YOU (and the others who close their eyes to the truth and buy into the garbage Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, Coulter, et al spew) are the ones who are wrong. Please -- if you have any concern for this country at all -- open your eyes to their machinations, mendacity and hate-spreading AND TURN THEM OFF. Ignore them -- that's what they deserve.

Yeah, the 'shut up' AM radio crowd sure enough tolerates dissent. They provide the affirmation you want, not the reality you need.

I'd like Don Gale to tell us all exactly when in America dissent has been "welcome." Protected, yes, but even those he derides make no effort to leave dissenters unprotected. The "protection" part of his argument is actually something Beck, Rush, Hannity and their side would uphold, whereas the left side of the coin would take action to censor and shut down dissent.

I daresay that throughout the entire history of America, dissent has never been "welcome" to either side, and that the passionate and ofttimes vitriolic expression of opinion is very much the longstanding tradition of our country. At least we no longer have legal duels to the death over disagreements.

Any established media professional loses all credibility to claim there was ever a time in our country when dissent was "welcome" by media or politicians. They all hate dissent and seek to destroy their opponents, and always have.

When people rant about Limbaugh, Hannity, & Beck being hate mongers and want to shut them down, they are only showing their own intolerance and fear.

I don't listen to those guys on a regular basis. I prefer Michael Medved, but sometimes I tune in to the others just to see how hateful they are. Mostly I've found that they are critical of politicians from both parties and defend principles of conservatism and patriotism. If they get caught up in namecalling and bashing I change the station, but I usually enjoy hearing insightful information that you can't find in the mainstream media.

When liberals demean those who listen to talk radio or watch Fox they should realize that we aren't dumb enough for their tactics to work. We are more informed than they are and simply laugh.

Dissent should be honest, not full of lies, deceit, misrepresentation, distortions, and name-calling. This is the legacy of Rush, Glenn and Hannity. They are hurting America.

Here's why I've grown weary of the endless attacks on talk radio. Each time I question a critic I find that they have seldom, if ever, actually listened to Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, et. al. Their opinons of these "hate mongers" are based almost entirely on what the dominant liberal media says about these hosts and that is almost never accurate. Without exception, every time I've personally had the opportunity to hear their comments first hand and then hear/read how their comments are reported in the mass media, it's been highly distorted, sometimes to the point of being absolutely astonishing. It would be interesting to dig a little deeper and ask these critics to cite specific comments that they've personally heard (not what someone else has reported) come from the mouth of a conservative talk radio host as the basis for their perception.

I wonder if Don Gale’s foolish attack of Limbaugh, Hannity, and Beck is not an age-related phenomena that befalls all old liberal media and news people when they either lose the ability to screen their true thoughts and motives or they come to believe that their distorted views are the actual reality and truth. He has put himself in the category of recently disgraced liberal media icons Dan Rather, Walter Cronkite, and Bill Moyers.

It’s too bad Deseret News didn’t protect him from embarrassing himself at the end of a long career which will now be remembered by this ignorant and poorly thought out commentary. His stated love for the “fairness doctrine” shows his desire for fascism from the left at the expense of the Constitution and our liberty.