Political Distraction

Thursday, March 5, 2009

I was surprised this week to be hearing so much about Rush Limbaugh. I see it in the blogs I read, in the TV and print news. We hear Robert Gibbs and White House aides talking about him. To what end do we owe all this interest in Rush Limbaugh? Is he announcing his candidacy for office? Have all foreign and domestic issues been so completely solved that it is now time to focus on a single comment made by a radio host?

The buzz from a single comment taken out of context has caused more stories than I can count. Born on the false premise that wishing Obama to fail is the same as wishing ill on the economy, liberals have jumped into a frenzied spin of righteous indignation. However, if you think as I do, that Obama’s policies are bad for America and will ruin the economy, then his comments seem warranted.

A report from Fox News hinted at the reason for Rush’s comments to be targeted by the White House. While polling in the White House war room, they found that Rush Limbaugh has high negatives making him a good target for political punishment. Despite the buzz and coverage, their campaign to end conservatism through a media smear of Rush will not succeed.

There is an overwhelming misunderstanding from the liberal side regarding how conservative republicans think. What they do not realize is that our school of thought is based on principles that we believe and look to for guidance. When a Republican or self proclaimed Conservative looses track of those principles, they loose support (Bush for example). You see the Liberal side focus solely on their leaders and look to their leaders to set the guiding principles of their beliefs. If the leader is found to be false, their ideals are found to be false. This is why so many liberals feel conservatism died with Bush. This is why many cannot cope with the so many broken promises already made by Obama. A failure of Obama is a failure of their beliefs.

Our principles transcend our leaders. The Republican Party is now weak, not because conservatism has failed, but that conservative leaders have walked away from the principles. So when the liberal hit men look to discredit conservatism by making Rush the de facto leader, they are doomed to failure. The truth behind the conservative principles do not cease simply because they are misrepresented by liberals or conservatives. They stand for themselves as the back bone behind over 200 years of this country’s history. I’m sorry to all who are salivating for the end of conservatism, but the principles will continue even your lifetime.

2 comments

The Law said...

I must confess, I'm guilty as charged... I have a Rush post as well lol. And the conservative principles of which you speak is something I will be addressing in my essay that you requested... I have some ideas on that you may find interesting.

My beef with Rush is he at the moment, undeniably the republican voice. For conservatives, until they can find a way to get back on message, they need some kind of relevancy (Michael Steele's "yo son... we 'bout to get dis ish poppin cause the GOP be off da chain baby" BS is not doing well with anybody). Rush does that better than anyone. Keith Olbermann is probably our Rush... Rachel Maddow, for people who like civil debate. And I have no problem with that.. it's great for Rush's ratings, and it keeps what's left of the republican constituency excited. That's a good thing.

The bad thing is he said a direct quote "I hope Obama fails." And when GOP congressmen are asked "was Rush right to say that?" they have refused to flat out say "that is wrong." Not even, I agree with Rush 99.99% of the time, but in that one .01% instance, I think he was wrong to say that." Why? cause they are afarid to get an on-air spanking. Frankly that's sad. Because if they are a party trying to find their voice, then they are letting Rush put words in their mouth. The republicans become Borg-like in their response, and intellectual and political discourse like the kind we have now is impossible under such climate. That's a bad thing.

It's also a bad thing that the democrats are using this as a political strategy. In one sense, it renders the GOP irrelevant with left and moderate voters, which bodes well for midterm elections for democrtic candidates. It also forces their hand in key issues of out times; they GOP doesn't want to appear too out of touch. But when Obama promises post partisanship, and then allows this political infighting to continue, and hell even indirectly incites it by calling out Rush Limbaugh, I think it is a divisive tactic. Even in our political talks, I come at a situation left of center, you right of center, and where we meet in the middle is a workable solution. That is missing from Washington, and I'm upset with Obama for letting this happen. I want to see good politics, regardless of which party has their hand on the tiller.

March 5, 2009 at 6:37 PM

Amen L! I'm totally with you and you are right, the Republican congressmen are scared. They really are, they are looking for the Democrats to self destruct as opposed to growing a backbone and offering solutions. It's no way to regain their footing. There are few exceptions. I must admit, McCain has actually been good about coming up with an alternative stimulus and leading the charge against the earmarks. However, I certainly don't want him as a presidential candidate again.

March 5, 2009 at 6:59 PM

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