Who’s Leading the Republican Party? Rush Limbaugh and the Resurrection of “Massive Resistance”

[Joanne98]

The Republican Party put all its business in the streets as talk radio rhetorician, Rush Limbaugh, went on the offensive (even more than he’s been on the offensive since Obama has taken office) at the Conservative Party Convention this past weekend. Stating that he wanted to see President Obama fail, and that it is reasonable to want a government to fail that is not based on capitalism and individual rights, Limbaugh took on pop culture populism of Obama with an old brand of cultural populism.

Let’s ignore the codified language and ideological spin (just for a second) that has nothing to do with the real purpose of this incendiary speech. Protest and opposition speech is tolerated in our country. What is not tolerated is talk that undermines the government. That is called sedition, which is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “the causing of discontent, insurrection, or resistance against a government.” Limbaugh essentially said, literally and in his own words, that “We need to take ‘our country’ back” as if the government and the nation that President Obama is leading is, somehow, not America (or American enough, more code language). Obama could have him arrested for sedition, as Lincoln had many arrested during the Civil War for advocating against the government, but that would make Limbaugh more of an ideological martyr than he already is so it is best for Obama to just ignore him.

“Mount Rushmouth” got so carried away Saturday that not even his own party could ignore him. Our new brother from another political mother, Michael Steele, tried to put a cap on it, apologizing for Limbaugh and asserting himself as the head of the party. Rush blew him off too, saying “why is he the head of the Republican Party?” Suggesting that Steele should be defending his rhetoric. Limbaugh even suggested that “if he was the head of a party” in such dire straits, he would resign—of course, an attempt to bait Steele by jabbing the party’s new suntanned leadership. The party’s new color complex is most troublesome for Limbaugh who re-invented a whole new code language so the party could signal race talk without mentioning race. But Michael Steele knew exactly what he was saying. He was inspiring Americans to resist against the Obama administration, which has spent the first six weeks in office cleaning up elephant poop. This has all the markings of massive resistance, which we’ve seen before but thought was gone.

http://www.laprogressive.com/2009/03/06/who-is-leading-the-republican-party-rush-limbaugh-and-the-resurrection-of-massive-resistance%E2%80%9D/

[bemildred]

1. I think Rush is in way over his head.

It's not going to be pretty, but it will be fun to watch.
:popcorn::popcorn: