In a related vein:

Worth a look, Rush Limbaugh at the CPAC in full sweat mode:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/29446125#29446125

Given that the CPAC is his crowd, the response is tepid, and Limbaugh appears close to desperate, like Oliver Platt in FUNNY BONES, as the floundering comic dying onstage in Las Vegas.

Limbaugh needs a sheep joke. In fact, "it just takes one sheep" could be Limbaugh's motto.

Dan

Race IS the banner issue for our friends who hang with those Rush Limbaugh people! -Kevo

Well, at least Rush never told Obama to "take the bone out of his nose", not that it was racist or anything that time when he told a caller to do that exact thing.

Am I remembering wrong, or when you blogged at Carpetbagger were you less focused on what Rush Limbaugh and the other blowhards of right-wing radio and TV had to say? I know we have to keep an eye on what's being said on the right, and I also know that having gotten our people elected, it's something of a different situation now, but it's incredible how much bandwidth you're devoting to it, Steve. You've ratcheted down the strength of your own judgments on current events and the MSM -- a requirement, it seems, for those writing for WM -- but is this intense scrutiny on Rush and Co. also an editorial necessity here?

Maybe this is a useful part of the campaign to force the GOP to defend the charges of Rush as de facto leader, but your emphasis on winger media seems to have started before the whole Rush as King kerfuffle.

(I'll take the "Steve can write about whatever he wants! Start your own blog if you don't like it!" responses as given. Yes, of course Steve can write about whatever he likes; I'm just pointing out that he used to choose to write about somewhat different things. I'm wondering why that's changed.)

OOOH Rush I'm impressed . Please keep it up as you continue to marginalize your party . Between you , Steele and Jindal we have a trifecta of ignorance, unparalleled in political history. I was watching meet the press and even those people were saying the Repugs had to be more relevant. With this crew?
Pass the popcorn, the show is just getting under way

I have to agree with Shortstop--while I understand why Liberals/Progressives/Whatever It Is We Call Ourselves Now feel the need to point out the constant stream of insanity that escapes Rush's lips (and Coulter's, and O'Reilly's, and Hannity's...) after a while I feel like ENOUGH ALREADY. Go find something positive to say about Obama or the congress, and write about that.

Just my two cents.

Look, there's two things going on here. One, Rush has a history of making racist comments. He resigned from ESPN in 2003 for denigrating the achievements of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donavan McNabb.

The second thing is that when he makes these racially charged remarks he denies they were racist and insensitive. In 2003, these were his comments upon resigning from ESPN:

"My comments this past Sunday were directed at the media and were not racially motivated," Limbaugh said in a statement issued late Wednesday night. "I offered an opinion. This opinion has caused discomfort to the crew, which I regret.

Regret but no apology. What an ass.

Rush is a bigot and if the GOP wants to put him front and center in their pathetic efforts to re-build their brand then they will get what they deserve. If they think this is the way to build a bridge to the minority community they are dumb as rocks.

Rush's anxiety about modernity is the howl of a the little man losing some fragment of privilege. That this privilege was based on former cultural norms like racialism and patriarchy must be noted. Yet, Rush feels these observations are unfair and pushes back as bullies will. Bullies use aggression on behalf of a defensive position.

At some point, the bully realizes his protest hasn't stopped the tide. He either moderates his anger or doubles down in nihilistic fervor. Rush probably knows he is not going to win this argument. But his life and career are intertwined around one core idea: there was once a place called home and modernism burned that house down.

Rush the racist asshole, lives by his stash
of oxy pills and viagra pops in a land only he can dream....

I agree with shortstop. There is a reality beyond trivial and predictable right wingnuttery.

Racism is the real beating heart of the Republican Party, the only way they think they can get the poor young white guy constituency together with the rich old white guy constituency. That's why Obama makes their heads explode.

Rush is just more overt than Pat Buchanan - When Pat was writing columns for Hearst, he, once, wrote that the Republican Party owed nothing to "Blacks", as they did not vote Republican.

Any news on the pullback in Iraq or the coming quaqmire in Afghanistan? However, as Rush has been gloating about being the head of the Party, he deserves more attention than in the past.

in response to "let's all just cream over obama and forget the wingnuts": i dont know what the problem is with keeping an intense eye on the right wing. i am sure the "ignore 'em and they'll go away" plan is a loser. and it is good to see their previous statements and commitments documented and -- as we say in the biz, "fact-checked" -- by Steve and others.

the last eight years have shown me that anything can happen next. and this carnival of nightmares, thugs, carneys, 'entertainers' and sadly sick people are the little glimmers of desire sticking up out of society's vastness as the potential "flag-draped cross" of big fuckin' trouble -- with a capital F.

No, Rush. Black doesn't make you look more svelte.
We should be grateful for Rush, he makes identifying with the GOP cause extremely difficult for anyone except those so rabid that they'd never vote differently, anyway.

Watching DBuck's link to Limp-augh comparing "liberals" to mommies and daddies not keeping score at the soccer games is just too amusing. Limpaugh argues the authoritarian administration is taking away Americans' drive to succeed. Authoritarian, really?
I take back all the bad thinks I've thought about Limpaugh. It turns out, he's not a republican/corporate hack, he's really just a performance artist. And a sweaty one at that.

Pj in Jesusland has it right on.

The Donovan McNabb mess is not an isolated incident. Once might be a gaff, but when done hundreds of times and someone might notice a pattern.

Rush Limbaugh don't care about black people!

in response to "let's all just cream over obama and forget the wingnuts...the "ignore 'em and they'll go away" plan is a loser...

My. I stopped reading right there, since this is a profoundly dishonest characterization of my and Bob M's comments, and demonstrated only a glancing acquaintance with the contents of robl's.

Let the punishment (being subject to the idiocy of Limbaugh) fit the crime (attending CPAC).

I would be tempted to have a good laugh over CPAC if it weren't the case that these people (I am being generous) are doing their best to destroy the country.

Republicanism is not the party of racism. It's the party of ignorance, hatred and fear, which constitute the tent under which racism shelters. That's why they call it the big-tent party!

"keep your friend close and your enemies closer"

continuing to expose this psuedo populism has to be part of any effective strategy to push the country forward. these people will not go away and continue to infect the body politic.

sometimes you need more than pitchforks and torches. i hope obama is preparing for the stake in the heart

As I wrote here - Why are Republicans still talking about Obama's race?
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/2/27/94442/3235/786/701955

republican/conservative pigs like limbaugh are too self-absorbed to know what racism is so its hardly reasonable to expect that they know when they're being racist. So goes for when they're being misogynists.

This is absolutely nothing that a few 'hip' phrases from Michael Steele can't clear up. One racist slur equals one 'bling, bling' comment; that's cutting edge.

"...take that ring out of your nose ..."

I'll do the unthinkable and defend Limbaugh here. He talks about race and Obama because liberals, the mainstream media and Obama talk about it all the time. Nowhere in his comments did he deride Obama for being black. He derided the actions and attitudes towards race of others. Maybe Limbaugh is a racist, but nothing posted here proves it.

My comment yesteday about Rush being vry tongue in cheek was reinforced by a brief -5 second- clip I saw on FAUX NEWS. El Blimpo being introduced, and putting clenched fist to heart-thump,thump- and then doing a fist bump with the whities on either side of him.

And the audience didn't get it. . .

Tom, suggest you actually read the thread - Say hello to your wife, Aunt so and so.

2 things, First off Rush, Its one thing to be thought of as a bigot and moron . Its another to open your mouth and prove it.
second on this splitting the stimulous package, The GOP lost the election By both the popular and electoral sides so in no way are republican entiteled to dictate what should be done in goverment. You had you 8 conseritive years and made a very fine mess of things. Now be a good dufus, sit down behind you EIB Mike and shut up and dream of little children in the Dominican Republic.

Posted by: Tom on March 1, 2009 at 11:30 AM

That is the goddamned funniest comment. And quite unthinking.

Aside from his speech on race during the campaign, I have not heard Obama mention being black at all. He is the President of the United States, not the Black President of the United States. From the press conferences I recall, he has rarely mentioned himself being black if at all or never brought up.

Liberals focused on his race at his inauguration when he made history as the FIRST black person to be President of the United States as they would if a woman or Hispanic or Asian or Native or whoever became President of the United States. After that, I haven't seen a stream of Barack Obama, Black President on the blogs.

And the MSM? Well, they like beating a dead horse. Even then, there has been less mention of it in the news as the Obama Admin continues.

The only folks yabbering about his race are the nutters who keep thinking he's not "a REAL American" by launching lawsuits about his place of birth and Rush Limbaugh.

"...take that ring out of your nose ..."
Posted by: Neil B

He didn't say "ring," he said "bone."

And who could forget this gem:

"We are being told that we have to hope he succeeds, that we have to bend over, grab the ankles, bend over forward, backward, whichever, because his father was black, because this is the first black president."

As Lenny Bruce once told a malfunctioning toilet, "It's a lucky thing you're white".

And more times than not, it boils down to luck of the draw. The big mouthed jerk was likely raised by folks who flat out believed in the perverted concept of racial superiority.

Not to belabor the obvious, but Limbaugh is a dick.

Just had to get that off my chest.

I think an under and over the top racism drives much of the resistance to Obama among Republicans and conservatives -- that, and the fact they are simply not used to not getting their own way as defined by their masters, who do the thinking (if it such it be) for them. And consider: a recent "poll" asked if it was "appropriate" for Michelle Obama to wear a sleeveless dress to her husband's speech before Congress. I don't recall this question asked of other First Ladies, or anything like it. Other than crude racism and arrogance, why would such a question be asked? (N.B. The "poll" approved Mrs. Obama's choice.)

Arab? ARAB??? Geez, Rush, look at a map sometime.

And Kenya isn't even predominantly Muslim. I think he's mistaking it for Nigeria.

Rush Limbaugh is a big, fat idiot.

Where did I hear that before?

In the here and now IMHO, Limbaugh is the 600-pound zealot in the room. He is the pivot point from which they will try to destroy any tangible progress.

I still remember Limbaugh's "Halfrican" American slur with considerable disdain. I think it important to preempt the next "Mein Kampf" before publication.

I don't know. After soundly thrashing the Republicans, the Dems come across as afraid to death of Rush Limbaugh. Obviously they don't put a lot of faith in the astronomical spending of Obama as a cure for astronomical debt and shake at the thought of Limbaugh going after Dem pork when jobs are being lost.

It's the economy, stupid. Going after a chatterer just makes the Dems look quarrelsome.

Dick Durbin's version of the Fairness Doctrine shows how scared they are.

http://www.rbr.com/media-news/13138.html
...DeMint commented, “Sen. Durbin’s amendment exposed Democrat intentions to impose radio censorship through the back door using vague regulations dealing with media ownership,” said DeMint. And DeMint spokesman Wesley Denton expanded on the theme, saying Durbin was trying “muzzle successful syndicated radio programs. They’re trying to break up Clear Channel and other successful syndicated radio programs.”