To those of you (Democrats, independents and Republicans) who won’t listen to talk show giant Rush Limbaugh because you think his show has become p.r. for the official Republican party apparatus, your belief has just been confirmed.
Now, I mentioned to you at the conclusion of the previous hour that people have been asking me how I feel all night long. I got, “Boy, Rush, I wouldn’t want to be you tomorrow! Boy, I wouldn’t want to have to do your show! Oh-ho. I’m so glad I’m not you.” Well, folks, I love being me. (I can’t be anybody else, so I’m stuck with it.) The way I feel is this: I feel liberated, and I’m going to tell you as plainly as I can why. I no longer am going to have to carry the water for people who I don’t think deserve having their water carried. Now, you might say, “Well, why have you been doing it?” Because the stakes are high. Even though the Republican Party let us down, to me they represent a far better future for my beliefs and therefore the country’s than the Democrat Party and liberalism does.
I believe my side is worthy of victory, and I believe it’s much easier to reform things that are going wrong on my side from a position of strength. Now I’m liberated from having to constantly come in here every day and try to buck up a bunch of people who don’t deserve it, to try to carry the water and make excuses for people who don’t deserve it. I did not want to sit here and participate, willingly, in the victory of the libs, in the victory of the Democrat Party by sabotaging my own. But now with what has happened yesterday and today, it is an entirely liberating thing. If those in our party who are going to carry the day in the future — both in Congress and the administration — are going to choose a different path than what most of us believe, then that’s liberating. I don’t say this with any animosity about anybody, and I don’t mean to make this too personal.
We’re sure some Rush fans will say “Why don’t you let readers know the whole context?” Why, sure: we urge readers to click on the link and read his whole segment.
Limbaugh is basically saying here that he was trying to “buck up” people who didn’t “deserve it.” Is that all that’s behind it? Or has he sensed, looking at the election results, that the vote was a protest vote against George Bush — a vote in which many disgruntled GOPers either didn’t vote or in some instance voted against their own party.
The tragedy is that there was a time when Limbaugh was an entertaining, satirical independent conservative thinker — back in the days of the first President Bush. That seemingly changed after the then-President — who was being lambasted by Limbaugh — invited the mega talk show host to stay over at the White House and sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom. After that (coincidentally or not) the tone of his program changed and he became above all the defender of the GOP establishment and promoter of whatever it’s current line was.
In the journalism biz, editors sometimes warn reporters about being wined, dined and treated by news sources who figure such friendly treatment will soften potentially critical reporting. That is seemingly what happened to Limbaugh. He became the party establishment’s powerful long-range wattage voice.
You also have to wonder if Limbaugh is still feeling the sting of the controversy over his comments about Michael J. Fox and the You Tube videos that spread his words and his body language making fun of Fox on the Internet. Fox’s famous political ad clearly helped elect a Senator in Missouri and passage of the stem cell research ballot measure there. What did Limbaugh get for his comments?
I listen to lots of talk radio when I drive (Wednesday it was 8 hours from Denver to South Dakota)and Limbaugh’s program has become virtually unlistenable for a non-Republican because it is usually three hours of party line and constant bashing of one political party and ideology. Limbaugh is a highly talented broadcaster (his talent may not be “on loan from God” but as a broadcaster he has talent) — but his penchant for doing party p.r. shuts him off from some listeners (not that he needs them with his ratings). His closest clone is Sean Hannity who is equally as predictable.
On the other hand, Bill O’Reilly has some surprises and Michael Savage is Mr. Loose Cannon…which makes Savage entertaining, despite his political positions. It’s quite notable that Savage wasn’t invited to the conservative talk show host pre-election huddle at the White House and Bush and Cheney don’t regularly appear on his show.
So what’s behind Limbaugh’s comments? Is Rush looking at the election results? Does he feel used? Is he trying to reposition himself and reinvent himself politically? To be fair to Limbaugh (even though he seldom is to others) he had just finished watching Bush’s press conference about Donald Rumsfeld’s exit and had seen Bush’s positive reaction to a question about getting a “comprehensive” immigration reform package through now that Congress is Democratic.
Even so, will his listeners feel they’ve been had? After all, they literally spent hours listening to him interview people that up until today they thought Rush respected and wanted them to support. Now they learn these people didn’t deserve him carrying their water. Will there be a flood of indignation among Rush listeners?
Unlikely. Many of his listeners will merely nod their heads and say “Ditto.”
UPDATE: The Washington Post has this article on how conservative talk radio hosts deal with the huge Democratic victory and GOP defeat.
UPDATE II: Red State agrees with Limbaugh:
Yesterday, Rush Limbaugh said he felt liberated because he was “no longer going to have to carry the water for people who [he doesn’t] think deserve having their water carried.” A lot of people got bent out of shape by his candor, but we agree with him 100%, and deep down we think most of you do too. For the past several months, RedState has been critical of the GOP with a gentle prodding and we have been muted when we wanted to avoid shooting the party’s electoral chances in the foot. We’ve been fighting the good fight knowing that the Democrat alternative was worse, even with the miserable state of the Republican party. Yes, it is liberating now. We don’t have to worry that something we’ll say will negatively impact turnout of the base in the midterms. That’s just life. As We’ve said on the front page before, “Suck it up.” We’re conservatives first, but in the general election, we’re on the Republican team…
So, what is the future of RedState? Simple. We fight on. We’re not going anywhere. RedState is unique from other blogs on the internet simply because we’re not as “bloggy.” We occasionally lose perspective and focus on the blogosphere and blog wars and things like that. But, we never forget that RedState is here as an internet home for the conservative grassroots. We remain committed to being conservative first and Republican second. We also remain committed to being a part of the Republican coalition, which is still the best vehicle to advance the conservative agenda.
Read the entire post.
However, Red State is a (great) Republican political blog. You could go to it on any day and see criticism (though sometimes muted) of the administration. No one could accuse it of insincerity. Limbaugh’s problem is that he would passionately endorse and condemn in monologues and then present top White House officials and do highly sympathetic interviews with them. Red State is a Republican-oriented opinion weblog. Limbaugh had evolved into a voice emitting the official party line to keep his Republican listeners in intellectual line. There is a difference.
SOME OTHER VIEWS ON LIMBAUGH’S COMMENTS:
—Andrew Sullivan: “All together now: Awwww. I’m so sorry Limbaugh had to lie through his teeth to try and keep in the good graces of his Republican masters. Have you ever heard of intellectual honesty, Mr Limbaugh? You can look it up in the dictionary.”
—Daimnation: “Here’s the thing: if Limbaugh thought his party needed criticism and reform while it controlled Congress, why didn’t he do anything about it until now? How much of the current mess, especially in Iraq, has come about because Republicans were too timid to criticize what their leaders were doing?”
You can say a lot of things about progressives. However, the one thing you cannot accuse us of is being dispassionate. At least I’ve not met any bloggers or progressive radio hosts who disseminate pure crap they don’t believe in. The same cannot be said for Rush Limbaugh, a man who makes tens of millions of dollars from people who actually trust his judgment. The man is just cold.
As important as this election was to this country, our troops and even the Iraqis, and even knowing Republicans are politically bankrupt, Rush kept the facade going in order to get out the vote for… let’s see, why did he lie to his listeners? He doesn’t believe in his own people running for office, but he’d rather the country continue to take a hit for their incompetence than actually call them on it?
—The Road To Surfdom: “This is pretty extraordinary. Here we have the person Al Franken called a big fat liar, mega talkback radio star Rush Limbaugh, admitting to his listeners that he’s a big fat liar….So no longer carrying water for the Republicans. Just passing it all over his listeners.”
—Plunderbund: “Hrm. “Now that my guys lost, you know – they weren’t really all that great anyway.â€? You should have just stuck with your previous position, Rush. You just admitted you are a shill without the moral clarity to be able to refrain from lying to your audience.”
—Devrick:
You know there’s something’s been going the wrong direction if RUSH LIMBAUGH is having a hard time towing the party line, and thinks the GOP has lost its way. And something’s REALLY wrong if I feel the same way as Rush Limbaugh.
But I do feel liberated. I’m glad there’s going to be a change in direction. I’m apprehensive, because I’m NOT a liberal, and I have a feeling that the new congressional leadership is going to try to push an agenda that’s even MORE out of line with my belief system than the old one was pushing. But I am glad that somebody got a “thumpin’,” and the GOP got a nasty wake-up call.
—The Zero Boss: “Short Limbaugh: I lied my ass off for two years, and all I got was this lousy American flag. And you wonder how I got this damn monkey on my back.”
—The Next Left: “Bush admits he lied last week and Rumsfeld finally calls it quits, and now, Rush Limbaugh says that he lies to his audience to help his party.”
This, Ladies and Gentlemen, is clearly a WTF moment.If you HAVE any sense of character and integrity, YOU DON’T CARRY WATER for people who don’t deserve it!
Thus, my beef with the GOP for a number of years. As they’ve drifted more and more in the direction of theocratic statism, I have not only refused to follow them, but I have stood on my little place in the cyber-world and screamed in protest as loud as possible. And, when I got tired of screaming about it, I simply kept my mouth shut and stopped writing.
In any case, Rush demonstrates he has no character of any substance if he now “feels liberated.� Were his hands tied before? Would his ratings have fallen to the bottom had he been more critical of the President and the Congress? “No� and “no� are the answers. As far as I’m concerned, people like Rush Limbaugh possess no degree of integrity worth a flip for me to listen to, admire, or even acknowledge as someone worthy of my time.
—Mark Perkel Rantz: How bad have the Republicans screwed up lately? Well – when Rush Limbaugh can no longer take it and declares himself as being “full of crap”, you know things are in bad shape…. The very concept that Rush has been liberated fascinates me. I think I’m ready to start tuning in. And hey Rush, thanks for the Senate and carrying OUR water. You ROCK!”
—Loren: “The rats are continuing to jump off the ship and the finger-pointing which is usually being done by Democrats after major national losses has shifted over to the other side. Heck, even Rush Limbaugh came out today and “cut and ran” on Bush and the Republican leadership today.”
—Mad And Crazy: “I’m as amazed as you are. Apparently he’s been shilling for the Republicans but all the time hoping for a cleaner, purer, Conservative movement. I could get behind a cleaner, purer *fiscal* conservative movement, but the American Neoconservative platform elements on foreign policy, health care, education, domestic issues, and just about everything else are pretty repugnant.”
—Paxalles:
What a crock! There is no one who enjoyed his status as presidential FOG – Friend of George – than Limbaugh. He has disagreed at times with the White House on such issues as the nomination of Harriet Miers and illegal immigration. He hardly has been silenced by the administration – and both sides have used each other liberally.
In fact, Limbaugh will have a lot more targets and material now with the Democrats in power – and should also look to himself as far as helping the Democrats win the Senate seat in Missouri.
—Permutations And Ruminations: “Today’s admission by Rush Limpdick that he’s been lying for the Administration only underscores how deeply this complete repudiation of the Republican Party will hurt them!”
—Peer Into Dave’s Soul: “He just got on the air today and told everyone he was happy the republicans lost because the GOP is worthless. I never thought I would see the day . . . no, wait, I always knew I would see the day this happened. Never mind.”
—D Day: “Rush Limbaugh puts party over country, again and again, and he doesn’t believe what he’s saying. And he’ll get prime spots on CBS after this, despite admitting to this complete intellectual bankruptcy.”
Rush turned himself into a GOP shill, claiming to have done so in violation of his own convictions, and only under duress. But yesterday’s shattering defeat was really a victory, at least for him, because now he’s free to be himself. Which he wasn’t free to be before, even though he’s fabulously rich and popular and influential. You might say, “Look, Rush, if you really felt that way, why didn’t you use your influence two, maybe four years ago to speak prophetically to the Republicans, to get them to change their ways so as to avoid a catastrophe like, oh, losing both houses of Congress.” But see, saying that could imply that you believe this flimsy attempt to save credibility in the face of a humiliating repudiation of the politicians Rush put his reputation on the line to defend.
Summary of Limbaugh’s comments: 1) Bush is too soft; 2) GOP didn’t deserve to win; 3) Dems didn’t deserve to win; 4A) Rush will say things he really doesn’t mean to get GOP elected; 4B) Rush is really smart and loves being Rush Limbaugh; 5) Politicians are really dumb; 6) American public is really dumb; 7) When people are led by the hand and shown the light, they vote GOP; 8) when they are left to their own idiocy, they don’t.
I was actually listening to a bit of this today, and it’s really amazing. This guy really sees nothing ironic about admitting that he has been schilling for the GOP all these years, but that now that they’re losers, he feels “free” to quit pimping his listeners by feeding them Republican talking points he apparently doesn’t even believe in. Wow. A lucid listener might inquire of Mr. Limbaugh — “just how much of what you’ve been feeding us over the last six years is GOP ass-covering bullshit … exactly…?”
—Preemptive Karma: “Yes, that’s right. He admits he advised his listeners to vote for people who he really did not think deserved to win. He also lied about the issues he told his listeners to support…That’s why smart people don’t listen to Limbaugh.”
This is absolutely priceless stuff. It’s Rush spinning in his own grave. ..Yes, you read that right. Not only do we get the satisfaction of being on the cutting edge of the biggest political revolution in the last 12 years, but as the cherry atop the whipped cream desert of Webb’s victory we get Rush telling his audience, right in front of God and everybody, that he’s been lying to them….This confirms what many of you have heard me say before…folks ask me all the time “do you think Rush really believes this crap?” And now the answer that I gave has been confirmed. No. He doesn’t believe what he says. He’ll say whatever he has to say to keep Republicans in power. You can not believe a word that comes out of his mouth.
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.