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01/03/2005: "Angry White Entitled Dittoheads"

If one were to take a poll of the country on perceptions of those who relish their identity as Dittoheads, one term would likely be at the top of the list: “angry white male.” That’s not a particularly controversial statement, right? If you don’t agree, I suggest you do some remedial listening to the Rush Show. Accepting for the sake of argument that the majority of Rush’s faithful are white, male, and angry, let’s ask the question: what are they so angry about? I’ve done some field work in this area, and my research has led me to the conclusion that the issue is entitlement. Pick any issue that Dittoheads are worked up about and you’ll find at the core of this issue an expectation that they’re entitled to some benefit that is being threatened. Take immigration, for example. Their perception is that illegal immigrants are soaking up the jobs, taxpayer-funded government benefits, and plain old attention from politicians that they feel is their due as Real Americans. Or take gun rights. They feel that the Second Amendment (despite its references to State Militias) guarantees them the right to have and to hold any piece of lethal hardware they might happen in any particular situation to feel like having close at hand. They see any limits whatsoever on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (which they abbreviate as RKBA) as a violation of their right (also called entitlement) under the Constitution. Dittohead anger is particularly apparent over the environment. Exhibits A-Z are the Rush quotes SherWright.com has spotlighted over the last couple of weeks. Tomorrow let’s explore why.