So my ex loves Rush Limbaugh and listened to his CPAC speech. I did not. But I did hear the sound bites, both on Fox and on CNN regarding his notion that Rush wants to see Obama fail. So my ex calls me yesterday and says, "Do you understand what Rush is saying when he says he hopes Obama fails?" Now I tried playing devils advocate with my ex even though I think I understand what Rush meant. I of course understand how the same notion is met with disgust from the left... But anyway, he (ex) was having a really hard time understanding whether or not people actually understood what Rush was implying...so regardless of whether you are left or right, a fan of Rush's or not.... do you understand what he's referring to? For those that need a reference, here's a clip of what Rush said,

Quote :

"This notion that I want the president to fail, folks, this shows you a sign of the problem we've got. That's nothing more than common sense, and to not be able to say it? Why in the world do I want what we've just described, rampant government growth, indebtedness that has -- wealth that's not even been created yet is being spent. What is in this? What possibly is in this that any of us want to succeed? Did the Democrats want the war in Iraq to fail? Well, they certainly did. And they not only wanted the war in Iraq to fail, they proclaimed it a failure. There's Dingy Harry Reid waving the white flag, "This war is lost." (cheers and applause) They called General Petraeus a liar before he even testified. (crowd booing) Mrs. Clinton (crowd booing) said she had to suspend, willingly suspend disbelief or whatever to listen to Petraeus. We're in the process of winning the war. The last thing they wanted was to win. They hoped George Bush failed. So where is it, what is so strange about being honest and saying I want Barack Obama to fail if his mission is to restructure and reform this country so that capitalism and individual liberty are not its foundation? Why would I want that to succeed? "

Quote :

"My friends, I know what's going on. I know what's going on. We're in the aspects here of an historic presidency. I know that. But let me be honest again. I got over the historical aspects of this in November. President Obama is our president. President Obama stands for certain things. I don't care, he could be a Martian. He could be from Michigan. I'm just kidding. It doesn't matter to me what his race is, it doesn't matter. He's liberal, is what matters to me, and his articulated, his articulated plans scare me. Now, I understand, okay, "We can't say we want the president to fail, Mr. Limbaugh, that's like saying --" this is the voice of the New Castrati, by the way, guys that have lost their guts. "You can't say, Mr. Limbaugh, that you want the president to fail, because that's like saying you want the country to fail." No, it's the opposite! I want the country to survive! I want the country to succeed!"

3/3/2009 2:40:11 PM

#1 We killed this topic a long time ago, when it was relevant
#2 Any reason this couldn't have gone in the Obama Credibility thread at the top of the section
#3 You can't just show your face (rofl, pun intended) in here once in a blue moon and make threads like this and not get shit on

#4 profit

3/3/2009 2:44:40 PM

well I did a search for 'rush' and nothing came up. I'm honestly not trying to start some sort of flaming shit, I was actually asking a legit question.

But it appears that it doesn't matter what subject I want to discuss, I'm a girl...who blurs her face....so clearly I am not supposed to be in here. I'll take it to chit chat then.....I'm sure they won't say anything about it belonging in Soap Box.

3/3/2009 2:48:47 PM

I don't understand your question. He explains what he means. He wants Obama to fail legislatively to pass his bills through congress. I, too, what Obama to fail in this fashion. I truely want Congress to tell Obama to take a hike, just as it should have done to Bush.

3/3/2009 2:53:23 PM

Basically, Rush believes that Obama will fundamentally change our country so that Capitalism and Individual Liberty will no longer be the cornerstones of our famous Democracy. With a touch of irony, Rush openly admits that he believes Obama can bring real change to America. However, he argues that the change Obama will bring will be destructive and undermine the foundations of our American government. Rush tends to make blanket statements first, like "...I hope he fails..." and then later clarifies the meaning of his statements to his radio audience in much more eloquent terminology. He's the most famous Soap Boxing Radio Personality on the planet right now, and he is essentially nothing more than a naysayer. He has one of the easiest jobs in the world. No real accountability. No real responsibility. No real authority. He's just a conservative guy on the radio that has talked a lot of shit in the past and will continue to do so until the day he dies. When Obama called him out, it was probably one of the smartest strategic moves so far in his presidency. If the GOP rallies behind the likes of Rush for political leadership, they will only find more of the same narrow-minded politics of the past. Rush does not care about the American people, he only cares about his agenda, being right about his agenda, and praying to God that his worldview will remain on the airwaves indefinitely. We are a progressive people, and the GOP needs to embrace this fact like Reagan did, not reject it with statements of damnation and scorn from a lazyboy chair inside of a sound studio.

http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/politics/2009/03/03/gop-chairman-michael-steele-and-pundit-rush-limbaugh-in-war-of-words.html

[Edited on March 3, 2009 at 3:34 PM. Reason : -]

3/3/2009 3:12:08 PM

maybe AIG should stop asking the government to own it.

3/3/2009 3:14:44 PM

I sorta liked this perspective:

Quote :

"By the way, does anyone else find it weird that the Democrats have decided to do battle with Ruch Limbaugh, rather than any actual, real Republic elected official. Is this a Democratic strategy, to find someone they can safely demonize without political power to strike back, or a Republican strategy to use Limbaugh as a stalking horse to save them from taking tough opposition positions?"

3/3/2009 3:17:27 PM

^thats just retarded.

how many times have the repubs picked the biggest wacko ever to attack and brand as the mouth of the "liberals"

this isnt anything crazy

3/3/2009 3:19:48 PM

Quote :

"how many times have the repubs picked the biggest wacko ever to attack and brand as the mouth of the "liberals" "

I think DailyKos came up every other day in the Repub language during campaign season.

3/3/2009 3:37:14 PM

No, it is crazy. I think what you meant was that it was not unusual.

3/3/2009 3:37:27 PM

rush limbaugh will do or say whatever is beneficial for rush limbaugh's wallet.

3/3/2009 3:57:38 PM

Are we expected to believe Obama is any different? Human beings seek power to reshape the world they live in. Rush does that by gaining listeners and using them to apply pressure. Obama does it by attacking Rush and distracting everyone from what he is really doing, raising taxes (which need to be raised on carbon, sure enough, but even good policy must be made to fit through the door).

[Edited on March 3, 2009 at 4:58 PM. Reason : .,.]

3/3/2009 4:52:08 PM

It's going to be a LONG 4 years.

3/3/2009 4:53:31 PM

I want obama to fail in the context of his political party...I want the dems to lose seats in 2 years.

as an American, I want obama to be proven completely worthy of his office.

3/3/2009 4:59:26 PM

Quote :

"do you understand what he's referring to?"

You want someone on a soapbox to say, "I don't understand" ? Good Luck.

3/3/2009 5:01:50 PM

Quote :

"Are we expected to believe Obama is any different? Human beings seek power to reshape the world they live in. Rush does that by gaining listeners and using them to apply pressure. Obama does it by attacking Rush and distracting everyone from what he is really doing, raising taxes and solidifying his own re-election by giving a selfish and narrow-minded man the attention that will confuse and derail the GOP from regrouping."

I think it's perfectly clear that Rush is simply a Troll. Feeding the Troll and giving it more power will only hurt the party, because Trolls only care about themselves.

3/3/2009 5:03:07 PM

Quote :

"I want obama to fail in the context of his political party...I want the dems to lose seats in 2 years. "

if i were a republican, i think i'd want the republicans to be in the political wilderness a little longer. it still doesn't seem like they've come to grips with how out of touch they are with most americans.

3/3/2009 5:08:47 PM

So a troll is now defined as someone sparks a discussion by making a point from a perspective with which you disagree?

I guess we'll have to find a new term for old-trolls

3/3/2009 5:10:25 PM

Quote :

"if i were a republican, i think i'd want the republicans to be in the political wilderness a little longer. it still doesn't seem like they've come to grips with how out of touch they are with most americans."

Where is the party going to be after they come out of the "political wilderness"? Do you think that all of the social conservatives and Palin supporters are just going to go away? Those people are too dumb to change, yet they're a necessary component of the party. There's a conflict between social conservatives and real conservatives, and the fact that they ever came together under one tent is unfortunate. And, since there can't really be a "united front" between the two, democrats will pretty much have free reign to pass whatever nutty legislation they want. It's a dark, dark time for libertarian-minded thinkers and fiscal conservatives.

3/3/2009 5:17:07 PM

Rush is a genius and likely is very conservative; but I think he exaggerates his own views in order to appeal to the masses of hardcore republicans. Many of his listeners are blue-collar working class people who are angry that a non white anglo-saxon protestant male is not president. They gobble up Rush's rhetoric and he makes big $$$. I'd say the same goes for Ann Coulter although she tends to pick up some of the more elitist crowd.

[Edited on March 3, 2009 at 5:42 PM. Reason : l]

3/3/2009 5:19:32 PM

it's ironic that genius is probably the most misspelled word on TWW....

3/3/2009 5:27:12 PM

If Rush is a genius, then the GOP is lost.

3/3/2009 7:05:58 PM

Look...there's no question that one of Rush's main reasons for speaking at CPAC to begin with, is to generate more money for himself.

I'm more or less asking about the statement itself, not who made it....It's just that it happened to be made by Rush.

If some how a recording of a regular ole American somehow hit the airwaves and said exactly what Rush said.....that's more what I was getting to.

My ex asked me, 'So don't you think that if you asked any American if they believe in Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness they would say that they believe in that?' I said yes. So then he said, 'Well what Obama is proposing to do is take those rights away from people' And I said to him that you can't ask a question like that because it's totally fallacious. I mean he's assuming there is an agreed upon definition of what all those things are which there is not.

As soon as I started to talk about making sound arguments my ex was done with the conversation...which is usually the way debates with us go...but his initial question about whether or not I thought that the general public understood what he was saying, was a legit question....at least to me.

3/3/2009 7:06:31 PM

^ It's funny that you found a guy even farther to the right than you. Dudes like that are hard to find in the Los Angeles area.

3/3/2009 7:11:37 PM

Quote :

"^ It's funny that you found a guy even farther to the right than you. Dudes like that are hard to find in the Los Angeles area."

Must live in the OC

3/3/2009 7:18:56 PM

but she's registered as a democrat guys!!!! believe me, she is. i know because she typed it on the internet once.

3/3/2009 7:23:34 PM

^^^What's funny is that you think I'm so far right. I can't stand hypocrisy no matter where it is. I'm a registered democrat and have voted democrat in every presidential election since becoming one with the exception of this year because I didn't submit my change form (from AZ to CA) in time.

It's no wonder shit doesn't get done in this country...on both sides....I ask a simple question and go out of my way to make the question as unbiased as possible and yet still, you fucks come along and dismiss everything in thread because you have some preconceived notion that I'm a right-wing freak. You know it's tough to call myself a democrat though when all of them on this board are throwing daggers before they know what the fuck they're talking about. I've noticed that the republicans on this board don't tend to do this to me...despite the fact that I'M A DEMOCRAT.

and fyi, the ex is from Chicago and now currently lives in Phoenix. And I hate to tell you all this but there are plenty of right-wingers here in L.A. they're just not as vocal and obnoxious as the left-wingers. So get your shit straight.

^WELL I VOTED DEMOCRAT FOR EVERY ELECTION. And if you're going to call me a liar, then I guess we should resort to the typical 'I'm on the internetz and will kick your ass IRL' attitude. You're a jackass. I don't care if Jesus Christ himself came to my door and vouched for not being complete tool....

[Edited on March 3, 2009 at 7:30 PM. Reason : ]

3/3/2009 7:27:51 PM

i just wanted to say hi to lauren
so Hi Lauren

3/3/2009 7:36:00 PM

Just curious, who'd you support in the primaries the last couple of times b/c you seem like a pretty big free marketer and everyone's pretty much been running as an economic centrist to lefty since Gore couldn't designate himself from Bush in 2000.

3/3/2009 7:39:44 PM

Hi boooooooooo!

3/3/2009 7:39:59 PM

I don't understand the issue here. Whether you like Rush or not, he has a point. He, along with many other people including myself believe that Obama's policies are detrimental to the country due to their socialist nature. Wanting him to succeed means wanting policies in place that we believe will do harm to our country, so naturally millions of conservatives including Rush Limbaugh want him to fail. Obama's success is to our detriment. The fact that the left wing media has made an issue of it shows that they are heavily biased in Obama's favor. What they have done is give Limbaugh much greater exposure and brought to light the misgivings of a large number of Americans even though they have for months published information that portrayed Obama in nothing but a positive light. Making a controversy out of nothing has thrown their nemesis into the limelight, and a lot of people agree with Limbaugh on this.

3/3/2009 11:25:54 PM

Quote :

"Is this a Democratic strategy, to find someone they can safely demonize without political power to strike back,"

to be fair

the republican party itself doesn't have much in the way of "political power"

(at this moment)

3/4/2009 1:34:26 AM

The democrats go after Rush, LoneSnark, because elected Republican officials-most recently the RNC chairmen who apologized to Rush for upsetting him, toe his line.

3/4/2009 1:53:21 AM

^I was considering mentioning the whole thing of Steele having to apologize to Rush.

That's the complete inverse of the way things should be going if the GOP hopes to succeed.

3/4/2009 1:59:41 AM

see my above post

when you have to apologize to a bloated out-of-touch drug addict because he has an audience

you're doing it wrong

3/4/2009 2:15:27 AM

Okay, so, as long as you don't come out and say that you want the President to fail (like Pelosi, Reid, Streisand, Clooney, Baldwin, Schumer, Durbin, Soros, et al. did with George W. Bush), you are good to go.

Really, NBC/ABC/CBS/MSNBC/CNN?

Undermining is OKAY, but calling someone out is NOT. Got it.

3/4/2009 4:54:24 AM

^The Democrats, the Republicans, and the news media suck.

3/4/2009 5:05:46 AM

HOW DARE YOU ATTACK RUSH LIMBAUGH

these guys are fair game though

3/4/2009 8:39:23 AM

Quote :

"Obama's policies are detrimental to the country due to their socialist nature. Wanting him to succeed means wanting policies in place that we believe will do harm to our country, so naturally millions of conservatives including Rush Limbaugh want him to fail. Obama's success is to our detriment."

True true and true.
Don't get me wrong: I fucking hate Rush Limbaugh and the republican party, but I do want Obama and congress to fail at anything even remotely close to socialism or the new deal.

3/4/2009 8:52:12 AM

Quote :

"If Rush is a genius, then the GOP is lost."

I would say Rush was at his height of popularity and influence during the first years of Clinton's presidency.... and what happened there?

Obama and the Dems took power, not because of their ideas, but because of the failures of Bush and for other Republicans for going along with him. The Democrats are setting themselves up for a backlash of epic proportions. It's funny, you have all these leftists running around yappering about the how the Republican party is dead, has no leader, etc. Yeah, I guess they don't realize that it takes some time for a new leader, and message, to come forth.

Rush is at his best in oppostion, and he is good at riling up people. You have a president try to push an agenda that isn't very popular with the average American... yeah... Democrats should tread carefully. They SHOULD have just focused on fixing the economy and nothing else for a year or two, then pushed their agenda, but instead they are doing to much to soon. (Clinton anyone?). It would be a folly to underestimate Rush and the influence he may bring because of the current situation.

3/4/2009 10:12:42 AM

Quote :

"You have a president try to push an agenda that isn't very popular with the average American"

I just got done reading an article saying the vast majority of Americans want Obama to succeed, even Republicans...which is WHY it is such a good choice to jump on a statement Rush made like this, because the polls they have show it to be an extremely unpopular stance. Maybe their numbers are wrong, maybe they aren't

3/4/2009 10:48:31 AM

Quote :

"It would be a folly to underestimate Rush and the influence he may bring because of the current situation."

Being as objective as possible, if the Republicans seriously think that Rush is the right person to lead the party, then they have zero chance at contesting the 2012 election.

Riling up the base is commendable, but strategically speaking, Rush seated as the "leader" will only hinder the progress of finding a dignified candidate to represent the GOP in 2012.

This tactic only plays into the hands of the White House and their vision of a two-term presidency for Obama.

Rush is a hypocrite and a douchebag of epic proportions. This is insane politics for the GOP to be considering, but I suppose when you have nothing to lose, all options are on the table.

[Edited on March 4, 2009 at 11:07 AM. Reason : -]

3/4/2009 11:05:38 AM

someone embed please

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=220240&title=a-party-in-limbaugh

3/4/2009 12:24:36 PM

It is funny and sad at the same time: If a poll were taken without any names being mentioned about what the country thinks the best plan for economic recovery is, I would say a large majority of the public would side with the ideas that the republicans have rather than the democrats.

What's sad? The media won't talk about why Mr. Limbaugh wants the president to fail, and the President of the United States is sending his attack dogs after him.

3/4/2009 2:21:08 PM

Quote :

"Nothing Personal, But I Hope You All Fail What's wrong with rooting against our elected officials?"

http://www.reason.com/news/show/132040.html

3/4/2009 2:26:33 PM

Quote :

"The Democrats are setting themselves up for a backlash of epic proportions. "

Yes Obama's presidency is a big house of cards. The mainstream press is protecting him. The slightest inquisitve pressure will blow the whole thing away..and they know it.

Moderate and conservative democrats in congress are not interested in committing political suicide, so they are starting to bail on Obama's ultra-liberal agenda.

3/4/2009 9:30:01 PM

I saw an article today where Carville was bragging about how he and Emanuel and Begala were playing Rush for a fool. I think they are doing the opposite. They should know that rational people won't support Obama's plans when they are not presented as sugar coated propaganda, and they are giving Rush much more publicity than he would have had. The new is quickly wearing off the toy and Obama's staff and supporters are coming off as weak and resorting to personal attacks. That is true, though because they certainly can't stand on his positions and plans.

3/4/2009 9:35:03 PM

cool

3/4/2009 9:54:50 PM

Quote :

"I don't understand the issue here. Whether you like Rush or not, he has a point. He, along with many other people including myself believe that Obama's policies are detrimental to the country due to their socialist nature. Wanting him to succeed means wanting policies in place that we believe will do harm to our country, so naturally millions of conservatives including Rush Limbaugh want him to fail."

I think the point is that if a liberal figure had said what Rush said during the prior 8 years, the entire right would have completely flipped out and called him an American-hating terrorist.

The sad irony here is how blatantly Limbaugh is being a hypocrite, and is doing the exact same thing he (wrongly) accused the left of doing the past 8 years, and his lemming followers still aren't jolted out of their stupor.

3/4/2009 11:38:57 PM

To say that Rush is just a nay-sayer with no real solutions of his own is lacking.

Rush believes that

1. The size and scope of the federal government needs to be decreased.

2. Corporate taxes should be lowered to give incentives for keeping production in the USA

3. The "mark to market" rule should be removed since that is part of what is crippling the banking system.

4. "Stimulus" does not really stimulate the economy. Businesses sometimes need to go bankrupt because that is how the markets correct themselves.

5. The markets are not really "free" in so far as the government continues to manipulate individuals and companies to make foolish decisions. If the markets are to recover then first and foremost the fed. needs to stop its adhoc central planning. You can't just bail-out select businesses, it makes the market needlessly nervous. Look at the economy, how many more bailouts do we need before see the obvious. The bail-outs are hurting.

6. The most efficient allocation of resources is accomplished locally. Hand-in-hand with this positive observation is the belief that taxes should be lowered so that responsibilities can shift to the private sector which is intrinsically local. However, the more basic issue here is economic freedom. Even if the fed. could actually spend the $$ better ( it can't) it is still better for people to have control over their <b>own</b> money.

Now, you can say this general viewpoint is that of a nay-sayer. We are saying that the federal government should do less generally. This is a positive viewpoint. This is an actual course of action. It is not merely saying Obama is wrong. We are proposing an alternate solution.

1. lower taxes.
2. get government out of the way
3. stop the government from helping just some of the businesses ( corruption city )

We don't just want Obama to fail. We want fiscal conservatism to be realized.

But, whatever, Rush took drugs a few years ago as a result of a surgery so ignore the viewpoint that a majority of producing American's share.

3/4/2009 11:39:47 PM