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Media blowhards like Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, the loathsome Michael Savage, et al, appeal to peoples' basest instincts. They use hate and fear to manipulate their listeners' emotions. It is the lowest form of communication. It is also extremely effective: witness Mr. Wheaton's educated, professional parents' transformation from rational beings into hatemongers.
Regarding Nazi Germany, one of the big questions was how a country so steeped in education and the arts, so utterly civilized, could descend into such madness. The answer is the power of hate, and the willingness of powerful people to wield it as a weapon and tool. It happened there, and have no doubt, it can happen here, too.
