CNN Finds Shrink to Analyze You

RUSH: Folks, you probably didn’t hear this because it’s on CNN. It’s hilarious now. They’ve got a reporter who stalks me. Carol Costello. She’s actually the beat reporter assigned to me. I call her a stalker. She started a series of reports today, ‘Anger on the Air.’ (Gasp!) ‘Talk radio…made our country viciously partisan,’ so they went out and they found a psychiatrist to analyze the situation — and the answer is that I bully you.

COSTELLO: Talk radio, especially conservative talk, is so powerful, some say it’s made our country viciously partisan. Ten of the top 11 radio talk shows are conservative. The king? Rush Limbaugh, with 15 million (sic–20) listeners. Psychiatrist Gail Saltz says Limbaugh’s style appeals to those who feel they have no voice.

SALTZ: He’s essentially kind of operating like the bully. And if you’re on the playground, do you want to be the bully’s — you know, under the bully’s wing and go along with him and get therefore some power by proxy, too? Or do you want to be like left out alone on the playground where, you know, who knows who’s going to take you out?

COSTELLO: Saltz says conservative talkers are more popular than liberal talkers because they attract the kind of person who likes strong, aggressive messages.

RUSH: This is just hilarious. You know, it’s 20 million, Carol, but (laughing) Oh. You know what, Carol? You need to go sit on a fire hydrant and improve your day. (laughing) That’s the Media Tweak of the Day. He’s so vicious! He’s such a bully! He’s even bullying our CNN stalker reporter.