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.

Follow Jeffrey Feldman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JeffreyFeldman

Comments

[dadw5boys]

Rush Limbaugh, LIVED WITH HIS MOTHER TILL HE WAS 42 YEARS OLD.
Worked at mommys radio station. He has lived the good life on mommys dime till he got support from the RNC.

How would he know what a real man is? Run home to mommy Rush Limpburger.

Anyone checked Rush for a widestance??


Mc Cain is not right for President now, but no pig like Limpburger has earned the right to knock him thats for sure .

[isis]

He did? That;s funny. Do you have a citation?

[steve12]

Don't get me wrong. I think Rush is evil incarnate, but he was no mama's boy and left home after dropping out of college. You can check his wiki bio at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_Limbaugh

For all his flaws, he's a great radio man. I despise his politics, but I cannot argue with his talent or the success that he has had in radio.

[Midnightrain]

So I guess 'manhood' according to the GOP is predicated on being mean, nasty, selfish and unapologetic. What an empty existence and a pitiful attempt at identity construction.

[texastornado]

Rush Limbaugh ought to know that McSame is not a real man. It takes one to know one.

[Counterglow]

"...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..."

That's probably McCain's biggest lie in a speech filled with big, honking lies.

The truth is that perfectly serviceable government institutions and policies failed because the Bush administration and The Republican House and Senate stuffed every government agency, courthouse, office and department it could reach with unqualified, incompetent neo-con ideologues and half-wits.

End of story.

[HotATL]

Hear, hear.....

[Kenji]

What's weird is that they actually try to cut costs, but only on programs like the new GI bill. It's like drunken sailor suddenly suddenly getting frugal only when asked to send flowers on his mom's birthday.

[JSquercia]

Indeed Government failed because the Admiinistration WANTED it to fail so they could use those failures as an Excuse to emasculate Government . That way they could claim that it is better to contract out Government Services and reward their friends with Lucrative Contracts .

[wjb0965]

What's really sad for me is the fact that this run for president may destroy McCain's legacy. I am a lifelong democrat but I supported McCain in 2000 and even changed my party affiliation so I could vote for him the primary. I was proud of his service to this country and his sacrifice. I was proud of his openness about the problems he had adjusting to his life when he returned from Vietnam. I was proud of the way he compromised and worked with Democrats in order to pass legislatiion when it made him unpopular in his own party. I enjoyed his sense of humor and his very human temper. He was the first candidate to speak of change who I actually believed.

I think that he accepted that his age will make it impossible to make another run at the White House and he has sold his soul to the right for that reason. The McCain that I loved is gone. He will get bashed by the left for his conservative views and by the far right for not being conservative enough. There are going to be moments when he will look very, very bad and in the end, I have a feeling that I will feel nothing but sorrow for the man as he becomes a forgettable footnote in our history. He deserves better, but I don't want him in the White House.

[bbbear]

I agree that before McCain became McSame he seemed to be somewhat ehtical. Compared to the grosteque thing called the Republican party, which he has now fully embraced, he was nearly herioc. But as a retired USAF guy who flew with the Air Commando's in Vietnam, it's not only highly disappointing that he made a career for being shot down and four days later, cracking and spilling his guts, ( That's something most guys did and certainly nothing to be ashamed of. But it's not exactly heroic. Still, IMHO, flying off and landing back onto an Aircraft carrier takes a hell of a lot of guts. ) but that McSame is still trying to cash in on his mythic heroic action in Vietnam is sickening.

[majorteddy]

Vote John McCain and you'll get more of the same.

[majorteddy]

Thinking of Rush Limbaugh reminds me of the time I got really sick with salmonella and pooped my pants.

[doneflyin]

Limbaugh says McCain isn't a real man?

Well, "it takes one to know one."

[steve12]

I don't know about Limbaugh, but McCain is definitely a "real man," whatever that means. He is a genuine war hero and should be honored for his service to our country. He served 5 hellish years as a POW in Vietnam. Although I don't agree with his politics, McCain was a real maverick until around 2004, when he seems to have betrayed many of his ideals during Bush's re-election campaign.

Don't use RNC tactics when arguing against McCain. He is a good man who is also a flawed human being. He's wrong on the war, taxes, torture, (he used to be against it), warrantless wiretaps, abortion rights, and a slew of other issues. However, I think he deserves our respect. Just don't vote for him.

[Krikkit]

HuffPost's Pick

All indications are that teh GOP will stay home in droves this fall. McCain is a sacrifice.

What with Bush in disgrace even among Republicans and McCain unwilling or unable to redefine the conservative wing into something more acceptible than flip flopping between Bush and not-Bush, their only hope is to keep their heads down while they figure something out.

The neocons bankrupted the party along with the economy and our reputation and power around the world. The conservative spirit is NOT dead, but it no longer has a viable standard under which to rally. The floundering way that the GOP is trying desperately to rebrand itself shows their total disarray. The best they can do is amuse their die-hards with watching McCain twist in the wind.

[Playinjured]

I agree with the idea expressed, but I can't believe this a HuffPo pick. There is a typo in the first sentence, among other things.

[trish74]

forget the typo the message is quite coherent. I never really saw that point of view, thanks Krikkit.

[eXcommunicate]

What is a HuffPo Pick anyways? Is there a FAQ on this site?

[MissKaren]

The GOP needs four years out of office to retool and rethink who they are, purge the neo-cons from their ranks, dial back their buggering of the religious right (mutual buggering) and to remember who they were and need to be. They need to get more Libertarian in their approach to the Constitution and stop using it as a backsplash in the President's urinal. And they need to purge every remnant of Bush/Cheney.

I agree that McCain is a sacrifice but he lends himself to that role. He has made himself more Bush as time goes on -- rather than standing up for what he believed back in 2000 -- a year when I, a Democrat, might have voted for him. He embraced the religious right after they savaged him. He embraced marathon tax cuts after he realized they were poison. He even changed his religion for the job. He doesn't deserve it. He has become hollow and we hear Bush echoing incoherently in his words.

We need four years of coherent leadership and Obama's campaign shows that he can be both sound and reasoned, careful with money but willing to spend on what counts and, above all, calm in the midst of chaos.

[mouselion]

ONLY four years? I think we need liberal/progressives at the helm for a whoooole lot longer than that! Why? Because the old economy is dying -- a new one is being born. The conservatives want to just take us back to what's comfortable to them. A new progressive party (either the Green Party or something similar), Democrats will be the conservatives of the future (but don't think that means what it means now), Republicans will still be around, but will have third-party status.

[gladys46]

I agree in pertinent part! Just scratching my head over and over as to how GOP ends up with such an offer for U.S. Pres.! His new Ad is him stating that he was shot down in Nam, many of his friends did not return home! Although I grant him his service to our country, is this a sympathy grab for vote!? It's clear to me that he does not really understand that war is barbarous ... too many of our best are not coming home now, right now .... this is 2008 not 196o's ...!

And, to simply place a letter (it's been said) behind one's name such as "M" (for Maverick) replacing the "R" for Republican does not work when he's voted with Bush, Inc. 95% (reportedly).

This happenstance or irony or sacrifice of Mc being repubs offering is strange or very bad stratagem or a very bad joke!

[clintfatigue]

I've been speculating about the sacrifice element too. Historically, it's hard to win if your party put the country into a recession, and following the lowest-rated president in memory is is like swimming with cement overshoes.

[disgustedbyitall]

Another irony is that, since Reagan, the GOP has made a bogeyman of the federal government itself. Now McCain criticizes what Norquist would like to "drown in a bathtub" and the right's leading windbag crucifies him for it.

[ThermoChemist]

Rush may be in a bit of a dilemma. On one hand, Rush has publicly decried/denounced McCain and stated that he is tired of carrying the water for the GOP. On the other hand, Rush presents the illusion of being the great spokesman for the "conservative cause". So, if he does support McCain -- he is shown to be a hypocrite. If he doesn't support and/or vote for McCain, he is turning his back on his "conservative base".

"I think McCain …. since SC 2000 he's had it in for the Republican Party, and one of his objectives is to destroy it and change it."
-- Rush, Feb. 2008:

"I’m here to tell you, if either of these two guys [Huckabee or McCain] get the nomination, it’s going to destroy the Republican Party, it’s going to change it forever, be the end of it."
-- Rush, Jan. 2008.

Back in 2002, Limbaugh got into it a little with McCain, who compared Limbaugh to "a circus clown."

"I regret that statement," McCain told an interviewer on Fox News, "because my office has been flooded with angry phone calls from circus clowns all over America. They resent that comparison, and so I would like to extend my apologies to Bozo, Chuckles and Krusty."

So, while Rush may feel free to spout his vitriol, don't dare call him a clown...! LOL.

[SirReal1]

As Rush has noted several times in the past, he is an "entertainer" not a political pundit!

Rush recognizes that if McCain wins the election it will likely be bad for his ratings. It is difficult to make a living taking "pot-shots" at the Party that is not currently in power. The past 8 years have not exactly been good to Rush, as he hasn't had much opportunity to point at the abuses of the Democratic power base, or liberals in general, because they have been so marginalized as to be non-existent.

Given his desire to negotiate a new contract, and a big raise, the best scenario for Rush would be a Democratic landslide come November, therefore, with nothing but self-serving GREED as his motive, it is predictable that he would be opposed to ANY Republican winning the election.

If his Mother were still alive he'd be trying to "pimp-her-out" if he thought he could make a buck on the deal!

[ClevelandTom]

"As Rush has noted several times in the past, he is an "entertainer" not a political pundit! "

Rush only trots out that line when he says something especially stupid and offensive, and he has to get out from under it.

[SirReal1]

In other words:

Daily!

[Eoin45]

Exactly right.

[doctorj2u]

Yesterday he was going on how the non-profit group Friends of New Orleans was paying for a party at the DNC in Denver. Wrong again! Will he ever retract his statement? NO. Because Rush is never wrong (in his own mind, that is.)

[slobone]

So being repudiated by Limbaugh is bad news for McCain -- why is that exactly? Does anybody seriously think the right wing voters are going to stay home and let Obama win? Meanwhile the undecideds have one more reason to vote for a "maverick."

I wouldn't be surprised if this was a deliberate ploy by Limbaugh. It's not like he has too much integrity for it...

[jsh]

slobone--I think you're absolutely right. There is a plan here.

[Krikkit]

All indications are that teh GOP will stay home in droves this fall.

What with Bush in disgrace even among Republicans and McCain unwilling or unable to redefine the conservative wing into something more acceptible than flip flopping between Bush and not-Bush, their only hope is to keep their heads down while they figure something out.

The neocons bankrupted the party along with the economy and our reputation and power around the world. The conservative spirit is NOT dead, but it no longer has a viable standard under which to rally. McCain is a sacrifice and the floundering way that the GOP is trying desperately to rebrand itself shows their total disarray.

[bracken]

As in, "McCain can't be THAT bad--Rush Limbaugh hates him!"

[toddx]

Rush is a modern day Julius Streicher. For that matter so is his buddy Roger Ailes and a whole host of others hate media players. I do not think that this is a stretch comparing people like this to the hate-fueled publisher of the Nazi Propaganda machine. Except that Streicher actually severed in the military and fought in a war. Heck he even did so with distinction.

The hate and vitriol spewed by frauds of journalistic integrity is criminal. Their words help to lay a foundation for the architects of hate to build. Attacking McCain is a strategy that is quite simple. He is the lamb to the slaughter for the Republican party. There is little chance that any Republican candidate would have a shot a winning this election. So they are thinking ahead. Thinking that if they can impugn a man like McCain they can force the next candidate that attempts to seek office to take an even stronger neoconservative stance. They can use the failures and challenges the new administration faces due to the legacy of the current and shift the blame and bettering their chances of success in 2012.

First act of the new administration -- Restore the Fairness Doctrine.

[JScott]

Love it when the righties eat their own.

[steve12]

Especially since the Demos are usually in this position.