More Than a Rush Job

The public frenzy over Rush Limbaugh's most recent display in political grandstanding has been a delightful distraction from the deluge of bad economic news. Watching Michael Steele kowtow to Rush was hilarious. And the media's re-release of Rush's greatest hits (who can forget his wildly inappropriate and offensive imitation of Michael J. Fox?) has restored a certain spring in my step that's been lacking for the past month.

But before we get too giddy about Rush and the albatross he may be for Republicans, it is important to remember one axiom above all else: The buck can't stop at just one man. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Democrats have been smart enough to hold Rush out as the new face of the Republican Party. And I'm even happier that Rush has been so obliging. But if it is just about Rush, then we miss the real and more important opportunity: to firmly tie the failed policies of the last eight years to the conservative ideology that foisted them upon us. If we can effectively link right-wing ideology to the policies that dug the hole we find ourselves in today, we will cement America's understanding of what conservatives represent for a generation.

By now we all know the history: conservatives spent years and millions invested in think tanks, message development and leadership training to make their brand of conservatism exciting and accessible to the American public. And they effectively branded the left. Liberal = tax and spend. Big government = bureaucratic and ineffective. Class action lawyer = ambulance chaser. Environmentalist = tree hugger. And so on.

But you can't spin eight years of abject failure. It turns out tax cuts are not the cure-all conservatives led us to believe. And guess what? Wall Street cannot be trusted to police itself. Turns out government does have a role to play, whether it is helping citizens during natural disasters or agency staff with the knowledge and spine necessary to protect our food, toys, and investments.

Soon enough, the Rush Limbaugh frenzy will die down. But the conservative effort to reshape their legacy will not. They are already feverishly working to rewrite the last eight years and distance themselves from George W. Bush. Conservatives are fast and furiously casting their one-time savior and movement leader as having lost his way, straying from the ideals of a true conservative.

But Bush didn't lose his way. He steered his party's course to its inevitable conclusion. The only thing that did get lost over the last eight years is the veneer covering up conservatives' un-American, every-man-woman-and-child-for-themselves version of patriotism. As progressives, we can't let their current attempt at an extreme makeover go unchallenged.

Today is our best opportunity not only to reclaim the American dream, but also to indelibly cast the dye on the real conservative agenda. So let's cast Rush, Michael Steele, Newt Gingrich, Eric Cantor and the rest of the right wingers out to the wilderness. And let's make sure it's not just a Rush job, but a casting out of their entire reckless ideology.

Comments

[SwiftEpiphany]

"But you can't spin eight years of abject failure."

Screw that! With some many of us out of a job, how can you deny us all those job openings at the Ministry of Truth? ;)

[NotYourAvg]

Free press was all but stamped out during the Bush years and the effects of propaganda journalism on the minds of those who can't think for themselves is so evident every time a Rush/Coulter fan opens their ignorant mouth. It's amazing...they literally repeat any and everything Rush/Coulter tells them almost verbatim. Education HAS to be a PRIORITY in this country otherwise, we will continue to allow the uneducated minority control policy and debate. Contrary to right-wing dogma, intellectualism and morality are NOT mutally exclusive. There are 300 million people in this country, how in the hell do we give less than 7% (Rush's 20 million listeners) of the country the biggest platform to push their hate agendas. It's absolutely astounding.

[GoldenAgeMaster]

Holy cow, you cast a mighty wide net there Parker. Too bad you have the Republican party mixed-up with Conservatism. The Conservatives don't have to re-write anything for Bush, but the GOP may want to. Image and all that.

[luziannagirl]

Rove, Rush, and the Right-Wingers have always been a pack of scruffy dumpster dogs happily gorging themselves off the carcass of what once was a great, good, and bountiful nation.

Well, the American carcass is about down to bare bones. And we got a new dog catcher in town.

Now the Right is a starving, snarling, snapping pack of scruffy dumpster dogs.

Watch their fur fly!

[Gatorgal]

We progressives and liberals need some tag lines to add to our email signatures. For example (quoting and earlier poster): conservative = cut taxes and spend
Good thing we had an ivy league MBA for the last 8 years or the economy would be in shambles
Republican lawyer + memos on how to ignore (i.e. shred) the Constitution.

Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated as I forward a lot of email to retirees who are fruitcake repugs.

[diak0n0s]

Good job.

Let's keep the focus on Limbaugh and away from the President and his policies.

[GoldenAgeMaster]

That will only work for a couple more days. Then how will you keep people from noticing that Obama is not fit to be POTUS? Seriously!

[jacobomorales]

Attack! Attack! Attack, hit them where it hurts...evicerate them....

[unite4change]

America, our corporate media, congress, senate, pundits, others and especially the GOP are not accustomed to an informed voter, go to OpenSecrets.org to find out how we got to where are today with lobbyists paying off our politicians. Specifically, go to Tracking the Payback (http://www.opensecrets.org/payback/) to see just how much our congress and senate actually care about the American people. I have listed example below but once you go to OpenSecrets.org, you can find: What legislation has been proposed, what special interests want, what industry stands to benefit the most and which committees oversee the issue and who's giving to our politicians while ripping off the American people:

http://www.opensecrets.org/payback/issue.php?issueid=BA2&congno=108

http://www.opensecrets.org/payback/issue.php?issueid=AS1&congno=107

http://www.opensecrets.org/payback/issue.php?issueid=AC1&congno=107

http://www.opensecrets.org/payback/issue.php?issueid=EN4&congno=109

http://www.opensecrets.org/payback/issue.php?issueid=MO1&congno=108

http://www.opensecrets.org/payback/issue.php?issueid=PD1&congno=107

http://www.opensecrets.org/payback/issue.php?issueid=PB2&congno=108

[stanjz]

The American people have been manipulated by the press, corporate America and the Republican Party.I'm a Democrat and a progressive. The first definition of liberal is 1) not restricted, the 2)generous/giving freely and the last 9) excessively free or indecorous in behavior. Not only did Republican use the press to convince people Democrats were the 9th definition of liberal, but it's absurd to use such a simple term to describe any political party. How does the word conservative sum up the Republican Party? The only thing they want to conserve is tax cuts for the wealthy and unregulated markets and corporate control of our Democracy.

[GoldenAgeMaster]

"How does the word conservative sum up the Republican Party?"

Maybe you haven't been paying attention, but the GOP no longer cares about Conservatism. In fact, Conservatism was thrown out the window when we first heard the term "compassionate conservatism".

[mommadona]

"By now we all know the history: conservatives spent years and millions invested in think tanks, message development and leadership training to make their brand of conservatism exciting and accessible to the American public. And they effectively branded the left. Liberal = tax and spend. Big government = bureaucratic and ineffective. Class action lawyer = ambulance chaser. Environmentalist = tree hugger. And so on.

But you can't spin eight years of abject failure. It turns out tax cuts are not the cure-all conservatives led us to believe. And guess what? Wall Street cannot be trusted to police itself. Turns out government does have a role to play, whether it is helping citizens during natural disasters or agency staff with the knowledge and spine necessary to protect our food, toys, and investments."

They trained a whole generation to TEAR DOWN THE GOVERNMENT.

Let's just put out the truth on this.

And they failed. Miserably.
Why?
Because one day, one of those trained ended up getting married, having kids, and living in a COMMUNITY....

Kinda puts those rabid ideological rantings of a very pathetic white blob of a Limbaugh in perspective.

If, you are an adult, that is.

[lisakaz2]

Great post. The key is showing that these "conservatives" never resisted one iota against ANYTHING Bou$hee did. Not once. Not even post "thumping" in 2006, They cannot jump off the bandwagon after January 20, 2009 and claim they were never part of the rubber stamping. They are stuck to 43. He gave 'em their tax cuts, he gave 'em reich wing social policies. If he "lost his way" they better show what they would do differently AND explain why they didn't do anything then. Let's see some responsibility and problem solving FIRST. All else is meaningless.

[GoldenAgeMaster]

Everyone thought we would see responsibility and problem solving with the new administration. Oooops, that ain't working out.

Obama may be a great orator, but the plain truth is, he's just like all the other politicians.

[surfcitysteven]

Any liberals that even bother to go on the hannity show are helping to validate and rewrite bush history. By even listening to their insane arguments, we give them validity.

[kjstjohn]

If what we learn from this is that liberal ideology is the antidote to conservative ideology (and that we need to demonize conservative ideology) we have it wrong.

The tension between conservative and liberal principles is a good thing. Too much of one makes us cruel; too much of the other makes us weak. Think about it. When we raise our kids we try to raise them with just the right blend of toughness and compassion. Different situations and different kids require different blends.

We need to be pragmatists and to take from both camps the right blend of approaches to solve the current problems we face. True conservatives do not have the solution to the healthcare problem. True liberals do not have the solution to the entitlement bomb that faces the next generation. True pragmatists in sufficient quantity in all areas of government is what is needed.

[surfcitysteven]

but now is not the time to make nice with these jerks. We need to just turn on the wipers and wash the dead flies off the windshield. To continue to try and see through the mess that is the conservative movement and "have peace and understanding" with it is going to cause us to lose our way as well. Let them rot, they deserve no better after what they have put us through the last 8 years.

[stimpy]

Very well said. Who remembers "moderate" as a position? It's too bad that became a synonym for weakness rather than thoughtful choice.

[Liberal2]

Moderate? Someone who's half-right, half-wrong? Kinda like some E. Coli in food is okay cuz it's a moderate position between safe food and deadly? A moderate is someone who can't tell the difference between good policy and bad.

[Eris23Skidoo]

Well that sounds fine except that there aren't really any true conservatives left. The GOP got hijacked by the religious right a LONG time ago. For example, the current generation isn't even aware that preservation of the environment was once something that conservatives praised, back when conservatism still meant conserving something. Now it's all about short-term gains and conquering the world. The GOP and the conservative movement are long gone, they sold their souls a long time ago. This is not our fault. We can have balance WITHOUT inviting those filthy, treasonous, selfish bastards to have any role to play in government. If they are so certain that government is good for nothing they should get the hell out of government and go out and start a business or something. But they don't do that because they are in office to secure money for their friends at the expense of the rest of us. Is there really any reason that ADM and Monsanto need to continue getting subsidies? Between the two of them they already own some 60% of ALL arable land on the ENTIRE planet. But they will keep getting those subsidies so long as there are republicans in office.

[smileatfear]

Competence is the operative word. That's why many of us voted for Obama. He ran a tremendously competent campaign, a hopeful sign he can govern competently. Making decision based solely on ideology, as the neocons have done for so many years, is a recipe for disaster. Hopefully progressives will not make the same mistake.

[Godweiser]

Well, they can't say what really went on; the social conservatives got what they wanted; medical research languished and teenage pregnancies shot up as a result. The big business guys go what they wanted, and we got recession as a result. The neoconservatives got their shot and the US is digging itself out of a hole in world opinion, and engaged in two uncertain wars as a result. This is what happens when you let your fantasies intrude on your reality so much that you only hear what you want to hear.

Now they're going to whip out the Dolschtosslegende (Stab in the Back Myth) for why the last eight years were a pathetic clusterf*ck on all fronts. Conservatism is a mentality that seeks status quo and tradition and I think one can credibly argue that absolving themselves of the blame is a tradition at this point; they've only been doing it since the 1960's.

Standby for a shock, it's gonna be all the fault of liberals. Tradition.

Rather than admit to failures, the Republicans are going to revert to type; blame it on the liberals, consider themselves absolved of all sin and carry on with their irresponsible fantasizing about how all the problems have a simple solution ('do as we say and don't vote Democrat,' they'll tell you) and claim that they know how to fix this one with a solution out of their gloriously invented history as fix-it guys.

That's a tradition too.

[Apov]

Some of us have been watching this fiasco take shape for a long time.

I for one will never forget that the Republicans have done everything in their power to bring this nation to its knees.

Their motive.....personal gain. Greed. Screw everyone else.
All this in the name of God and wrapping themselves in the American flag.

Now that's patriotism, Republican style.