Does he really think that the libs or squishy moderates are going to fund the RNC if he dumps on Rush?
In the wake of Rush’s bravo performance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (Curt has the video here) on Saturday, Michael Steele was interviewed on CNN by comedian D.L. Hughley.
Michael Steele calls Rush Limbaugh an “Entertainer” and his comments are “Incendiary and Ugly.”!
I realize Steele is trying to appeal to a broader audience. But he’s a talented guy and could easily do so without taking a slap at Rush! Had Steele turned this around and asked Hughely to demonstrate how he supported President Bush’s policies we’d all be cheering instead of jeering the RNC Chairman today.
The Democrats are engaging in a deliberate strategy to split Rush Limbaugh conservatives from the Republican Party. Michael Steele should be aware of that and not play into it.
My Question: Are all you Rush hating libs now going to be donating to the Republican National Committee? If so, here’s the link to their fund raising site. Please post the text of the RNC’s contribution confirmation email in the comments section when it arrives.
Sorry to disappoint you but I won’t be holding my breath waiting for that to happen!
Update: Matt Lewis posted the audio of Rush’s response from Monday’s show.
Steele needs to figure out he needs an effective alternative and not some DNC lite crap.
I would like to be fair to Steel and say that what he was saying is out of context because his thought was interrupted. He was speaking about putting Rush’s comments into context. possibly he was trying to say that ‘yes his comments are incendiary, ugly,,etc,,, when out of context, but not in context and certainly nothing compared to what the left said about Pres Bush.’ but was cut off from completing the thought.
I think that was where he was going because he had just defended Rush’s supposedly most “incendiary and ugly” comment on those very grounds.
Plus the moron interviewing him is a “comedian”???
I love Steele and have supported his candidacy for RNC head since the beggining but I frankly don’t understand this…
I hope Steele washed his feet before he stuck them in his mouth. Damaged goods and he hasn’t even located the office bathroom yet.
This speaking out of both sides of their mouths is the problem with all politicians, Mike. Now I don’t care about the liberal/progressives forked tongues. But I do care about those who want to portray themselves as “conservative”.
So you can add to Michael Steele,
RickERIC (rather a dyslexic moment… LOL) Cantor who some like to see as a “rising star”. Not in my book. He’s got some serious soul searching to do before he gets a single kind word from me.To show you the hyprocrisy, Cantor “rejected” Rush’s “rhetoric” with Stephanopolus.
What about Rush’s “rhetoric” was non inclusive? The fact they conservatives love *all* humans? That he wants success for everyone by removing unnecessary government obstacles?
This is the hyprocrisy. Canton is engaging in the liberal/progressive tactic of class and race divisions. Something to which Rush stated quite the opposite.
Yet it was only late Jan when Cantor was on Rush’s show, talking about the stimulus.
My my… is this railing against government expansion and spending “rhetoric” when Cantor says it?
But here’s my guess as to the backroom strategy. Just a theory, mind you.
Newt is playing “david axelrod” to Cantor. Think “old white guy conservative” using young, hip, Gen Xer mouthpiece possibility. Newt’s original strategy was that the GOP had to have more than a message of merely “no” to everything, and that if the POTUS was actually going to govern from the center, the GOP had to be seen as cooperating with Obama.
On the other hand, Newt wants the gap between Reid/Pelosi and the GOP to widen. In other words, try to split from within. Nice idea, but old school. Newt has only recently realized that Obama’s “governing from the center” is but a media and O’faithful fantasy talking point. Then Newt… finally… started hitting the talking head circuit himself about the spending.
Since you can’t split a progressive WH from a progressive Congress, that’s a losing battle. And, in fact, it appears the GOP is missing the progressive strategy of Obama letting Pelosi and Reid be the bad guys, taking the spending criticism while he tries to remain above the fray.
But I think the (very misguided) strategy is to play the GOP v Dem in Congress, appear to cooperate and adore the popular President, and use Rush Limbaugh to soften their image (as defined by the liberal progressives). It gives them something to distance themselves from. A conservative scapegoat.
The problem with this strategy is it’s all defense and no offense. They still hold to the same game – playing dummy to the DNC marionette strings. They allow them to define what is “conservative” by demonizing Rush as some sort of extreme wacko bigot just so they can say.. “hey, we don’t like Rush either”.
It’s all part and parcel to create a new diluted GOP… which will be nothing but a shadow Democratic Party. It’s a slow death, and not one I’m willing to participate in.
Frankly, if I don’t see any real conservatives coming on the scene, you’ll find me pulling the lever for Democrats. I want the damage done to be on their heads… not the result of some GOP bozo pretending to be a conservative. The lies and actions of the GOP does nothing but further damage the perception of my conservative beliefs. And like I said… I’m done playing that game.
I did not see this, and I tend to agree with @Bill C: I think that Steele is smarter than to try and piss off the Ditto Heads.
I think the Left and MSM will try and do this to divide and conquer the Conservatives. They have been doing a pretty good job of that in the past few elections and we have let them do it. We need to get all the factions of the right on the same page or at least not stabbing each other in the back,we all want the same thing.
We need all the legs of the Conservative movement to win elections and not let the MSM and Left define what Conservatism is. The Social, Economic and Libertarian part of the conservative movement not to fight with each other, but to help each other and defeat the Leftist turn we have taken in this country. if not we are really going to be in the woods for a long time, and the MSM and Leftist will try and get the Conservatives to eat their young.
I know there are many differences in the Conservative movements, but we can all agree that we do not want the Socialist ideas that Obama and the rest of the Merry Democrats are forcing down our throats.
Bill C — Are you saying Steele doesn’t know how the baiting works with the PRAVDA media? If not why is he in the public eye.
Steele either screwed up, or it’s what he thinks. Can’t have it both ways. It’s incumbent upon Steele to say which is it. Yes I supported Steele, completely, as I thought he was a really good spokesman. But this is just crap.
—
General rant ….
Rush’s speech was terrific, and likely rallied the troops, just what we needed. Rush doesn’t claim to be the leader of anything, how could he, he is a talk show host, and very likely the best intellectual thinker Conservatives have, except Newt when he isn’t on the sofa with Nanny.
I suspect you may have forgotten all the vile, putrid, hate filled, personal attacks on Bush by Dean and any other DNC shill that could find a microphone. What was said about Bush was way over the top compared to Rush’s light hearted accurate jabs at the socialist and their abhorrent policies.
You guys are playing right into Obama’s hands:
Obama is coming off as a centrist (I know that you guys complain, but the fact is that all his proposals would, if enacted, increase the government’s share in the economy by a whopping 2% — to hear you guys talk of it, we are somewhere between socialism and Marxism). He’s got the likes of David Brooks calling the stimulus package “moderate” and most other voters, being, at minimum, willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
If the GOP was being restrained — targeting Nancy Pelosi, but not Obama (as pointed out in the linked article) — then Obama would have no one to paint as the bad guy. But Limbaugh is a perfect villain for Obama to attack, and the closer the GOP tries to get to Limbaugh, the more they risk being tarred with the same brush.
No one wants to cozy up to Rush, save for those in the GOP base who themselves aren’t running for statewide office. But Rush has become the face of the GOP. Which is just what Obama hoped for, when he advised the GOP legislators not to “listen to Limbaugh.”
Obama gave a weekend speech where he said that he was ready to do battle. This is a battle which he’s embracing. Obama vs Limbaugh.
Limbaugh is Obama’s best tool for getting everything he wants.
- Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach, CA
Steele has a pair of his own and doesn’t need to ask Limbaugh for permisson borrow his, unlike the rest of the GOP leadership.
@openid.aol.com/runnswim: Umm I think you are totally off base on that assumption.
Rush is what the base and majority of Americans want, but he is always portrayed by people like Obama and Leftists as something he is not. He is not a racist, homophobe, knuckle dragging male chavaunist pig that the MSM and the people that have never listened to him say he is. They only get little sound bites here and there about him and always put out of context. As he has said the majority in the country are center right, and the MSM and Leftist portay anyone right of Spector as Neadarthals, that just are robots and follow along the lines of the republican Party.
This is so far from the truth. I was at CPAC, and there was many lively discusssions on what the party and policy as a whole. the right is not some monolithic beast. there is a wide variety of ideas and policy positions.
But as Rush said, Conservatism itself is a set of core principles, and all on the right have those principles. And when the Republicans go away from those principles, they are doomed and loose every time.
I did not watch Rush’s speech live, I needed a rest and to get away from the crowds, too much scotch on Friday night. But I watched it last night and I think his speech has awakened the silent majority again, just as Reagan did.
Ahh… the polticial theatre continues. And it will keep going as this is a “plan”… but unlike Larry, I don’t think this is a DNC “plan”… or let’s just say it’s a counter to a very poor DNC plot. More when I put more strategy thoughts together. Perhaps another post in the future. There’s time for this to play out. This is just the theatre “entry” orchestration.
The CNN report of Limbaugh’s response to Steele.
@openid.aol.com/runnswim: “Obama is coming off as a centrist …”
Put down the crack pipe Larry.
Only you could say something so absurd with a straight face.
The most massive spending program since WW2 is centrist?
The most massive tax increases in history is centrist?
Enacting the biggest big government liberal makeover since the New Deal is centrist?
Rolling back whole sections of the Reagan Revolution which initially fired up the engine of economic progress for the last 25 years is centrist?
Larry, please publish the date and time for the debut of your stand up comedy routine. I’m sure many of us would like to attend.
If I may play “interpretator” here, Mike’sA…. I believe what Larry is saying is that Obama is successfully *portraying* himself as a centrist via his tut tuts and mild protests over Congressional “pork” in public… and the media is successfully selling that lie to the public.
I can’t argue that point. And, unless I’m wrong (you can confirm this, Larry), Larry is quite aware that Obama’s spending is *not* centrist. That’s why I keep ribbing him about his prediction that Obama would “govern from the center”.
The argument about the successful media campaign… er, lie…. vs what’s actually happening fiscally is actually two separate arguments.
Where Larry and I disagree is he thinks this – plus the public Obama v Rush battle – is a ploy unknown by the backroom GOP strategists. Personally, I’m not so sure it’s not Obama and the DNC who are being played by an orchestrated GOP scam.
Steele really stepped in it. He will need to do some backtracking because the Republicans still have a lot to prove to the base that they are returning to their principles. This is not how you do it. Now, the Rush is not everything to Conservatives or Republicans, but he has a huge audience and you need to respect he can do with that audience.
For splitting the Republicans from Rush, not going to happen. If anything this is great publicity for both. Debate generates ideas and new ideas based on Conservative principles and values are what we need. So, if Steele raises the dander of some Conservatives and promotes the brand of the GOP—good for him. This did NOT do that.
http://franklinslocke.blogspot.com/
I have to take issue with this. Comedians are funny. D.L. Hughley is not funny. He’s Chris Rock-lite (and, of course, I always thought Rock was unfunny and basically Eddie Murphy-lite).
As for Steele, ehhh. Not exactly smart, but this could just be a bump in the road for him. I have a feeling we’ll be getting a “clarification” later on, though.
Franklin and Spidey… no need to wait for Steele’s political backtrack. Already happened.
I posted Rush’s response above.
@bill:
Let me be clear,,,because I wasn’t,,, I do not intend to say that Steel’s response was what I would have preferred that he say. Far from it. I would have far preferred that Steel had become indignant over Hughley’s premise and challenged him aggressively. What better time and place to firmly and soundly slap down the race card than in a black focused TV program by a Black political leader in the face of racially motivated attacks. IF I had been working for Mr. Steel I would never have allowed him to go on the show without really preparing him for the false premise attack and race baiting innuendo. And I would have stressed the importance that NOW is the time for aggressive defense against such things. NOW, in the deepest hour of of this dark winter of our discontent. NOW.
We have suffered out full casualty of the recent elective process. We will bleed no more than we already have. We’ve faced the full cannonade of the MSM, and the withering fusillade of the pundits to arrive at this small point of leverage in this moment. When any person asks about our party’s position, we have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Each spokesman for the conservative idea, for the Republican party, are like the brave US Navy Destroyers who sailed into the guns of the Japanese cruisers and Battle ships until they were point blank with their only opportunity to retaliate, knowing they would suffer the same damage to leave that they took to get there. So there remained only one course of action.
Attack attack attack.
And on that point, Mr Steel failed.
I hope he learned.
I read about Mr. Steele’s comments earlier today and I knew that he would not come out of this unscathed.
I heard Limbaugh’s response today.
It was direct. It was appropriate. It was brutal.
Today’s GOP is playing too much to the left, trying to be all things to all people.
True conservatism works every single time it is tried and it wins every single time it is on the ballot.
This “mushy middlism”, as I like to call it, is costing the party its’ voters.
We tried the mushy middle approach in 2008. Last I checked McCain is not living in the White House.
Note to Mr. Steele:
Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the gallon or someone who is on the radio three hours a day Mon thru Fri with 20 million plus listeners.
One other thing Mr. Steele. Figure out what conservative values really are and then work from there. If that’s not your cup of tea, then move aside.
Rush has been around for a long, long time, anyone who has spent time listening to him knows exactly what’s going on. Obama knows what Rush can accomplish and it scares him, Clinton couldn’t handle him either, good for us.
Contrary to the latest shallow, dem talking point/gimmick of the day, he’s not leading the party. That’s stupid for the democrats to go down that road, they looked like idiots out there today trying to pull that off. Another fake scheme, set up another blog burst, another silly dem lie and the little moonbats are rushing about carrying the water. This type of thing is the only transparency we get from the Obama reign.
Steele best wise up.
@MataHarley: If Larry is willing to admit that Obama is a total phony I am all ears.
@Bill C: If Steele made an error that would be one thing. If he said it and meant it that would be quite another.
He’s been around the TV pundit gig long enough to be careful with his words which is what raises the red flag.
Though I will give him the benefit of the doubt because that’s just the kind of generous, open-minded and fair person that I am known for.
I had a lot of respect for Steel since he is a Republican that was elected Maryland, that ain’t too many of those. I think Rush did a good job dissing Steel on his show today. What the hell is he doing on CNN with an idiot.
Last time I checked it was the RNC Chairman v Rush, I tend to think this is much ado about nothing. Rush has said many times before that he is an “entertainer”. The Republicans began to rip each other apart from the time it looked like McCain might get the nomination. Republicans really have not existed in the real sense for many years anyway. Look at how the economy was run!
Rush is what the “base” wants maybe, but the majority of Americans voted Democrat, that is how things run in this country.
>>One other thing Mr. Steele. Figure out what conservative values really are and then work from there. If that’s not your cup of tea, then move aside.>>
Absolutely.
They call Repubs “obstructionist”. Well duh. So is the cop who stands in the middle of an intersection directing traffic.
As far as I’m concerned, “obstructionist’ is a compliment.
blast… the last “battle” you checked was either Steele vs Rush, or Cantor vs Rush. The last “theatre” you *should* remember is an Obama/DNC vs Rush & the definition of conservatism..
The internal battles for the GOP differ little from the internal battles of the DNC during the Hillary v Obama primary era. Both parties of factions within, which strive for dominance. Especially during the “not in power” stage.
You are correct that Republicans (if proclaiming to be “conservatives”) have not existed in the real sense for at least a decade. Thus the battle for dominance. There is a ideological fight being waged on many fronts strategically. Obama and the DNC attemptiing to take advantage of the weakness, and the GOP for platform control. The goal with the public battles… not sure yet. But all is not what it seems.
Then again, in politics… never is.
INRE what the people vote. Depends on if they are getting what they think they voted for. A left of center Obama? (ala not a socialist) Or a left progressive Obama (socialist).
That’s the battle of the future. Reality of spending vs the car they thought they purchased.
Rush has said for years that he is in the entertainment business. What Steele had to say is nothing more than what the Great Rushbo has said in the past
Well, it didn’t take long:
Well, Steele and Cantor were/are elected Republican officials/officeholders. I think Rush will stir up some passions, but frankly it is meaningless. We have real problems in our country and calling for the president to fail is coming across pretty stupid to those who do not “know Rush”.
Honestly, to the second point, Obama/DNC v Rush & Definition of conservatism, I am not thinking that Rush should be considered the arbiter of conservatism. That is partly why an honorable candidate like John McCain was vilified by many on the right. I think if _____________ (fill in the blank with best Republican candidate possible) would not have defeated Obama this past election. The country feels left out and let down by the Republican Party.
I tend to think both parties need to do a lot of disenthralling.
@blast:
Let me ask you something blast.
Do you want Obama to succeed?
Do you want him to implement the even bigger, debt bloated government that he has in mind for this country?
Do you want the government to control your health care?
Do you want the government to have the power and authority to tell your doctor that his/her treatment regimen is not “acceptable”?
Do you want the government to decide that because you are a smoker, or because you’re old, or because you’re overweight that you don’t qualify for the treatment that you need?
Do you want the government to tax the living bat snot out of the producers in our society so that the non-producers can suckle at the gov’t teat even more?
Do you want the government to put confiscatory taxes on industry to the point that energy prices will double, triple, or more?
Do you want businesses to continue to move offshore, or not come here to begin with, because the taxation is confiscatory?
Tell me blast, do you want Obama to succeed?
I know I don’t.
You’re right, the country is feeling left out of the Republican party as it now stands. That party has come to inhabit the mushy middle of politics. It is neither hot nor cold, simply lukewarm.
Until the Republicans come to represent true conservative principles and values again, they will continue to wander the wilderness of rejection.
@blast: You missed the point of what I have said. Majority of people agree with what Rush says, but are told a different story of what Rush says. He is too often taken out of context from people who never listen to him. if you ask people what they want, majority would espouse similar views as Rush, but they will always get the wrong impression of him, because the MSM and the rest of the so-called pundits take him totally out of context and bastardize what Conservatism is.
Remember Rush uses absurdity for absurdity’s sake. And he is an entertainer and also a leader of the Conservative Movement, a totally different monster that a leader of the Republicans. Conservative does not equal Republican. Just look at McCain, Snowe, Spector and other Liberal Republicans
Well, in this arena, I am a veteran and use the VA for many services, and the government does control this area. I would say however, if it was a choice between having the government making the decisions or a faceless insurance corporation, I would take the government option since there at least be a political outcome to their malfeasance. The problem is we are only being offered those two options.
There is no free market for health care since it is a group of monopolies working with other groups of monopolies. We need to break the strangle hold insurance has over doctors and hospitals. If you break your arm and want to self insure, you will pay 5-10x more than the insurance companies do. And when it comes to control over health care, if you have heath insurance, they decide what they will cover.
Yes, of course I want all presidents to succeed.
That is a false option. I think ALL Americans need to pay enough taxes to pay for the services given at that time. “Cutting taxes” and running a deficit always seemed wrong during the Bush years, especially when times were “flush”. Now since we have been flushed, I don’t know what the right answer is to the deficit… I think all notions need to be evaluated and you can look back at my Lincoln quote in my comment #27. The economy is collapsing if you hadn’t noticed.
All taxes are confiscatory in nature. Without those taxes during Bush those energy prices did double and triple anyway.
Well, they moved off shore because of the unfair trading system that we have allowed to rape our country and destroy our industries. While we all look for terrorists under our beds, China has been buying the USA and now we are beholden to them. Wow, how the heck did that happen!
I don’t agree with that. Maybe a majority of Republicans might agree with Rush, but if he represents conservative positions, why is the House and Senate and Presidency, and the majority of state legislatures Democrat?
@blast: “”
Just out of curiousity, who did YOU vote for?
Just like you refused to answer my questions on how long the “Clinton Hangover” and “Bush Hangover” are to last, I will take your line about not being required to answer questions, especially personal ones.
It may not be enough to just let the Republican Party commit suicide, we may have to kill it.
@blast: That’s quite all right. I have a very good idea. I fully understand that you wouldn’t want to admit it and lose ALL credibility.
@Mike’s America:
The lack of an answer, combined with his desire for Obie to succeed, tells us all what we need to know.
With such high profiles and plenty of opinions – why doesn’t Limbaugh and Coulter run for office and put their money where their mouths are?
@GaffaUK: Why don’t Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi start doing talk radio?
@Mike – good idea – they have just the right faces for radio;)
I am still wondering why Liberals like Blast are telling us conservatives who should define us. It just amazes me how they know more about Conservatives than us Conservative. Amazing.
If you really think the country believe in what the Democrats are forcing onto us, so be it. We will see in 2010 and then in 2012.
I really do not think that the country wants to punish those that hire people, make our country work. I do not think that people are going to like the inflation that will come from all the Dhmmi Carter II bills that Obama is wanting. WE do not want to be beholden to the UN. We are not a nation that thinks abortion should be used for birth control.
Why would Rush want a pay cut???? He is not a politician, he is a business man. Coulter the same thing. I do not like Coutler that much, but she does a good job of making money, why would she take a pay cut. They are pundits and they are good at what they do
We are already seeing the crumbling of the MSM, newspapers are loosing money left and right from their all out assault on the US mind. People are able to see thru them and their agenda. and Fox News has beaten all the other news organizations for a long time now. At least Fox news gives a voice to conservatives, unlike CNN and the rest of them.
The Republican parties need to find a way to unite.
A crazy and partly-formed idea.
To get across the basic conservative ideas of smaller government, less government intrusion into peoples’ lives, less crazy and pointless restrictions on capitalism, and the concept that these things produce the greatest good for the greatest number of people — what about choosing a showcase to demonstrate the benefits of this philosophy?
A place where this could be implemented. Perhaps, choose a particular state. Do not trumpet intent in advance, just quietly get ‘er done.
First, I am not liberal. Second, most of the FA folks are die hard Bushies, and I don’t believe George W. Bush was conservative. If there was a conservative movement in this country, he killed it. Since I harp on Bush that seems to push me into the “liberal” and Dem crowd… then call it that way, but honestly, I like small government that stays out of our lives. That includes end of life issues like Terri Schievo. Problem is some elements Republican Party wants to totally interfere in our lives and have a very activist foreign policy (Neo-Cons) and thought they could remake the world. Well, they did. The power and prestige of the US was lowered under their ill conceived and executed dogma. If we look at the $10 Trillion in debt that we have today, way more than 1/2 was created under Republican governments (that said they were conservative).
So tell me what part of conservative philosophy allows for unfettered access to US markets with undervalued foreign currency from our trading partners, which in turn damages US companies and loses jobs? A problem that went on unchecked for years. What part of conservative philosophy allows the “free market” to be groups of monopolistic health insurance companies and drug companies? What part of conservative philosophy allows credit default swaps and derivatives to be sold in such massive amounts that they artificially inflate the housing bubble and totally leverage our society to the point of economic ruin?
If we look back at Conservatism past it was a totally different animal. It always put America First. Today it has morphed into “Traditionalists” as defined by some quazi God-ish connection our founding. Funny thing how God does not appear in the Constitution outside of a section preventing a religious test for office.
Did I miss where you talked about the much bigger story? During the same interview Steele doesn’t respond and in fact bobs his head like a moron when CPAC is said to look like a Nazi rally. People are a lot more fired up about that than the ignorant dig on Rush.
If you’ve already talked about this, never mind.
I think his lack of defense of the Republican party, the party HE LEADS, is a deal breaker and shows a future of spineless capitulation.
I saw this interview and I didn’t think Steele did all that bad. Hughley did interrupt him several times, which is a tactic to stop others when they start sounding intelligent and making sense, like when Lauer interviewed Ziegler.
I don’t think it’s totally insulting to call Rush and entertainer, he’s been called worse. And those of us who love Rush know he’s so much more. But calling him entertainer I thought was somewhat clever because what is Hughley going to say: “Boo, down with entertainers?” Hughley is a comedian, so if he puts down Rush for being an entertainer he’s putting himself down, and all those real entertainers who think they know anything about politics. His other option was to give credence to Rush and he wasn’t willing to do that, so he interrupted Steele.
I think we gotta give Steele some time to do the tv rounds, less we too fall for the democrat trick of dividing us, simply because they can’t conquer us.
It won’t be long before the Republican party boots Steele–one of three black men in the party. Imagine how that’s going to look.
@stix1972
“Why would Rush want a pay cut???? ”
Exactly money before principles – lol.
I think we need to begin a movement to put Rush and Sarah on the ticket for 2012. That will show the people our intentions.
It’s a difficult position right now. Much of what Rush says does push him far to the right. I don’t think a Rush/Sarah ticket will do any good for the Repub party. In running for office, you have to at least look like you’re riding to the center somewhat to attract a large conglomerate voting base.
It’s interesting to see the Repub party really dividing into two large and control-hungry segments with the Rush-favoring die hards, and the RNC’s appeal to reject the die-hards for a larger conglomerate base.
@blast:
“FA folks are die hard Bushies”
WTF. Because we defended the War on Terror??
I am anything from a Bushie, I did defend our right ot go after terrorists,but pretty much everything domestically he screwed up.
Nice try with the Neo-Cons, I guess we should let Israel get slaughtered in the ME also????
@blast: ” I like small government that stays out of our lives.”
Yeah sure. That’s why you are enabling the biggest big government boondoggle since the New Deal.
@Mare: I missed that part of the interview. If you have a link to a You Tube video of that, please drop it in the comments section.
Of course patriotic conservatives are always going to be called NAZIS by the same neosocialists who ARE trying to take away our economic freedoms. Funny how they get away with it and a shame if Steele did not use the opportunity to point that out.
@Maria: Being called an entertainer isn’t insulting. Being called “incendiary” and “ugly” is. And Steele is an experienced TV personality. That’s one of the reasons I supported his candidacy. And when he insults Rush, he insults me.
@nerdoff: Only a Democrat goes around counting who is black and who is white. And your math needs some correction. Republicans only count Americans.
I don’t understand all the hoopla over this interview. Rush is a conservative radio talkshow host. He is an entertainer. He tells it like it is and has fun doing it. He calls politicians and RINO’s to task. He is not a politician, he is not running for office. Obama has called him out, specifically named him in order to polarize the conservative movement. Rush is not the spokesman for the republican party, never has been. But we now have politicians, etc. getting involved in this non issue arguing over stupid comments. The task at hand is to get conservatives back into office and to get the libs out. Arguing amongst ourselves ain’t gonna work. The fact that Steele apologized is weak on his part, grow some dude. We need another leader in the republican party that can unite. Quit buying into the Obama ploy to place Rush at the head of the party. Get a grip folks.
You don’t need to defend our right to go after terrorists, but of course the Iraq policy prevented us from killing off the very people who attacked us on 9/11 and created so many more. AQ rebuilt itself back to pre-invasion of Afg. levels while we rebuild Iraq.
We agree 100% on the part where Bush pretty much domestically screw up.
Haha… yeah, like debating issues on FA will enable anything. Things were bad before the election, after the election, and after the inauguration. Do I think some things done by the new administration have been poor? Yes. But I believe the economic conditions were collapsing all along. Even Pres Bush was nationalizing businesses and giving away taxpayer dollars to stem the financial collapse. I think it probably was not enough given what we know. Trillions have to still come out of this market, but the destruction of capital has been so pervasive, we are F-ed. Too bad for so many.
As to biggest boondoggle, I place the Iraq war in that category because it carried with it the loss of American service members and many Billions of Dollars. Second only to cutting taxes while running a huge deficit, when we did not have an economic collapse to contend with.
@blast: So Al Queda in Iraq was a figment of our imagination and Al Queda did not call Iraq the main front in the Jihad. Maybe I am just getting the wrong information somewhere.
And are we suppose to go to war with nuclear powered Pakistan or work behind the scenes???
@blast:
Hmmm, time capsule time.
http://www.floppingaces.net/2009/01/05/the-bush-legacy-gifting-obama-with-a-muslim-world-rejecting-jihad/#more-14723
You forget that was AFTER we invaded Iraq, where they were able to do substantial damage to our post war efforts, take THOUSANDS of American lives and tens of thousands of casualties.
The problem we have with Pakistan today is related to our diversion to Iraq and not weeding out the damaged AQ and allowing them to escape into Pakistani safe areas. What ever happened to hunting down Bin Laden!
Missy, on your time capsule. Do you believe that AQ is not planning an attack on the US? That somehow they are irrelevant?
blast, your #43 proves that you are a liberal. Your BDS only further proves it.
We’re die hard Bushies? HA! You really are off in LA-LA land.
Hard Right, it proves I believe Bush was wrong, like many conservatives do. Look at stix1972 – #50, he had the honesty to speak out.
@blast: So let me get this straight. We should have ignored the intelligence that France, Germany, Russia, UN and others about WMD???? And also Russia’s warning that Iraq wanted to attack us???
You make no sense. We needed to go after Saddam so Al Queda and other terrorists organizations did not cozy up with Hussein. But we already knew that there were many terrorists hiding in Iraq.
And who cares if we can get bin Laden. Do you really think that capturing bin Laden would do anything to stop al Queda. Killing operatives in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan is better than hunting every single cave from here to Timbuktu for a person isolated from his own cause. Is bin Laden in charge of anything???? he is isolated and living from cave to cave looking over his shoulder all the time. And if we killed him, he would just be another Martyr for Jihad.
@blast: You have not been coming around here long have you????
I’m not interested in hijacking this thread to battle, one more time, about the wisdom of the Iraq war, and point out the benefits of doing so.
But I will say this, blast… just about everything you said flies in the face of fact… from the “growth of AQ” to your ludicrous comments about Iraq being the reason for “our problems” with Pakistan.
Frankly, there is just too much there to address in an unrelated thread. But by gawd, man…. you’re way outdated on your facts and history. You need to spend some time reading of the latest reports on Iraq’s history with Islamic jihad groups, and the Global Trends report I posted on (Missy linked it above…). When you’re done with that, move on to the Pentagov IV report and the translations of the Harmony/ISG docs from Saddam’s regime.
Your first misunderstanding is the definition of the enemy – i.e. the fact you think AQ is *only* Bin Laden when it is actually an association – and umbrella group – of jihad factions. Your second major misunderstanding is having no effective history of Pakistan and the Taliban, and their Islamic jihad groups that have lived in their midst forever. To assume the US relationship with Pakistan (which is significantly better than it was pre 911… when they were a nuke armed enemy) only became problem after Iraq is possibly the most uneducated statement I’ve ever heard you make.
A reminder from the post moderator: The topic here is the dustup between Rush Limbaugh and Michael Steele.
This is NOT, I repeat NOT another thread about blast, all about blast and blast 24/7.
If I have to I will take steps to stop this violation of the rules.
Dudley established his own blog where he can post whatever thoughts may be bouncing around his cranial vacancy.
He’s proven that he has plenty to say yet his site contains only one single word post.
I apologize Mike, should have ignored it.
@Sid:
Exactly Sid. the Althouse blogspot has a post up today reminding us of Alinsky Rule #12, the WH is using Rush as a distraction. We don’t need to further distract from our own personal party objectives by getting into a scrap over Rush.
@Mike’s America: thanks for reminding us.
@Missy: @Sid: I agree, this is all a tempest in a teapot. Obama has gone to the Alisnki School of Politics and is using it perfectly. Setting up the straw man and distracting us from the real enemy, Obama.
And I mean enemy as in political enemy. I am sure Obama is a great guy and all,but politically he is a fool and naive and is tearing our economy apart. Just as Rush says, I want Obama to fail in his Socialistic policies.
@Missy: No problem Missy. We’ve got some new folks coming in here from links to this post and I just didn’t want to see the entire thread degenerate into another blast fest.
I was a bit reluctant to even post this story as I know that by doing it I am buying into WH efforts to drive this wedge between Rush and the GOP.
But I felt it was an important post because:
A. When you insult Rush, you insult millions who follow Rush who you count on when it comes time to give the money and do the work that wins elections
B. Steele needed to be called on the carpet for this so he doesn’t forget “A.”
Glad to see you’re back on track. But you guys have to keep up with the news. Michael Steele has recently cozied up to El Rushbo and asked forgiveness.
Another one bites the dust – and grovels in it.
@Dave Noble: You’re late. Mata already linked to Steele’s apology.MataHarley
Please try and keep up.
I don’t see why this thing turned into such a flap. I’ve listened to Rush for a long time, though I’m not an avid (or rabid) listener. I find nothing wrong with calling him “incendiary”, since what he says is meant to light a fire: Rush wants lively discussion about certain topics, and he doesn’t mind getting people “hot under the collar” to do so. And as for “ugly”, it’s probably not the word Steele really wanted to use at the moment, and was certainly not meant to be a description of his features. Rather, it seems to me to be a very apt word to describe the state of politics in America, and likewise the level to which some discussions have to descend to be apropos. Words like “rough” or “brusque” might have been better, and if Steele had really prepared himself for the line of questioning, he would have known to respond intellectually, and not react viscerally, to the questions.
I just can’t stomach the media and left-wing radical approach of calling out those who disagree with them. Santelli, Limbaugh, who’s next? The President should be able to ignore his detractors if they are really as insignificant and marginal as he or the media would have us believe. If he had ANY class, Obama would publically admonish Gibbs and other politicians from engaging in a war of words with any private (not public-service) citizen. It’s incredibly unprofessional and down-right creepy. If you can’t take the heat, Mr. President, …
Jeff V
That’s “Mr Present” Jeff. Obama is “Present of the United States”
Steele nodded along while a gang of low life bigots called conservative republicans Nazis. He is a worthless stooge. If Rush Limbaugh had said that a gathering of brown colored people (say the dumbass farce billed as the State of Black America, for instance) looked just like a Tarzan Movie; what would the reaction be? Steele is complicit in bigotry and should resign immediately. We don’t need bigots heading our party. Lets leave that to the socialists.
Doesn’t Rush Limbaugh rip into lots of politicans – including those in the Republican Party – using his own colourful expressions? So why can’t others take a pop at him? Is he somehow immune from criticism? I’m sure he’s got thick enough skin to take it.
@GaffaUK: That isn’t the point and you know it.
It’s about the Chairman of the Republican National Committee pandering to idiots like DL Hughley instead of standing up and defending the man who has done more for the party than any politician.
It’s about insulting the millions of Rush fans who the RNC counts on to give the money and do the work.
It was a STUPID thing for Steele to do.
@Mike
I agree it isn’t the central point – but it is a reasonable point. Politically incorrect for Steele to say that but the same can be said for all things Rush has said and those he has attacked in the past. I guess it’s easier for someone like Rush to stand outside the tent and urinate inwards. And if Steele insults Rush – is that an insult to his fans? Really? Free speech.
Mike,
When you click on your link to Mata’s post and then click on her link within that post, you get a Politico artlcle about Rush’s response.
She does highlight Steele’s aides scrambling, but does not cite Steele’s backtrack statements.
If I missed it, please let me know.
Post #26 Dave.
Looks like my comment got deleted by the double standard machine again… I was wrong about Steele’s fortitude anyway.
Amusing Link
I agree that this is much ado about nothing.
Q Is Rush leader of the GOP?
A. No, of course not.
Q Is Steele leader of the GOP?
A. Yes.
Q. Is Rush considered an entertainer?
A. Yes. He has said so himself. He is a political commentator. There are lots of political commentators and many people listen to them as a means of entertainment. QED
Q. Does Rush speak for the Republican Party.
A. No. Although many Republicans concur with what he says, he is not the party mouthpiece. officially or otherwise.
Q.Has Rush said things that some people might consider “incendiary and ugly”?
A. Without specifics it’s hard to know specifically what, but having listened to Limbaugh, odds are, …yes. So what?
Q. IS the MSM trying to use this issue to create a Republican divide.
A. Yes. The White House is involved also. Rahm Emanuel contacted various political commentators over this. http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/8977
http://www.foxnews.com/video-search/m/21945200/this_is_distracting.htm#q=limbaugh+steele
http://www.foxnews.com/video-search/m/21950482/democratic_diversion.htm#q=limbaugh+steele
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