***UPDATE: Commenter Shinsnake says it so much better than I do: “It’s a matter of democratizing the entertainment industry, not owning it and locking out liberals. Besides, anytime you can put a conservative up against a liberal viewpoint, the conservative is going to win out. It’s just nature. Staying away from these mediums is the very reason this problem even existed. Just entering into the the arena, conservatives have already won.”
Over at Radio Equalizer, Brian Maloney interviews Rush Limbaugh over the criticism surrounding his decision to appear on this Sunday’s episode of “Family Guy,” or as his critics describe it, “that disgusting program.” Below are a couple of snips from the interview, but you’ll want to read the whole thing:
[youtube lO9igpkyqa0& nolink]
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This is my third Family Guy but first as the star. Seth MacFarlane doesn’t hate me. Or Andrew Breitbart, who he met on Maher’s show and really liked. …
Seth was among the FIRST to reach out to me in Hawaii when I had that heart scare. I am not helping the Hollywood Left. His show is going to be on the air regardless what I do.
BUT, the better way to look at this is that they bent for me. I did not bend to them. It’s not as though I endorse or support libs on this show. The other way around. A huge lib character becomes a conservative.
When a little of this controversy erupted yesterday over why — Rush or no Rush — Big Hollywood was promoting a “Family Guy” episode, I jumped into the fray and wrote:
How many entertainment types portray conservatives like Rush as ignorant racists and the like… Give MacFarlane credit for portraying Rush in a sympathetic and likable fashion (in other words, as the guy he really is). MacFarlane doesn’t have to do that. He could bash him or ignore him or stereotype him like most Hollywood lefties do with all things conservative. Instead he gives him a forum.
Keep in mind that Big Hollywood is not out to eradicate Leftist thought, but to stop the blacklisting of conservatives and conservative ideas and to editorially fight back against a left-wing pop culture wave.
What MacFarlane’s doing fits exactly into our template. He’s entitled to his opinion, worked very hard to reach the top of the most difficult business there is to succeed in, and in turn uses that forum to further his own agenda — that’s how it’s supposed to work. But at the same time he doesn’t completely shut us out.
If everyone in Hollywood had MacFarlane’s attitude, I might be out of a job.
Andrew and I both met MacFarlane after the taping of Bill Maher’s show last Friday night and he’s a genuinely likable guy. Obviously Rush is quite fond of him, as well. But it goes beyond that. How many many liberals working at MacFarlane’s level in the world of entertainment would hand their audience over to a Rush Limbaugh, who’s not only the left’s arch-arch-nemesis but THE most effective communicator on the planet for our ideas?
As far as the “disgusting program” criticism, as someone who hasn’t watched scripted television since those bastards at Fox took Al Bundy off the air, I’ve never seen an episode and can’t speak to that. Certainly I’ve seen clips that in my opinion went too far for broadcast television, but that’s a failure on the network’s part. Guys like MacFarlane are always going to push the envelope. It’s up to Fox to make sure the baby-drinking-horse-semen gags are seen only on the DVD. And again, as a worshiper of “The Hangover” my only objection is that it happened on television.
As far as “Family Guy’s” McCain-Palin-Nazi gags, Rush Limbaugh’s gonna be on!
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