Why the GOP is failing and what Rush Limbaugh really means

[BirminghamExaminer]

Excerpt from original article:

During the last decade much of the conservative paradigm has revolved around moral issues with the hard right promoting evangelical values and seeking legislation that supports their values but infringes on the civil liberties of others. The conservatives were loud voices against allowing women choices against equal rights for gay, lesbian and transgendered people. Conservatives were just as passionate about their support of President Bush and the war in Iraq and anyone who questioned the nation's entry into a war with Iraq was labeled unpatriotic. There was no room for debate on these issues in the Republican party of the last decade. None of these issues has much support today except among the very hard right, core conservative base of the Republican party. Moderate, independent and Democratic voters are concerned about the economy. They are concerned about the economy for practical reasons, not ideological reasons.

In less than two months, President Obama has managed to pass the Economic Recovery Act designed to create jobs and drive the economy out of the recession, ordered Guantanamo Bay closed and ordered a timed withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. He has also reversed some of the last minute provisions put into place by the former President designed to make it harder for women to have access to birth control. But the GOP has only focused on one of the actions of the new President as a talking point, the Economic Recovery Act.

The Republican party is focusing on one issue and one issue only, opposition to the Economic Recovery Act. That they are doing so intimates that they are trying to return to the traditional definition of the Republican party which is in essence, that they are against big government and that they are fiscally conservative. But it's proving difficult because of the party's recent past. The last 8 years of Republican control of the government which was supported en masse by the conservative right wing of the Republican party has muddied the definition of the Republican party. Under President George W Bush the government grew enormously both in programs like the Patriot Act and warrantless wiretapping and in fiscal irresponsibility with two wars and the largest deficit in the nation's budget in history.

Rush Limbaugh hasn't been clear about what he means by his hope that President Obama fails. It's possible that he can't come right out and say that he is against 'big government' to his listeners because that would then also mean he is against adding amendments to the Constitution because that would mean bigger government and that includes adding amendments that would ban gay marriage and abortion. But it is also possible that Limbaugh is simply doing what he does best, entertaining and growing his audience.

To see the entire article, please go here.

[bemildred]

1. They are failing because their policies were disastrous.

There is no mystery requiring an explanation. It became so obvious even the Rubes woke up. Limbaugh is a drug-addled tool, the best possible marker of the collapse of the Republican Party.

[yellerpup]

2. Good article.

Nice find. K&R

[angrycarpenter]

3. daily vistor to your page.

I post as AC. BTW I sometimes comment on another examiners page and he simply deletes my comments within minutes. I am not being abusive or calling him names, I am simply disagreeing with his articles. He seems to delete all comments that do not wholeheartedly agree with him. Is this normal on the examiner site?

[BirminghamExaminer]

4. No

But it's up to individual writers how they handle comments. I never delete mine and I've been called some pretty nasty stuff. My feeling is that if you are getting lots of comments, negative or positive, it's a good thing. Some people delete just profanities, etc., but I delete nothing. I'm pretty tough skinned about these things. Please feel free to leave comments on my articles any time, good or bad.

My favorite insult was from a guy who called me ...'this broad' For some reason I got a big kick out of that.

[BirminghamExaminer]

5. I've seen your comments by the way and appreciate them. n/t

[ggould1]

6. Good article

[certainot]

7. i disagree with your last paragraph- rush is not primarily an entertainer

and he has never shied from being a hypocrite- limbaugh has 'principles' but one of his greatest skills is the certitude with which he can present a variety of different rationalizations on the same subject from one day to the next. he has no problem worshipping the bill of rights while selling 'club gitmo' T shirts and calling for torture of US citizens.

if you complain to management or ownership of the stations that fill their communities with his lies they will tell you he is an entertainer with free speech rights and his primary objective is ratings- but his primary objective is propaganda- he sells war profiteering, deregulation, global warming denial and tax breaks for billionaires. steele didn't get the message that rush is stepping out from the 'entertainer' role he has been hiding behind- his ego has demanded full recognition now and he is tired of being the GOP's most important guy behind the scenes, reading and improvising on material sent from RW 'think' tanks. he saw the vacuum and wanted to fill it.

progressives have greatly underestimated the importance of the talk radio monopoly getting us into this disaster the last 20 years. it has been the single most important factor enabling unprecedented numbers of flat earthers and pirates in US politics. the monopolly's coordinated UNCONTESTED repetition has been extremely effective for short circuiting the normal feedback mechanisms a democracy relies on. limbaugh has been lead man pulling a bandwagon the talk radio monopoly managers load up every day with prechewed and laundered talking points and framing the trad media owners, who want the deregulation and tax breaks, are all too ready to pick from.

[BirminghamExaminer]

8. Interesting perspective....

I do think he has a lot of power over the GOP and so he's not solely an entertainer from that perspective. But on the other hand, he doesn't have the ability to write legislation, etc.

We may have as you say, underestimated the power of talk radio, or maybe not. I don't know what else one can do about talk radio trash except start a liberal network like Air America. Unfortunately, Air America for many of us, can only come through the internet.

I'd like to know more about the demographics of right wing talk radio. I seem to remember reading somewhere that some younger people are starting to listen to it and that, more than anything else about talk radio, disturbs me.

[certainot]

9. the giant talk radio soapbox he leads applies enough pressure

to make a big difference in passing or killing legislation. it is instrumental in keeping the GOP in lock step through intimidation and cheerleading- the three recent GOP 'traitors' got huge pressure and that's where it is coordinated and most of it is generated. most of the pressure to filibuster and most of the pressure on limbaugh democrats (blue dog) will come from talk radio.

on the eve of pushing through the vote to give bush the 'option' of attacking iraq, when dems wanted to keep debating, ALL the RW radio hosts were pounding the same rallying cry- "TELL YOUR SENATORS TO STAND UP AND BE COUNTED!" it worked. many issues such as immigration, vote fraud by democrats, etc., wouldn't go anywhere if they didn't get talked up first on talk radio. it does the groundwork for everything the GOP does.

knowing they can control the media flavor of america has emboldened them because they know they can have it both ways, giving them the confidence to hold back aid to Katrina victims for instance, because they knew if the black on white violence they projected for NO happened they could ride it through several elections, thanks to their giant talk radio soapbox. same with many things the bush admin has done.

the attention to rush is good, especially if it gets more notice for the talk radio problem. but if progressives believe the free market and free speech myths about the talk radio monopoly and don't get equality on the public airwaves they will be missing the main opportunity that obama gave them when he did what gore and kerry should have done- draw attention to the real source of power of the GOP- 1000 local radio stations that have been used like paul reveres in reverse to undermine democracy in america.

as far as listenership, much of it in the red states is a near captive audience, people trying to get current events while working or driving before heading home to fight the family for the remote, with no alternatives. unfortunately the red states have a disproportionate number of senators.

[BirminghamExaminer]

10. But it didn't work during the November election....

so what do you think happened? I'm interested in your theory about it. You have a convincing argument except that it doesn't account for what happened in November.

[certainot]

11. don't know but i think americans finally had enough of the republican corruption, iraq,

and enough of them finally voted. obama and his organization was a big part. but limbaugh didn't help in this case. he didn't like mccain and didnt get behind him until mccain picked palin. that was announced minutes before limbaugh came on the friday before the GOP convention. the combination finally galvanized a very despondent GOP (talk radio) base in time for the convention but it was very late. palin eventually became a negative and i think limbaugh's reluctance to support mccain early cost them.

i am optimistic that americans were smart enough that they' had enough but i thought that the last two elections also. but who knows if it was an inexperienced young black senator against a stronger republican ticket that had limbaugh and the whole radio monopoly coordinated behind it.

[snake in the grass]

12. I don't believe...

...it was corruption, Iraq, torture, the shredding of the Constitution, wiretapping, or any other of GOP's numerous crimes that got most people to vote for Obama this time around. Unfortunately too many didn't care all that much about these things during the 8 years of the Bush administration as long as they could stuff their greedy gobs with pancake and sausage on a stick while watching American Idol or similar rot. It was the pain in their wallets that finally got them up off of their complacent asses.

[certainot]

13. the obama gatherings i went to were more about getting democracy back, not

about wallet pain so much. the wallet pain that's coming will dwarf what's now and the GOP radio monopoly, if ignored, will keep blaming it on obama and that soapbox is loud enough that it might get the job done.

the talk radio monopoly has been used to enable the trad media to distract from and ignore the real problems that would have allowed a popular reaction a while ago, wallets or not. there are a lot of people with wallet pains the last 8 years supporting bush just because they were too tired when they got home to the family to look for better information than the GOP propaganda that has been dominating this country for 20 years, since reagan killed the Fairness Doctrine, telling them dems were going to come for their guns and raise their taxes. we've always had some from the media conglomerates, but not bad enough to cover up what these fucking pirates have been doing.

[BirminghamExaminer]

15. Palin pick was a good point n/t

[classysassy]

14. Tune out rush

and turn off fox(faux).Now that wasn't too painfull was it?