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Widget writes: "It's not the point of view that's the problem. . . In this case, the medium IS the message."
The point of right-wing media is not information; the point is to keep their followers in a continual state of outrage and umbrage. Widget is exactly right: the message is that people need to be angry and hateful, despising all who depart from the party line.
In the more extreme cases the right-wing message creates people who exhibit many of the traits of alcoholics -- depressed, pissed-off at life, striking out at family and (former) friends, looking for enemies. This is particularly painful when the relative or friend is a Christian, supposedly a companion of the apostle Paul, who said "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice."
There's nothing wrong with being politically conservative. We need voices on both sides of the issues, and no one has the market cornered on the truth. But much of the right-wing diatribe is like "professional" wrestling: a violent show, in which the world is divided into good and evil, and inflicting pain on your opponent is seen as a virtue.
I would like to thank all those who have contributed their own experiences to this conversation. I have read your stories and they resonate deeply with my own experiences and observations. Wil Wheaton's article struck a nerve, and appropriately so.
