Thank You Rush Limbaugh (and Pat Buchanan)

When Lawrence O'Donnell first reported last week that Colin Powell was in fact going to take the plunge and endorse Barack Obama, I'll be the first to admit that my stomach got a few butterflies -- but not for the reasons you may think. I had interviewed Powell last year for my book Party Crashing and we spoke about Obama's chances to make history by becoming the first black man to ascend to the White House. Powell candidly shared that when some were touting him as a possible presidential candidate more than a decade ago, his African-American friends cautioned him, warning him in essence of the Bradley Effect. Some said, "yeah they'll say they love you Colin until they have to go pull the lever." But Powell, ever the optimist added, "I think that's less true now than it was 12 years ago. I think the country has matured to the point where a woman or a Black could be elected." He of course declined to offer who he might support at that time.

So when I first began hearing murmurs that Powell may endorse Obama, the butterflies emerged, prompted in part by fear. For so long Powell's stature in this country has transcended race. His standing among many white Republicans has been second to none, yet I discovered while conducting a survey for my book last year, that younger black Americans admire him nearly as much as they admire Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey. While everyone knows that Powell is nothing if not his own man I worried that some, in an effort to diminish the impact of a Powell endorsement would seek to diminish the man himself by saying his endorsement was motivated by race. When the news first broke on Sunday I was pleasantly surprised to see that my concerns appeared to be unfounded, at least at first. John McCain's reaction to the rejection of his candidacy by a longtime friend, demonstrated a grace that has largely been lacking recently in this race.

But it didn't take long before the rhetoric of others lived up to my worst fears. Conservatives Rush Limbaugh and Pat Buchanan both sought to tie Powell's endorsement to his race. (I guess I missed all those times when Powell endorsed Jesse Jackson, Alan Keyes and Al Sharpton in their presidential runs). Only something funny happened. Instead of diminishing Powell's reputation at all, Limbaugh and Buchanan's words have so far, only further diminished theirs. Watching clips of their comments I actually felt a great deal of compassion for both men. Clearly their frustration and fear at realizing that our country is no longer what it was in 1968 -- and never will be again -- or even what it was in 1998 when it was paralyzed by partisanship, has rendered both men lost; as though a time machine accidentally stranded them, in some strange, multi-cultural, forward-thinking universe, and they as relics from the past feel increasingly, irrelevant, outnumbered and out of place.

But I believe that I am not the only one who feels sorry for them. There are plenty of Americans, even those who may not agree with Obama's politics, or Powell's endorsement, who heard the sad rhetoric of these men and thought to themselves, "That does not represent me or the America that I believe in."

And for sparking that revelation, I want to say to Rush Limbaugh and Pat Buchanan, THANK YOU.

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Comments

[marka]

As General Powell said this past Sunday, the Republican Party is too narrow. Rush and Pat are having a hard time facing that reality. The Republicans have never been able to match the Democrats in numbers and learned very quickly to poach upon the Democratic Majority by using wedge issues of race, gender, sexual preference and religious biases to grab individuals and to shatter the old New Deal coalition. They have become the party of resentment and anger, defined more by what they are against, than what they are for. An Obama win will force the consideration of a new paradigm upon Pat and Rush and they are loathe to have to consider it. It is my belief that an Obama win will move the Republican Party back from an ideologica right-wing extreme and back toward the center, politically. You've had your chance to work your experiment boys, and Adam Smith was only half-right. There are things other than self-intrest that are of an equal value--the American people and our commitment to one another.

[1PALady]

I just don't understand how Rush and Hannity and O'Reilly and Greta can get away with saying some of the most hateful things. Why is that they never get called out on it?

I believe that Imus got canned for saying some far less hateful things than Rush says and we just let him get away with it.

I think it's time to boycott his sponsors or at least call them and let them know we're sick of him spewing hate and being divisive!

[AZTrueBlue]

I agree. Hannity should be sued and thrown in jail for what he says on his radio show

[billofgoods]

This is the same as when Ferraro called Barack lucky .... Facts and logic do not a racist make... there has been just an avalanche of perverse reverse racism and race based commentary and voting from the liberal left ....95% of Aa is voting for Obama and a large amount of white women... This is deja vu when Carol Mosely Braun was elected Senator in Illinois by same demographics... she was booted out the next cycle when it was found she was not qualified , same as Barack. The "aura ' of voting for Barack and the bandwagon mentality being exposed is not racist

[Louee]

Talk about "bandwagon" Bill. I don't know how any thoughtful person could consider giving these republican bums a chance at 4 more years in power after the last 8 years we've been put through. If your worst fears about Obama come true, the results could not be a fraction as bad as how Bush and his fellow travelers turned out. I can only say, right back at ya.

[flifishun]

Chappelle will have to trade Powell to the blacks in his Racial Draft.
They can still keep Conde.

[Dystopic]

i don;t think they want Conde ... send her to Chevron

[Timothy468]

I don't generally listen to Rush and his ilk, so I was unsure if he sounded "worse" than I recall him sounding in the past (I admittedly last listened to him during the first Clinton campaign). But he sounded panicked, or at least he seemed to be trying to sound panicked. It was almost as if he believed that if he complained urgently enough, his listeners would respond.

But they are called "dittoheads" for a reason, and so his callers needed no prompting to chime in with racist or inflammatory responses. But I - like so many others - turned him back off and went back to listening to a sports-talk show instead.

The loss of the "Fairness Doctrine" seemed to signal the downturn in radio quality and the upturn in this form of rabid and divisive speech. I would love it if a station had to show balance again.

[arvay]

I'm no fan of Limbaugh, but I am afraid of the "fairness" doctrine -- even if it steps on people I don't like. Who determines what's "fair?" Depends on who's in power, I think.

Frankly, I'm surprised that the administration hasn't tried something similar to forcibly plant 20 percent of Fox News in every TV news station.

These clowns are destroying themselves, their ideas have resulted in one catastrophe after another. Should we have suppressed their ideas and, with the wisdom of hindsight, spared the nation?

No.

That's not how free speech and democracy work. Ideas ARE dangerous. But our government concept is that the people have the ability and the right to handle these dangerous things, make mistakes and change their minds.

When David Duke showed up in a southern town to rail against Hispanic immigrants moving there, he got a small audience. But the net result of his visit was to make most citizens there ashamed that he was invited, and relations have much improved between Anglos and Hispanics as a result.

We need to have confidence in ourselves and each other. Dictators see people as mindless rabble. That's not us.

[Cybesq]

Sorry, but one in three people get their "news'" from talk radio and giving the limited licenses to corporations who have an interest in maintaining the status quo has absolutely nothing to do with free speech.

The "marketplace" of free ideas can't be rigged any more than the financial marketplace.

[FACINGREALIT]

I believe that the "Fairness Doctrine" should be something Obama's Administration looks into reinstating. Ronald Reagan was the great myth-maker whose deregulation policies annihilated the Fairness Doctrine, opening the door for a few mega-corporations to gather journalism unto themselves. The deregulation policies of Ronald Reagan allows the media to profit from every war we fight, without their ever having to tell the truth about those wars. Reagan handed virtually every facet of our lives into the hands of the privileged few.

[valkyrie607]

Ever since legal discrimination against people of color was struck down in the 60s, guys like Buchanan and Limbaugh have been trying hard to hold on to their vision of America, a white supremacist nation. They've tried to attack every advance made by people of color and they've done their best to ensure that while legal barriers to achievement by blacks, Latinos, and other disenfranchised groups are no longer, economic and cultural barriers still persist.

I'm enjoying the schadenfreude of watching them panic as reality smacks them in the face: the majority of Americans do not want to live in a white supremacist country.

Still, we have a lot of work to do.

Don't forget to thank Obama for having the courage to run. Without his decision, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

[bearcck]

Thanks Rush and Pat...everytime you two say something inane and breed hate and fear that makes me want to send you to the penalty box....I send money to Barack Obama. You two are costing me money!

I told this to my sister the other day and much to my surprise she said she did the same thing! We laughed like crazy. Those two guys are the biggest fund raisers for Obama and accounts for why he raised so much money in September.

When you make people who are powerless mad .... all they can do is send money to an opponent to shut them up!

[CharlieMarlowe]

The radio Neocons have now answered that age-old question: What is the sound of a dinosaur clutching at straws?

[feo]

Aparently some people having been paying attention this election. The color this time around is GREEN, as in what happened to my retirement money, where did my job go. Black/white--that's so last century.

[kikomnipotent]

I think those right wing neocon people actually believe they aren't racist. They beat around the bush with terms like "arrogant" which actually means uppity, and when confronted, they hum-hawh and misdirect. But if someone actually got under their skin & got them angry enough to lose control, they would say the word we all know, and they could finally be silenced by the FCC. Until then, it is up to journalists to immediately call people like this out on these underhanded slights, so that everyone can listen as they try to explain their dinosaur racist mentality. And exactly WHY do people like Imus get a second chance? That statement was so overtly hateful, yet he's back on the air spouting old white guy lunacy. And here's a crazy idea: when someone says something like that, Congress calls them in front and fines them up the wazoo. Take away their money & they'll learn.

[leatherneck1971]

Buchanan/Limbuagh share one thing in common both are racists, bigots, and will always garner a following of their brethren whom share their hatemongering illogical mind set! Society has been cursed with these types for a long time, they will not go away, but in time they will loose their positions of power, arrogance, when reality is we live in a diverse nation and sometime around 2050 those who hold to white power racist views will be a minority, as a white male, southerner with a bi-racial son, I have news for the racists, bigots in america many "grandmothers, grandfathers, parents" have bi-racial blood relatives, and for them to constantly denigrate them, is going to alienate many people whom they see on the street and just assume by their white skin that they are like them "racist, bigots", when in reality one cannot tell by looking who has a bi-racial blood relative whom they might love, care about and whom this hatred, will drive them to vote for possibly a party they do not agree with on other issues, such as abortion etc, one thing one can be sure of is racist, bigots are their own worst enemy, they will cut off their own noses to spite their faces!

[orangeyouglad]

I don't think that Limbaugh or Buchanan have a reputation that
can be diminished any more.

[Dystopic]

I agree. But, their audience is easily impressed and swayed...

[englishprof]

Powell's statement was perhaps the most eloquent and magnificent statement I've heard in recent months about what it is to be an American and why Mr. Obama is the person who holds out the promise of being a transformational President in the years to come. Understandably, his statement does not include any reference to Mr. Powell's role in allowing Bush to go forward with the imbecility that is the Iraq invasion/occupation/war, whatever you want to call it. However, I have no doubt that Mr. Obama will be infinitely more effective than Mr. McCain, who actually has the mediocre judgment to believe in this war, in extricating us from this idiotic involvement. Obama/Biden '08! (Buchanan and Limbaugh are unimportant, unAmerican, and beneath contempt.)

[Russycle]

I agree, Powell impressed the hell out of me, and I've never been a big fan of his. I wish they'd put him in charge of Meet the Press, he'd do a much better job than those so-called journalists...if he was willing to stand up to the NBC (and GE) brass, which is questionable given his history.

[sparafucilli]

Alright, so we have some knee jerk reactions from right wing pundits. So perhaps they are so right they are in another dimension altogether. But what are they supposed to say after Colin buttressed his endorsement with cogent arguments for and against? About the only thing they could say was that it was a racial thing. And at least in Buchanan's outburst you can detect a bit of "damn I've got to put my finger in the dike somehow". However since the hole is as big as their respective mouths it took more than a finger. They had to put a whole foot in. How does it feel guys to see what it means when a real soldier puts his country first before politics?

[IamPhenom]

The smears against Colin Powell are nothing short of disgusting. Powell served his country for over 35 years, moving up the ranks. He was wounded in battle during Vietnam. He served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and later Secretary of State.

Now the right-wing hate pundits want us to believe he's just an idiot. We should just discount his entire life. They portray Powell as some clown who cares more about race than country. Right-wing papers have pictures of Benedict Arnold in black face with a comment about putting race before country.

Not only are they smearing Powell, but it's CHICKENHAWK cowards like Limbaugh and Buchanan attacking Powell's service to America. Of course, Rush and Pat Buchanan AVOIDED military service during the Vietnam era draft. They talk tough about being pro-war, but never took up arms to actually protect our country like Powell. But still they question Powell's loyalty, and basically paint him as a buffoon, despite Powell having more medals and citations for military bravery and honor than Rush has radio awards for being a loudmouth.

[feo]

One small complaint. To say that those of us who served in Vietnam somehow "protected our country" is just plain silly. Protected it against what? I don't remember when the Vietnamese attacked us. It's better and more accurate to say that we did what our country asked us to do. Vietnam was merely a campaign tactic used by LBJ to show Goldwater what a badass he was. Too bad it kind of got out of control, just like Iraq.

[IamPhenom]

When I talk of him protecting our country, I'm talking about his entire 35 years of military service, including being Commander of FORSCOM, former National Security Advisor, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, former Secretary of State, etc.

I agree with you about the Vietnam War.

[uheardme]

I hope Black Republicans, or would-be Republicans are paying attention.

[slj316]

You have to remember that for every Colin Powell, there's a Michael Steele.

[billstewart]

Remember that Pat Buchanan's been against the Iraq war since the beginning, and against just about all foreign wars. He doesn't believe America should be an empire. (Of course, the last time I heard him give a really passionate speech against the evil and stupidity that Bush was doing in Vietnam, and I was starting to worry that I might have to like the guy, he said we should bring all the troops home and line them up on the southern border to keep the Mexicans out - so he's still the guy I thought he was.) He's an isolationist, which is stupid and wrong, but it's better than being an imperialist, and it's perfectly ok to try to avoid military service in a war you're against. And it's ok to question Powell's loyalty to the US when he's willing to help Bush start a war that he thinks is a mistake out of loyalty to Bush.

Limbaugh, of course, deserves everything you and just about everybody else here said about him.