Conservative radio host throws in towel: ‘Did we create Trump?’

Posted by | October 5, 2016 15:00 | Filed under: Media/Show Business Politics

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I’d say that’s a big “yes.” One right-wing radio talker’s abrupt announcement that he is retiring has the media reeling for more than one reason:

After Mr. Trump tried and failed to woo the state’s primary voters in March – losing to Ted Cruz by a wide margin – Sykes got credit for dressing him down in a call-in interview. That was perhaps the high-water mark here for “Never Trump.” Since then, the Republican Party at large has largely coalesced around its candidate. Republican Gov. Scott Walker, House Speaker Paul Ryan, and Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus – Wisconsinites all – have come aboard, with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

But Sykes is holding out against the Trump tide. It’s a lonely rock. He’s losing friends and listeners; his inbox fills with screeds about betrayal; callers to his show seethe at Mrs. Clinton and ask how he can let her win. And Sykes wonders if he shares the blame for building a news media echo-chamber that blocks out any information or viewpoint that could undercut shared beliefs.

“I’ve long thought the alternative media was a positive development that would counter the mainstream media monopoly. It’s only this year you go, ‘OK, what have we done here? We’ve created this monster,’ ” he says.

“I’m not the same as Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, I make a distinction,” he adds, referencing two other stalwarts of the conservative media. “They’re different from me. But I’m not saying it’s not our fault. I think we all have to look in the mirror.”

Sykes announced Tuesday on air that he would step down from his show at the end of the year. He insists it was a personal decision taken long before the 2016 campaign, while conceding that it had “made this decision somewhat easier.” He told listeners he planned to write a book about “the crackup of the conservative movement.”

The rest of the article is worth a read for its insight into “post-truth culture“.


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Copyright 2016 Liberaland
By: dave-dr-gonzo

David Hirsch, a.k.a. Dave "Doctor" Gonzo*, is a renegade record producer, video producer, writer, reformed corporate shill, and still-registered lobbyist for non-one-percenter performing artists and musicians. He lives in a heavily fortified compound in one of Manhattan's less trendy neighborhoods.

* Hirsch is the third person to use the pseudonym, a not-so-veiled tribute to journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, with the permission of his predecessors Gene Gaudette of American Politics Journal (currently webmaster and chief bottlewasher at Liberaland) and Stephen Meese at Smashmouth Politics.

24 responses to Conservative radio host throws in towel: ‘Did we create Trump?’

  1. Buford2k11 October 5th, 2016 at 15:10

    Hmm..ok, Wisconsin…we have a name for that group…The Koch Party…the Kochs are moving into other states, while we are distracted by the other stuff…Colorado is under full attack by them…down ballot, judges, commissioners, librarians…dog catchers…anyone whom they think they can purchase…

  2. Larry Schmitt October 5th, 2016 at 15:19

    Congratulations, you are now Captain Obvious.

  3. arc99 October 5th, 2016 at 15:27

    You said nothing when Sarah Palin in 2008 came onstage at a campaign rally and proclaimed how happy she was to be with “real Americans”.

    You said nothing when Ted Nugent during one of his shows, said about Hillary Clinton “suck on this b*tch”, referring to his gun.

    You said nothing when ACA opponents claimed President Obama wanted to euthanize the elderly.

    You said nothing when Michelle Bachman implied that Americorps was a ruse to lure young people into reeducation camps.

    You said nothing when the President was accused of taking “too much credit” for the bin Laden mission, completely ignoring the fact that unlike his predecessor, Mr. Obama did not swoop onto the deck of an aircraft carrier decked out in a spiffy flight suit.

    You said nothing about the 8 years of lies concerning the President’s birth.

    You continue to say nothing as your ideological bretheren attempt to blame Hillary Clinton for those ignorant lies.

    So now you wonder if your decade-long campaign of willful ignorance may have contributed to an environment where you have a GOP nominee for the most powerful political position on the planet, who boasted about having “investigators” in Hawaii who could not believe what they were finding?

    Yeah, you did build that….

    • anothertoothpick October 5th, 2016 at 15:41

      they say “nothing” a lot.

      • Willys41 October 6th, 2016 at 15:37

        Trump’s whole campaign is based on him saying nothing. Which is convenient since he seems to know nothing.

    • alpacadaddy October 5th, 2016 at 21:08

      Damn Straight Arc! (Oh, I mean, you articulated that well), but of course there’s so much more to remember…

      “Tell me true Condi, don’t I look bad-ass in this codpiece?” (awlraght… Mission Accomplished)

      … let’s head to the ranch!

    • fahvel October 6th, 2016 at 03:47

      you are so very right Arc. Possibly one more grifter smarter than the other losers and getting out with a book?

  4. crc3 October 5th, 2016 at 15:42

    ‘Did we create Trump?’

    YES!!! Happy now??

  5. Duke Woolworth October 5th, 2016 at 16:17

    Sucker.

  6. anothertoothpick October 5th, 2016 at 17:34

    Did Dr. Frankenstein have regrets??

    Yes he did..

    For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.”

    • Hirightnow October 5th, 2016 at 20:30

      I like Shelley.
      But not too much,as it goes to my head…

    • Red Mann October 6th, 2016 at 01:52

      However, Shelly’s monster was for more intelligent, empathetic and sympathetic than tRump, he is just pathetic.

  7. StoneyCurtisll October 5th, 2016 at 18:59

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xos2MnVxe-c

  8. jybarz October 5th, 2016 at 21:59

    His book going to be about “the crackup of the conservative movement.” ???

    I think he means “the crap about conservative movement”.

    • bpollen October 6th, 2016 at 02:40

      The Crackup of the Conservative Movement: The Perilous Descent Into Madness.

      From BarbWire Books, a subsidiary of Alt-Right Publishing.

  9. William October 6th, 2016 at 09:20

    Because the tea-baggers found a leader. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e625c9b7d60b2a9e8d58c0bb4e2f4193b763f1a274d579a3425d1d1fca525608.jpg

  10. Mensa Member October 6th, 2016 at 10:07

    Yes, right wing media created Trump.

    They created a propagandized Republican base who votes for party over country. Millions of people seeking a “strong” leader who will tell them what they want to hear.

    And, Trump’s not the worst, unless Republicans are stopped and stopped hard.

  11. oldfart October 6th, 2016 at 11:54

    If you give a monster a cookie…

  12. Willys41 October 6th, 2016 at 15:35

    What they did is fill the GOP rank-and-file with a herd of dimwits who do NOT believe any news sources that conflict with their favorite assumptions.

  13. Dwendt44 October 6th, 2016 at 19:01

    Sykes started out as a liberal talking head, and once he saw that Limpball and other right wing talkers were getting stinking rich, he jumped on that bandwagon.
    I was, for years, under the impression that he tied his bow tie WAY to tight, cutting off the oxygen to his brain. Now that he converted to a regular tie, and now finally realized the damage he and the rest have done, he’s shipping out for other, hopefully lucrative, venues.

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