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How The Dems Use Rush

March 7th, 2009 at 10:28 am David Frum | 118 Comments |

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Listen to this new labor radio ad, here, which uses Rush’s voice to attack Republican members of Congress.

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118 Comments so far ↓

  • petty boozshwa // Mar 8, 2009 at 9:22 am

    ed — what was your recommendation in 2002? If we had continued 35 years of fecklessness we would be a lot worse off today, and would have said even the price we’ve paid so far in Iraq would have been a bargain. Sometimes every option is bad, and I think confronting Saddam was necessary and inevitable. I do wish we’d waited until fall rather than going in the spring. but I think the war was one of the burdens of world leadership we took on. [wish we hadn't, but that's a different issue]

  • petty boozshwa // Mar 8, 2009 at 9:26 am

    For the confused, ed’s pants condemned my position on the Iraq war in a comment that’s been deleted while I was replying.

  • dmt3 // Mar 8, 2009 at 9:36 am

    petty boozshwa: Confronting Saddam was necessary to achieve what? GW was baited by Saddam and took the bait. Saddam did not believe Bush would invade, both misread each other. Both were jokes. Both paid a price. Bush paid a higher price because he is a joke and still alive. Mission Accomplished! The trouble is, America paid a price as well.

  • seattlesith // Mar 8, 2009 at 9:42 am

    It pains me to see conservatives perpetuate the talking points of the Left. Rush didn’t say he wants the country to fail, or even for Obama’s economic policies to fail. That would be nonsensical for a conservative to say because we KNOW his “economic recovery” plans will fail — that’s why we’re against them. No, what Rush said was that he hopes the president fails — that he hopes the president fails, politically, to pass this crap. There is a massive difference.

    The WSJ has a good article on it: http://online.wsj.com/public/search/aggregate.html?article-doc-type=%7BBest+of+the+Web+Today%7D&collections=wsjie/archive#SB123610420858420725

    And, seriously, if it’s not acceptable to NewMajority types for conservatives to want a socialist *political agenda* to fail to get passed…what on earth is it that you stand for?

  • JohnRJ08 // Mar 8, 2009 at 10:07 am

    While its become politically incorrect, most of us remember the old story about the natives and missionaries. The missionaries invariably end up cooking in a Jacuzzi-sized stew pot atop a blazing fire as the natives set the table for dinner.

    Today, we have the leadership of the Republican Party sitting in a similar pot, only this time it isnt hungry natives stirring up the stew. Its Rush Limbaugh. Whether the base of the Republican Party realizes it or not, the well-fed Limbaugh is gleefully devouring his own kind. Because, as long as respected, influential Republicans cower in the corpulent talkshow hosts sizable shadow, the party is going to remain in disarray and no Republican is going to win another national election. In case they hadnt noticed, voters in the last two elections have roundly rejected the strident ideology of the GOP, and Mr. Limbaugh is the archetypal right-wing ideologue. Belligerent, verbose, vitriolic and astonishingly arrogant, he is the de facto Chief of the conservative movement in this country and the epitome of everything that a growing majority of voters have reviled.

    Eventually, democrats will realize that it is best to leave Rush Limbaugh alone. He can stir that big pot just fine all by himself and, by the time hes finished, all that will be left of the Republican Party is a few sun-bleached elephant tusks. (From the look of him the other night at CPAC, hes already swallowed a few congressmen). In the end, he will be like the character in Monty Pythons The Meaning of Life. He will nibble at that last wafer-thin mint, then explode, sending out lethal shrapnel of Big Macs, Whoppers, milkshakes and buffalo wings. Stand close to that pot at your own risk.

  • ChristianMiller // Mar 8, 2009 at 11:03 am

    sinz54, Nearly all my friends are Democrats, leftists anarchists you name it . I have about three Republican friends, One is my brother who is a social conservative and we have quite a few disagreements, another agrees with me about 100% and it gets boring for both of us to talk politics too much because we agree. I have many dear friends who are lovely people except when it comes to politics. I have very reasoned debates with those who are capable. Those who aren’t I keep backing up philosophically – that is I take general issues on and am able to go to the roots of the matter, or not discuss politics. I have talked to people literally all around the world about politics. I lived in Egypt for a year. There are many Lebanese, Saudis, Christian Egyptians and of course Muslim Egyptians. I’ve lived in Switzerland and debated Germans, French, Italians. I traveled through Italy and Greece. I’ve been to Viet Nam and Japan. I’ve traveled in every US State except for Alaska and Montana and North and South Dakota. And like many Americans, have friends from many different nations and cultures. You guys are so full of yourselves thinking my rhetoric is just bigotry or offhanded ignorance. You must take a look at the landscape and what Leftists are trying to do. Most Democrats are default leftists they have been proagandized into believing that Republicans are evil. It is like a religion to them. Until you disabuse them of that notion (and you won’t get anywhere with them by being nice, trust me) you are doomed. This Rush thing is a perfect illustration. Rush is their target now, he talks 15 hours a week, you don’t think they won’t at some point find something they can misconstrue and talk about? Are you aware of the “fake soldier” dust up, where Harry Reid, on the Senate floor denounced Limbaugh taking him completely out of context. Are you aware this is not the first time they try to use these things? And think what they did to Sarah Palin and McCain, Mr nice guy. They shunned him. Even McCain had trouble getting his moderate friends to vote for him !

  • Mr.Joe // Mar 8, 2009 at 1:14 pm

    David, stop it. This is not helping anyone (other than Rush). This is what Rush actually said:

    “If I wanted Obama to succeed, Id be happy the Republicans have laid down. And I would be encouraging Republicans to lay down and support him. Look, what hes talking about is the absorption of as much of the private sector by the US government as possible, from the banking business, to the mortgage industry, the automobile business, to health care. I do not want the government in charge of all of these things. I dont want this to work. So Im thinking of replying to the guy, Okay, Ill send you a response, but I dont need 400 words, I need four: I hope he fails. (interruption) What are you laughing at? See, heres the point. Everybody thinks its outrageous to say. Look, even my staff, Oh, you cant do that. Why not? Why is it any different, whats new, what is unfair about my saying I hope liberalism fails? Liberalism is our problem. Liberalism is whats gotten us dangerously close to the precipice here. Why do I want more of it? I dont care what the Drive-By story is. I would be honored if the Drive-By Media headlined me all day long: Limbaugh: I Hope Obama Fails. Somebodys gotta say it.”

    David, do you disagree with that statement?

  • dmt3 // Mar 8, 2009 at 1:27 pm

    Mr. Joe, in this day and age of twittering do you think any one heard or saw anything more than “I want Obama to fail?” What Rush and apparently many others don’t get is what people hear. It’s not what Limbaugh or you or anyone else says, it what’s people hear. Ideology makes their eye glaze over. They are too busy feeding the kids or running errands. They don’t have time (or don’t take the tim for proper research, discovery, and listening. And when you yell at them, the just turn the sound down, like they are used to doing during TV commercials. I don’t know why those things are so difficult to grasp, but apparently it is lost on the New Minority.

  • sinz54 // Mar 8, 2009 at 2:02 pm

    Mr. Joe, now that I’ve read the entire statement from Limbaugh from the link you provided, I still disagree with it. Especially this part: “I know what his [Obama's] plans are, as he has stated them. I dont want them to succeed.” Nowhere in Limbaugh’s statement did he try to distinguish between Obama’s efforts to try to stimulate the economy out of recession, versus Obama’s other plans. I’ll say it again: Anyone who wants Obama’s efforts on the recession to fail is either one of two things: 1) An ideological extremist–if the only way to save the country in the next few years is through Obama’s liberalism, then let it not be saved; or 2) A political cynic–if Obama fails, unemployment continues to rise and the country becomes disgusted with Obama, then maybe they’ll vote the GOP back into office. Whichever one of these Limbaugh meant, I disagree with them both.

  • sinz54 // Mar 8, 2009 at 2:07 pm

    Mr. Joe asks: “David, do you disagree with that statement?” David Frum has already stated what he disagrees with. Repeatedly. Frum disagrees with the idea that we should hope that Obama fails to end the deep recession we’re currently in. For all our sakes, we should hope that Obama pulls us out of that mess. What other choice do we have? We only get one President at a time. If Obama fails to end the recession, then when is it going to end? How is it going to end?

  • seattlesith // Mar 8, 2009 at 2:26 pm

    Ed’s Pants: I see you enjoy telling other people what to do – it’s easy to see why coercive systems appeal to you.

    That said, I’m not sure what the definition of socialism, the Japanese single payer system, or Adam Smith have to do with my comment regarding Frum’s misrepresentation of Rush’s point. Given your inability to focus on even the fairly narrow scope of my comment, I can certainly appreciate why you ordered me to keep my rebuttal “short and concise”.

    Frankly, I’ve little interest in debating health care systems. And, even less interest doing so with someone who believes the evidentiary burden is mine to explain why I shouldn’t be enslaved into one of his cockamamie, collectivist, fantasies. Why must I surrender my liberty to you, you malcontented fool?

    As for Adam Smith’s invisible hand, have you considered that, as a modern American, you have among the greatest standard of living in the history of humankind? And, that virtually all of that was produced by self-interest?

  • bennet1b // Mar 8, 2009 at 3:03 pm

    Just read your Rush Op and agree entirely. But I’ve been disgusted by the guy for years. I am neither a neo, Reaganite or Goldwater-hold-over. Truth be told, I’m not even conservative. I just know a pig when I see one. The only thing vaguely admirable about his rhetoric is that he manages to stand up on his hind trotters while spewing the stuff.

  • seattlesith // Mar 8, 2009 at 3:27 pm

    sinz54: I don’t understand why you’re inventing explanations for why someone would say what Rush said (“either an ideological extremist…” or a” political cynic”). Rush clearly states why he wants Obama to fail: “Look, what hes talking about is the absorption of as much of the private sector by the US government as possible, from the banking business, to the mortgage industry, the automobile business, to health care. I do not want the government in charge of all of these things.”

    The straw man the White House set up for you is: Obama actually DOES take control of the private sector and THEN Rush wants him to fail. No no no! At the point, in Rush’s terminology, Obama has already succeeded.

    Rush clarifies what he means by “fail” even further, here, when he says if Frank and Dodds “failed” we wouldn’t be in this housing mess. http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_030609/content/01125113.guest.html

    The failure, here, being their inability to meddle in the market to the extent that they did, not the disastrous results of them “successfully” doing so.

    I realize Obama’s team are master craftsmen of spin, but its really sickening to see conservatives like Frum — and presumably yourself — falling for it hook, line, and sinker.

  • ChristianMiller // Mar 9, 2009 at 7:33 am

    bennet 1b makes my point very well. Thanks bennet1b, because I and others are saying that Democrats and socialists (but I repeat myself) and Frum like to say how they would like to elevate the discourse, and that people in the middle get turned off by insults and plain language. Your calling someone a “pig” is very persuasive to them, first, because you aren’t Rush saying it, and second because you would vote for a Republican if they changed their tone and so they are very interested in your perspective. No one likes to be called a pig and they will do anything to keep from being called that. They will distance themselves from these people and their policies. Limbaugh is just so embarrassing, and high-minded people like you are right to be offended. Your side provides a brilliant logical case that confounds these Republican drones:. Rush Limbaugh is a pig – Rush Limbaugh believes in X – therefore anyone who believes in X is also a pig. And you know, it’s working on them. They find this logic irrefutable. Who are the other Republicans or conservatives who are pigs? They are chucking Rush overboard now who should be next? Please tell them. Rush can’t be the ONLY Republican or conservative you despise.

  • sinz54 // Mar 10, 2009 at 8:28 am

    I’ll say it again: I wish Obama well in his attempts to boost the U.S. economy out of recession, and restore economic growth. I do NOT want Obama to fail at THAT. Anyone who does, is putting some other agenda ahead of the good of the nation.

  • sinz54 // Mar 10, 2009 at 8:32 am

    seattlesith: To what are you referring? I only see one post by “Ed’s Pants,” and it only says we need to be better organized on the Internet. The only post that mentions single-payer is yours.

  • eggs2121 // Mar 10, 2009 at 9:07 am

    His policies aren’t designed to boost the economy out of recession and restore economic growth. They’re designed to ensure Democrat power for years to come. Anyone who thinks spending billions for STD education and the National Endowment for the Arts is somehow designed to lift American from a recession is an idiot. American people will lift America out of the recession and restore economic growth. Obama and his policies have delayed that process substantially.

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