How to Understand Rush Limbaugh

[Valin]

Commentary:

Wilfred M. McClay
Feb. 2011


One of the many strategic errors made by the Obama administration in the early days of 2009 was its decision to take on talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh—though it was, perhaps, hard to blame the president and his people for trying. After all, they were riding the wave of a big electoral win and feeling pretty invincible, with large majorities in both houses of Congress and a messiah in the White House, and Limbaugh had just stunned the country, days before Obama was inaugurated, by summarizing his feelings about the new president in four simple words: “I hope he fails.” Limbaugh impatiently brushed aside the happy talk about compromise and bipartisan cooperation and scoffed at the claim that Obama was a pragmatic, post-ideological, post-partisan, post-racial conciliator and healer. Instead, he saw every reason to believe that Obama would aggressively pursue a leftist dream agenda: an exponential expansion of government’s size and power, a reordering of the American economic system, and a dismantling of America’s role as a world power. Limbaugh was not alone in such views, but he was the only major figure on the right willing to stick his neck out at a time when the rest of the nation seemed dazed into acquiescence by the so-far impeccably staged Obama ascendancy.

Such was the mood of the moment that it seemed a sullen breach of etiquette to utter any such criticism. In any event, the White House quickly concluded that Limbaugh’s statement was a rare blunder and that hay was to be made of it. What better way to sow division among the Republicans, and confine them to a tiny corner of American political life, than to identify Rush Limbaugh as the “real head” of their party and brand him as an unpatriotic extremist and sore loser—or, in the light-touch description of longtime Clinton adviser Paul Begala, as “a corpulent drug addict with an AM radio talk show”? If they could succeed in this angle of attack, they would kill two birds with one stone, marginalizing their most popular antagonist while rendering the opposition party impotent with embarrassment and internal squabbling. Each Republican would face a choice of embracing the glittering “new age” of Obama and gathering a few scraps from beneath the Democratic table or following Rush into the fever swamps of an embittered permanent minority and getting nothing at all.

(Snip)

In short, he is never quite acknowledged as the formidable figure he clearly is. Instead, he is dismissed in one of two ways—either as a comic buffoon, a passing phenomenon in the hit parade of American pop culture, or as a mean-spirited apostle of hate who appeals to a tiny lunatic fringe. These two views are not quite compatible, but they have one thing in common: they both aim to push him to the margins and render him illegitimate, unworthy of respectful attention. This shunning actually works in Limbaugh’s favor because it creates the very conditions that cause him to be chronically underestimated and keeps his opposition chronically off-balance. Indeed, Limbaugh’s use of comedy and irony and showmanship are integral to his modus operandi, the judo by which he draws in his opponents and then uses their own force to up-end them. And unless you make an effort to hear voices outside the echo chamber of the mainstream media, you won’t have any inkling of what Limbaugh is all about or of how widely his reach and appeal extend.

(Snip)

Rush: Why America is exceptional
Click On Above Link

[Sanguine]

Great article. Thanks!

[nickydog]

Thank you for posting this, Valin.

[Saltbag]

Great article. Thanks for posting.

[AceRimmer]

Valin!

 

Nice article, but it seems that although the author touched on the "Fairness Doctrine", he utterly ignored the role the LSM has played in why Rush, Hannity, and FNC are now so popular.

[Evad]

IF you've watched Rush on the Haney Project, you've seen a side of him that few people knew existed.

He is witty, humorous and fun to watch.

I highly recommend it--Golf Channel Tuesdays--session 5 coming up.

[SrWoodchuck]

I began listening to Rush during Billy Jeff Clintons presidency, known as, "America Held Hostage." He has honed his craft [and craftiness] since then; but really excels during Democratic administrations. His popularity & talent rise in proportion to the strength of his opponents.

[Al_Simmons]

I began listening to Rush during Billy Jeff Clintons presidency, known as, "America Held Hostage." He has honed his craft [and craftiness] since then; but really excels during Democratic administrations. His popularity & talent rise in proportion to the strength of his opponents.

 

I am a 23-year listener. Living in NJ back in the 1980s, I started in 1986 by listening to the legendary Bob Grant - the biggest never-syndicated talk show host, covering the NY, NJ, Connecticut metro-areas.

 

Then in 1988 they started carrying Rush, and pretty soon he was national. I remember the "Rush to excellence" tours he used to do ...

[Valin]

IF you've watched Rush on the Haney Project, you've seen a side of him that few people knew existed.

He is witty, humorous and fun to watch.

I highly recommend it--Golf Channel Tuesdays--session 5 coming up.

 

 

I found the You Tube Comments.....interesting