ShareThisRush Limbaugh wants President Barack Obama to fail, he has said more than once, and liberal commentators are aghast, either because they haven't bothered to check out the context of his remarks or are hopelessly befogged by bias.
A couple of minutes of Google searches would inform the lazy ones that while Limbaugh may characteristically have found a provocative way to phrase his thoughts, he was actually saying he hoped Obama would fail to afflict the nation with horrendous policies. Not so outrageous, huh?
But if you are a liberal, this is your hour, you will tolerate no opposition, and if someone keeps popping your gaseous balloons, you will either attempt to quell that constitutionally guaranteed freedom through reimposition of the radio-regulating Fairness Doctrine or commit another act of political thuggery.
You will demonize the talk show host as a powerful, propagandistic hate-monger while making him seem the very embodiment of everything you aim to defeat. You will say, as Obama's chief of staff did, that he is the "intellectual" wherewithal of the Republican Party, or you will call him the party's leader, as we keep hearing from a rather silly, labor-financed group called Americans United for Change. Because polls show most Americans don't like Limbaugh much, it's a clever strategy.
Yet then again, there might be some who figure it can be just as clarifying to put the man himself in context as to put his words in context. They might start with the observation that his only power is the power of persuasion, ordinarily seen as a legitimate, even primary instrument for deciding issues in a democracy.
True, he reaches an impressive 13 million people a week, but they are self-selected, tuning him in because they want to. He doesn't begin to reach as high a percentage of the population as Tom Paine did with his 18th century pamphlets urging Americans to support war against Britain. Given an adult population today of some 230 million, there are 217 million who aren't listening regularly while in many cases accessing the near-limitless radio, cable and broadcast TV, newspaper, magazine and Internet voices offering other views.
Limbaugh is certainly not "propagandistic" in any strict sense of the word, and easily less so than many hurtling the charge, such as Al Gore, someone who recently had to change material in a climate-change slideshow because it misrepresented a study's findings.
I do not doubt that Limbaugh has gone overboard at times, suffered lapses in taste and gotten some things wrong. Virtually everyone in the opinion business does the same to some extent or the other, and more of us would more of the time if we had to do what Limbaugh does on radio - gab almost three hours a day, five days a week.
A saving grace is that he is funny and fun, sometimes as much comedian as commentator. Maybe you won't like it that, in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Committee in Washington, he said John Kerry would be completely colorless except for his varicose veins, but compare that to some of what we get from large numbers on the left-wing side, including from the columns of another radio personality, the likeable Garrison Keillor. When commenting on issues of the day, he routinely morphs into a verbal version of Vlad the Impaler.
Politically, Limbaugh is a limited-government guy who happens to believe more than anything in individual liberty. He says the GOP is in such a "sad-sack state" that he wouldn't be its leader if asked, and at least some Republican spokesman have made it clear enough they want little to do with him, and that's OK.
What will not be OK is a failure to stand up to horrendous Obama policies the president has lately told us he has in mind.
(Jay Ambrose, formerly Washington director of editorial policy for Scripps Howard newspapers and the editor of dailies in El Paso, Texas, and Denver, is a columnist living in Colorado. He can be reached at SpeaktoJay(at)aol.com.)
COLUMN
Edifying. Firstly, Limbaugh
Edifying. Firstly, Limbaugh *is* running the GOP, as their genuflecting before him luridly illustrates.
Secondly, since you find him so virtuous, perhaps you'd like to place these other remarks of his "in context":
“I mean, let’s face it, we didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back; I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark." [Actually, we had slavery in America for over 300 years, but Limbaugh never lets facts get in his way.]
"You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray [the confessed assassin of Martin Luther King]. We miss you, James. Godspeed."
"Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?"
"The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies."
"They're 12 percent of the population. Who the hell cares?" [referring to the percent of Americans that are African-American]
"Take that bone out of your nose and call me back" [said to an African-American female caller to his show].
"I think it really goes back to the fact that nobody had the guts to stand up and say no to a black guy." [On Senator Obama to be the Democratic Party's nominee]
"Look, let me put it to you this way: the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it."
Rush Limbaugh appeared on Fox News and insulted Los Angeles’ Hispanic mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Limbaugh said the first time he saw Mayor Villaraigosa he thought the Latino was a “Shoe Shine Boy.” He was shocked to learn this Latino held such a high office and was, in fact, the Mayor of Los Angeles.
“If we are going to start rewarding no skills and stupid people–I’m serious, let the unskilled jobs, let the kinds of jobs that take absolutely no knowledge whatsoever to do–let stupid and unskilled Mexicans do that work.”
"Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society."
Rush Limbaugh on the kidnapping of peace activists in Iraq: "I'm telling you, folks, there's a part of me that likes this."
Limbaugh has called President Obama a 'halfrican American', has said that Obama was not black but Arab because Kenya is an Arab region, even though Arabs are less than one percent of Kenya. Since mainstream America has become more accepting of African-Americans, Limbaugh has decided to play against its new racial fears, Arabs and Muslims. Despite the fact Obama graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law school, Limbaugh has said he was an 'affirmative action candidate.' Limbaugh repeatedly played a song on his radio show 'Barack the Magic Negro'.
"He's black! He's Black!! He's BLACK!!! It Doesn't Make Any Difference To Me. But he's BLAAAAAACCKKK!!!!!!" [referring to President Obama]
"We’re not sexists, we’re chauvinists — we’re male chauvinist pigs, and we’re happy to be because we think that’s what men were destined to be. We think that’s what women want."
You say, "Limbaugh is certainly not "propagandistic" in any strict sense of the word, and easily less so than many hurtling the charge, such as Al Gore, someone who recently had to change material in a climate-change slideshow because it misrepresented a study's findings."
Utter bull. Limbaugh is *nothing but* a propagandist who calls himself an "entertainer" so that he can *lie* constantly.
Response to Gordon Plumber
Oh my gosh!! What a blithering idiot. You think you prove a point by listing a series of one liners from Rush. Listen to the man on a regular basis and you will see how very wise he can be. He wants ALL Americans to succeed. You and the dopes on the far left can't see past your emotions to think and reason in a logical way. Grow up!!
Minister of B.S.
The author loses ALL credibility when he claims that Rush is not a propagandist. Are you joking? What Rush practices is the very definition of "propaganda". In Orwellian Newspeak, perhaps you consider Rush an "educator". But considering that the show presupposes all views taken by the host are 100% correct, it's silly to accuse anyone else of intolerance. Have you ever heard a dissenting voice on the show that wasn't heckled? Regarding Dave's comments, I think that Gordon's point is proven by his citation of numerous indefensible comments. Until you dittoheads (read: sheep) acknowledge the poison that is Limbaugh, prepare to watch your party sink further and further into oblivion. The rantings of a wealthy white elite have limited appeal to the changing demographic of this country. Good luck relying on the extremist wing of the party to bring in any new votes from mainstream America.
"Secondly, since you find
"Secondly, since you find him so virtuous, perhaps you'd like to place these other remarks of his "in context":
“I mean, let’s face it, we didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back; I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark." [Actually, we had slavery in America for over 300 years, but Limbaugh never lets facts get in his way.]
"You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray [the confessed assassin of Martin Luther King]. We miss you, James. Godspeed."
Phony quotes. rush said neither.
Phony Rush Limbaugh Quotes
That's right, that James Earl Ray one is the worst.
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