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.