Dem Rep Wants Limbaugh Debate: "You Are A Coward"

Rep. Brad Sherman, a Democrat from California, has been a leading critic of his party leadership's response to the banking crisis. Over the past month, however, he's been aiming for a new target: Rush Limbaugh.

Except Rush won't play along. In early February, before Limbaugh had become the public face of the GOP, Sherman began making attempts to arrange a debate on Rush's popular radio show, his office said. When Sherman got no response, he sent Rush a letter.

"If you had any confidence in your position, you would agree to my request to have me on your show--where I'm sure I could demonstrate the merits of my views," he wrote.

"You are a coward," he assessed. "Very truly yours, Brad Sherman."

Limbaugh has yet to respond, said a spokesman for Sherman. Limbaugh's producer, Kit Carson, told the Huffington Post he hadn't seen the letter, but that he couldn't speak for Limbaugh. The radio talk-show host, who Democrats portray as the leader of the GOP, is taking the next two days off, said Carson, and will return Monday.

Comments

[nevernine]

Rush does NOT have 20 million listeners. He has about 4 million a day, and to make it sound more impressive, he multiplies it by five. Surveys has shown that basically, the same 4 million and listening every day.

[ObjectiveRealist]

Heh, 4 million people are very annoyed that the other 50+ million voters have noticed that.

[slarabee]

More people need to call this guy out. Whether or not he will actually agree to a debate is irrelevant.
I remember a guy from school who was a bully and one day someone said fine lets fight after school. The bully never showed. After that everyone called him out and soon he was no longer bullying anyone. By the time we graduated he was a pretty decent guy.
Now I have no hope that Limbawl will ever be a decent guy but the more that people call him out the less power he will have. I would love to see President Obama debate with him even on Limbawl's show. Limbawl cannot shout and cut the mike on the President and what is more is I don't think his studio security will mess with the Secret Service. :)

[Jazzman323]

Rush wants to debate Obama, not some lowly congressman.

[BlackWidowPilot]

LOL!!! And the quack right calls President Obama "the messiah."

"Lowly congressman" indeed... LOL!!

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[Buddy McCue]

Tough.

[jimisolo]

I fail to see the logic in your statement. If Rush feels that a congressman is beneath him, then how must Obama feel about debating someone who isn't even in politics..­.at any level?

BTW - I seriously doubt that Rush actually wants to debate Obama. What Rush wants is ratings. Obama has spent the last couple of years debating not only leaders of the Republican party, but their actual candidates (not to mention leaders and candidates of his own party as well). If Rush wants to have an actual debate with someone, then by all means...ru­n for office and start putting some skin in the game.

[aaawyeah]

yo go, brad! hehehe!

[JesusIsALie]

I don't know how I feel about all this attention being paid to Rush.
He's just an entertainer, he's good at what he does, get the Conservative Right to froth at the mouth.
His only goal is to get more attention and make more money... so why play into that?

Stop talking about what the insane and the loud.
Stop shining the spotlight on them and give them what they want.

A congressman debating a bad comedian? What's the point?

[JesusIsALie]

correction: That was supposed to be; Stop talking about what the insane and the loud want to talk about.

my bad!

[zitlight73]

Never debate these punks on their own turf. The Rush and Billo types will scream and shout frothe at the mouth and about the time you are going to make a rational point they'll cut your mike and threaten to call security.

[robiform]

Of course, Rush is a coward! I don't listen to his show, but I know that all callers are screened, so that the vast majority of callers who get through to His Nibs are the dittoheads. If the Big Windbag had any real courage, the calls wouldn't be screened, and he might actually have to listen to someone with a different point of view.

[BuriedInTheBibleBelt]

Maybe Rush could take a sedative or some other medication to calm his nerves & restore his courage

[enriquecaliente]

Rush claims to have 20 million listeners. But his 20 million didn't help at all with the election. Not one bit. What he doesn't know or cares about is that among those 20 million, who listen in because they want to know that the other side is up to. How does that old saying go. "Know thine enemy"

[Olisar]

I think that Rush should run for office, any office. That way he can test the validity of some of his positions. He makes a living out of calling people out, who have no way of taking him on. Now that Mr. Sherman has asked for a debate, Rush ought to grant it. He wants the world to believe that he is more knowledgable than the elected president. He may have a point, but we will never know until and unless he throws his hat in the ring. Any ring; county, state or national.
I listen to him, not because he makes sense, but so tha I know what his cabal is thinking at all times.

[BatedBreath]

If rush were to run in Orange County CA or anywhere in OK he would win handily.

[wvinvent]

It is not news that Limbaugh is a coward. All bullies are cowards. He talks loud and makes a big scene. Like all bullies, when confronted he shows his true colors.

[PiscesPrincess]

Paper tiger.

[american-dolt]

Yes, but he is a scholar of our "Constitution".

[WritingfromAlaska]

This brings up an excellent point. At a time when schools are needing to spend considerable resources to decrease bullying for the safety of children, why is anyone willing to support the antics of a person whose method of winning an argument is to shout louder than the people they disagree with? This 'communication' technique is repeated across the country on talk shows and is counter productive to our efforts to help our children learn how to get along in the world successfully. Shouting at the people you disagree with doesn't get you too far in life - unless, of course, you have a radio show - but I don't see Rush having a wonderful home life with loving wife and family, surrounded by friends who talk about what a warm and loving person he is. Wonder why?

[nfstern]

What do you expect from a guy that got a draft deferment due to a pilonidal cyst?

[BritPatJax]

Rush's success relies on numbers. He says they have gone up. Whether the people listen because they love him or hate him matters not. He does not have to rely on votes. Lying about what life will be like under Obama will sell certain products so Rush cannot fail. Another delighful component of unfettered capitalism? He sells guns and gold and failsafe investments to the scared and vulnerable. Who cares anyway that pork and beans is a lie. It sells just like Madoff did. Its the American way?

[theclosetconservative]

President Obama's responses to the economic situation have spooked the markets and exacerbated job losses. If businesses, large and small, know that Fedzilla is going to swoop down and take more of what they earn, why invest in research, create jobs, or do anything that might expand your earnings? Double digit unemployment is coming soon. President Obama is setting the land speed record for taking a bad situation and making it worse, in just over 50 days. It took Jimmy Carter til the late summer early fall of 1979 to do that.

One more question: If Sherman is a critic of his party's way of dealing with the banking crisis, why is he going after Limabugh? http://theclosetconservative.com

[mattwin]

I guess for the last three days that 'spooking' is not working. Bush used $2.2T dollars in loan without collateral in the spring of 08 to prop up the market. I guess that putting twice the taxpayers dollars at risk is prudent policy.

[BritPatJax]

So tell us what Sarah would have done and it would all have gone away? Yeah Right?

[Caymus77]

Another ridiculous claim by the GOP! The Markets were ALREADY spooked by the mess created by the GOP. To claim that they have been re-spooked is ludicrous since the underlying credit problems have not been resolved yet. Obama did not create unregulated Credit Default Swaps to pay out on 70 trillion dollars worth of risky securites that were marketed worldwide by Wall Street Banks and thusly tying up liquidity and threatening world economic collapse. That was done by the GOP and Phil Gramm.

There was no easy fix for a problem of this magnitude. The Sherman I think of is the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. When have the Republicans called for enforcement of that Act?
Why aren't you complaining about THAT??

[toypiano]

Don't forget to thank the actual causes of your misery: Saint Ronnie and Shrub. They unravelled the economics of the country and it's going to take a village to clean up their mess. And right now you're soaking in it.

Businesses that actually spend money on their employees will be ok. It's the ones that hoard the profits and don't reinvest them in their own companies that you have to watch out for.

You should check the latest stock figures and other economic news; you're behind the times on that. Surprise!

Regarding your last question: LOL, unlike Heckovajob Browny, he can walk and chew gum at the same time -- wow!

[Raymond Hernandez]

Rush wants to debate Obama. This guy is a small fry compared to Rush.

[Drumbum2112]

Rush does not want to debate anyone. His nonsense does not stand up to debate. He says he wants to debate Preasident Obama for the attention and to make his idiot followers think he is bigger than he is. Rush is a small fry on the outside looking in.

[Pupadup4oBama]

Who cares if he wants to debate Obama...he should be able to debate anyone who calls him out on it. What's he so afraid of? Funny how he's out of the office until Monday.

[Mark701]

Rush want's to debate Obama because it would expand his appeal with his no brain followers, win, lose or draw. Don't expect Obama to be sucked in by such an obvious ploy.

[biskitdaddy]

Obama doesn't have the time to waste, he's too busy cleaning up George's mess.

[drumz]

He's an elected official. Is Lush? Who's the small fry?

[SantaFeConservative]

Did you ever heard of Brad Sherman before? I haven't (and I'm formerly from CA). You Dems keep insisting he is the head of the Republican Party ... he should only debate someone else of the same stature in the Dem Party.

[genegrossman]

Rachel Maddow -vs- Rush would be the way to go. She's not only the sharpest person when it comes to knowing details, but it would be beautiful to see Rush taken apart by a brilliant gay woman.

[nikto]

In any fair debate,
Rachel Maddow would reduce Limbaugh to a fast-drying pool of warm mucous.

[ThomasMc]

Rush Limbaugh is the physical manifestation of everything that is wrong with the GOP embodied in a single man.

[garymc8]

AAAAAAAAA MMMMMMEEEE­ENNNNNNN!!­!!!!!!!!AM­EN.

[bigmcabcd]

I now can truely understand­.......Let­s focus all the attention on Rush instead of why this is the greatest country on earth. In the meantime, the liberal lawyers who run this country are destroying everything and saying its relief for our economic strife. Use my tax dollars for roads, police, firemen, teachers, and hospitals. Not for pet pork...ie.­millions for pelosi's marsh mouse, or bidens Las Vegas train. Not for bailouts of any business. Especially fanny or freddie which according barney were not in trouble. While half of barry's economic staff, one time ceo's of either, walked away with tens of millions. And certainly not for hundreds more government committees. I implore you to get a clue, and lets do whats right irreguardless of party. Lets get back to being the USA befor we live in the united SOCIALIST states of America.

[aznurse]

your kidding, right?

[Navy26Yrs]

The 16% are still stuck on the same old tired talking points memos from three years ago. Keep it up repubs - 2010 is right around the corner - and so is the 60 seat majority in the US Senate.

You have no one to thank (or blame amongst yourselves) but yourself.

[VegetableMan]

read the budget and get a frickin' clue, pal.

[That Guy]

Less than 2% of the budget was pork. Would you toss out a piece of gold jewelry that was 2% copper?

[Tom Payned]

What's this twaddle about liberal lawyers who run this country? I wish you wackos would be consistent. Liberal Lawyers would want to insure their wealth and that of their profession. This means they would be anti-socialism, since according to your ilk, they live off of unnecessary class lawsuits. Nationalization would mean the people own everything and you can't sue the government for damages without the government's consent, nor would a jury award them anything even if the lawyers got a case to court, since the people own whatever the lawyers are suing.

As for "pet pork" read the last budget, of the 13 largest porkers 12 are rethugs. The non existent train just furthers the view you are more ignorant than the average Ditto head.

Were it not for the poor management of this country under your but buddy Bushies we wouldn't need to be bailing out businesses which you refer to as socialism. The bill you are whining about was pushed and signed by your but buddy Bush.

I for one don't want to "get back to being the USA" before Bush's defeat. My great great grand children wouldn't have been able to pay for his continued spending while cutting the taxes that pay for that spending.

[Pupadup4oBama]

why do you want the focus away from rush, he symbolizes everything WRONG with this country and the GOP party. We need to understand why we are in the mess we are in, and if we can see where we came from, then we can fix where we are going.
By the way, when Bush bailed out the first banks we became a SOCIALIST country.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/presidentbush/2008/10/obama-socialist.html