Bad Girls: The Women of Conservative Talk Media Are Good at the Game

When I was 13, I begged my parents to get cable television. "It's quality, not quantity," I read from the Viacom brochure that was sent to our house. "I won't watch more TV, Mom; just better TV!" I said. After our suburban Cleveland neighborhood was wired with coaxial cable, my "quality versus quantity argument" quickly became a big lie. Within weeks I was watching an incredible amount of bad television. I became hooked on WTBS wrestling and persuaded my friends to become equally addicted. We re-enacted the wrestlers in our backyards. The wrestlers not only physically pounded on one another, but they hurled insults at each other as host Gordon Solie stood poker-faced holding the microphone.

Little did I realize that years later I would be witnessing the same type of discourse in popular culture starting in late 1990. It was then when I stumbled onto Rush Limbaugh syndicated radio program. Operation Desert Shield was in full swing so I turned to AM radio to become informed. What I discovered was something that I never heard before. My young skull full of mush was intrigued as Rush was throwing criticism at the so-called mainstream media that he felt were undermining the military operation. Here was an obviously talented radio professional mixing policy discussion with below-the-belt insults much like professional wrestling. I must admit that I found Limbaugh to be entertaining, so I once again became hooked to bad media.

Through the subsequent Operation Desert Storm and the 1992 presidential election, I turned to Limbaugh with a serious dedication. At a local pizzeria, I would join a fellow dittohead at their Rush Room. My friend became so devoted to Limbaugh that he bought many of the products he pushed on the radio show including Snapple drinks.

Very soon a bumper crop of copycat conservative talk show hosts developed in every U.S. market. I was intrigued by folks like Sean Hannity, who I got to personally know here in Atlanta. To me, the shtick became a phenomenon. These people were getting rich and famous for their cultural wrestling!

Political awakenings