A Rush to Bad Judgment

It's been fascinating to watch Republicans try to figure out how to deal with their beloved Rush Limbaugh's ranting against President Barack Obama's first week in office, and his stated hope that the president of the United States fails.

Mind you, you'd think that this would be a really easy issue for any politician to deal with. (Well, okay, any American politician. I suspect that Iran supports Mr. Limbaugh's hopes.) Indeed, it should be especially easy if you're the Party That Loves America. Responding to someone who says he wants the president of the United States to fail is a no-brainer. And in this case, the "no brain" part is meant literally.

But no, instead we get a a spectacle of Republicans twisting themselves into knots, trying desperately to ingratiate themselves to the out-of-touch and long-since discredited Rush Limbaugh calling for the president of the United States to fail.

Let's pause a moment and put things in perspective here. If the radio host and Republicans who dare not criticize him get their way, and the president actually fails -- it means the national economy turns into a Depression, unemployment skyrockets, business collapse in droves, the housing market plummets as countless more homes go into foreclosure... and the Iraq War continues, torture continues, domestic spying continues, global warming continues, education crumbles and America is crushed. Just so we're on the same page, that's what "I hope President Obama fails" means, and not criticizing those words means.

Yet not a word from House Minority Leader John Boehner, not a peep from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Nothing from either of the party's two whips. Ladies and gentlemen, meet your Republican Party leadership!

Honestly, the Republican response should be easy. It begins with, "It is wrong to hope that the president of the United States fails, because we are all Americans, and that means we all fail." How you want to finish the thought is up to you.

But that's it. Piece of cake. The problem is that saying those words means daring to criticize Rush Limbaugh. O the horror! Not a single word from Republicans in Congress saying it's wrong to hope the President of the United States fails. How weasely can you get?

Okay, here's how weasely: When Republican Congressman Phil Gingrey (R-GA) dared suggest that the radio host "back off," he prostrated himself days later on that same radio show in abject apology to the (his words) "conservative giant," crying. "Rush, thank you so much... I want to express to you and all your listeners my very sincere regret for those comments I made yesterday to Politico. ... I clearly ended up putting my foot in my mouth on some of those comments. ... I regret those stupid comments."

(Touch of irony moment here: Republicans have no problem criticizing the President of the United States, but are terrified of criticizing a radio talk show host. Go figure.)

In fairness, the number 3 man in the House, Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) did try. Well...sort of.

"Let me just say, every American hopes that our president is a success," Pence said. "But I agree strongly with Rush Limbaugh that on those issues that President Obama has committed himself to more government or more spending or a departure from traditional values."

Not bad. Compared to the Republican silence, it's like Winston Churchill. The problem is that even he couldn't bring himself to say Rush Limbaugh was wrong. W-R-O-N-G.

Take a moment to imagine the outraged Republican cries of treason if a liberal commentator had said they hoped George Bush failed as president. It would have been the screaming lead story on Fox for a month.

(And if any commentator did offer such a hope of failure, of which I'm unaware, then they'd have been W-R-O-N-G to do so.)

To his rare credit, Bill Bennett actually criticized Rush Limbaugh. Good for him. But Mr. Bennett is not an elected official. Trying to find criticism from actual Republicans officials, that is pretty much non-existent.

On the other hand, Republicans held a retreat this past week, to discuss their values and the party's future. Said Rep. Pence -- you know that No. 3 Republican who said every American hopes the president is a success -- he announced, "Rush Limbaugh will be welcomed at the retreat."

And there in a nutshell is today's Republican Party. Look at its future. Every single one of whom in the House voted against the stimulus package to help America.

And not a single one of whom can say that a radio host is "wrong" for hoping the president of the United States fails. Not even John McCain, who we're told always puts America first. But, on the good side, Republicans did welcome that radio host to their retreat, with open arms!!

How cool is that?

Comments

[jsgaetano]

Like Rush always says- pop some pills, everything might look more wingnutty in the morning.

[OzzieR]

I wonder if Elissberg actually saw the statements by Rush. There’s no secret that Rush diametrically opposes Obama’s direction for the country. He thinks universal healthcare is a bad idea. He believes closing Gitmo is dangerous etc. You may disagree with him, but he’s in titled to an opinion.
I saw the interview when Rush supposedly said he “hopes Obama fails”. He made it clear that he hoped Obama fails at implementing universal healthcare, closing Gitmo and overturning “don’t ask don’t tell”. He made it clear that he hoped America would succeed under Obama.
Millions of Americans (including Obama) hoped Bush would fail to lead us into Iraq. They hoped someone (UN) would stop him. That’s fine. If you disagree with a policy, you can hope he fails at implementing it. I am a conservative and I am suspect of President Obama and his ideology. I hope he won’t execute many of his promises. But I most certainly hope AMERICA succeeds.
I’m not suggesting you listen to Rush. But I will encourage you to take second hand statements taken out of context with a grain of salt. The guy is a proud American. You may disagree with him 100%, but he’s no dummy. He’d NEVER say he hopes America fails, or as Elisberg put it: He hopes “economy becomes a Depression, unemployment skyrockets, businesses collapse, the housing market plummets, the Iraq War, torture, domestic spying, global warming continue, education crumbles and America is crushed.” It’s idiotic to suggest that.

[AndThenOneDay]

On AM 770, which is non-stop rant radio in New York City, not one commentator has had anything but disdain for the notion of 'global warming', and routinely cite cold days wherever as the 'science' that laughs at the left. So lets start there.

The left does not worry over climate change as a way to attack conservatives or corporations, but because of a growing, daunting peer-reviewed consensus that there is a historic (as in 500m years) build-up of carbon in the atmosphere and related climate change.

Because this is such a prevalent concern on the left it has become a concern among conservatives who clearly find it offensive because of the left's association with it - not on solid scientific grounds.

Conservatives only need the left's support of an idea to be against it. They need to know little else about it, and spend a few hours listening to AM 770, and you'll find out exactly how long they've spent thinking about climate change.

So, where you may see Rush in the role of loyal opposition, I see reckless unthinking opposition. Loyal, yes, but to what?

[jsgaetano]

Last time I checked, Obama won the election.

It's time for Rush to practice what he preached. He clearly said the role of the minority party is to walk in lockstep with the majority, as well as the President.

And this is A Time Of War (tm), making his comments especially enabling of America's Enemies. He already knows the terrrrrrrr­errrrrrrrr­ists monitor the airwaves for any sign of dissent, and become emboldened by it- he's said so himself many times in the past eight years.

So I guess the real question is, why does Rush hate America, and why is he helping America's enemies during A Time Of War (tm).

[gatogato]

Rush is the Republican Party Leader now. That is why so many of us left.

[1usveteran]

Go Rush Go, take em straight to the bottom, should be easy for you, they are 3/4 of the way there.

[batguano]

Modified for you incomprehensible censors


The hateful words Rush Limbaugh speaks out loud are the words most repubs hold in, but their divisive actions speak volumes. Limbaugh should be denounced by any repub with an ounce of integrity or real concern for our republic but instead he is their mouthpiece, spreading hate that they feel they cannot. The super-rich clients of the repubs seem to endorse Limbaugh's wish for Obama (and thus America) to "fail"; if they wanted, they could silence him but choose not to. For 8 years we have lived under the yoke of repub/Limbaugh war, torture, greed, incompetence, corporate/­banker/wal­l st fraud and environmental disaster. Average Americans suffered and the rich prospered. The repubs and their shill Limbaugh want to take us back to that dead-end; we must not allow them any leeway for their brand of divisive politics.

And, by the way Robert, the gratuitous jibe that "Iran probably agrees with Limbaugh" (in wanting Obama to fail) is an unnecessary cheap shot with no factual substance...where did that dumb comment come from? The West Bank “settlers” probably wish that more than the repubs and certainly the Iranians

[panderwatch]

Amazingly, when Repubs chose an African American to lead the RNC (Michael Steele of Maryland) we didn't hear Rush yell "IT"S BECAUSE HE IS BLACK!" which he famously screamed after Colin Powell endorsed Obama. Maybe the the next time they're on his show the 3 or 4 black members of the party should ask Rush why he failed to express the same suble phrase on this occasion.

[Mavin1620]

Thank you for the insightful post. Enjoyed it thoroughly, on one level, as well as scared by it.

Those of you who are frustrated by the Republican Party can get involved by writing letters that you and others can send to the part demanding that they support the President and putting the same moral and patriotic basis under them as these same people did in forcing through the war in Iraq. However, please do not bother to lie. All the substantiated facts are with you. The majority of the population voted for Mr. Obama. Go forth and fill those Republican inboxes with pro-Obama and pro-stiumulas e-mail.

[MSB]

It is fair to say that I HATE the current republican party.

I don't think there should be any compromise with these people. To the contrary, I think that we should be investigating members of the outgoing administration, and if found guilty, should prosecute them to the full extent of the law.

When are the democrats going to recognize that there IS no compromise with these people? They want our party destroyed. That is their focus - not the country - the success of THE PARTY. They would remake the country to criminalize liberalism if they had the votes. Intolerance is their lifeblood. The concessions the left makes are ludicrous, the republicans have demonstrated that they will oppose ANY democratic idea no matter how necessary.

Trench warfare. We save the United States by crushing the republican machine. A party of corporate money, ignorance and religious intolerance - all things the citizens of this republic should be opposed to.

"We THE PEOPLE....."

[scared4ALL]

Rush is on corporate welfare using public airways and paying no rent. Hear Ralph Nader call him on it and detail what this sad excuse for a human being is really about. You won't want to miss this one. You can take action and add your voice, too. Listen up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtrRNIwf_F8

[roblabrousse]

It makes tears of frustration want to flow...how dare these so called men remain silent in the face of such a hateful blowhard. Where is their sense of commitment to their elected office. Their commitment to the American people? Not one of them has the sense of what is right that they can't voice a truthful response to this heap of useless flesh? These are the men who we expect to protect our country and to help our country out of this mess. They can't even find the words to tell this ass that we have to support our President and not curse him with failure one which we would all share. They call themselves leaders....yes like lemmings leading one another off the cliff...into the abyss of shame destruction.

[jturbayne]

Rush has been the leader of rednecks in southern states such as Oklahoma for the past 2 decades...it is amazing how he has been the voice of the ignorant for so long!

[jturbayne]

Rush leads the redneck thinking of Oklahoma also. criticizing him there is sacrilege!

[lstl4]

It is very simple. As long as republicans keep defending people like Rush. Hannity, and Coulter, they will never gain control of the government, so as far as I am concerned, let them keep defending these jerks.

[davism97]

I think it's hilarious that people (especially Republicans) are taking Rush Limbaugh so seriously. The republican party has turned into a circus with leadership like Rush, Palin, and of course who can forget Coulter...

[dredeize]

I agree. They seem like a bunch of whiny losers!!! This show is comical!

[vegas9999]

Saw that word "circus" used in another way yesterday.

[street sense]

This article is inaccurate and the interview clips available on the blog are truncated (at least the ones I found). I saw the entire interview and there is important CONTEXT not present here.

Rush said that if "success" means a transition from capitalism to socialism, then "no", he doesn't want it to succeed because (a) it's a major shift that has not worked in other parts of the world and (b) it's not what he, and many others, believe in. To Rush, and many others, socialism does not equal success. THAT'S what he was getting at when he said "no" to the question of "do you want Obama to succeed?". His answer was about POLICY, not some kind of voodo attack on Obama, or even more ridiculously, the country.

It's hard to infer that if you don't have the full context of his statement. The worst thing about the internet is that so many people only see 30 second clips. Don't believe me? Look at how many people consistently mislabel O'Reilly as a neocon who bashes Obama. Like him or not, nobody who actually watches his show (on TV, not the internet) would say such things because they are simply not true.

Robert, when you take quotes minus the proper context and spin wild conclusions around them, it becomes dishonest reporting. I gather you don't like Rush or Hannity and that's fine... but come on, at least try to represent Rush's response the way it was intended.

[EarthSmiles]

Street_sense, thank you for your balanced response. Limbaugh's sound bite is the kind of out-of-context stupid thing that comes out of one party or the other from time to time, and then the other party tries to make political fodder out of it.

You could probably compare Limbaugh's statement to Michelle Obama's comment during the campaign that she could finally feel proud of her country. After eight years of the Bush Disaster, I'll bet half the country (okay, a little more than half) understood perfectly what she meant. But the Republicans had a minor field day with that one, didn't they?

Either way, it's all just noise. How refreshing it would be for an opposing politician to simply stand up and say, "Focusing on an out-of-context sound bite isn't the best use of our time. Let's focus on the real issues." Instead what we get is more of the same B.S..

Please note, I am not a Limbaugh fan, and I'd like to see HIM fail. Indeed, as an independent voter I'd welcome a third shellacking of the Republican Party in the next election. That way we can focus entirely on beating some sense into the Democrats. As a friend of mine said recently, "I'm disgusted with all of them."

[broezekiel]

There is no possible context that would make Limbaugh's statement anything but devisive (remember the term "femi-nazi? What kind of context could that be used in that isn't offensive to most progressive women?) That being said, he has always been this way. He didn't say anything worse than he has said in the past. If he disagrees with Obama's policy he could just say he disagrees and state his reasons. That would be too boring to his pin-headed listeners who only respond to his inflammatory banter. It is therefor necessary for Rush, in all his lame glory, to use the controversial to get attention. The Republican leadership, in obvious desparation, find it necessary to cow-tow to he and his listeners, because their base is ridiculously weak. It's all pretty pathetic!

[arvay]

Personally, I'm angered by the fact that our infotainment "journalists" are giving this so much attention. This is a story for E!, not the evening news.

Limbaugh is obviously slipping, he's appearing on TV shows, which he always avoided, and he's started making Coulter-like statements to rouse attention.

The press should treat him like dog mistake on the sidewalk, just walk around it and move on.

[MarianneEvans11]

I couldn't agree with you more. Journalism has stooped to a new low! Rush Limbaugh is about to take down TV journalism and they don't even see it coming! Why do you think he got the big bucks on contract renewal...it is all a game at the expense of the American People - you and I !

Arianna Huffington's article is excellent on this subject. We, as Americans, have more class than Rush Limbaugh has in his fat little finger....We should rise above his comments and consider the source of the comment that the President should fail....consider the source, people.

I for one have stopped listening to Rush...in fact, I found this week that he has a replacement from the New England area, filling in for him and truly, this man is a breath of fresh air! He seems to lean to the right and more so for what the Democrats are trying to do in Congress and less about the hold up from the Republicans! I had to check my radio station to be sure it was tuned to the Rush Limbaugh show..LOL

Rush was suppose to be on vacation this week, but it appears his vacation turns out to the "guest appearances"...I wonder if he gets paid for his time and does he show the $$$ ohis income tax...or, since he said he was "taking vacation", do "show appearance $$$" NOT count as "pay for work (play)."?? Fess up, Rush!

[jdenham]

Limbaugh does not us the full context of an interview or Hannity. Manner of fact they go out of their way to misrepresent what others say. Why are you upset that Limbaugh was taken out of context?

[LeftRight]

First, the context is less important than you might think. Yes, Rush was saying that he hoped that the Democratic policies that President Obama is putting into place fail, not the President himself. However, the fact of the matter is that those of us on the left feel that those policies are the only way that we can SUCCEED as a nation, which means that the context is not the issue!

Second, how often has Rush cut out one single comment and placed it out of context before? How about Hannity? Coulter? Republican Senators? Their wives? Remember the brouhaha about Michelle Obama saying that she was proud of her country? That was taken out of context, and yet I never heard, or read, ANY righties come out and say, "but look at the context!" How about Rev Wright? That was taken out of context, and I never heard a righty come out and say, "That's taken out of context!" So I'm not too concerned about poor Rush and his $400 million contract!

[street sense]

LeftRight,
Well, context is always important for both sides. The media consistently morphs statements and the whole thing snowballs into a big controversy. It's irresponsible.

Some on the left may consider the "stimulus" a good thing, but there are plenty of people on the right AND left that do not feel spending a trillion plus is going to help the country economically. Frankly, I just don't see how this spending bill can possibly work, but that's just my opinion.

Should we all stand by the President no matter what? Yes and no. We are all Americans and should be unified, but part of democracy is the freedom to speak out peacefully. Keep in mind, many perfectly level-headed people felt that the war in Iraq was justified and we know now that the surge has been a success. But how many on the left supported Bush and rooted for success in Iraq? Harry Reid certainly didn't.

For the record, although I wouldn't consider O'Reilly to be on the right, he did defend Michelle Obama and gave her the benefit of the doubt, based on the context. That might surprise those who rely on the soundbytes.

[dv416]

man i had hope for a new republican party. but if rush's listeners become the new 'base'... well, i dunno - i don't think that's what the conservative movement needs at all.

[vegas9999]

What do they need? More Chuck Hagels?

[dv416]

well, pretty much. open minded, the ability to be self critical. itd be nice to see that in the republican party. that goes for dems too.

seriously, there is no humility in washington. humility is a virtue, but in washington people fear it will cost your re-election.