Nikola Drobac – 12/1/04

This page was last updated on December 4, 2004.

‘On loan from God’; Nikola (Nick) Drobac; Beaver County Times; December 1, 2004.

This is the 12^th anti-Bush and/or anti-Republican rant by Mr. Drobac since July 1^st. This activity must be one of his hobbies. <g>

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“On Friday, I was listening to the Rush Limbaugh show.”

[RWC] Given Mr. Drobac’s letters and web site, I’m surprised he survived the experience. <g>

“As usual, Limbaugh was referring to the Democrats as liberal kooks. Limbaugh then referred to the new presidential library as the Clinton Library and Massage Parlor. The Limbaugh show is broadcast weekdays to more than 20 million listeners.”

[RWC] Actually, because the Limbaugh program is broadcast over the air, it is broadcast to hundreds of millions of people. Clarifying Mr. Drobac’s listenership figure, the Rush Limbaugh Show has about 12 million listeners on any given day and 20 million unique listeners during a week.

It’s also useful to know when Rush Limbaugh refers to Democrats, he usually is referring to Democrat leadership. Just as I, Rush Limbaugh recognizes the beliefs of Democrat leadership don’t necessarily represent the beliefs of the rank-and-file Democrat.

“When I listen to the other right-wing Republican Christian conservative talk shows and political commercials disguised as religious broadcasts, I hear the Democrats and liberals called all types of names. These shows are broadcast all day every day, all over the United States and the world.”

[RWC] For once I’d like someone to describe a “right-wing Republican Christian.” Mr. Drobac has used this characterization in other letters as well.

I guess I don’t listen to the same talk shows as Mr. Drobac. I regularly listen to several conservative/libertarian talk radio shows and the topic of religion isn’t a significant part of any of them. I think Rush Limbaugh would be surprised to hear his show referred to as a “Republican Christian” talk show. I believe Limbaugh is a conservative first and a Republican second. I don’t know where the “Christian” label comes from. These days perhaps you get this label if you are not anti-Christian.

Mr. Drobac failed to mention liberal talk radio, also “broadcast all day every day, all over the United States and the world.” Why?

“Whatever happened to: Never call other people names; if you don’t have anything nice to say, keep your mouth shut; and love your neighbor as yourself? These are some of the values that I learned as a kid.”

[RWC] Is Mr. Drobac kidding? If you’ve read Mr. Drobac’s previous letters to the editor or visited his web site, you are probably still laughing after reading this paragraph.

As I mentioned above, one of Mr. Drobac’s hobbies appears to be writing anti-Bush and anti-Republican letters to the editor. In his letters since July, Mr. Drobac referred to President Bush as a drunk and a liar and wrote wistfully, “Wouldn’t it be great to see George W. Bush in a cell next to Slobodan Milosevic?” On his web site, Mr. Drobac displays pictures of President Bush and a chimp side-by-side. In an October 2002 letter, Mr. Drobac hoped to be able to laugh as all Republicans face financial ruin in retirement.

If Mr. Drobac truly learned the listed values as a child, it appears he doesn’t practice them. On the other hand, perhaps Mr. Drobac wrote this paragraph with tongue in cheek.

Liberal talk radio isn’t much better. The Air America web site currently refers to President Bush as “the new Butcher of Baghdad.”

“Limbaugh and the so-called Christian conservatives are offended if someone calls George W. Bush stupid or a moron. They get really upset if you say anything derogatory about a conservative Republican.”

[RWC] I don’t understand Mr. Drobac’s obsession with the “Christian” label. I can only guess he wants us to believe conservatives are a bunch of Bible-thumping fanatics trying to turn the United States into a theocracy.

For the record, I’m offended when anyone calls any president names. I certainly wasn’t a Clinton fan, but I hated it when people called him names because he was our president. Though we may not respect the man, we should respect the office.

For what it’s worth, common sense would seem to indicate anyone who questions President Bush’s intelligence should have their own IQ checked. After all, morons aren’t usually twice elected governor of a major state (Texas) and President of the United States. Finally, if President Bush is a moron, what does that make the candidates he beat?

You’ll note Mr. Drobac didn’t mention the Wisconsin liberal talk radio host who recently referred to National Security Adviser – and Secretary of State nominee – Condoleezza Rice as “Aunt Jemima,” and not in a positive way.

“If you are a liberal and call one of these shows, the host will not allow you to make your point, talk down to you, hang up on you, and call you names after you’re off the air.”

[RWC] I can’t speak for all shows, but this is not true for the shows I listen to including Rush Limbaugh’s. The hosts generally show patience for liberals who thoughtfully present and defend their positions. I have to admit this is a rarity. The one exception can be for liberals who merely resort to repeating socialist talking points. Mr. Drobac falls into the latter category.

I’m sure some hosts – both conservative and liberal – behave as Mr. Drobac described, but I don’t believe they are mainstream.

“Americans are the hardest-working people in the world. As a result, many of them don’t have the time to read a newspaper or magazine.”

[RWC] Reading magazines and newspapers doesn’t guarantee an objective view of the issues. For example, two of the three local newspapers have a strong liberal bias as do most mainstream national “news” magazines. That’s also true for the news on ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, and PBS.

Consider the following quote from Evan Thomas, Assistant Managing Editor for Newsweek, himself a liberal: “Let’s talk a little media bias here. The media, I think, wants Kerry to win. And I think they’re going to portray Kerry and Edwards -- I’m talking about the establishment media, not Fox, but -- they’re going to portray Kerry and Edwards as being young and dynamic and optimistic and all, there’s going to be this glow about them that some, is going to be worth, collectively, the two of them, that’s going to be worth maybe 15 points.”

“The only information they receive is from one of these conservative broadcasts.”

[RWC] Anyone who gets their “news” exclusively from talk radio – conservative or liberal – makes a mistake. These shows are a mixture of entertainment, news, and opinion. That said, conservative talk radio is useful because it serves as a partial balance to the liberal bias of the old media and labor union management as described above.

Why isn’t Mr. Drobac concerned about people who get their information exclusively from liberal broadcasts? Was Mr. Drobac concerned when there was no conservative presence in the media?

“The conservative broadcast propaganda machine targets these individuals continually and beats their message into their minds as knowledge on loan from God. This is why the Republicans continue to gain in every election.”

[RWC] Did you notice that Mr. Drobac continues to ignore liberal talk radio? Why isn’t he worried that the same will happen to listeners of Al Franken and Janeane Garofalo on Air America? I guess liberal outlets aren’t “propaganda machines.”

Rush Limbaugh says he has “talent on loan from God,” not “knowledge on loan from God.” There’s a big difference. Mr. Drobac wants us to believe Rush Limbaugh tells his listeners that he gets his information from God.

The implication of this paragraph is that listeners of conservative talk radio are mindless drones. Personally, I hope Mr. Drobac and his fellow travelers continue with this belief. I find it extremely useful when the competition underestimates me.

I believe much of the Republican success over the last 10 years can be traced to Democrat leadership. Truth be told, conservative beliefs haven’t changed much in the last 50 or so years because they are rooted in fact and logic and are time-proven. In the 40+ years since the Kennedy administration, however, Democrat leadership has taken the party so far left the Communist Party USA supported John Kerry for president. This is true even at the local level. For research, I attended a Mothers Opposing Bush (MOB) rally in October in front of the Beaver County Courthouse. For all intents and purposes, it was rally to support Marxist principles. One speaker stated government must redistribute private wealth. Another speaker complained that “socialist competition” is gone, whatever that is. Given the context of his overall speech, I believe the speaker lamented the passing of powerful communist/socialist countries like the Soviet Union to “balance” the United States. How many Americans really think a significant communism presence was a good thing? That’s how out of touch Democrat leadership is with American voters and their values.