David Frum: "Rush is a walking stereotype of self-indulgence--- And we're cooperating!"

[seafan]

Who leads the US Republican Party?



By Max Deveson
BBC News, Washington

Wednesday, 4 March 2009

Former Bush speechwriter David Frum, writing on his website newmajority.com, bemoaned the prominence conservatives were giving to the radio host.

"With his private plane and his cigars, his history of drug dependency and his personal bulk, not to mention his tangled marital history, Rush is a walking stereotype of self-indulgence - exactly the image that Barack Obama most wants to affix to our philosophy and our party. And we're cooperating!"

Undeniably, Mr Limbaugh has - for the moment - become the uncrowned king of the conservative wing of the Republican party.

Speaking to the CPAC conference, Mr Limbaugh, the most popular right-wing radio host in the country, said the party needed strong leadership, not modified policies.
"The American people may not all vote the way we wish them to, but more Americans than you know live their lives as conservatives in one degree or another," he said.
"And they are waiting for leadership. We need conservative leadership. We can take this country back. All we need is to nominate the right candidate. It's no more complicated than that."
And in what was perceived as a dig at Mr Gingrich, Mr Limbaugh insisted "one thing that we can all do is stop assuming that the way to beat them is with better policy ideas right now."

His speech was received rapturously by the CPAC audience, not least for his unabashed declaration that he wanted President Obama to "fail".

Kiss Rush's ring, boys.

Michael Steele, speaking on CNN, dismissed Mr Limbaugh as "an entertainer", with an "incendiary" and "ugly" style.

((----A short time later: ))

"My intent was not to go after Rush – I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh,” Steele said in a telephone interview. “I was maybe a little bit inarticulate. … There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership.”

Phil Gingrey, R-Marietta, publicly criticized Rush Limbaugh and other conservative talk show natterers who "stand back and throw bricks" instead of offering "real leadership" during high-profile public policy battles, like the economic stimulus package.

((----A short time later: ))

"I want to express to you and all your listeners my very sincere regret for those comments I made yesterday. I clearly ended up putting my foot in my mouth. I regret those stupid comments."

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford noted that "anybody who wants (Mr Obama) to fail is an idiot, because it means we're all in trouble".
.....
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford escaped the apology only because he referred to Limbaugh though not by name.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Democrats plan to launch a Web site Wednesday that mocks GOP leaders for apologizing to radio host Rush Limbaugh for criticizing or publicly disagreeing with him.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is hosting the Web site, which allows visitors to create an apology to Limbaugh on behalf of Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Georgia; South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford; or Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele.

.....

Kiss it again.

[Burma Jones]

1. I think Frum is their smartest guy.....

Which doesn't bode well for him

[gratuitous]

2. David Frum, come on down!

You are the next contestant on "Apologize to Rush"! We have a line-up of former winners here to tell you what you can expect, and just how much they like the taste of pilonidal cyst! {Applause}

Although, since he's not a political office holder, Frum may not be obliged to get on his knees to Maximum Rush, overlord of the political pygmies.

[Spazito]

4. LOL! Love your "contestant" comment!

I was doing a count-down to the upcoming apology myself.

:rofl:

[MrPerson]

3. If they keep picking at Rush he will never go away.

He's like a scab.

[Mari333]

5. Its this terrifying unconscious need for a large white old male representative

image. The unconscious collective mind yearning for an older , large white male..the former epitome' of power...Obama was elected by a sweeping number of people..the demographics in the USA are changing, and fast..pretty soon this image of the older white male will be a minority as a primary power..
so the GOP, in some posthaste PR scheme, promotes Steele as the head of the RNC and starts trotting out Jindal and Palin..it doesnt really wash with the demographics group ....and then Rush starts bloviating..
suddenly the 'image' is embraced..this is who they really are..all the women and colored folk they try to use as a face of the GOP doesnt work..its Rush..the real face in so many of their minds...and thats why he really IS the real representative of what the GOP voters miss terribly..the old power they can NO LONGER HAVE....an older large white male with a big mouth who says nothing.

[monmouth]

7. Perhaps a "Daddy" thing....n/t

[Mari333]

9. well, its who they have been taught that 'god ' is all their lives

an old white male..the god projected in the big 3 religions..an old white male..bloviating on occasion, actually, bellowing..the big kahuna, the big daddy, the angry old white male...the ultimate power trip..
yep, some odd paternal patriarchal crapola.

[OmahaBlueDog]

6. Rush didn't say anything we didn't know, and the converse is true

"The American people may not all vote the way we wish them to, but more Americans than you know live their lives as progressives in one degree or another ....And they are waiting for leadership. We need progressive leadership. We can take this country back. All we need is to nominate the right candidate. It's no more complicated than that."

That's Rush's statement with the word progressive substituted for conservative, and the truth of the statement was proven clearly when we nominated the right candidate. The GOP, on the other hand, brought us an old man and a dingbat.

[Marr]

8. That's *why* they love him. Conservatism is all about narrow-minded, short-sighted greed.

Frum should come to grips with what his ideology is really about. It's not about the fairy tale they tell each other.

Our country has always had a party that argues for a two-tiered society of haves and have-nots, says wealth is proof of superiority, says the world is there to be exploited by the powerful, etc. That is their heritage. Limbaugh is a perfect symbol for the modern incarnation of the party.

[EstimatedProphet]

10. Their actions are directly due to the system they set up

Republican and lockstep have long been synonomous. The repubs are behaving exactly the way they have been trained: once an official word comes down from the big dog, all must fall into place behind him. Rush is now the big dog, because he barked the loudest.

[seafan]

11. Rush's 'Operation Chaos' last year started his precipitous decline, leading to right now.

Rush Limbaugh: 'Operation Chaos' A Success In Extending Nomination, May 6, 2008



So, does this mean that Rush been kicked out as an honorary member of Congress, since House Republicans named him in 1994?

Limbaugh, who often assails the "drive-by media," has been a leading provocateur on the right for two decades. House Republicans named him an honorary member of Congress after he aided the GOP takeover in 1994. In January, then-President George W. Bush held a White House luncheon in his honor.


Among the points in his speech (at the Conservative Political Action Conference-CPAC, February 28, 2009) that drew the greatest ire were:

-- "There will be more controls over what you can and can't do, how you can and can't do it, what you can and can't drive, what you can and can't say, where you can and can't say it."

-- "They don't have the right to take money that's not theirs, and none of it is, from back pockets of producers and give it to groups like ACORN. . . . If anybody but government were doing this, it would be a crime."

-- "They have destroyed poor families by breaking up those families, by offering welfare checks to women to keep having babies, no more father needed."

The hateful, destructive rein of this vicious liar, shouting over the public's airwaves since the early 1990's, is ending.

"A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public debt...If the game runs sometime against us at home, we must have patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at stake." --- Thomas Jefferson

[sofa king]

12. Man, some of the comments in that Frum article are keee-razy!

Most interesting to me is that among that swarm of outraged Republicans and others, George Bush is mentioned only about ten times. That's like raging at your proctologist because your ass hurts from the ass-raping you got from an ass-raper.

[Supersedeas]

13. a conservative who is not silenced by the fascist wing of the party