Many of you reading this know that for years I was a radio talk show host. I worked on stations that carried syndicated programming like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Michael Savage, as well as other conservative hosts. 

I considered myself conservative, but never as conservative as most of those guys.  I rarely thought a person was bad or the enemy just because they had a different opinion than mine.  I thought of them as a fellow American with a different point of view. I still do.

Is Stephan Colbert’s feud with CBS about his interview with James Talarico a real fight for First Amendment rights or a piece of brilliant gorilla marketing on Colbert and Talarico’s part? 

Let me start with the gorilla marketing argument first.  

Would anybody care about the James Talarico interview if he was just another guest on Colbert?  Would most people outside of the Lone Star State even have a clue who James Talarico was if he was just a regular guest on Colbert?

Life is complicated.  People are complicated. As Charlie Kirk used to say, “Prove me wrong.”  

Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA are a good example of just how complicated life can be. 

I don’t think Charlie Kirk was a saint.  I don’t think he was the devil either.  Like most people Charlie Kirk was not just one thing. 

When he spoke on college campuses he offered some good thoughts about his faith, the strengths of the nuclear family, and other more traditional conservative values.  

In the spring of 2016, I was hosting a talk radio program in Kansas City. During this time a reality TV show host named Donald Trump was starting to make some big inroads in his campaign to be president.  Thousands were showing up at his rallies and cable news stations were covering him like a rock star.  

It was tough being a moderate on that radio station when all the other programs were syndicated conservative shows like Sean Hannity and Michael Savage.  Most of the station’s audience was right wing and I was outnumbered.