Rush Limbaugh Is Awesome, But He Shouldn’t Be Conservatism’s Leader

North Star Writers Group ^ | March 5, 2009 | Dan Calabrese

[Invisigoth]

For all the controversy surrounding Rush Limbaugh, most Americans don’t really understand who and what he is. And most conservatives – who rightly embrace Limbaugh’s strength and clarity – don’t seem to understand why it’s become a problem that they’ve given over the leadership of their movement to him.

It was 20 years ago that Detroit’s then-News Talk Radio, AM 1270 WXYT, made the controversial announcement that it was replacing the Dr. Leonard Portner Show during the noon hour to start carrying some national guy. The first time I heard the announcement, it sounded like they said his name was “George Limba.”

The first time I heard the show, I was aghast. With fake trumpet fanfare, this guy out of New York announced it was time for a “homeless update,” for which the chosen theme was “Ain’t Got No Home” by Clarence “Frogman” Henry. During the same broadcast, I heard a “condom update” introduced with the theme song “My Beautiful Balloon,” and then a “Barney Frank Update” – this one pertaining to the homosexual congressman’s admission that a gay prostitution ring had been run out of his basement by his lover, Stephen Goby. Congressman Frank insisted he knew nothing about this, and that he had been “a sucker.”

The theme song? “My Boy Lollipop.”

[gridlock]

Nobody has given over leadership of anything to Rush Limbaugh. Rush may have stepped into a void, but that does not mean that anything was handed over to him.

There is a lot of distance between saying that Rush is not the leader to saying that Rush must be repudiated. We must not be forced into this false choice.

[sonic109]

I’m sorry but the guy has the balls to say what so many Americans wish their “representatives “ would say out loud.

[sonic109]

Rush says what most of us think.

[dforest]

Mr Dan, we have not given over leadership to anyone. Rush never claimed he was the leader. Obama did.

It was easy to make Rush the leader because we have no leaders with spine and the courage to stand up and be a leader of conservatives.

Fear of Obama has castrated them.

We wish for some to emerge that have fire and conviction. Bold and unafraid.

[gridlock]

Rush says what most of us think.

Yes, he does.

But that does not make him the leader of the party. That makes his an effective and insightful commentator. We should all listen to Rush. We should not follow him, because leading us someplace is not his role.

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

Thats nothing to be sorry for.

[Tax-chick]

I agree with the other posters. If Rush Limbaugh is in any sense a “leader” of conservatives, it’s because those who could be leading from positions of responsible elective office have wimped out.

[aruanan]

Pretty good if one reads the entire piece. But here's the problem:

But that doesn’t mean Rush should be the leader of the conservative movement. There’s a reason he is, though, and it goes to the most fundamental weakness of American conservatism today: Conservatives do not know how to govern.

The writer is making something that was true of the Republican Party after 40 years of being in the minority (and ending up doing such moronic crap like sharing committee leadership with Democrats) and mistaking it for some kind of inherent quality of conservatism. The Founding Fathers were conservative and clearly knew how to govern. They created a system of government. The liberal, socialist Democrats have completely wrecked this system of government. It is they who do not know how to govern, well, how to govern Constitutionally.

[wombtotomb]

Nature abhors a vaccuum. We have no visible conservative leader. Until one steps up to the plate, this will continue.

I feel the reason there are none, is all politicians have been tainted by their power. Without a full house cleaning and serious term limits installed, this cycle will perpetuate. ALL politicians from local on up need term limits. A persons popularity should not dictate their electablility to endless terms. The longer they are up on the hill, the more corrupt they become. They feel entitled to everything, and then create a class of entitled folks who keep sending them back. Pelosi, Kennedy, Frank, Byrd, I mean come on..... These folks have ruined the country and yet back they come. They come back because they are familiar, everyone knows their name and most don’t follow what they do on the hill. A simple case of all congress is bad, except my guy. Term limits will never be a reality unless we clean house and send folks up there who love this country as much as the founders did, and they do the right thing instead of the selfish one. Shame it will never happen without bloodshed...........

[Lee'sGhost]

Rush is clearly NOT the leader of the Republican Party. He is too conservative for them. He IS the defacto leader of conservatism.

Get your terms straight.

[trustandobey]

Rush has the knowledge and eloquence to be a leader of the conservative movement. He also has a love for his country unequaled by all the elected conservatives put together. He is not afraid to say what he thinks and in my book all of the above puts him with the best of the best. Where are all the elected “conservatives”? Why aren’t they saying the things he is? God bless Rush Limbaugh and God bless the USA.

[moneyrunner]

What is it with this desperate desire on many so-called "intellectuals" on the Right to distance themselves from Rush Limbaugh?

Some want a return of Bill Buckley. Buckley is dead, his magazine always lost money (I know, I was a contibutor) and Bill never won an election.

Don't let the Left make you disassociate yourself from your allies. If you don't like Limbaugh, fine. But I will not repudiate him because smarmy bastards like Rahm Immanuel and Chicago Gangsers like Obama try to demonize him.

[supremedoctrine]

Good piece.
Better than I thought it would be.
But his prime contention could be faulty:
the “partisan” political climate right now
is so dicey, that Limbaugh has finally come into
his own as a voice for the grass-roots, happily
outside the “mainstream”. THIS is his position as
a “Leader”, and it always has been. It may be that a new political direction
is slowly taking shape, that will pretty much make
elected officials, especially RINOS, a thing of the past.
Even soft conservatives like Michael Steele are having a hard time getting away from that mindset they still carry around that he is an “entertainer”. I am sure that the RNC
solicitation for funds e mails in the past few days have received thousands of “Unsubscribe” notices from recipients like me, who did just that, accompanied by an angry letter. Oddly, Rush may wind up leading all Republicans who are not already committed RINOs: there’s a reason why this scenario comes from the Left and people like Emanuel, and they are going to be surprised when it backfires on them, big time.
I feel something brewing that is irreversible: mass protest and resistance. I believe this will happen even if this Administration starts printing hundreds of billions now and sends EVERYONE a check for 10 or 20 thousand.
And I did learn one thing from this I didn’t know before:
The hilarious “My Boy Lollipop” theme , played at every Barney Frank update, was actually a response to Frank’s admission that he has been a “sucker” about the escort/prostitution ring run out of his townhouse.I never knew that.

[tgusa]

“Rush may have stepped into a void”....

Exactly. The republican party is currently devoid of leadership at the national level.

[cbkaty]

If not Rush, who & when?

I do not wish to pass away without experiencing the return of conservatism to government...

[mad_as_he$$]

If the clueless jacka$$es that run the party would/could figure out that the reason Rush is perceived as the leader is because THEY ARE NOT they might find a way out of the wilderness. No, Mr. Steele hip hop is not the answer and neither is sitting around with your homies cr$pping on the rich white guy.

[mad_as_he$$]

Thank you!

[Thermalseeker]

But that does not make him the leader of the party.

No, he's not the leader of the party and, given the current state of the Republican Party, I don't know why he would want to be it's leader.

Rush does articulate Conservatism better than anyone on the national stage and that has the Dims scared to death, as evidenced by all the recent hoopla. Leftists know full well that they can't logically support their issues and ideology in the face of true Conservatism and that has them tied in knots. It's a wonderful thing to witness.....

[supremedoctrine]

Good piece.
Better than I thought it would be.
But his prime contention could be faulty:
the “partisan” political climate right now
is so dicey, that Limbaugh has finally come into
his own as a voice for the grass-roots, happily
outside the “mainstream”. THIS is his position as
a “Leader”, and it always has been. It may be that a new political direction
is slowly taking shape, that will pretty much make
elected officials, especially RINOS, a thing of the past.
Even soft conservatives like Michael Steele are having a hard time getting away from that mindset they still carry around that he is an “entertainer”. I am sure that the RNC
solicitation for funds e mails in the past few days have received thousands of “Unsubscribe” notices from recipients like me, who did just that, accompanied by an angry letter. Oddly, Rush may wind up leading all Republicans who are not already committed RINOs: there’s a reason why this scenario comes from the Left and people like Emanuel, and they are going to be surprised when it backfires on them, big time.
I feel something brewing that is irreversible: mass protest and resistance. I believe this will happen even if this Administration starts printing hundreds of billions now and sends EVERYONE a check for 10 or 20 thousand.
And I did learn one thing from this I didn’t know before:
The hilarious “My Boy Lollipop” theme , played at every Barney Frank update, was actually a response to Frank’s admission that he has been a “sucker” about the escort/prostitution ring run out of his townhouse.I never knew that.