McCain Not A Real Man, Says Limbaugh
One of the best indicators of John McCain's weakness in the general election is the questioning of his manhood by right-wing pundits.
Rush Limbaugh -- who likes to dress up as a general and command his listener's to foment political violence -- took time out this week to besmirch McCain's maleness, wondering on air if the Republican candidate could really count as "a man" in the wake of his speech in New Orleans (link).
What prompted Limbaugh to make a negative ruling on McCain's manhood was not that McCain bashed Bush, but that McCain dared to criticize 'government' in his New Orleans speech earlier this week. What did McCain actually say in New Orleans that made Limbaugh slap down his dress-up-general riding crop beyond his normal paroxysms? This paragraph gives the main thrust of the McCain speech (emphasis mine):
The right change recognizes that many of the policies and institutions of our government have failed. They have failed to keep up with the challenges of our time because many of these policies were designed for the problems and opportunities of the mid to late 20th Century, before the end of the Cold War; before the revolution in information technology and rise of the global economy. The right kind of change will initiate widespread and innovative reforms in almost every area of government policy -- health care, energy, the environment, the tax code, our public schools, our transportation system, disaster relief, government spending and regulation, diplomacy, the military and intelligence services. Serious and far-reaching reforms are needed in so many areas of government to meet our own challenges in our own time.
For playground-soldier Rush Limbaugh, when a Republican gives a speech that questions the effectiveness of government, that forfeits said Republican's status as "a man." What would have earned McCain his "I'm a man" badge? Blaming the destruction of New Orleans on liberals, of course (as if you had to ask).
But after reading that New Orleans speech by McCain -- the one that has been widely ridiculed in the media since he delivered it on Tuesday -- I noticed that McCain was actually trying to do something astounding. He was trying to use that speech (1) to bring Reagan-esque themes into the election and (2) to reframe this election as a referendum on "government," not a referendum on "Bush" (e.g., to undercut the Obama campaign's framing strategy).
11 times in his New Orleans speech John McCain used the word "government." 11 times! It was a sure-fire sign that he was trying to set a frame -- and that nobody in the media actually noticed he was doing it, nor did they bother to ask why he was doing it.
The reason is simple: McCain is afraid to bash Bush; so he is trying to make this election a referendum on "government."
If, for example, I swap the words"'George W. Bush" for the phrase "of our government" in the above paragraph from McCain's speech, this is what we get:
The right change recognizes that many of the policies and institutions of George W. Bush have failed. They have failed to keep up with the challenges of our time because many of these policies were designed for the problems and opportunities of the mid to late 20th Century, before the end of the Cold War; before the revolution in information technology and rise of the global economy. The right kind of change will initiate widespread and innovative reforms in almost every area of government policy -- health care, energy, the environment, the tax code, our public schools, our transportation system, disaster relief, government spending and regulation, diplomacy, the military and intelligence services. Serious and far-reaching reforms are needed in so many areas of government to meet our own challenges in our own time.
Yep. That is really what this election is about, but McCain is just too scared to say it. Instead, he will try to reframe debate in terms of "government."
More importantly, perhaps, by critiquing "government" instead of 'George W. Bush,' McCain is going back to the old hobby horse of Ronald Reagan -- patron saint of conservative framing and archetypal Republican manly man's man.
The model for McCain's speech must have been Reagan's oft-cited "Time for Choosing" speech (1964) in which Reagan railed against government, against the liberal "elite" who supposedly ran government, and in so doing set a conservative framing strategy that held the debate up to this very year.
In that 1964 election between Barry Goldwater and the incumbent Lyndon Johnson, Reagan set the frame with phrases like this one:
This is the issue of this election: whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capitol can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.
Yep -- that is the idea that McCain is trying to dig up and toss into this election almost 45 years later. Interestingly, it is the idea that gets his manhood castigated by the likes of Limbaugh, who no doubt thinks he embodies the true manliness of Reagan.
In reality, the Reaganism that McCain is trying to reclaim is no longer the core idea the guides the voice of American conservatism. Steered by right-wing pundits and fueled by hateful, violent rhetoric, contemporary conservatives no longer say that government is wasteful and inefficient. Instead, they say that liberalism kills, liberalism supports terrorism, liberalism will lead to the destruction of America.
No wonder McCain gets called a sissy by Limbaugh when he tries to channel Reagan rather than bash Bush -- because Limbaugh has long since left the Reagan legacy behind in favor of the new violent rhetoric of the right.
And the irony does not stop there, because in all likelihood, Limbaugh's bashing of McCain will bully him into conformity -- will goad him into retooling his campaign into some kind of "liberals will kill you" message. The paradox, of course, is that this will mean that an actual war veteran - -who survived torture and still bears the scars of that experience on his body -- will likely allow his manhood to be questioned by a drug addict who cross-dresses as a general and equates salivating on cigars with public service.
Rush Limbaugh, the quintessential military-dodging conservative coward, in other words, will humiliate the war veteran in this election.
Man, oh man.
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How rich!! This bloated, slimy slug (my apologies to the invertebrate community) has the nerve to comment on another's manhood? He hasn't even seen his own manhood without the aid of a mirror in decades. This from the guy who had to finish his program in an empty hall one time because he can't deal face-to-face with those who disagree with him. The hypocrisy of this wears my alarm out!!
limbaugh and his average 8 stations per state empire, and all his wannabes, are essential to GOP success. with their nation-wide uncontested repetition they set the table of one liners and talking points for the rest of the lazy celebrity media talking heads to choose from.
limbaugh and co are the voice of the GOP, their stations are the power centers of the GOP. if limbaugh is shooting down mccain it means that their reconciliation will be all the more powerful and planned for just before the elections, limbaugh has finally lost it, or mccain will be replaced with another. unless there is a reconciliation no GOP candidate can win without limbaugh.
Limbaugh "shooting down McCain" only means that Limbaugh desperately wants a Democrat in the White House....b
He knows that his ticket to being "reordained" lies with a Democratic Presidency and he will hit the motherload if it's a Black man with Hillary as his running mate. He can dust off all of the racist and sexist song parodies and take the EIB back to the redneck mountain top. When Rush tries to sound like his concerns are for the country, the only reply he should hear is "Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining". He is nothing but pompous, egomaniac who sees an opportunity to get back to the center stage and he is going to do everything possible to make that happen.
but limbaugh is nothing without the monopoly that was necessary to protect him from real market forces and the truth and judging from the whining roused whenever anyone mentions a new Fairness Doctrine or other demonopolization he/they have a big problem with that possibility. and that should be a priority for any Dem getting in.
Man, your post should be a the top of every thread in American Blogdom! The Limbaugh Phenomenon exemplifies the True Laziness of America's Conservatives. When dealing with simple people one must tailor their rhetoric into simple sound bites that are easily digested and that pass from one bigot to another effortlessly. It is truly a science at which Limbaugh is a master. When he claims his "Program" is Entertainment when caught in an obvious deception, he's not lying. His followers enjoy the Democrat bashing like school yard bullies going after high achievers and four-eyed students. He will join the Father Coughlans of history one day. Good riddance..
Brick
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
I bet even McCain's mother will not vote for him.
McCain is not suppoed to be president plain and simple!
Rush knows that the tide is turning and he is trying to paint McCain as an independent. People see Rush for the mean old man he is so he has to distance himself from McCain.
That makes no sense. McCain is having a very hard time with his base, and Bob Barr represents a real threat to McCain`s right flank. He is in grave danger of bleeding conservative votes as he vies for the center, or of ceding the center if he tries to solidify his base.
There is this weird extreme right wing theory that the best course of action is to cross over, vote for Barack, wait for a Jimmy Carter type presidency, and then come back in 4 years. If you like conspiracy theories it a good one.
I don't know why Americans keep up this nostalgia about Reagan... he really wasn't a very good president.
He did raise my taxes though...R
And he deregulated the airlines and, even worse, the airwaves. You can blame the gipper for all those endless TV-commercial breaks.
Reagan dropped the tax rates for the richest hugely. Massively. And they've never returned to anywhere the levels they used to be.
Reagan did protect the United States from that monolithic threat to our national security..
He also ushered in a wave of protectionism for our corporate benefactors while removing protections for the working class.
Beneath the shallow myth of the Reagan presidency lies the historical record of a man and a president who made it possible for "the others" to progressively run more an more roughshod over the constitution and therefore 99% of American citizens.
Don't forget that with profligate spending and juvenile name-calling, Reagan single-handedly rid the world of communism. That's why we now need two billion dollars a day from Communist China to keep our own economy afloat. Shoot, I'm about to cry.
Apparently the voters disagreed. Given that democrats have had two democratic presidents in 40 years perhaps a bit of a paradigm shift is in order. Now, lets see, where did I leave my cheese?
Limbaugh like Cheney deliberately avoided serving in Vietnam. And like Cheney he hypocritically criticizes people that served and were being shot at by calling them traitors etc. When I think of Rush I'm reminded of of what H. L. Mencken said; "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people."
After reading many of these post, I understand why mc-ca-in is going after the hill supporters who can't transition to ob-am-a. The only way mc-ca-in can win is by getting the rich, bitter and the racist vote. He is quite transparent and clearly ignorant of the issues facing this country.
Mc-cai-ns' solution to repair our economic crisis favor the rich and will do little to nothing to correct the damage done by the present administration.
Why all hy-phone-ation?
WE PAY ATTENTION TO LUNATICS AND IGNORANTS LIKE RUSH AT OUR OWN PERIL
Hey, why not let the draft dodger, Limbaugh, help turn the Vietnam Vet and POW into a wimp. McCain helped George Bush and the Swift Boat crowd do the same thing to John Kerry last time, so he'll get no tears from me.
I have often wandered if the Republicans really wanted to win this race. Think about it. This country maybe ungovernable. We are mired in two wars. The country is deep in debt. We have lost the two things that made this the most powerful country in the world.
1) A huge middle class and
2) The thing that won us WWII a vase-manufacturing base.
I think that the Republicans want to sit this one out. They know that it’s going to take a long time to correct and damage that they caused to this country.
Then they can come back in four years and try to rewrite history. Saying, “look at the mess that the Democrats have gotten us into. When Bush was in office the unemployment rate was low compare to historical levels. We had a strong diverse economy. We had beaten the terrorist, and because of the surge Iraq was pacified.”
Look at the way that they try to claim that the Reagan and Bush was responsible for the prosperity we had during the Clinton administration.
Well, that is the established pattern -- have a wild party, then let the housemaids in to clean up while spinning how weak and incompetent they are, and then get to come back and do it all over again. Only now, too many have noticed (even MSM gets the housemaid thing now). Too many are fed up with the myth of Republicans being for smaller government -- it simply has not been borne out that way for 40 years.
Are you saying they are saving the dirty work for the black man, again?
Right you are. If we still manufactured vases we'd have so many more to throw at the turrists.
Let's come up with a conspiracy theory:
1. Repubs blow it with Bush...hig
2. Power brokers figure this term is a no winner. The next president cant just pull out of Iraq and wont. The economy, which always goes up and down, will be in the pit for another 4 years. John McCain can make a good fight but is a sacrificial lamb.
3. Give it to the democrats. Barack has every sign of being another Jimmy Carter type one termer.
4. Prepare for 2012...jus
5. There you go.
It doesn't matter who is elected president. The collapse of America is now imminent thanks to Bush. Batten down the hatches. Learn how to grow your own food. Get local. Make friends with your neighbors.
actually WWII created our "vase-manufacturing base." but then the war ended and the flower supply dwindled. So republicans thought up schemes to grow new flowers in Afghanistan and Iraq to support the vase-manufacturing base.
Hmmmm you think that Limbaugh can foment a landslide victory for Senator Obama?
Hell no!
As I understand it, Limbaugh makes $25 million or so a year selling crap to goobers on the radio. One might imagine this would be enough to satisfy at least one of his serial wives. Evidently not. One swoons imagining the kind 'manhood' he packs when boosted by mega-millions it still turns up a bit short. If it weren't for Billo, he would be the most comical fool in the loony right firmament.
Sometimes a cigar is NOT a cigar.
Good point. He's got to be pretty obnoxious when he can't even get one to stick around for the money.
....says the cowardly fat man who hides in his studio and talks tough behind the microphone.
I think that the fact that you have to be one mean, self-centered, narcissistic bastard to even enter the vaunted realm of "right-wing radio commentators" says it all.
Can't think of anything less manly than pasty, doughy old limbaugh. What a hoot! The right wing is returning to its rightful place - a f@cking joke.
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