Is Republican Rush Limbaugh, who as you can see HERE is more than ever presuming to speak for all Republicans, correct? Do all Republicans want Barack Obama to fail so the economy goes more south than it is now — which in effect would be close to a total economic collapse?
Answer: of course not. But Republicans have allowed someone who started out as a witty conservative and has now morphed into the face of compassion-less ideology to become their high-profile brand name –and the face of 21st century conservatism to most Americans. Limbaugh thrives on stories and blog posts and other info bits like this that mention his name because it continues to boost his status, solidify his ratings and his power.
FOOTNOTE: Yesterday I drove 5 hours and listened to several conservative talk radio shows. It’s interesting to hear big talk show radio hosts talk about how people who are unemployed due to the recession are really lazy and just want to sit around and get government help and how they just need to get up and get a job and make something of themselves.
Such statements are usually delivered by people who get fat salaries, generally aren’t thin, in many cases will be impacted by changes in taxes that will tax people in higher brackets — and who found jobs doing radio shows where they demonize another political party, the unemployed, or homeowners for three hours a day and then pick up a big paycheck. Nice work if you can get it. Which most can’t.
On the other hand, perhaps this is really all an act: perhaps Rush truly wants whatever Obama does to succeed so that — whether he likes a specific approach or not — more Americans don’t lose their jobs and homes and we don’t get more reports about how the national economy that impacts the entire nation is shrinking.
Perhaps it’s all a front and he really agonizes over the future of the bulk of Americans whose lives have abruptly turned upside down as he gets on his private jet and flies off to another city for a quick dinner.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.