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Limbaugh’s subterfuge [Operation Chaos]
The Dallas Examiner ^ | May 16, 2008 | Aaron Keith Harris

Posted on 05/16/2008 4:38:46 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

With Hillary Clinton’s 40-point win in West Virginia on Tuesday, it looks as if the former first lady’s campaign will endure at least another week.

And with it will continue the protracted, pointless infighting between Sen. Barack Obama’s and Clinton’s camps, sending lots of Democratic money down the primary money pit with the general election less than six months away.

In other words, it’s the Democrats’ worst nightmare, outside of military success in Iraq.

Rush Limbaugh’s Operation Chaos may be a small part of Clinton’s electoral success. And it’s a small, yet sweet, consolation for Republicans and conservatives less than enthusiastic about Sen. John McCain.

For those with normal lives who are therefore not addicted to talk radio and major-media coverage of the presidential race, let me explain what Limbaugh is doing and why he’s doing it.

Before the March 5 primaries in Texas and Ohio, radio host Limbaugh suggested that voters in both states cross the partisan aisle if need be to vote for Clinton. At the time, Obama appeared poised to finish Clinton off, and Limbaugh concluded Obama needed to be “bloodied up politically.”

Clinton won those two ultra-important states, prolonging the campaign enough for voters all across the country to get to know Obama a little more. And that hasn’t exactly been a good thing for Obama, as Clinton’s victories illustrate.

Whether Limbaugh’s operation has in fact been the cause of any of this isn’t known, though there is polling data from various state contests suggesting Republican crossovers into Democratic primaries were a little more likely to vote for Clinton.

When confronted by callers over the propriety of helping — or hindering — the Democrats choose their candidate, Limbaugh often responds thus: We’re trying to pick their candidate because they picked ours.

By “they” he means Democrats and the mainstream media. And he has a point.

Many Democrats and independents in New Hampshire, especially, crossed over to vote for McCain in 2000 and in 2008. Whether they’ll stay with the GOP in November is still very much in question.

Many in the media pulled hard for the “maverick” McCain against President Bush in the 2000 campaign, and that support continued through some cash-strapped periods on his way to the 2008 GOP nomination.

Republicans wouldn’t mind support from these quarters if it was being attracted by McCain’s conservative stances.

But it’s been his splits with conservatism that garner him good press, on immigration, campaign finance reform, the Gang of 14 on the confirmation of federal judges and, most recently, the environment.

“John McCain broke with the Bush administration and Republican Party orthodoxy Monday as he not only declared global warming real but reached out to Democrats and independents with a free-market solution that includes capping carbon-fuel emissions,” The Associated Press reported after McCain’s big environmental speech Monday.

If it seems odd that a Republican would need a “free-market solution” to appeal to Democrats and independents, it’s because his solution isn’t a free-market one at all.

It would allow businesses who come in under federally mandated carbon emission levels to sell the unused portion of their allotment to other businesses that may have trouble with the limits. But it will be government bureaucrats monitoring everyone’s behavior and approving each sale of credits, then handing out fines and other penalties to those who don’t measure up. A kind of market maybe, but not exactly free.

This kind of thing just reminds conservatives that they haven’t had an unrepentant conservative presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan.

Who can blame them from taking pleasure in a little chaos?


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Philosophy; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: election; elections; hillary; mccain; obama; operationchaos; rush; talkradio
Indeed.
1 posted on 05/16/2008 4:38:46 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

53 to 43 (latest data from WVa secy state) margin is hardly a 40-point win.


2 posted on 05/16/2008 4:43:24 AM PDT by Rudder ("There is only one chief. Obey him." [Rush Limbaugh, April 30, 2008])
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

we really have NO candidate this election cycle.

CHAOS is the focus.

let the Dhimms fight it out in Denver this summer. I will be in front of the tube, with an extra jumbo bucket of popcorn, watching the chaos unfold....


3 posted on 05/16/2008 4:45:35 AM PDT by Vaquero (" an armed society is a polite society" Heinlein "MOLON LABE!" Leonidas of Sparta)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
For those with normal lives who are therefore not addicted to talk radio and major-media coverage of the presidential race...

I am deeply, deeply hurt by that callous remark. /sarc

4 posted on 05/16/2008 4:48:25 AM PDT by MaggieCarta (Disobedience is in our DNA. - Charlton Heston)
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To: Rudder

I think you’re confused:
Name votes % Delegates
Hillary Rodham Clinton 239,062 67.0% 20
Barack Obama 91,652 25.7 8
John Edwards 26,076 7.3


5 posted on 05/16/2008 4:51:18 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (McCain could never convince me to vote for him. Only Hillary or Obama can!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

RE :”For those with normal lives who are therefore not addicted to talk radio “

He (writer above ) really likes us. LOL


6 posted on 05/16/2008 4:51:53 AM PDT by sickoflibs (Are libs really as dumb as they act??(maybe they just assume we are that dumb))
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Clinton


Obama


McCain


Let the cow chips fall where they may.


ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

7 posted on 05/16/2008 4:52:47 AM PDT by G.Mason (Duty, Honor, Country)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

“But it will be government bureaucrats monitoring everyone’s behavior and approving each sale of credits, then handing out fines and other penalties to those who don’t measure up.”

I’d like to know how they intend to maintain the continuous improvement of the quality of the models they’ll be using.


8 posted on 05/16/2008 4:54:49 AM PDT by equaviator ("There's a plane on the horizon coming in...see it?")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

“john mccain broke with the administration and republican party orthodoxy monday as he not only declared global warming real but reached out to democrats and independents.....”

another case of reaching out to nazis?

(imho)


9 posted on 05/16/2008 5:10:11 AM PDT by ripley
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To: sickoflibs

The quote should be “For the few who might have seen this author’s work before and not listened to conservative talk radio...”.

Amazing how the lib writers undo any possible credibility they might have (via inaccurate statements) in their need to cheap shot Rush and other conservative commentators. The writer could only dream that 1/20 of Rushs’ audience (who know full well what he does and is about) had even seen this author’s name before.


10 posted on 05/16/2008 5:10:24 AM PDT by rod1
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To: 2ndDivisionVet; Rudder
Your results are correct according to the New York Times website. The West Virginia SOS site has NO 2008 results up, do not know where Rudder got his figures.
11 posted on 05/16/2008 5:11:06 AM PDT by Lucius Cornelius Sulla (All of this has happened before, and will happen again!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
"...it will continue the protracted...infighting...sending lots of Democratic money down the primary money pit...

"...it’s the Democrats’ worst nightmare, outside of military success in Iraq."

One man's lamentation is another's jubilation.

And, yes. Success in Iraq--a triumphant America--is the Democrats' Worst Nightmare. Such is the extent of their crass, self-serving, cynical, mephitic meretricousness.

12 posted on 05/16/2008 5:11:58 AM PDT by Savage Beast ("History is not just cruel. It is witty." ~Charles Krauthammer)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

And with it will continue the protracted, pointless infighting between Sen. Barack Obama’s and Clinton’s camps, sending lots of Democratic money down the primary money pit with the general election less than six months away.
__________________________________________________
Hillary has all but conceded. She put up a vigorous defense of Obama yesterday, and has been conciliatory since WV. She is now obviously running for the VP spot. WV was the end of chaos.


13 posted on 05/16/2008 5:31:33 AM PDT by soupcon
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To: Lucius Cornelius Sulla
I heard this on NPR yestrday and today. What I heard could have been not clearly audible, but they said either 53 or 63% for Hillary and 43% for Obama. They said it was the "Official secy of state data." I went to the WVa secy of state website--no data for 2008---web site under construction for these particular sets of data: from the website: "This site is temporarily unavailable in preparation for the Primary Election. The Secretary of State's Office's primary goal is to utilize technology to increase efficiency, which includes the increased flexibility of our website. Check back soon to see our new election night results display."

I'm going to track this down.

14 posted on 05/16/2008 5:32:36 AM PDT by Rudder ("There is only one chief. Obey him." [Rush Limbaugh, April 30, 2008])
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To: Rudder

Good Luck. NPR is a terrible source, they let some real wackos on there.


15 posted on 05/16/2008 5:41:34 AM PDT by Lucius Cornelius Sulla (All of this has happened before, and will happen again!)
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To: Rudder

LOL@ NPR. They probably read it on truthout.com.

Barak was just 10 business points away from beating Clinton in WV.


16 posted on 05/16/2008 5:52:12 AM PDT by perfect_rovian_storm
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To: Vaquero

I think you’re on to something.


17 posted on 05/16/2008 6:04:03 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
In other words, it’s the Democrats’ worst nightmare, outside of military success in Iraq.

TRUTH HURTS

18 posted on 05/16/2008 6:04:14 AM PDT by weegee (Vote NO on Marxism in 2008.)
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To: MaggieCarta

“For those with normal lives who are therefore not addicted to talk radio and major-media coverage of the presidential race”

Actually a lot of people listen to talk radio while at the OFFICE. The public is exposed to “major media coverage” of Obamagod whether they want it or not. Go to the newstand and there he is the golden child on the cover of Rolling Stoned Music Magazine, turn on the Shrew and there are the hens pecking away at anyone who mentions the candidates McCain or Clinton. Etc etc.

You’d have to have you head in the sand to not know that the Democrats are trying to get back in the White House. And that is who the Democrats want to reach out to because they feel those people are so out of touch as to believe that the USS Cole attack happened under Bush’s watch and that there is no threat from terrorism that we didn’t inspire with our “illegal” war in Iraq.

So who are these people with “normal lives” who have missed out on the media coverage of the presidential race? I could understand them missing out on OC, but the Democrats politicize EVERYTHING. No one is missing out on the race. Except maybe the Amish but that is because they never adopted 20th century forms of communication as the norm in their society. So they are not living NORMAL lives either.


19 posted on 05/16/2008 6:14:26 AM PDT by weegee (Vote NO on Marxism in 2008.)
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To: Savage Beast
"mephitic meritriciousness". Hmmmm.

Going for the Bill Buckley Award, eh?

20 posted on 05/16/2008 6:36:53 AM PDT by doberville
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Welcome to the Soviet Union!


21 posted on 05/16/2008 8:33:13 AM PDT by JSDude1 (It;s only a protest vote if your political worldview is Republican 1st, conservative 2nd-pissant)
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To: doberville
They're good words, and both apply to Democrat politicians.

Meretriciousness comes from the Latin word meretrix, meaning prostitute.

Mephitic comes from the Latin word mephiticus, which means pestilential, disease causing, poisonous, toxic, and foul smelling.

It means the same thing, but it's slightly more refined than calling them a bunch of toxic, odious whores without denying that that's what they are.

22 posted on 05/16/2008 10:00:18 AM PDT by Savage Beast ("History is not just cruel. It is witty." ~Charles Krauthammer)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

If you listen to talk radio, you are not “normal.” Did you know that?


23 posted on 05/16/2008 6:27:53 PM PDT by ViLaLuz (2 Chronicles 7:14)
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