Rush Limbaugh must be doing something right

[iNow]

Okay, so maybe Limbaugh is not the de facto republican leader, but that begs the question then... Who is? Also, while waiting for a response about who is the current leader of the republican party, tell me why so many republicans are deathly afraid of speaking against Limbaugh if he doesn't hold power?

 

 

While we wait, here is a good article from Newsweek by conservative columnist David Frum... speaking out AGAINST Rush:

 

 

 

http://www.newsweek.com/id/188279

Rush knows what he is doing. The worse conservatives do, the more important Rush becomes as leader of the ardent remnant. The better conservatives succeed, the more we become a broad national governing coalition, the more Rush will be sidelined.

 

But do the rest of us understand what we are doing to ourselves by accepting this leadership? Rush is to the Republicanism of the 2000s what Jesse Jackson was to the Democratic party in the 1980s. He plays an important role in our coalition, and of course he and his supporters have to be treated with respect. But he cannot be allowed to be the public face of the enterprise—and we have to find ways of assuring the public that he is just one Republican voice among many, and very far from the most important.

 

<...>

 

Limbaugh was kidding about the summit. But his quip acknowledged something that eludes many of those who would make him the arbiter of Republican authenticity: from a political point of view, Limbaugh is kryptonite, weakening the GOP nationally. No Republican official will say that; Limbaugh demands absolute deference from the conservative world, and he generally gets it. When offended, he can extract apologies from Republican members of Congress, even the chairman of the Republican National Committee. And Rush is very easily offended.

 

<...>

 

Look at America's public-policy problems, look at voting trends, and it's inescapably obvious that the Republican Party needs to evolve. We need to put free-market health-care reform, not tax cuts, at the core of our economic message. It's health-care costs that are crushing middle-class incomes. Between 2000 and 2006, the amount that employers paid for labor rose substantially. Employees got none of that money; all of it was absorbed by rising health-care costs. Meanwhile, the income-tax cuts offered by Republicans interest fewer and fewer people: before the recession, two thirds of American workers paid more in payroll taxes than in income taxes.

 

We need to modulate our social conservatism (not jettison—modulate). The GOP will remain a predominantly conservative party and a predominantly pro-life party. But especially on gay-rights issues, the under-30 generation has arrived at a new consensus.

Our party seems to be running to govern a country that no longer exists.

 

<...>

 

In the days since I stumbled into this controversy, I've received a great deal of e-mail. (Most of it on days when Levin or Hannity or Hugh Hewitt or Limbaugh himself has had something especially disobliging to say about me.) Most of these e-mails say some version of the same thing: if you don't agree with Rush, quit calling yourself a conservative and get out of the Republican Party. There's the perfect culmination of the outlook Rush Limbaugh has taught his fans and followers: we want to transform the party of Lincoln, Eisenhower and Reagan into a party of unanimous dittoheads—and we don't care how much the party has to shrink to do it. That's not the language of politics. It's the language of a cult. <

full story at link

>

 

 

 

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Merged post follows:

Consecutive posts merged

Lol... I just watched Newt Gingrich on "Meet the Press" this morning identify the leaders of the Republican party as he saw it (in response to questions about Rush Limbaugh). His list was impressive.

 

1. Michael Steele (who just apologized with his tail between his legs for offending Rush with a comment)
   
2. Bobby Jindal (who gave that stirring <snicker> speech after the President addressed both houses of congress)
   
3. Sarah Palin (yes, that Sarah Palin of let's shoot some polar bears and ride some snow machines)

 

Frankly, I think Rush is both more intelligent and more powerful than any listed in that sad lot.

 

Toward the end of this clip: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/29581372#29581372

 

 

Further, I LOVE how they are attacking these questions about Rush Limbaugh as a "deliberate strategy" by the White House, and yet seem to forget what they did to Obama with Bill Ayers, ACORN, and Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Bunch of hypocrits, those.

Edited March 8, 2009 by iNow
Consecutive posts merged.

[ParanoiA]

Okay, so maybe Limbaugh is not the de facto republican leader, but that begs the question then... Who is? Also, while waiting for a response about who is the current leader of the republican party, tell me why so many republicans are deathly afraid of speaking against Limbaugh if he doesn't hold power?

 

I'm assuming this is directed at me, but correct me if I'm wrong. I certainly never said he isn't the de facto leader, I think he is and I spent post #14 detailing why. They're definitely afraid of crossing him right now, and they haven't in the past, ever, and that's indicative of the state of affairs. They don't hold the constituency, Rush does.

 

I keep saying, the conservative base never wanted the bipartisanship, moderate angle and I think this is proof of that. The republican leadership lost their supporters as they clamored to resemble democrats with the bipartisan-moderate message.

 

Good article there by Frum by the way. I think he describes this pretty well and I agree with the Jesse Jackson comparison of the 80's. Rush will be sidelined when they get their constituency back.

Edited March 8, 2009 by ParanoiA

[iNow]

I'm assuming this is directed at me, but correct me if I'm wrong.

General question to the group, and to lead into the story I wanted to share.

[jackson33]

As Rush himself would say, this is all so silly...

 

Limbaugh is "A conservative, who HAPPENS to vote republican". That is he feels at home in that party, not an advocate for their platform in total or any particular movement with in the party. His show is based on and with the motive to increase understand of what he feels are 'Conservative Values'...Forget the pay cut, Rush knows exactly what any reaction would be if he ran for 'Dog Catcher' in West Palm Beach, much less any Federal Position.

 

I seem to recall, Obama threw Ayers and Wright under the bus and ACORN is fighting court actions in several States today. Limbaugh on the subject, simply has said the man is an idiot, empty suit and has no business running this country.

 

Jindal, Palin are potential candidates in the future, as are Gingrich, Romney and a host of Governors, the only one out is McCain....Steele was elected to manage the RNC affairs, a National spokesperson, not necessarily become a candidate and has shown no signs of wanting to be...

 

iNow has said there is a 'vacuum', is correct and there is currently NO recognized leader in the Republican party...

[Sisyphus]

Lol... I just watched Newt Gingrich on "Meet the Press" this morning identify the leaders of the Republican party as he saw it (in response to questions about Rush Limbaugh). His list was impressive.

 

1. Michael Steele (who just apologized with his tail between his legs for offending Rush with a comment)
   
2. Bobby Jindal (who gave that stirring <snicker> speech after the President addressed both houses of congress)
   
3. Sarah Palin (yes, that Sarah Palin of let's shoot some polar bears and ride some snow machines)

 

Frankly, I think Rush is both more intelligent and more powerful than any listed in that sad lot.

 

There's quite a bit of evidence that Bobby Jindal, at least, is not stupid. (For, example, he was a Rhodes Scholar.) He gave one bafflingly stupid speech. But I suspect we'll be seeing more of him, if for no other reason than any powerful Republican who is not a white guy is automatically in the running for pretty much anything.

[iNow]

You raise a good point about him being one of like three non-white republicans, but despite his academic record, I don't hold him in a very positive light. He is governor of Louisiana, a state hit rather hard right now by the recession. Yet, Jindall has repeatedly and vehemently stated that he'd refuse federal stimulus money because he doesn't believe in it. What a tool. On top of that, his statement calls into question his general integrity since, despite his claims of refusing federal funding, and all of the media push he's been doing to demonstrate his larger "fiscal values," when you look at the dollars from the federal governemnt which he's actually going to accept... it turns out to be a full $3.7 out of the $3.8 billion dollars being offered.

 

So, basically, either he's an ideological idiot who'd rather stick to approaches which have repeatedly failed and let the people of his state suffer more than they have already, or he's a liar who will grandstand and self-promote saying one thing, all the while doing the exact opposite.

 

So, in addition to just his failed speech, I think he's more of the same nonsense which has brought down the republican party these last several years... except he's got darker skin.

 

 

Interesting factoid that's sure to sit well with those in the red states of the country, his real name is not "Bobby," it's "Piyush."

[Pangloss]

His failed speech, eh? You guys on the left sure toss that word "failed" around a lot. You know it bounces, right?

 

I think I mentioned this in another thread, but I think part of what's happening here is due to the abandonment of the Republican party by centrists and moderates. Fiscal conservatives who got fed up with the social conservatives and threw in the towel. That's pretty much left the party with a religious monster that appears to be going back to bed (as shown by their election "turnout"), and, well, Rush Limbaugh.

[bascule]

His failed speech, eh? You guys on the left sure toss that word "failed" around a lot. You know it bounces, right?

 

I think his speech was universally panned, and he's also in the unfortunate position of having similar mannerisms (at least in that speech) to a Gomer Pyle-type character, Kenneth the Page from the popular NBC sitcom 30 Rock.

 

It's not so much the content of the speech itself. That was mostly fine. However his country bumpkin-styled delivery will haunt him for quite some time. I certainly didn't know he was a Rhodes Scholar nor would I ever suspect him of being one. Just his mannerisms alone put him in Sarah Palin territory in my mind, which is sad because it sounds like he's substantially smarter than how he appears.

[Pangloss]

Interesting. I had been under the general impression in the past that that "down home" image was working for him with the right, just as it does with Sarah Palin. I can certainly see how it rubs the latte-sippers the wrong way, but it must be right for the jambalaya crowd.

 

I think the real question is how well it plays over the radio while waiting in line for a harried foreclosure judge at the courthouse. Probably not so great.

[Sisyphus]

I can certainly see how it rubs the latte-sippers the wrong way,

 

It also causes a lot of eye-rolling among those of us who take our coffee strong, black, bitter, and cheap (like our souls and/or women).

[iNow]

I take Irish Whiskey in my black coffee, and I found him to be a bit like a kindergarden teacher talking down in a condescending way to the US citizenry. I think, Pangloss, that you'll find a growing consensus that our people are tired of being approached like children, and that those who enjoy/appreciate that approach are becoming increasingly marginalized.

[The Bear's Key]

Rush Limbaugh must be doing something right wing

 

(I like my coffee black, like my President)

[Pangloss]

Three of the best/funniest posts of the month. Awesome, guys. Made my whole night!