Atomic Bombs on Afghanistan 原子爆弾をアフガニスタンに投下
Finally he’s gone. The shame of the U.S.A.
There was a time when I listened to the music by AFN (エイエフエヌ).
The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas. Headquartered at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, AFN’s broadcast operations, which include global radio and television satellite feeds, emanate from the AFN Broadcast Center/Defense Media Center in Riverside, California.
Unfortunately, late in the night, I had to hear that guy arguing with his listeners. “Atomic bombs on Afghanistan!” was one of the shocking phrases I had to endure, while being in a country which is still suffering from the Hiroshima- and Nagasaki-A-Bombs.
Symptomatic for that guy’s influence is the following statement by Dan Price.
“I grew up listening to Rush Limbaugh 3 hours a day as a home-schooled kid. My parents idolized him. 5 years ago my parents called me: “Rush is about to talk about you!” I was in the news for slashing my CEO pay to raise our min wage to $70k. I excitedly turned on his show. Rush said: “I hope this company is a case study in MBA programs on how socialism does not work, because it’s gonna fail.”
I was completely devastated. My dad said he thought Rush got this one wrong. But it was a huge blow and led to a flood of hate-mail against me. Rush turned out to be right: we were a MBA case study. Harvard Business School concluded the $70k min wage was a huge success. Our revenue tripled. Retention and productivity skyrocketed. We were featured as success stories everywhere from the BBC to the New York Times. Rush incorrectly described our company – saying everyone would make $70k, when in reality only me and a few new employees do. It’s a min wage. It’s not socialism, and he knew that. He never agreed to have me on to give my side. He never did an updated story on our success. To this day, his listeners assume we failed. One of the top auto-complete Google searches for our company is “out of business.” I’ve had 5 years to tell our story and prove him wrong, but most people who are crushed with misinformation don’t have that luxury. I’m sad Rush Limbaugh died, and my thoughts are with his family. I know it’s a sad day for a lot of people. But I’m not sad that his show is over. My little story of crossing paths with him was one segment among thousands of episodes. He hurt a lot of people with his words.
Comment:
—I am glad you “survived” the attack of this poisonous, hateful man.
Fortunately, for my Japanese readers, that guy obviously means nothing. However, if we want to understand why the U.S. is a divided country politically-wise, that talk radio pioneer who saturated the States’s airwaves with cruel bigotries, lies and conspiracy theories for over three decades, has to be analysed. Why did he amass a loyal audience of millions and could transform the Republican Party? That guy could be counted on to support the president during some of the most disgraceful episodes of Trump’s sole term in the White House.
I think, at this point I should stop with my pointless talk. Just check yourself via wikipedia about the media’s and other people’s reactions.
Myself is happy that this guy is gone. The same feeling applies to Mr. Trump. May he never return to the politics.
Tokyo, 2021/2/18
Mario A
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_Limbaugh
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ラッシュ・リンボー
For my Japanese readers, these recent aspects about the U.S. may be of interest, too.
Most beloved meme of the day: GameStonk ゲームストンク
https://art-culture.world/articles/gamestonk-ゲームストンク/
アマンダ・ゴーマンの「私たちがのぼる丘」 Amanda Gorman’s ‘The Hill We Climb’
https://art-culture.world/articles/amanda-gorman-アマンダ・ゴーマン/
Thx to everybody! Most beloved meme of the day: Bernie バーニー
https://art-culture.world/articles/bernie-バーニー/
The Year 2021. Still Symptomatic For New York’s Art Scene: Taking Drugs.
2021年。麻薬とニューヨークのアートシーン
https://art-culture.world/articles/new-yorks-art-scene/
The Violent, Fucked-Up Country, UNITED STATES of AMERICA on 6th of January 2021
https://art-culture.world/articles/the-violent-fucked-up-country-united-states-of-america-on-6th-of-january-2021/
The American Experience
https://art-culture.world/articles/the-american-experience/
イヴァンカ・トランプ。フーズ・ザット・ガール？ Ivanka Trump. Who’s that girl?
https://art-culture.world/articles/ivanka-trump/
