After giving dozens of examples of plain lunacy-- including a very strange Bushism that was completely new to me and I thought I'd heard them all-- Cesca concludes with the following:
They have indeed totally lost their shpadoinkle and despite purely involuntary spikes in my blood pressure, it's so much fun to watch. By successfully debunking their lies, rising above their bait and merely presenting a contrast of character, President Obama is making the Republican A-listers appear small, petty and absolutely befuddled. They're frantically struggling to figure out how to counterpunch, so they're grabbing, borrowing or downright plagiarizing ideas from anywhere, irrespective of the general quality of the idea. And if the Republicans are at all interested in continued survival, someone they respect should probably smack their hands and scold: Drop that filthy Limbaugh quote! You don't know where it's been! [emphasis is mine]
But if this is their "voice" and they're satisfied with it, I for one welcome the new Republican "voice" and wish them a hearty and very sincere: Good luck with that.
8 comments:
Karen,
I've been musing that Obama's caution to the Republicans not to listen to Limbaugh, and the ensuing kerfuffle (which seems to have Limbaugh appointing himself the leader of the party), may be a master stroke.
Even though some pipsqueak GOP congressman have of late groveled before Rush and his golden EIB microphone, I'm wondering whether there are others who are going to find it troublesome to be "upstaged" by Mr. Big Mouth, especially because he is not, like them, an actual elected official.
An indirect sign of that may be the rebuke, issued by Sen. Specter to talk lady Laura Ingraham, after she suggested Specter was plied with White House "wining and dining" in exchange for a cuddly attitude toward the stimulus proposal. Specter, needless to say, was irked.
Maybe the days of the radio talk show hosts are numbered.
I agree, Dirigo. Anything that more permanently ties Rush to the GOP-- like an albatross, if possible-- is to our benefit.
I'm not so sure about the numbered days of talk radio hosts, though. If Limbaugh and Ingraham lose out, there will be others ready take over after them. Younger, fresher meat.
Yeah, the market will search for new talent; but Rush may rue the day he expressed the wish for the new president to fail. Many officials may think competitively about policy and play the "loyal opposition" game; but a wish for the president to fail is a different order of dissent, one only a heckler with good ratings can afford to express.
In a related note, late word from New Hampshire is Republicans there have gone bonkers because Judd Gregg, the president's choice for commerce secretary, says he will abstain from voting on the stimulus package.
A firestorm in the Granite State, they say.
...and I understand that Democrats (and the administration) aren't all that pleased by his abstention, either. Or, was it that he was actually going to vote against the bill, but now is just abstaining?
Either way, he doesn't seem very supportive of Obama's policy.
He's trying to walk some kind of tight rope as the presumptive nominee to run commerce while leaving a Republican Senate seat, and as he does, according to some, work with GOP state leaders to keep the seat in the party.
At the same time, there's the notion that this offer to Gregg is a smart chess move by Obama, which may lead to a Democrat getting elected to the seat in 2010, regardless of what New Hampshire Republicans do to replace Gregg.
Hmmm ...
I do know, having covered New Hampshire politics a bit, the right up there is as rabid as any right anywhere. The Union Leader, the only statewide daily newspaper, has had a stranglehold on opinion for a long time; or, at least it has until now. Internet penetration may be changing that, and the state may be trending Democratic more than at anytime in a generation (God forbid New Hampshire should become like Massachusetts though!!!! Jeeezus!).
But recall, Ed Muskie, the late senator from Maine and presidential candidate in '72, allegedly "cried" in front of the Union Leader building one day in a snow storm, and as result was "damaged" after that.
The crying story came out of the Union Leader news room.
Well, guess we might just put the Gregg nomination in the circular file.
I didn't see that one coming, either, but I'm not unhappy about it. Let's hope he finally comes up with someone a bit more progressive.
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