Millions of people pay Federal taxes weekly or bi-weekly from their payroll taxes. They expect Government to institute policies which will help enrich their lives -- not reduce monies for school programs such as drivers' ed, shop, home economics, drama, gym, school lunches, books, and even toilet paper. Anyone over 40 had the advantages of these good school programs which have now become defunct. This is not how good Government should treat their young people while spending billions of dollars on killing machines and wars. These Federal taxes individuals pay into should be then given back to them by investing in good roads, bridges, sewer and water systems, schools, clean air, something which has been lacking the last 8 years and futhermore lacking whenever a Republican has control over the government -- it becomes non-existant yet a place for a pretty good salary, great medical for the GOP Party who come daily to work to obstruct and be the Party of No! It's the people's money they are saying No with, the people will get their turn to say No in 2010 and 2012!

I've said it before: the Republicans are beholden to self serving entertainers who really don't give a rat's ass about ideology. All they care about is ratings, contracts and book sales. In the current political climate they have to get more extreme, outrageous and offensive to maintain a tightening audience of the most hard core right wingers. The Republicans turned their party over to them and now they're stuck with them.

Limbaugh is just the scab over the festering sore that is the party's toxic base.

It should have been done years ago. Now, let's see if the Democrats can follow through.

Good:

... a drug-addled shock-jock who's actively rooting for America's decline.

Better:

... a drug-addled shock-jock who brings large quantities of Viagra on solo vacations to Carribean nations where underage forced prostitution is rampant, and who's actively rooting for America's decline.

Oh well, let me drag this out "one more" time:

Q. What is Rush Limbaugh's favorite dope?

1. Oxycontin

2. George W. Bush (Hey, still revered out there ...)

3. His biggest fan (Mike/Myke K, the secret and androgynous writer of bodice-rippers?)

4. Himself!

I wonder if it was Rahm's idea all along to link the Republicans to Rush Limbaugh in the first place. I love it!

Rahm: "Applauding the conservative radio personality for being upfront in his desire to see the president fail,..."
Surely another word belongs in place of "applauding", and needs to change at the original site .

I don't think there should be any reference to Limbaugh on the blogs without the preface "Republican leader." That includes this one, it should used constantly. "Today on his radio show, Republican Leader Rush Limbaugh said..."

In addition, we should also take a cue from what the right did with abortion and start labeling with "Pro-Failure" and "Pro-Hope." Pro-Failure Republican leader Mitch McConnell etc etc. Pro-Hop Democrat Barbara Boxer etc etc. Make them pay for their idiocy, brand them now.

Emmanuel is getting to be teh pwner for Obama!

The Republicans and Democrats are identical. They both stand for deficit spending at home and ideological crusades abroad. Forget about this, "good guys vs. bad guys" debate. Both of them are taking the country further in an unsustainable direction.

As for Rush Limbaugh, he has no legal authority, and should be ignored. The Republicans and Democrats in Congress, on the other hand, are the ones who used their legal authority to drive the nation into debt.

And yes, I recognize that no third Party will ever come to be, and I recognize that our country will not change in direction. But this does not mean that we should ignore the causes of our problems.

'bout time some in the Democratic Party finally is willing to point out the true, ignorant face of the Republicans.
That bloated, Authoritarian, Fascist(Limbaugh) has always wanted this, as do the rabid party members, so I say good, shove it down their throats! I remember Rush as a guest on Letterman, Dave took him to task, and Rush just sat their, like a kid at the principals office, an amateur out of his league, exposed on national television.
He wasn't so witty and outspoken that night.

Seriously, the best way to expose the "Republican" myth(Govt. is bad, taxes are bad, poor people are bad, greed is good) is to bring it to the light, for all to see their contradiction of principles, the hypocrisy of their actions.

Conservatives are not authoritarians, but most Authoritarians consider themselves "conservative".
This is the next level of exposure and discussion the Dems will need to continue with, to reach out to true conservatives, separate them from their Authoritarian political cousins, extend a friendly, rational hand in cooperation to restore our national dignity.

Just to think, where would ol'Rush be without the oxycottin and Viagra?

-Just another independent overweight privileged middle-aged white guy?

-Go Figure! -Kevo

I recognize that no third Party will ever come to be - reason

If you think the Dems and Reps are indistinguishable, I doubt you would recognize a third party unless its members had large gray heads and big eyes.

There is so much win in feeding Rush's ever expanding ego. There was a post here a few days back about how some Congress critter said anyone who wanted the economy to fail was an idiot. Rush naturally assumed the comment was directed towards him and threw a tantrum. Soon he'll be expecting the GOPers to get his permission to do anything and either they will seek his approval (which looks insane) or they won't (and he'll shriek to his viewers).

I'm still hoping he'll run for office.

What's interesting is this new distinction that Rush, the GOP party leader has put forth wherein he attempts to clear up the accusation, and he ends up only digging deeper into stupidity.

Apparently, he now says he doesn't want Obama the person to fail, but he ABSOLUTELY WANTS OBAMA'S POLICIES TO FAIL. And on ABC this morning, Cantor also emphasized this distinction, as though that makes it all okay...

How is this any better? Essentially, they are still hoping and praying for a national failure--because the policies are specifically designed to help Americans, designed to help the economy, to help the envioronment, health care, education. Look at what we have at stake! We're in deep shit here!

And yet they pray for all of this to not help?

They actually admit they want these goals to fail and WHY?

So that they can feel vindicated, so they can call this a 'win', so they can be 'right'?

No matter the cost to America or the world?

All that matters is you win, that you are right.

They don't get it--this is not a game of win/lose.
We ARE the Government! We ARE the people! If these policies fail, we ALL fail, we ALL lose!

Indeed Rush the new Republican Leader indicated by way of inane example that in the Super Bowl, he wanted the Steelers to win at any cost, wanted to see Cardinals fall flat on their face. And that similarly, this is what he wants for the Obama Administration. He went on to justify his stance by insisting that: 'Liberals wanted the Iraqi war to fail'.

Say What? Who wanted the war to fail? The war was one that was unjust and cost us tremendously on several levels. We just wanted to cut our losses and get the hell out--admit that it's a waste of our precious resources and not stubbornly stand by and pretend it's a good thing when it clearly isn't. That's got nothing to do with wanting the war to fail. We want to GET REAL, not fail.

Looking forward to your tribute to Rush's immediate predecessor Paul Harvey. The loving eulogy's are flowing in for this right wing propagandist who was just Rush Limbaugh with more talent for the punchy one-liner.

Time for the Rest of the Story;>

"drug-addled" - heh. It's "funny" how the top Republican "leaders" are so involved with illegal narcotics, oxycontin in particular. Rush ("the leader of the Republican Party" - informally) forged prescriptions for oxycontin, the wife Cindy of John McCain (the Party front-runner in 2008) admitted to stealing and using narcotics including Oc from her own charity, and then Bristol Palin's mother in-law-maybe-to-be was arrested in AK for dealing oxycontin and related drugs! I mean, all three at the top had some connection - and on top of that (so to speak) Bristol is an unwed mother whose stud still (?) hasn't married her, and we still don't know the full story on Sarah's own pregnancy! On a side note, George W Bush's wife Laura killed her boyfriend in a car accident years ago. Ummm, what's up with family values and this bunch of hypocritical freaks?!

See also http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/26/bristol-palin-drug-arrest_n_153586.html for claims that Levi's mom's arrest was delayed or news suppressed during the election.

This just in:

http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/03/01/the-rest-of-paul-harveys-story/

Jeebus, that a person posting as "reason" could claim that the Democrats and Republicans are "identical" - they both make mistakes, but their presumed equivalence is so patently idiotic, it is a handle parody. I guess "reason" is taking lessons from a combo of David Broder and the clowns at Cato etc.

Great move. Disabling Rush and the GOP in one move. Make it seem like the GOP jumps at the words of a radio host. (actually they do) But now they can beat up on both in one guy. Rush and the GOP link to desire the failure of a President of the United States. Not what millions of people, out of money, out of homes, out of medical care, are hoping for.

Neil B - "reason" can't distinguish between the two parties because he has no idea what policies we're supposed to have. He's been told that "Deficits=Bad" and doesn't care where the spending went. As if us throwing billions into Iraq is no different than construction jobs and unemployment benefits for Americans.

That's what makes libertarians such jokes. They honestly don't know what the government is supposed to do and imagine it doesn't really do anything but waste money. And that's the only way that anyone could suggest at this point that there's no difference between the parties; if they didn't understand the difference between smart spending and stupid spending.

And this can only happen because they believe in some magical safety net that would kick in if the government didn't protect us. But there is no magical safety net. Without government protection, we'd be a third-world nation.

"there is no difference between the Republicans and Democrats"

Well, one out two ain't bad - At least, you were right about the Pinto.

Janine Garofallo (sp) eviscerated el Blimpo on Olberman. or was it on Rachel? Either way, I betcha it's on YouTube (old fart sp). . .

Speaking of Janine and Rachel, did ya ever notice that smart, sexy, and occasionally gay women are all Dems?

The Reps have Coulter, Malkin- I could go on, but my gorge is rising. . .

If they insist on calling us the "Democrat party," I see no reason we shouldn't refer to them habitually as the "Replimbaughcan party."

If they insist on calling us the "Democrat party," I see no reason we shouldn't refer to them habitually as the "Replimbaughcan party."

That's "Rushpublican Party."

I like the name - Rush -one quarter pounder away from a coronary Limbaugh.
Borrowed from a DU commenter

But it seems to me that calling attention to him continues the feeding of the "Crossfire'-style that needs to be fed. Let the bloggers and commentator/journalists go after him. The White House should stay above the fray.

So, in this corner we have the coolest cat ever to prowl the Oval Office -- and in that corner we have Blimpie McJunky. An old-school Warner Bros. cartoon pretty much writes itself.

Probably more important than the tie to radio hosts is tying Republicans to their failure.

Their policies fail.

Their ideology fails.

They are failures at leading this country.

They have failed this country and its people.

Republican = Epic Fail

swift fox, you seem to be missing the point.It's not REALLY about calling Fatboy out. It's about calling out an entire party so morally bankrupt they gladly take orders from a hate monger on the radio.

It's also a "who's the star of the show?" question.

A President is more or less automatically the leader of his party, sharing considerable authority with a Speaker and key Senators, but none of 'em are anywhere near as visible as he is.

A party in opposition, though, has some trouble even picking an obvious institutional leader: under Reagan, Democrats had Tip O'Neill (with Mondale for awhile in 1984, but that didn't end well).

Republicans don't have a Tip O'Neill. Hell, they don't even have a Newt Gingrich, the way they did in Clinton's first term.

The thing is, for any Republican who actually wins elections to GET to be the GOP's acknowledged leader, he (or she) is gonna have to get Limbaugh's imprimatur.

LOL -- life is sweet.

"The White House should stay above the fray."

No, they absolutely should *NOT*. They need to stay classy, but that isn't difficult; most of them are smart and well-educated, unlike the Bush White House and its people.

But they definitely should *NOT* "stay above the fray". Doing that is what allows the GOP to feed its lies to the public and frame the debate against the democrats, which is how we spent most of the past 30 years losing every single nation-wide election. If there is one message that should now be seared inside every democrat's eyelids, it is this: **PUSH BACK!** Do **NOT** assume that you can stay out of the debate and let other people connect the dots for you.

And Obama's White House must be the leader of that effort. They are the ones who have to take control of the message and give the rest of the democrats their marching orders. After all, this is their agenda we're talking about. Our job is to help them pass it, not to do all the work ourselves.

Some great comments here from Americans, left and true center. Having a ballsy, non-apologetic, pro-active leader in the White House is galvanizing the true voice of the people. Finally, everyone is really taking on the RW media bullies. It must be remembered, however, that having Limbaugh's hide nailed to the gargantuan shed will not suffice.

Conservatism must be exposed as no more than a perspective to be considered. It is not a functional worldview anymore than being hard-working or thrifty or giving or funny or clever or..., is. If all you are is hard-working or thrifty or giving or funny or conservtive, then you are not truly functional or even healthy.

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

Just had to get that off my chest.

He is, in other words, making the Democrats' job easier.

Yes, but he's not doing this because he's stupid. Let's face it: Rush Limbaugh would be perfectly OK seeing Republicans lose every election from now to Doomsday if it helped him consolidate his ratings among the looney right-wing niche. His goal is not to get Republicans elected or set the agenda for debates. His goal is to make more money.

If Limbaugh making money decreases the probability that those clowns get elected again to screw us all over, then I'll gladly settle for Limbaugh staying rich as a second-best outcome!

That's what makes libertarians such jokes. They honestly don't know what the government is supposed to do and imagine it doesn't really do anything but waste money.

I don't think libertarians are jokes, and (to some extent) I still consider myself one. However, I agree 1000% that the people sufficiently disenfranchised by the two-party system to seek refuge in the LP are a pretty impractical lot. Some would probably be lost at sea if they got elected. But given that they won't be elected any time soon I feel perfectly comfortable voting for them as an expression of my general political philosophy.

Re Garofalo and Maddodw, Does Mann Coulter have sex with men? That would make "her" gay, too.

Re Replimbaughcan v. Rushpublican, I like ReRushian.

And Rush isn't the only ReRushian to want Obama to fail, Tom "Bug Killer" Delay said at CPAC that he totally agreed with Rush.

Check out Katrina service Rove-burger on this week with George - the twin idiots joined by a bigger shameless one - Karl.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=excj5nA_LQA

Good for Rahmbo. Contrary to what swift fox says (@14:05), it's not enough for the blogosphere to be saying this (and the journos never will, 'cause they're paid not to). There are a lot of people around, who do not get their news and opinions from the Internet or even newspapers; they count on TV to predigest stuff for them and deliver it in easy to absorb format.

I especially liked how he managed to mention the -- almost epically Stalinist -- retractions of every pol who'd inadvertently managed to step on Rush-to-Limbo's toes. He's not only their philosophical leader; he's the object of their cult-of-personality and he's got them by their very short hairs. Good of Rahm to hand them a mirror, so they can see what they'd become.

Defying the laws of physics, giant vacuum fills a void. Hoover on!

The Constant Weader at RealityChex.com

Why are you looking at the storyteller? Look instead at the audience.

The White House has really hit its stride, hasn't it? This is good stuff, good stuff, and Rahm's just the guy to dish it. Tie that fat, putrid slab of rancid pork around the Repug's necks and watch 'em both sink. Sweeeet. And on the personal side, I eagerly await the day when Rushboy ceases to be a role model for this country. Seriously, I can't begin to count how many Rush clones I've met here in Texas. He's a hero to many, many people, and the sooner he's tainted with the ordure of irrelevance the better for our polity. Thank god Team Obama has him in their sights.

Yeah, Rahm should actually say in plain English, "If the GOP is stupid enough to follow Limbaugh's lead as he drives them into their grave, who are we to stop them?"

Sooner or later, the GOP will wake up to the disaster that awaits them in that direction. Hopefully it won't be any too soon.

But even if it is, what the hell ELSE do they have? Nothing. No intelligent response to ANYTHING. No viable national figure.

The last time they had no viable national figure was after the 1996 election, and look at the dipshit they picked then. At that time, at least they had the Congress, though, and could work - so they thought - with a weak central figure. After all, didn't they have all those old Reagan people to lean on? Ha ha ha!

They had their one shot to steal the country, and that moment is now past. Their magazines are all empty - no silver bullets left at all.

To HELL with them. The grownups are in charge now.

The geekoids can all go back to their computers and porn, and the married GOPers can all go back to their hookers. And airport bathrooms.

I think it was last year that the New Yorker or some other mag had a story on Limbaugh's house. In the enourmous entry there was this enormous portrait of an enormous guy. Guess who it was? ... Rush Limbaugh! It would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic.

I had a friend who was dissed on Rush's show once over vegan ethics. Rush slammed her and ate a rear steak (this was back when he had a TV show). It didn't seem so bad except for the mountain of vile hate mail she subsequently received. Seems as a group the ditto heads are unusually angry and full of hate and bile. Funny how Rush attracts those kind of people.

I promise, as the disease waiting in the wings to kill the man, to hold off long enough for him to be considered far and wide the true Voice of the Republican Party. May his enormous bulk be tied securely around the neck of the GOP, and may they all sink headfirst into the giant pool of vomit that is their warped ideology.

So say we all.

Yay! Blush Limpballs is our man, if he can do an underage person in a foreign country with somebody else's Viagra nobody can! Hooray! It's the second (or third) cumming!!

It's the economy, stupid. The fortunes of the various parties depend totally on the Porculus bill of Nancy Pelosi.

This is almost too good for words. It's a win-win situation for Dems: If the Republicans reject Limbaugh, the base goes apeshit and they lose some of those votes. If the Republicans embrace Limbaugh, the moderates are disgusted and vote for Democrats next time. You can't go wrong. Even if Republicans successfully deflect the question (and they haven't so far), it still never hurts to associate them with Limbaugh at every opportunity.

Stop describing Limbaugh's role in the GOP and start using more powerful imagery. Call him what he is - the Pope of the GOP. (pass it on...)

I think the analogy of Rush being the Pope of the GOP holds up pretty well, but there is a slight difference. Catholics kiss the Pope's ring in deference; the GOP simply kisses Rush's vile ass.

The GOP, hoisted by their own re-tard. Sad to see the party of Jefferson, Lincoln and Reagan come to this.