Understanding Rush Limbaugh

The Cinch Review

In the latest issue of the magazine Commentary, there is an excellent article by Wilfred McClay titled “How to Understand Rush Limbaugh.

Those who listen to Rush’s show may question the need for such an explanation, but, although in his piece McClay points out the many ways in which the political left misunderestimates Limbaugh and continually gets played by him as a result, the real value of his article, especially in a forum like Commentary, is as a primer for those conservatives who still fail to get the El Rushbo phenomenon. Despite Limbaugh’s gargantuan ratings, there are still millions of conservatively-inclined Americans who lack either the opportunity or inclination to listen to Rush Limbaugh or talk radio generally. There’s nothing wrong with that, per se, but many of them form decided opinions about Limbaugh nonetheless, based largely on how he is characterized in the larger, mainstream media. So, they absorb and regurgitate keywords such as blowhard, buffoon and bomb-thrower, and imagine that Limbaugh makes his living by riling people up into frenzies of incoherent outrage. This — the impermeable conventional wisdom on Rush Limbaugh — could hardly be further from the truth. Continue reading “Understanding Rush Limbaugh”

Ted Williams and his golden voice

The Cinch Review

I was a born like this, I had no choice
I was born with the gift of a golden voice

So sang Leonard Cohen in The Tower of Song, and effectively that’s what an apparently homeless man named Ted Williams wrote on a cardboard sign, before standing at a busy intersection in Ohio and asking for help. Within 24 hours, via a bacterial [I can’t stand clichés] YouTube video, the guy has all kinds of lucrative job offers, and at the time of writing is said to be accepting one from the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA franchise, along with a house to live in.

And I say: Please let the story end here. Fan-bloody-tastic! Continue reading “Ted Williams and his golden voice”

The RCA RP5435 AM/FM Clock Radio: A Timeless Tale

The Cinch Review

RCA clock radio

I purchased the RCA RP5435 AM/FM Clock Radio with an extra-large 1.4-inch display yesterday. And yes, I did it because (without my glasses on) I am virtually blind, at least when it comes to objects at a distance. I did not buy this clock radio for the various sexy selling points described on the box, such as the automatic time-set (which just means it’s preset at the factory, by the way), or the audio input for an mp3 player (I like waking up to the news headlines; I guess getting angry and disgusted helps me get out of bed), or the “programmable snooze & sleep” (I can’t imagine a single circumstance where I’d want to use that). I bought it because I wanted a clock radio with big numbers that I could easily see when I wake up in the middle of the night.

The thing is, if you wake up in the middle of the night and have to really strain your eyes or move some distance to read the clock (let alone put your glasses on), then it’s that much less likely you’re going to get back to sleep with any ease. Yet, the one thing I most want to know when I stir at night is: “What time is it? How many more hours do I have left to sleep?” I’m certain that I am far from alone in this. It’s such a heavenly pleasure to discover that you still have most of the night ahead, especially if you feel that you’ve already been sleeping a long time. It is of-course highly demoralizing to discover that only about an hour remains, especially if you feel totally wrecked. But these things must be faced, and the desire to face them is evidence of the deep and unalterable human yearning for truth. Continue reading “The RCA RP5435 AM/FM Clock Radio: A Timeless Tale”