Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Rush, the GOP, and Obama (updated)

Last week, Rush Limbaugh exclaimed that he hopes Obama fails as a President. Regardless of any person's political ideology, that was disgraceful. Obama responded by asking the GOP leaders to lay off the Limbaugh kool-aid: "You can't listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done." Limbaugh attacked in-kind, saying Obama is:
obviously more frightened of me than he is Mitch McConnell. He's more frightened of me, than he is of, say, John Boehner, which doesn't say much about our party.
To which one GOP Representative stood up for his leadership team against Limbaugh:
“I think that our leadership, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, are taking the right approach,” [Rep. Phil] Gingrey [R-GA] said. “I mean, it’s easy if you’re Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh or even sometimes Newt Gingrich to stand back and throw bricks. You don’t have to try to do what’s best for your people and your party. You know you’re just on these talk shows and you’re living well and plus you stir up a bit of controversy and gin the base and that sort of that thing. But when it comes to true leadership, not that these people couldn’t be or wouldn’t be good leaders, they’re not in that position of John Boehner or Mitch McConnell."
With Republican leaders stepping into the fray, hopefully Obama can now stop giving Rush a platform.

On a related note, Chris Cilliza wonders if Limbaugh is the new face of the GOP. But as left-leaning bloggers point out, Limbaugh has always been a face - one of many - of the GOP (see here and here)

Update: Rep. Gingrey, inundated with calls from angry conservatives, was forced to give an apology to Limbaugh.

7 comments:

Ted said...

With the mounting job casualties, here's hoping SCOTUS either finds someone, somewhere, has standing to require BHO's birth certificate or fixes attention on a criminal indictment before he wins his War on Prosperity.

Anonymous said...

The comedian Rush Limbaugh is back in his proper element, being the propaganda minister for the rightward fringe of the Republican party. His bile has little creditable substance and his swill is only believed by the truly uninformed. Now the centrists of the Republican Party are distancing themselves from Rush Limbaugh because he is a stain that cannot be removed from their hopes for a future in Congress.

Ted, one of the things you should bear in mind, all high level government officials are vetted by the FBI, if there was the remotest truth to the Limbaugh lies about President Obama, the former Republican administration would have brought it out. As it were, he was found to have been born in the United States by a mother who was a US Citizen, case closed, Limbaugh's joking around bombed, and we have a fully qualified President.

As for the "War on Prosperity" you have our President confused with the former President George W. Bush who took a budget surplus and turned into a large pit. After two weeks (let us say that again, after two weeks on the job) our new President has made the moves needed to turn be Bush War on Prosperity into a War on Want.

Who is it that had prosperity under Bush? Certainly, not millions of us who, as members of the middle class, had to pay for ourselves and the over rich. That is not prosperity for us.

Just one more note, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) administered the oath of office. He, a Republican appointee, would not have done so unless he was fully convinced the person he administered the oath to was fully qualified -- that is a part of our three branch government.

Sweet dreams Ted, that are all they are, dreams.

Anonymous said...

It is the Executive Branch that investigates. The Supreme Court has no investigative power.

Anonymous said...

Ladies and Gentlemen, witness the slow, painful death of the Republican party.

Katie said...

In many ways, Limbaugh's continued presence on the airwaves is an incredible gift the Republican party is giving to the Left, in terms of solidifying the base and reminding the fencesitters why most of them voted for Obama in the first place.

Every time he opens his mouth and pours out his vitriol, people don't shake their heads and go "Oh, that Limbaugh." Many of them will go, "Oh, those Republicans. That's why we ousted them. Now I remember."

The type of people who listen to him and go "Yeah, right on!" are not the kind of people whose minds will be changed -- ever. Period. And the ones who are on the fence are more likely to be alienated by him than inspired.

So please, Rush. Keep talking. You're just sending more and more people our way, every day.

Anonymous said...

I called a friend of mine tonight to tell him that Obama had 60% favorability in Alabama. He laughed for a good two minutes before realizing that I wasn't joking.

Matt F. said...

I just have to giggle, Ted, at anyone hoping that Obama will recieve a criminal indictment. Or that Obama is waging a war on prosperity. Given that the former president committed war crimes and presided over an economic collapse, again, I have to giggle.