Ugly and Incendiary

I'm having trouble linking this article on Facebook.  It just shows a generic narconews link as the title, which makes it unappealing to draw in possible leaders.

Jonathan W. - Facebook is problematic in that way, in that it doesn't allow users to title a link (and it's erratic - sometimes it uses the title of the story, other times the title of the website). Nothing can be done on this end to change that; it's a Facebook problem.

Gotta say, its good to finally see Limbaugh's vitrol being used against the right wing to such effect.

Rahm Emanuel's performance on Meet The Press was a brilliant set up, with an able (although I think unknowing) assist from DL Hughley on CNN, and the dominoes have been falling ever since.

The circular firings squad is a beautiful thing to behold.  I have to say that I am not so sure that DL Hughley wasn't setting Steele up, but even if he wasn't, Steele sure jumped in with both feet.

Any Fieldhands here who read TPM should watch their clip of Tim Kaine talking to Fox News about the Rush Limbaugh flap. He's got basically the same line as Emanuel, Gibbs and every other leading Democrat, but it's remarkable how inexorably he twists the knife, all the meanwhile smiling pleasantly at you. I really feel that this is a strategy pulled from Obama himself who is a master at laying the smackdown without appearing to be a bully. Biden and Gibbs are the same way. It's quite interesting to watch.

Oh, and I think it's worth pointing out that Obama's budget is coming under scrutiny by Congress right now. Do I think that Rahm Emanuel orchestrated this whole thing to distract the Republicans and keep them from getting out their talking points about wasteful spending in the budget? Personally, I'm more inclined to believe that Emanuel and Obama just happened to see an opening and exploited it, but if they actually managed to pull this maneuver just in time to get work done on the Federal budget, then this is one of the great political masterstrokes of the past decade.

I've never been able to get myself to listen to Rush, despite my best efforts, and wonder if someone can amplify Al's remark that he employs "very effective entertainment techniques."

What are those techniques, specifically? I assume Rush is bombastic, inflammatory and maybe funny; but can anyone who's listened provide some more details? What does Rush have (technique-wise) that others don't?

Front-pager BarbinMD' diary Coward Watch encourages readers to call their Republican congresspeople and ask if they agree with Rush Limbaugh, then post their response in the comments.  Specifically, that Limbaugh says all Reps want Obama to fail, but none of them have the guts to say so.

I'd give just about anything to see the "Do you or don't you agree with Rush?" question posed to Karl Rove in a situation where he had to pick a side!

Does Limbaugh really have 22 million daily listeners? I see this number cited frequently, but is it accurate? Where exactly does this statistic come from?

I felt the same way you did when I read Daou's post, Al.  I am constantly amazed at how people who have been outfoxed at every turn by President Obama still feel that they are qualified to give him tactical advice.  After years of Rush induced nausea, I am so happy that he is being exposed for the true ass that he is.

JoAnn

two part comment:

1. the next mutation of this strategy is: if you hope him to fail are you trying to obstruct and cause him to fail? this is the logical next question. and this one is really more devastating than hoping.

2. is there any one more on the money these days than Al. when is Al going on the air? with internet streaming. pod-casting, whatever these days, Al you need a half hour show.

I think Obama floated some trial balloons at the tail end of the campaign when he mentioned that Fox News was doing everything they could to turn people against him for disingenuous reasons.  Remember when Obama said, "_I_ wouldn't like me" about Fox's coverage of him?

I'm absolutely delighted at this Limbaugh message and attack.  We need a return to sober thinking. Incendiary is an understatement for the effect of the Fox/Limbaugh message.

You could not make this up - he says Limbaugh isn't the leader of the Republican party then has to apologize to Limbaugh for it. I am just laughing and laughing. As long as the Republicans slavishly follow Limbaugh and his ideology, it should be stuck on them so that they can't escape it.

Here's where Doau lost me and apparently most of the other readers:

But Barack Obama's unquestioned discipline, steadfastness and intelligence notwithstanding, he wouldn't be president without a tsunami of Hillary-hatred expertly surfed by his campaign, mishandled by hers, a tsunami generated over the years precisely by people like Rush Limbaugh.

He's already added an update where he insists that he's Obama's number-one fan now...LOL.

What he and his ilk will not and cannot accept is that there were just as many Democrats who were not enthusiastic about coronating Clinton for their own valid reasons, and as soon as Obama showed he could beat her they coalesced around him.

Sunlight disinfects.  Sunlight turns vampires into dust.

Expose Limburger for what he is in the mainstream media; he has for too long been allowed to get away with his America-hating below the radar.

The majority voted for Obama.  They don't want him to fail.  Many of them are going to be speaking up about this.

Limbaugh needs to be exposed, and be kept in the limelight until he turns into dust.

"the same dark and moist conditions in which he grew for the past twenty-plus years"

So, he's an aggressive form of mold?

Now it makes a lot more sense.

Of course this was well-played. This entire Rush-the-Leader discussion is a brilliant gift to Dem challengers to Repubs in 2010. Current Republican office-holders are now solidly positioned as emasculated, milquetoast, and ineffective, cowering before a radio talkshow host who tells them how to think. Dems get to step into that void and assert their interest in being genuine representatives of the people, not craven partisans being led around by an incredibly rich blowhard. The Republicans chance at wresting control of the populist narrative is gone. They are beholden and weak.

Caught the Daou post over at Booman and already posted about that over there. Sigh. I think even Hillary and Bill are probably done with re-fighting the primary wars. Let it go, man.

What I've done when linking an article and getting that generic link on FB, is to make my own comment regarding the article, so your readers see the article and why you want them to read it.

Al, I know we should listen to Limbaugh, but I'm glad you and a few others do it for us. I haven't yet learned how to turn off the visceral reaction I have to his ranting (and since I'm way grown, I doubt it will happen at this point). Guess that's why I'm not a journalist and you are. Another reason the Field is an indispensible part of every day.

Who is this guy and what the hell is he talking about? He claims that Obama's campaign was actually not that brilliant or groundbreaking! Are you kidding me? God, with strategists like this, no wonder Hillary lost.

And also, why do these people think that Rush Limbaugh is some underground radio show host that no one has ever heard of? What world do these people live in?!!! Rush Limbaugh is the Oprah to old angry white folks. There are a lot of them and they love him. You can listen to the man in practically every city in the country. So what is all this "why is Obama raising his profile?! Ignore him and he'll just go away!" My God, these people are idiots. Why do these people not understand that Rush is beloved by this dying demographic?

We could use a database of Republican politicians with entries like "Supports Rush's statements" "Rejects Rush's Statements" "Retracts and kisses Rush's @$$" "Yet to be asked/mealy mouth statement" with links to video if possible. Gotta catch 'em all.

Well, the DCCC is making a game of it.  Make your own Rush apology here.  :-)

http://www.dccc.org/content/sorry

I think Rush is a great leader for conservatives. - Bobby Jindal, March 3, 2009, on Larry King

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/03/jindal-calls-limbaugh-a-great-leader-for-conservatives-is-glad-steele-apologized.php?ref=fp2

And Rush collects another pair of testicles. The ads are going to write themselves in 2010. Its a shame King didn't ask specifically if Jindal wanted the policies/agenda to fail though.

When did the DCCC get a sense of humour?

Badcrumble has been posting at the tail end of the preceding threads Exile links exposing CNBC's Rick Santelli's orchestrated fake grassroots "Tea Party" protests against Obama's economic plans that are so very timely to the new thread.  Just like Rush's comments have blown up in his face, Santelli's ploy badly backfired.  I think Republicans, corporations, the super rich and media became so accustomed through years of getting away with serial lying that they simply can't believe the culture has shifted.  Here's Exile's follow up article.

http://exiledonline.com/cnbc-bitch-slaps-santelli-into-line-freedomworks...

So, to sum up the events of the past few days boys ‘n’ girls: We publish an investigation into the fake-grassroots “Tea Party” protest campaign underwritten by rich Republican rightwing interests, exposing Rick Santelli’s role as the launch event MC, and three days later, Santelli is bitchslapped down by his bosses, he’s cancelled from the Daily Show, forced to issue a Bukharin-like confession, FreedomWorks confesses that it was behind it from the start as we wrote, and every media outlet in the country from the New York Times on down is writing up the scandal.

Here's his Op-Ed on ol' Rush in the Washington Post! LOL! Great read and, of course, totally on message.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/03/AR200903...

Actually, I just checked and this article posts okay on Facebook.  For future reference, though, if you're posting an article on Facebook using the bookmarklet, it actually *is* possible to edit both the subject and the one-paragraph summary.  Just click on them in the pop-up window for posting and voila, it turns out they're editable.

[It's a pet peeve of mine when threads don't post well on Facebook.  True, it's a Facebook problem ... that said, you can work around it by fiddling with your blog format -- the Wordpress default templates get it right, so you can use them as a model. Yes, it's a hassle, and so a lot of sites don't bother ... which sends a loud message "we think Facebook and people who hang out there don't matter".  Ah well.  End of rant.]

jon

PS: Agreed on Rush -- and on how Peter Daou's wrong on this one.

Al,

I do acknowledge that you use the 20 or 22 million listeners number for dramatic effect but aren't Rush' numbers much much lower? I do not remember where I read this, but he has somewhere around 3-4 million per 15 minutes. That seems to be some outreach measurement standard, no? You seem to be quite knowledgeable in these kinds of media matters, would you care to explain please? I am not sure that there are many other sources on the net I would trust on that.

And if it does not bother too much:

You mentioned in one of your last posts in a side sentence that corporate personship is going to fall. I share the opinion that this abolition of the Emancipation Act is probably THE single biggest reason for the problems we as society face, but would you care to elaborate on that thought?

Thanks and cheers from Europe,

Sebastian

Hi Jon,

Thanks for the info. I'll check if there is anything we can do on our side to make the titles more accurate and streamlined when linking on Facebook.

David BB
IT Chief, Narco News

Al, great post (as always).

Totally agree on the value of raising Rush's exposure. That man has a lot of junk in his trunk and it's good for the public to remember the full range of Rush's character.

David Frum pretty much nails it:

"On the one side, the president of the United States: soft-spoken and conciliatory, never angry, always invoking the recession and its victims. This president invokes the language of “responsibility,” and in his own life seems to epitomize that ideal: He is physically honed and disciplined, his worst vice an occasional cigarette. He is at the same time an apparently devoted husband and father. Unsurprisingly, women voters trust and admire him.

And for the leader of the Republicans? A man who is aggressive and bombastic, cutting and sarcastic, who dismisses the concerned citizens in network news focus groups as “losers.” With his private plane and his cigars, his history of drug dependency and his personal bulk, not to mention his tangled marital history, Rush is a walking stereotype of self-indulgence – exactly the image that Barack Obama most wants to affix to our philosophy and our party. And we’re cooperating! Those images of crowds of CPACers cheering Rush’s every rancorous word – we’ll be seeing them rebroadcast for a long time."

http://newmajority.com/ShowScroll.aspx?ID=d22fe4c9-6f8c-4c0d-93af-aed79ad3b467 

The whole comment didn't make the post, but it's a good one on the upside of drawing a contrast between Obama and Rush. "On the one side, the president of the United States: soft-spoken and conciliatory, never angry, always invoking the recession and its victims. This president invokes the language of “responsibility,” and in his own life seems to epitomize that ideal: He is physically honed and disciplined, his worst vice an occasional cigarette. He is at the same time an apparently devoted husband and father. Unsurprisingly, women voters trust and admire him. And for the leader of the Republicans? A man who is aggressive and bombastic, cutting and sarcastic, who dismisses the concerned citizens in network news focus groups as “losers.” With his private plane and his cigars, his history of drug dependency and his personal bulk, not to mention his tangled marital history, Rush is a walking stereotype of self-indulgence – exactly the image that Barack Obama most wants to affix to our philosophy and our party. And we’re cooperating! Those images of crowds of CPACers cheering Rush’s every rancorous word – we’ll be seeing them rebroadcast for a long time." http://newmajority.com/ShowScroll.aspx?ID=d22fe4c9-6f8c-4c0d-93af-aed79a...

Let's put a charitable spin on the Michael Steele fiasco.  Maybe he is a real-life embodiment of the Dan Freeman character in Sam Greenlee's classic 1969 novel, The Spook Who Sat By the Door.    As a part of his revolutionary plan, Freeman becomes the first African-American CIA agent.  He takes advantage of his CIA training to later recruit and train an army of young black revolutionaries who mount an armed insurrection in Chicago.  

The book became a 1973 movie directed by Ivan Dixon, Kinch of "Hogan's Heros."

So maybe, the Steele man is deep undercover sabotaging the GOP for the revolution.  

Right on Brother!

Mikell Hagood

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said:
I think he’s good. He’s a very articulate guy, he is one of our great conservative spokespersons. But the party’s more than just conservatism. We cover the whole gamut, the whole tent. He’s a very effective spokesperson; I think the world of him.
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Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) said:
He’s a great resource for all interested Americans, and he provides very timely and thoughtful analysis and commentary.
***************
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said:
I think that Rush inspires the Republican base at a time when there’s a real shortage of morale out there. Like everybody, he says things that not all of us agree with. But I think that his point about the Republican Party staying true to its core values and principles is a message that is well-taken.
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Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said:
He’s another voice of the Republican Party and everybody’s welcome to join in the debate.
***********
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said:
He’s good for the Republican Party; he’s good for America.

http://blog.thehill.com/2009/03/03/the-big-question-for-march-3-rush-lim...

I'm going to be a doofus and post a "me too" on the Facebook thing. These writings are great and it really bums me out that I can't share them on Facebook properly (my results are the same as Jonathan W. -- generic title).

And yeah, you could argue that it's a Facebook bug, but you do have the power to fix it here and I sure hope you do.