Liberal Talk Radio

One of Sullivan’s readers makes a great point:

“Yes, it was those deconstructionists who attacked not only elites, but the ontological conception of a ‘privileged position,’ which is the idea that some people may have access to better, more complete information (and better culture) and thus their point of view ought to have more weight. Their zeal to dismantle the notion of ‘great books’ and ‘great thought’ as reflecting a stultifying, ‘white-male’ and oppressive ideology was completely successful. Not only did it open up the way for African studies and gay identity (a few of the benefits, I concede), it also destroyed such ‘cultured’ institutions as objective TV news journalism, ‘high’ culture entertainment, and contemporary literature. Now instead we have Hannity and Colms, American Idol, and the personal blog.”

I’ve often wondered how those on the right who are so horrified by the idea of liberal moral relativism (like, say, comparing Bush to Hitler) use is so effectively for their own ends. After all, what is Fox News but an argument that there are two sides to every truth?