingly controlled by leftists, prior to the mid 80s conservatives had no broadcast outlet.

Good things happened under Ronald Reagan.

I'm sure the left would love to return to that, though I think with the internet they're after bigger things than talk radio.

They seem to own Google and Facebook.

 

[Gigimo]

I see that mainly from libertarians and conservo-anarchists.

But I don't ask them that question...

 

[DaisyDay]

But I don't ask them that question...

Okay...that's nice, I guess.

 

[iluvatar5150]

I used to listen to him when I was in college back in the 90s. It's true he would play with them for awhile. Eventually he would get rid of them, often at a commercial break. I agree more often than not the caller panicked and hung up.

That may have been how he presented it, but I seriously doubt that was what actually happened. I used to listen pretty regularly and I remember him talking about seminar callers far more frequently than I remember then actually getting on air. His call screening operation was run pretty tightly and you didn't get on the air unless he wanted you on the air. My dad used to try to call in semi-regularly and even getting past the busy signal was a challenge.

Mark Levin will hang up on them ... but Levin has a short fuse. Rush has the patience of Job.

That's kind of like saying that a cat has patience with a mouse it's already caught. Playing a game for show or sport isn't patience.

When all else failed, Democrats attempted to compete with Rush by starting "liberal" talk shows ... but apparently their "liberal agenda" sounds better in sound bites than in logical narrative format. Who knew?

Actually, it's just the opposite - political talk radio is not a "logical narrative format" - it's a stream of soundbites, often angry soundbites, repeated ad nauseum. And you're right, libs have repeatedly failed at that - the TV incarnation (MSNBC) chugs along okay, but not nearly as well as Fox, and the radio version has never taken off.

Where libs do succeed is in outlets that truly do follow a more logical, thoughtful narrative, like long-form journalism and radio: NPR, NYT, WaPo, The Atlantic, Vox, etc. Where are the conservative competitors to those outlets? National Review? They try, but their glory days are in the past. AFAIK, The Daily Caller imagined itself being that at the outset, but things didn't quite work out that way.

 

[Redwingfan9]

That may have been how he presented it, but I seriously doubt that was what actually happened. I used to listen pretty regularly and I remember him talking about seminar callers far more frequently than I remember then actually getting on air. His call screening operation was run pretty tightly and you didn't get on the air unless he wanted you on the air. My dad used to try to call in semi-regularly and even getting past the busy signal was a challenge.




That's kind of like saying that a cat has patience with a mouse it's already caught. Playing a game for show or sport isn't patience.



Actually, it's just the opposite - political talk radio is not a "logical narrative format" - it's a stream of soundbites, often angry soundbites, repeated ad nauseum. And you're right, libs have repeatedly failed at that - the TV incarnation (MSNBC) chugs along okay, but not nearly as well as Fox, and the radio version has never taken off.

Where libs do succeed is in outlets that truly do follow a more logical, thoughtful narrative, like long-form journalism and radio: NPR, NYT, WaPo, The Atlantic, Vox, etc. Where are the conservative competitors to those outlets? National Review? They try, but their glory days are in the past. AFAIK, The Daily Caller imagined itself being that at the outset, but things didn't quite work out that way.

At the end of the day Limbaugh is entertainment and he is but an entertainer. It's his job to amuse and at least back in the day he was good at it. No doubt the whole operation was highly polished and the only callers who got on were the ones Limbaugh's team thought would be entertaining.

 

[iluvatar5150]

At the end of the day Limbaugh is entertainment and he is but an entertainer. It's his job to amuse and at least back in the day he was good at it. No doubt the whole operation was highly polished and the only callers who got on were the ones Limbaugh's team thought would be entertaining.

Right. And as far as entertainment is concerned, credit where it's due. He's good at his thing, but to NHE's claim - let's not pretend he's more than that. He doesn't make you think. He doesn't prod you to question or understand. He just tells you what to think and how to be angry and how to feel superior to the libs. If his show were really rooted in some sort of logical, intellectual narrative, his schtick would've developed and matured over 25 years. That it hasn't highlights how shallow he and his message are.

 

[NightHawkeye]

Right. And as far as entertainment is concerned, credit where it's due. He's good at his thing, but to NHE's claim - let's not pretend he's more than that. He doesn't make you think. He doesn't prod you to question or understand. He just tells you what to think and how to be angry and how to feel superior to the libs. If his show were really rooted in some sort of logical, intellectual narrative, his schtick would've developed and matured over 25 years. That it hasn't highlights how shallow he and his message are.

... and even now Rush Limbaugh is so despised by Democrats that they have vilified him so many ways that no one who doesn't already listen to him believes anything positive said about him.

One small man ... "with talent on loan from God" ... is not infrequently referred to by Democrats as the leader of the conservative movement. He has only his voice, few advertisers and just offers commentary on the news of the day via media channels largely abandoned of other uses.

One can't help but wonder, what could it be that some so admire, yet others despise so much that his mere presence seems to threaten their very existence?

 

[iluvatar5150]

... and even now Rush Limbaugh is so despised by Democrats that they have vilified him so many ways that no one who doesn't already listen to him believes anything positive said about him.

One small man ... "with talent on loan from God" ... is not infrequently referred to by Democrats as the leader of the conservative movement. He has only his voice, few advertisers and just offers commentary on the news of the day via media channels largely abandoned of other uses.

One can't help but wonder, what could it be that some so admire, yet others despise so much that his mere presence seems to threaten their very existence?

I don’t know what you’re talking about. I used to listen to him for years and it’s only much more recently that I’ve become aware of how vacuous his schtick is. I’m also continually surprised at how little credit and consideration libs give him and his influence these days.

 

[NightHawkeye]

I don’t know what you’re talking about. I used to listen to him for years and it’s only much more recently that I’ve become aware of how vacuous his schtick is. I’m also continually surprised at how little credit and consideration libs give him and his influence these days.

I know what you mean. Rush is just an old white guy, long past his prime who nobody much cares about any more. It's not like he had any impact in the last presidential election or anything.

Oh, wait ... it was just a few months ago that the entire liberal news media was declaring that Donald Trump immediately reversed a policy position when Rush Limbaugh didn't like something or other. Yeah, I see what you mean. The "Libs" you reference, must not think about Rush much if the entire news media in unison declares that Trump instantly reversed policy because Rush Limbaugh didn't like something.

 

[Gigimo]

One can't help but wonder, what could it be that some so admire, yet others despise so much that his mere presence seems to threaten their very existence?

Clinton and Obama wanted to shut him down and the media tried to insinuate he (amongst others) were responsible for mass shootings, so yeah I would say some feel threatened that what they're peddling would be exposed by him.