If I may pull a quote from the popular internet meme, David After Dentist: "Is this real life?"
It seems like every other day we hear some new comment from the head of the GOP. If he isn't futilely trying to sew together the fraying seams of the party itself, then he's likely regurgitating out racist, homophobic, inane and/or moronic rhetoric from behind the veil of "traditionalism." As the leader of the crumbling Republicans, one would think his efforts would be better spent relaying the foundations.
Now, I hope I didn't give the impression I was discussing Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele. There's no way Steele has any clout with the Republicans. I speak of the man with the plan – the one and (may God help us) the only, Rush Limbaugh.
And yes, unfortunately, this is real life.
Although it's unknown just how many listeners Limbaugh's program yields on average, most estimates hover around the 14 million mark. Not too shabby for a racist, homophobic, inane moron.
You can pick any aforementioned adjectives for an accurate description.
So it seems as if the man gets people to tune in. But the bigger question is this: Does anybody actually take this guy seriously?
Granted, there are inevitably some who see Limbaugh as a regular conservative messiah – a kind of second coming of Jesus, only this time in the incarnation of an overweight, drug addicted masochist spewing poison from his pulpit. Basically, a flabby fruit roll-up of conservative ideals, not the most flattering portrait for the right-wing cause.
But regardless of those who worship Limbaugh as a deity, to most rational, well-reasoning people in this world, is Limbaugh a significant slice of the Republican pie? He's been branded as the "leader" of the Republican Party, a moniker he's been trying hard to slough off ever since.
However, these sorts of redactions ring hollow when the "actual" chairman of the party, Michael Steele, apologizes to Limbaugh after describing Rush as an "entertainer" who can be "incendiary" and "ugly."
On the off-chance that Mr. Steele reads this column, let me impart some words of wisdom: When you're supposed to be the leader of a party, you don't need to apologize to someone else in your party when you say something accurate. That sort of implies that you're answering to them.
And on the off-chance Mr. Limbaugh can read, let me impart some more wisdom: If the head of the Republican Party apologizes to you for calling you an "entertainer," you probably have significantly more clout than he does in his own party. That sort of makes you the leader of the party.
Even if we operate on the assumption that Rush is not the leader of the GOP, there's no denying that he has a significant presence within the party. And what a lovely brush he paints the Republicans with.
Who wouldn't be happy to include a man who said that slavery had its merits and that the streets were "safer after dark." Or who justifies the abuses at Abu Ghraib by describing it soldiers just "blowing off steam." Or who told a black caller to "Take that bone out of your nose and call me back."
Ah, there's some good old-fashioned racism. Exactly the kind of thing Republicans need to improve their image.
What's more interesting is Limbaugh's monolithic status amongst his fans and the unwavering support he receives from them. Many conservatives will point to Keith Olbermann as Rush's antithesis, but, speaking from a liberal point of view, Olbermann can say just as crazy things as Limbaugh can. Just as Mount Rush can descend into the bowels of insanity and fallacious logic in his diatribes, so can Olbermann. The follies of the pundit favor no affiliation; it fosters idiocy on each side of the aisle.
But Olbermann hasn't experienced the ascension to the apex of the Democratic Party as Rush has to his. Olbermann hasn't been given the status as "leader" or "spokesperson" for the left. He isn't put on a pedestal as the crowning achievement of liberal ideologue.
So what makes Limbaugh so special? It can't be the drug addiction or the gluttony that knows no bounds. Limbaugh certainly isn't the best-educated guy on the market, but pundits rarely are. He dropped out of college after failing everything, including ballroom dancing.
Which begs the question, can any loud-mouthed, undereducated person get a talk show? If so, I'd like to put in a request for one please.
The common denominator is Limbaugh's audience. Without them, he has nothing to feed off. It's people who champion Limbaugh as a god amongst men that perpetuate his racism, his homophobia, his inanity, his moronic comments.
Maybe they genuinely believe he delivers the truth. Maybe it's a factor of shock value. Maybe the myth of the nuclear family from the 1950s is just too appealing to let go of. Whatever the underlying causes of his popularity, there is only one certainty: his rhetoric is destroying the glory of the GOP.
The Republican Party used to stand for individuality, perseverance and triumph through will. Now it's been fragmented into a million different pieces, and they're trying desperately to put everything back together before it evaporates before their eyes.
But the crap from Limbaugh does nothing to further these causes, it only polarizes. It keeps those who believe in it feeling safe, and those who don't reaching for vomit bags.
The GOP needs to purge Rush from their system. Or the Republicans could just keep Rush at the forefront. It only helps the cause of the left.
Kyle Citta is a junior English, history, premed, prelaw major. Reach him at kylecitta@dailynebraskan.com
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55 comments
Are you calling him a pedophile becasue of an alededed viagra incident?My God! You are truely low down and vile.
This means, block head, that it is all based on hearsay, on what someone told someone else that they heard.Keep making a fool of yourself Justin you have already discredited Kyle Cittas propaganda piece and you have managed to embarrass every lefy who has the misfortune to read you pap
Snopes: Certainly the most notorious racial remark attributed to Limbaugh is his telling a black caller on his radio talk show to "Take that bone out of your nose and call me again" Snopes's statement comes from a Richard Gehr article in an Oct 8, 1990 issue of Newsday titled "You need never read a newspaper again. I'll read them for you and tell you what to think.' Snopes has no other information to support this claim and states: "Nearly all the information available on this subject is anecdotal."He also states:Snopes: (This incident occurred not on Rush Limbaugh's now-familiar talk and political commentary radio program, but at the beginning of his broadcast career back in the early 1970s when he was hosting a Top 40 music show under the name "Jeff Christie" on either WIXZ or KQV in Pittsburgh.)Newsday: Recalling a stint as an "insult-radio" DJ in Pittsburgh, he admits feeling guilty about, for example, telling a black listener he could not understand to "take that bone out of your nose and call me back."Snopes and you fail to mention that this was part of an insult radio format.
Why did Snopes neglect to mention the "insult-radio" format? This is NOT a trivial omission. And do we still have to explain that the insult routine, whether on stage or on the radio, is all schtick, that it's an act? Or are we all still upset by all those mean things Don Rickles said to Johnny Carson on his show years ago?Snopes also states;Snopes: Since Rush Limbaugh presumably wouldn't have expressed feelings of guilt over an apocryphal story, and as far as we know he hasn't ever denied or disclaimed what Newsday reported he told them, we have to put this one in the "true" column. Not exactly a ringing vote of confidence that Limbaugh ever said this remark. Likely he can't remember ever saying it and felt a need to apologize in case he did say something inappropriate as part of a skit.
I remind you that racism is defined as: a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. What Limbaugh did was inappropriate and in bad taste and was likely part of a skit. It in no way proves Limbaugh to be a racist.Your pathetic attempt at calling Rush Limbaugh a racist shows how low you are willing to stoop in order to try to look right and the extreme baseness of your dishonesty.
I don't have anything against Obama because of his race. God made us all and he made us equal. He gave us our natural rights and I appose anyone who would deny us that which is God's do.
What I got against Obama is the fact that he is an arrogant, conceited advocate of a command and control economic and political system, That he is dedicated in concentrating political power with in Washington and in his hands. These are but some of the reasons I find him a meddling fool. His race has nothing to do with it. I found his brand of politics repulsive when Bill Clinton advocated them and he was a white as Senator Byrd's Klu Klux Klan sheets.
The think the racists are you and Obama who picks Supreme Court Justices on the basis of Gender and Ethnicity, not on the basis of judicial acumen. I think you are the racist because it seems like your every other word.