Chuck Harder Talk America 2

I first heard Chuck Harder on WMCA AM 940 in Macon, Georgia, in
September 1991. It was "hate at first sight," because I couldn't stand
his politics. Since then, I've listened to him on a more-or-less
regular basis, noting that his political paradigm has not changed even
after everything that has happened since then - Dan Quayle and
"potatoe"; Bill Clinton's ascendancy to the Oval Office; Hillary's
failed health-care plan; the first World Trade Center bombing; the GOP
takeover of the House in 1994; Oklahoma City; Clinton's re-election in
1996; Monica Lewinsky; hanging chads; 9/11; Iraq; John Kerry; Katrina;
immigration-reform protests - and I've wondered, just how has this guy
managed to stay on the air, his severe health problems notwithstanding?
I honestly don't know.
I will give him points for his tenacity, his "stick-to-it-ivness"; all
the same, his right-wing populism has gone out of favor in the past few
years, even amongst the hard-line Right that has rallied around the
likes of Rep. Tom Tancredo and radio talk show host Michael Savage.
Thinking back, I am astounded that Chuck Harder turned down not one,
but two offers in New York City at salaries that, as he put it, "looked
like telephone numbers." One would think that beyond the boodle, such
openings would be a golden opportunity for him to spread his populist,
anti-government message. Chuck says he rejected the offers because of
the so-called "velvet hammer"; I don't believe it. All the same, I have
not come up with a satisfactory explanation as to why he would behave
this way.
To borrow from that old aphorism, Chuck Harder is a mystery wrapped up
in a riddle surrounded by an enigma. He is literally one-of-a-kind,
which is good. For if there were more like him, we'd see an epidemic of
erstwhile mainstreamers-turned-dangerous radicals, and G-d only knows
what effect that would have on the American polity. I can say this: It
wouldn't be pretty.
Thank goodness there is only one Chuck Harder (as his promos tirelessly
point out). Perhaps that's why he's still on the radio. If you are
genuinely one-of-a-kind, if there is no one out there like you, you
don't need a constituency to survive. You mere presence in the public
arena is your constituency - a "party of one," as it were.
In all fairness, I'm painting with a rather broad brush here. I don't
know Chuck Harder personally, so I don't know the real reason why he
keeps broadcasting his "For The People" program. The "people" he's
supposed to be "for" don't exist.
As we used to say down South, "durn shame." Chuck Harder was a great
consumer commentator in the late 1970's and 1980's, if what I've read
about him is accurate (and I have no reason to believe otherwise); had
he stayed that course, who knows where he'd be today. He has a golden
voice, very mellifluous and hypnotic, more suited to music than prose.
He comes across as benign and unassuming as he spins his bizarre
conspiracy theories - sort of like a cross between Mister Rogers and
Lyndon LaRouche.
Trained as an engineer, I'll admit I hate mysteries with no happy
endings. To me, everything works out in the end - if not by formal
solution, then by approximation. There is no corresponding easy answer
to Chuck Harder and his worldview.
Perhaps that is the real "answer," imperfect though it may be.

Ed Conrad wrote:

The "Gospel of Judas" tells
a far different tale from the four
gospels in the New Testament.
It portrays Judas as a favored
disciple who was given special
knowledge by Jesus -- and
turned him in at Jesus' request.

That is what I wrote in my book last year. Chapter 23 of "All Gods Are
Lies" is headed "Judas Iscariot- Supportive or Subversive." I figured
it out all by myself from careful reading and studying the Bible.
For those of you who want to read more about this and other stories in
the Bible, I am offering my book to you at half price. Just $7.50 or
two for $15.00. Order from my website www.AllGodsAreLies.com

Ed Conrad wrote:

<
<

=====================
=====================

<
< By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID
< Associated Press Writer
<
WASHINGTON -- Perhaps
it wasn't history's greatest
betrayal after all, but a simple
act of obedience.
<
Judas turned Jesus over to
the high priests, not for money,
but because Jesus asked
him to do so, according to
newly translated ancient
Coptic documents.
<
The "Gospel of Judas" tells
a far different tale from the four
gospels in the New Testament.
It portrays Judas as a favored
disciple who was given special
knowledge by Jesus -- and
turned him in at Jesus' request.

That is what I wrote in my book last year. Chapter 23 of "All Gods Are
Lies" is headed "Judas Iscariot- Supportive or Subversive." I figured
it out all by myself from careful reading and studying the Bible.

For those of you who want to read more about this and other stories in
the Bible, I am offering my book to you at half price. Just $7.50 or
two for $15.00. Order from my website www.AllGodsAreLies.com

Fred Acquistapace
www.AllGodsAreLies.com