Friday, January 30, 2009

Where’s the Controversy Over Rush Limbaugh?...








For whatever reason, Rush Limbaugh has long been the Left’s public enemy #1.

Maybe that’s because in the minds of lazy thinkers, who forget about Barry Gray, Bob Grant, Barry Farber and a host of Conservative radio Talk Show hosts that paved the way for Limbaugh, “El Rushbo” has become a phenomenon since bursting on the scene at the end of the Reagan era and has since become both a target FOR and a bogeyman TO Liberal angst.

All of that’s no doubt been good for Limbaugh’s ratings and those ratings have certainly been good to both his and his numerous outlet’s bank accounts, but, as Conservative as Limbaugh is, there’s really nothing all that controversial about either Rush Limbaugh himself, NOR his Conservative positions.

What’s really odd is the inane charge that Conservative radio Talkers like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and others have “conned many Americans into believing in things (Conservatism) that runs counter to their own best interests.” A fovorite canard of the Liberal pseudo-elite.

That’s not only utter nonsense but it belittles the mainstream media, as what it says is that Limbaugh and his ilk, with their tiny slice of the broadcast spectrum (the radio reservation), have completely outperformed and have had a much larger impact on America than has the rest of the entire so-called “mainstream” and largely Left-leaning media (ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, PBS, NPR, the N Y Times, the LA Times, Washington Post, etc.). I can think of no possible greater insult to those in the mainstream media than that.

In fact, that seems MORE an indictment of the utter failure of Liberal voices, even when given a Goliath’s share of the media, then it does of the alleged “corrosivity of Conservatism.”

The harsh reality for Liberals is that self-identified Conservatives outnumber self-identified Liberals by better than 2 to 1 in America. The “Limbaugh phenomenon” has little to do with Limbaugh’s powers of persuasion, BUT his genius for tapping into the vane of what most Americans believe and offering those starved for that viewpoint, an outlet.

That’s really ALL there is to it! THAT seasoned with an optimistic and pro-American outlet, that too many on the Left fail to understand or appreciate.

Recently, there’s been a huge controversy over a comment of Limbaugh’s allegedly referring to Barack Obama, in effect, “I hope he fails.”

Since I didn’t hear that comment first hand, I had to go to CNN to get the full context of those remarks.

It turns out that in a segment on the Democrats’ current $850 BILLION “stimulus package,” Limbaugh said, in part, this; “If I wanted Obama to succeed, I’d be happy the Republicasn have laid down and I’d be encouraging Republicans to lay down and support him. I don’t want – look, what he’s talking about is the absorption of as much of the private sector by the U.S. government as possible, from the banking business, to the mortgage industry, to the automobile industry to healthcare. I DO NOT WANT the GOVERNMENT in CHARGE of all those things! I DON’T WANT THIS TO WORK! So I’m thinking of sending a reply to the guy, but I don’t need 400 words, I need four – I hope he fails.”

Limbaugh’s fundamental point was that he hopes Obama’s policy goal of expanding governmental control over the economy will fail. Those who’ve interpreted this as Limbaugh wanting America to fail, are erroneous in their interpretation and that's almost certainly due to the woeful ineptitude of those misinterpreters rather than any real malice on their parts. I'm at least pretty sure of that.

Moreover, in my travels, I came across an actual gem from Rush Limbaugh...and I KNOW it’s a gem because I’ve said the same thing for over a decade now and this one excoriates the GOP! Proving that Limbaugh is, nothing less than an equal opportunity critic.

This quote is absolutely right on the money and goes to the heart of why Conservatives have had such a hard time getting their agenda passed even when Republicans are in power; “...What it really comes down to is that the Republican Party is made up of a bunch of elites, moderate Rockefeller types. And the dirty little secret is that they resent being in the same party with a bunch of people who are pro-life, because the pro-life people are from the (southern accent) South, they're Southerners, and they like NASCAR and they chew tobacco-uh."

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And they just hate going to the conventions, the Republican Party conventions and they get teased by their liberal elite buddies in New York and Boston and the whole northeastern corridor and California, too, for having these Deliverance types is what they think of them as, in the same party. Plus these guys, these Rockefeller liberal Republican guys, wives are always nagging 'em about abortion, to get the Republican Party to get rid of it 'cause, "You can't win with it," even though we've won landslides. I said this last night, and it's probably one of the first times it has been said so directly and powerfully on television. I've said it on this radio show numerous today. That's the preamble. A Bloomberg story out just this afternoon by Heidi Przybyla: "Republican Battle for Party Chairman Pits Leaders Against Base."
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“Now, wait. It's not what you think. "Republican leaders' efforts to select a new national party chairman are stirring concerns among a vital constituency: Republican voters." Tell me if you believe this. "Rank-and-file..." This is what it says here. "Rank-and-file Republicans are telling their leaders they want more ethnic, gender and age diversity in a party that is dominated by white males. They also want party leaders to cooperate with President Barack Obama, according to surveys." Now, let me continue. " After losing the White House and 28 seats in Congress last year, some party leaders still aren't hearing the message from voters who are urging them to claw their way back to power by promoting minorities and striking a less partisan tone, said Rich Bond, a former Republican National Committee chairman.”

Rush Limbaugh, January 23, 2009

I’ve said for years now, that the GOP is at best a very flawed vehicle for Conservatism. I know that to be true and so, apparently does, Limbaugh.

And Rush Limbaugh isn’t the only Conservative HOPING the current non-stimulating “stimulus package” fails.

Perhaps Ed Morrissey put best, why Republicans SHOULD listen to and heed their Conservative base; “I’d agree that we need to articulate a clear conservative message — and that the GOP caucuses in the House and Senate have thus far failed to do so, and have failed at it for the last few years. Rather than take shots at Limbaugh, Hannity, and fellow Georgian Newt Gingrich, they should be listening to them. Because, despite Barack Obama’s fantasies, the Republicans in Congress stopped doing that after they won the majority in 1994, and they’re paying the price now."
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They have a golden opportunity before them now to demonstrate that they’ve learned from their bingeing on government pork and reckless spending between 2001-6. The stimulus bill represents everything conservatives fight against. If the Republicans don’t stand up for efficiency, accountability, and responsible governance now, they won’t get another chance for years as this turkey burdens another generation with its irresponsible spending.”

I’m with Ed Morrissey on that.

And I still don’t get the “controversy” over Rush Limbaugh. He merely seems to be stating what most of America actually thinks.

20 comments:

Z said...

The View's Joy Behar was apparently on Larry King maybe last night? (I heard the tape on the radio)...she was ALL OVER Limbaugh for WANTING Obama to FAIL...NO context, NO THOUGHT given to what he meant, that you don't have to be EVIL not to agree with her.
She went on to say that Cheney in the wheelchair was Freudian "I am NOT going to STAND FOR THIS" Larry King was laughing like a little kid..it was sickening.

Rush is a treasure and has probably delayed the demise of America by twenty years; whether he can keep it up, I don't know. He's trying to teach people who've gone through public schools that learning to hate America is NOT what America needs!! I don't know how long his salmon can swim upstream.

BUT, with Michael Steele's election as the RNC Chair, I feel optimistic; he can stand UP to libs, has humor and really believes in the Conservative cause. Let's HOPE (oops!)

Roadhouse said...

If only I had a national talk show. They would have heard ME say it before Rush did.

JMK said...

Z, I think we get that feeling in the cities a lot, where Liberalism's "free lunch" has always held sway.

I agree with Maggie Thatcher, "Reality is Conservative." There are bedrock economic principles that make Liberalism's rewarding of sloth and inefficiency unworkable in the long run.

The BEST teacher of Free Market (Conservative) economics I've ever run across was Dr. Milton Friedman. His 10 hour Free to Choose that ran on PBS back in 1980 was seminal.

You can still check it out at http://www.ideachannel.tv/

It's absolutely awesome!

JMK said...

That's the "genius" of Limbaugh, Roady.

It's not that he's saying anything NEW, nor even saying them first, so much as he's tapped into the views and values of the vast majority of Americans and he's done it with an innate optimism, love and passion for America that's infectious.

THAT'S why the far-Left hates him so much.

Z said...

By the way, I am reading GUILTY by Ann Coulter, and she SO nails so many things like the Swift Boaters, Willie Horton, etc...things the MEDIA made look like THOSE BIG BAD REPUBLICANS and she proves that's total rubbish.

I highly recommend it..as Mr. z says, it's 'nothing new' but it is HILARIOUS and there ARE facts that show unequivocally that the Left was WRONG but the media hides.
of course, with THE ONE in office, this will reach even higher heights

JMK said...

Coulter's points are always accurate, UNLIKE the likes of Olbermann, Franken and Moore (her mirrors on the Left).

The "Willie Horton issue" was first raised by Gore against Dukakis in the Primaries of 1988 and it was indeed a LEGITIMATE issue about Dukakis' idiotic program of furlowing VIOLENT offenders.

Ironically enough, it was (once AGAIN) the Liberals that tried to make that issue about race, rather than failed criminal justice policies.

Coulter's right about the issues, I just wish her style was less combative, because it would then be more persuasive.

Anonymous said...

The “Limbaugh phenomenon” has little to do with Limbaugh’s powers of persuasion, BUT his genius for tapping into the vane of what most Americans believe and offering those starved for that viewpoint, an outlet.

Absolutely.
I have never listened to Air America (and Rush is so full of himself, I could only listen to him for 10 minutes, tops) but the rise in viewership in Fox mirrors what you said, J. And I would not be surprised if there were people who voted for Obama watching Fox just to get a sane, balanced viewpoint on the man.

I voted for Lieberman/Feingold and prefer Fox News, esp their resident Libs, Juan Williams (formerly from NPR) and Bob Bechel. CNN is not too bad but I got tired of Wolf Blitzer talking like he's describing D-Day all of the time, and Jack Cafferty's Ted-Rall like emails from listeners.

WomanHonorThyself said...

hey JMK..He merely seems to be stating what most of America actually thinks...exactly why they want to hush him!

Seane-Anna said...

I wish Rush would go back on tv. I LOVED his television show back in the '90's.

JMK said...

"And I would not be surprised if there were people who voted for Obama watching Fox just to get a sane, balanced viewpoint on the man." (Rachel)
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I agree. The news portion of Fox is really a straight down the line news dispenser. Harris Faulkner and Shep Smith are news people.

I LOVE how detractors rail about O'Reilly, who is actually fairly Center-Left (pro-Green, believes "big oil was price gouging, supports a guest worker program for illegals and opposes the death penalty) commentator, exc ept for his rather tradionalist cultural views, while ignoring out-and-out loons like Olbermann, Maddow and so many other Left-wing COMMENTATORS.

FoxNews really does have a very good mix of divergent views and it's apparently won the battle of "sexifying the news."

Hey! It worked! It actually got more Americans to watch a news station! FoxNews ranks third among cable stations behind TBS and USA.
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"I voted for Lieberman/Feingold and prefer Fox News, esp their resident Libs, Juan Williams (formerly from NPR) and Bob Bechel."
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I DIDN'T vote for Obama, though I actually had NO ONE to vote for this time, and to be honest, as heretical as this is, so far, I haven't been overly alarmed by the Obama administration's moves.

It's been pretty centrist.

I DO revile the so-called "stimulus Bill," BUT that's Pelosi-Reid's turkey, not Obama's.

I LIKE Juan Williams a LOT more than Bechel, but even Bechel is generally OK, even though I tend to find a LOT more disagree with Bechel over than I do with Williams.

But that's just me.

JMK said...

"...exactly why they want to hush him!" (Angel)
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That's why that's sucha dumb move Angel.

Silencing Limbaugh, if it were done, would only strengthen the resolve on the Right, sway more Moderates to that cause and stink up the air with the smell of desperation and fear from the left.

JMK said...

"I wish Rush would go back on tv. I LOVED his television show back in the '90's." (Seane-Anna)
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I did too Seane-Anna, even though, as is said in the trade, "he has a face for radio." For that matter so do I....but I don't have either the personality nor the presence for either and Limbaugh DOES have a personality.

I think a LOT of people feel similar to the way Rachel does about Rush Limbaug, BUT if you listen long enough, you can see that's an act and he really is often self-deprecating and both his optimism and love of country are infectious.

To folks like Rachel, I often say, "Limbaugh is a lot like country music, it's good for the soul, it's just that it's got to pass through the ears to get there...and that's an acquired taste."

Anonymous said...

great piece, jim! here's my latest attempt at getting my artists friends to stand up and join the fight against this liberal madness we're experiencing. keep up the good fight!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyatlyQuNbs&feature=channel_page

Anonymous said...

To folks like Rachel, I often say, "Limbaugh is a lot like country music, it's good for the soul, it's just that it's got to pass through the ears to get there...and that's an acquired taste."

I don't mind country music...I love Charley Pride ;)

machinepolitick said...

Liberals only want free speech and open mindedness regarding their own ideas. When you say something they don't like or succeed through hard work, they attack you on a personal level. It is time for Conservatives to stand up for themselves and fight back.

JMK said...

One of the problems we've had on that score MP is that there have been a lot of people (including the likes of the Bush's and McCain's, even Guiliani) muddying the waters of Conservatism by arguing for government as a major partner in advancing "Conservative ideals."

The problem with that is that true Conservatism is rooted in respect for LIBERTY = freedom FROM government, NOT "freedom" THROUGH government.

Gingrich was the last truly Conservative leader in the U.S.

The Gingrich-led Congress slashed the Capital Gains tax from 30% to 20% and Cap Gains revenues exploded.

That Congress also shut down the federal government for a couple weeks UNTIL the Clinton administration signed onto the FIRST federal budget cuts in over 100 years and, ironically enough, since.

Those cuts, coupled with massive welfare reforms delivered the best economy we've had since the fifties (when we were the only economy left standing after WW II) and all those budget surpluses of the late 1990s.

machinepolitick said...

You're preaching to the choir, JMK. I have long argued that Republicans are no longer Conservative. It is time for people to start looking at the Libertarian Party if they truly value freedom and capitalism. George Bush was no Conservative,and he served us to Obama on a silver platter. http://www.machinepolitick.com/compassionate1.html

JMK said...

I agree MP.

The problem the Libertarian Party has had in the past has been an image problem - kooks like Al Goldstein and his fellow porn-purveyors heading the free speech contingent, the ladies of PONY (a pro-prostitution group) and the various drug legalization contingents have been front and center and really damaged the LP's image, keeping it from being taken seriously.

Alpha Conservative Male said...

Liberals HATE people that they can't STOP, MANIPULATE or SILENCE. Rush is that person period.

JMK said...

They certainly seem poised to TRY and silence the likes of Limbaugh, Tyrone, which would almost certainly be a HUGE mistake!

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