The Heirs of Father Coughlin (Beck and Limbaugh)

[pampango]

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2009/03/hbc-90004568

One of the most important lessons of the Great Depression can be taken from the political, rather than the economic, response. As economic collapse shook the faith of populations a new sort of public figure emerged, one that put a premium on being loud and simple. They soon dominated the airwaves; scapegoating, ridicule, and paranoia were the staples of this new breed, and the nation’s problems were often put on the back of a specific ethnic or religious minority. This wasn’t just a left- or right-wing phenomenon; sometimes it was even a mix of the two. In America this tendency was typified by Father Coughlin, the inventor of hate radio, who commanded a vast audience through the Thirties. Coughlin first championed Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal and then, in 1934, turned against them, spouting conspiracy theories and anti-Semitism and doing his best to usher America down the aisle taken by Germany and Italy under Hitler and Mussolini.

The voices of Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh have much in common with Coughlin. But their message is distinct in many ways—they are not anti-Semitic, for example. And they have different targets for their hatred. But Beck and Limbaugh are more powerful than Coughlin ever was. They have tight ties to the Republican Party and their messages quickly emerge as partisan political dogma.

Conspiracy theories always flourish during economic downturns. They flourished during the terrible slump of the 1890s (when they captured even so fine a mind as Henry Adams) and again in the 1930s. Today’s slump—so vast, so difficult to understand—opens the door again. Right-wing populist conspiracy theorizing often overlaps with the left-wing variety. And yet there are significant differences. Beck speaks to a feeling that this powerlessness is somehow new, somehow a departure from the natural order of things:

”This is your country, you are still in control. … Now you’re being forced to bail those people out. There are more of us than there are of them. We surround them.”

America saw and rejected this strain of paranoid politics before, but it was a test of the nation’s political mental health and stamina then. It likely will be so again.

[DeSwiss]

1. K&R

- Exactly.

[BrklynLiberal]

2. And to think, some people believe that priests do not have progeny...

If there ever were men who could be direct descendants...it would be beck and limpballs..but they are not the only ones. coughlin was, it would appear, very prolific. He had female descendants as well. Some do not even look irish!!!



What turned Coughlin against FDR?
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005516

<snip>
COUGHLIN AND FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
Having become a U.S. citizen while in Detroit, He was born in Canada Coughlin was an early and enthusiastic supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He believed that only Roosevelt could pull the United States out of the Depression and, at the same time, protect the country from the perceived communist threat. Coughlin used his radio program --The Hour of Power -- to induce his followers to vote for Roosevelt in the 1932 presidential elections. Roosevelt was distrustful of Coughlin from the beginning and only wanted his endorsement to help get elected.

Once president, however, Roosevelt appeared to ignore Coughlin's contribution to getting him elected, and slowly distanced his administration from Coughlin's rough-hewn populism. Roosevelt managed to charm Coughlin into overestimating his importance to the administration, and continued to use Coughlin's influence to help garner public support for the New Deal. As he did during the election, Coughlin used his radio program to support the New Deal and to attack those opposed to it. When he realized that he was not going to play a key role in Roosevelt's cabinet, however, Coughlin felt betrayed, and, after several attempts to get the President to notice him, turned on Roosevelt. By the end of 1935, Coughlin used his radio program to attack both the President and the New Deal.

Throughout the 1930s, Coughlin was one of the most influential men in the United States. A new post office was constructed in Royal Oak just to process the letters that he received each week -- 80,000 on average. Furthermore, the audience of his weekly radio broadcasts was in the tens of millions, presaging modern talk radio and televangelism.
<snip>

[Hannah Bell]

3. knr