Font ResizeI went on Red Meat Radio the other day and got slimed.
That is no big deal, but the experience gives me an opportunity to lament the direction we are going with public discourse in this country.
Red Meat Radio is a right-wing two-hour Saturday morning program on K-TALK, with hosts Howard Stephenson and Greg Hughes, ultra-conservative Republican members of the Senate and House, respectively, from Draper.
My experience itself was pleasant. Both hosts were cordial, although they viewed me with suspicion because I am a member of that dreaded liberal media. We jousted a bit, always in a friendly way. And they thanked me for coming on the show when we finished.
But listening to their program the following week, I was reminded that I live in Utah, where passive-aggressive behavior is elevated to an art form.
While I was showered in smiles and was thanked profusely for being such a good sport when I was face-to-face with the two lawmakers, I was reviled the following week as the villain, "Darth Vader," who had said the most despicable thing on the program that would definitely get me bitten in the butt, according to Stephenson.
They had it on tape. "Truth is gray," I said. I was toast.
Once again, righteous conservative values triumphed over the liberal "mainstream media." I was exposed.
One problem: That quote was taken way out of context. It was part of my explanation that people see their "truths" through
I'm talking about this now because it demonstrates how disjointed we have become as a society. That the Red Meat Radio folks would go to such pains to find a quote in my half hour on the show that they could then isolate in a feeble attempt to embarrass me is an act seen in the media all too often these days.
Stephenson and Hughes have taken a page out of the Bill O'Reilly Book of Loathing to twist quotes in order to demonize their perceived political enemies.
And these guys are lawmakers. One is driven to wonder if their tactics, intended to mislead on the radio, are echoed in their deportment at the Legislature.
Stephenson and Hughes have both been known to flash their tempers when not getting their way at the Legislature. Stephenson has threatened state agencies with budget cuts if they don't properly kowtow before him.
I once called up Hughes for a comment after I learned that he had threatened to kill a bill he was sponsoring for the Salt Lake County Council after the council publicly opposed a location in Draper for a UTA train stop that Hughes supported. His threat did the trick. The council reversed its position. But Hughes didn't want to confirm that he had threatened to kill the bill, although he didn't deny it. So Hughes suggested the council had actually changed its mind after he took some opponents of the Draper site on a tour of the area.
He was (dare I say it?) attempting to paint a bit of "gray" into that truth.
As I said before, truth is relative, depending on who is airing it.
A Red Meat Radio truth is that their conservative buddy, Rep. Carl Wimmer, didn't do any favors for alleged Ponzi scheme scammer Rick Koerber, a "truth" that has been proven to be false.
Red Meat Radio's truth is that conservative Rep. Mike Noel really didn't break the law when he led a group of ATV riders into an area banned to motorized vehicles. That "truth" also is false.
And Red Meat Radio's truth is that the dirt at EnergySolutions' nuclear waste dump can be used for one's vegetable grow box -- a statement that not only is false, it's reckless.
