I had taken the day off to take care of some castle-keeping business that has been put off for too long, and had the chance to catch most of Sykes show today. I tell you, gentle reader, he was spinning more than your average dervish, and if one had the opportunity to see him live, I bet his head was spinning like Regan's in the Exorcist.
I won't get into all of the factual errors he made today, both intentional and unintentional, because it would simply just take too long to type them all out. But I am not the only one that notices Sykes having his meltdown this morning. Bert, Mav and Dan also picked up on the fact that Sykes was being more than a wee bit hypocritical and out of control.
But what was causing Sykes' meltdown? That is the question that piqued my interest. He was literally besides himself in his anger to quell the sudden storm surge of information coming out about Sarah Palin. He kept going back to the point on how terrible it was that the media was talking about Palin's pregnant teenage girl, and telling us how terrible it was for the majority of his show, and about a half dozen posts on his blog.
Nothing like making some mileage doing what you are blaming others for doing, is there?
Sykes kept asking if Obama would be vetted the way that Palin has been. This I found especially amusing, considering that was probably about 80% of his show for the past two months and 50% of it for the previous eighteen months.
He also kept threatening to go into Obama's relationships, like with Rezko, Rev. Wright, Ayers, and whoever else they've tried to hang on his neck. Like he hasn't done that ad nauseum.
Sykes was using every hateful label he could think of for anyone that was part of the media or a blogger from the left. There was more name calling in this morning's show, than in all of the playgrounds in Milwaukee on this first day of school.
So why was Sykes manifesting this crazed behavior. Some of the less objective readers from the right would comment that Sykes was simply defending Palin's honor. Sykes might even try to make that argument himself. But, outside that a professional politician would need protecting from the likes of Sykes, and outside of the fact that that would be a rather sexist attitude to have, it is also inaccurate.
If that was Sykes' goal, he would have been much more effective to use facts in a reasoned and reasonable tone of voice to refute the allegations against Palin. He didn't do that. He resorted to name-calling, threatening, and intimidation and belittling people that would call and disagree with him. That is what most people would call being a bully.
Bullying is often most associated with school children, but also happens in the work place. Or in this case, on a social level. Either way, the reasons are usually the same.
The bully feels that life is out of control, and thus bullies other people that he or she believes to be weaker, in order to get a sense of control. The bully also may have low self confidence in themselves, and uses that sense of control they feel when bullying someone else to make themselves feel better about themselves. Building oneself up by tearing other people down, as it were. Sometimes it's just because the bully is an asocial asshole.
I'm not saying any of these necessarily apply to Sykes, in this specific situation, but it does seem to be more than a passing trend among some of the local right wing media and bloggers, but more of a conscious lifestyle choice.
I personally think it's just because they were in panic mode, and that became hysterical panic mode when McCain announced Palin to be his running mate. They realize they are in a losing battle, and are just getting extremely desperate.
Sykes and Belling are bullys, but only within their tiny radio booths. There, they push the buttons and decide who is allowed on, and who is not.
ReplyDeleteThen, if they miscalculate and start getting shredded by the caller, they can hit the mute button, pretend to turn and win the argument, and end the call.
I have met both men in public and neither is a bully then. They both fully realize their lack of self worth in equal situations, which is why you will never see either in a fight (no matter what they might be defending) or a fair debate. Even odds scare them. Give them credit. They have found their perfect niche in their little cubicles.
Meanwhile, this Palin matter is making Sykes look silly, but I doubt he knows it. Self awareness is not his strong suit. To be fair, members of the far left and far right both suffer some from this particular malidy. But Sykes and Belling are greatly afflicted, and they cost their side many good people. The right attacks and eats their young.
Sykes has gone through the looking glass, where ideology becomes more important than human beings. So he can rail against "those people" in the inner city of Milwaukee who have destroyed their society because of "children having children", and two weeks later defend a Vice Presidential candidate who has two years of "executive experience" running a state with about as many souls as Milwaukee Wisconsin (Barrett for VP! He's qualified!) for having the same thing happen under her roof.
When it turns out the daughter of that candidate is pregnant, Sykes can be all forgiving and understanding, because the IDEOLOGY of the candidate matches his. Ideology has now become more important than human beings.
Only a fool would argue that Sarah Palin has not afforded her daughter more advantages than are available to "those people" in the inner city of Milwaukee.
Yet Palin is honorable, and the inner city mothers are deplorable.
Let me offer you a possible truth. Sarah Palin should not be persecuted for her daughters pregnancy, and her daughter should not be considered anything other than what she is, a young woman who has become pregnant perhaps too soon.
If only we could allow those with far fewer opportunities at least this equal opportunity, to be treated the same in Syke's eyes as Sykes wants us to treat his VP candidate.
Maybe all these young women deserve our concern, not our condemnation.
BUT YOU CAN'T SELL RADIO AIR TIME WITH AN ATTITUDE LIKE THAT!
-Soft Words and Broad Swords-