Posted on 11/25/2015 11:34:24 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
In the summer of 1992, Rush Limbaugh saved me from myself. I was an 18-year-old high school graduate about to begin college, too impatient to wait for adulthood to come to me. So instead, I went in search of it the only way I knew how: by engulfing myself in presidential politics and the fascinating campaigns that summer between Bill Clinton, George Bush and Ross Perot.
Like many idealistic teens, I was at first drawn to the youthful Clinton campaign and Fleetwood Mac's cheerful command to "Don't stop thinking about tomorrow." But then I started listening to Limbaugh and it changed everything. I was working as a delivery driver, so I'd plan my trips at six minutes after the hour so as to not miss a minute of his show — a habit I keep even today. The way he described his belief in conservatism reached out and grabbed me and I've been a loyal listener ever since.
So it is not from a place of hatred or misunderstanding that I write this. I'm not a plant from Media Matters. But when it comes to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Limbaugh is a mind-numbing, frustrating hypocrite (with all due respect, of course).
His tacit endorsement of Trump, now occurring daily during his show, is almost impossible to understand. Listening to him gleefully discussing Trump is painful for those of us who have followed his advice for decades. Why? Let's break it down.
Look at the polls
For years, Limbaugh has lambasted the "drive-by media" for their insistence on using polling data to make headlines and drive the story of the day. Trump's appearances and speeches, for the most part, are Trump droning on about how well he's doing in the polls. It's often the only story.
Words mean something
One of Limbaugh's biggest criticisms of President Obama has always been the vagueness in Obama's message; in his way of speaking until he can think of something to say; in the blank canvas that he offers us to project our hopes and dreams upon. And that, when he goes off-message, he often misspeaks. Explaining what Obama meant to say has become a cottage industry for websites like Vox and full-time gigs for a variety of nationally known journalists.
When has Trump ever offered anything of substance? His speeches are meandering streams of consciousness, and although he claims each to be unique, they are often the same litanies of vague promises. Trump will negotiate hard with China and Mexico. Trump will make the military so strong it will make your head spin. You'll get bored with winning so much. Chinese bankers live in his building, which proves he can bring jobs back from China. Trump thinks reporters are sleazy. Trump will hit you so hard. And, oh, by the way, have you seen the polls?
Big government
Limbaugh has been the voice for those who believe in smaller government for as long as he's been on the air. So it would stand to reason that challenging Trump on even his vague promises to vastly enlarge an already bloated government should give Limbaugh pause. Apparently, it doesn't. How many new government agencies will be necessary to round up 11 million illegal immigrants, send them back to Mexico and then let them back in? How many billions of dollars will it cost to make the military so great your head will spin? How many government workers will be required to build the Trump wall, complete with a beautiful Trump door?
The Kardashianification of American politics
Limbaugh has long lamented "low-information voters," who, he claims, are responsible for the rise of Obama. It's not his policies that win the day; it's the fact that he's cool and hip. His celebrity overcomes all other weaknesses.
Trump took the money that his father left him and built a series of failed casinos. What else does he have to offer, other than gaudy celebrity?
The Limbaugh Theorem
Simply put, the Limbaugh Theorem is Limbaugh's explanation as to why Obama remains popular when so many of his policies lack public support. It posits that Obama is always campaigning against the bad guys or bad situations, even when those situations are of his own making. It's a disassociation in the public perception of him between cause and effect.
Just peruse Trump's Twitter feed to see the Limbaugh Theorem on full display. He's always campaigning; always ready to right to wrongs in the world. The problem, though, is that many of those wrongs will be borne from a Trump presidency. He'll be there on Twitter or on another stop in his perpetual campaign, making obscenely vague promises that only he can fix what is wrong.
I'm still listening, Rush. But I hope you are, too. We don't need another blank canvas in the Oval Office, gilded or otherwise.
Hale is a freelance writer who lives in San Antonio with his wife and three children.
Prove it.
Is there an echo in here? I'm pretty sure I just said that your posting behavior since 2008 proves you're an establishment drone.
You've earned the rep - now live with it. It's up to you to prove that you're not what you clearly seem to be.
You can’t prove it because it isn’t so.
thanks for posting this
Had to weed through them to find an actual opinion statement from you rather than just articles. I’m shocked you didn’t take your marching orders from La Raza Rick to install his open-borders protege in the Senate.
Now, if you feel Cruz was so great, as you claimed here, why have you not endorsed him for President as I have ?
I see no posts in that regard. Just bitterness and hatred because La Raza Rick and Walker imploded and attacking Trump viciously on a nightly basis.
I don't think he is, but that doesn't matter. This cycle nothing matters but (illegal) immigration. Give the Rats tens of millions of new Marxist voters and American conservationism is finished forever.
You’re welcome.
I re-posted JimRob's observations about Trump for you, way back at post 13.
Jim's post is about as good as anyone can explain it, yet here you are at post 120, still asking for someone to explain Trump to you.
Now why would you be asking that question, if you'd actually read what Jim had to say about the man?
You're wasting everyone's time, CW. You're not listening, and you really don't want an answer.
You have earned the rep. That it took you 117 posts in this thread to be able to prove you endorsed Cruz (but only for Senator) is one example. It still does not absolve you of the other allegations, with the one most telling that you obfuscate and refuse to answer a basic question regarding Trump, which has been put to you by myself and others. Where’s that “honest debate” ?
Tell me why a big government liberal would want to deport 11 million potential big government liberal voters and why you would post an article bashing Trump for wanting to do it.
I give you examples and you continue to attack.
I am not actively endorsing anyone for now but I have not campaigned against Cruz (and I have campaigned and voted for him in TX).
“Sorry” to burst your “hate” bubble.
That's like saying I can't prove the mountain is there, because you say it isn't.
You built your reputation here, CW. It is what it is, whether you admit it or not.
Am I remember correctly that CW was one of the Perrydactyls last election?
Everything that Trump calls for entails bigger government.
Once the laws already on the books are followed, the landscape would be much different - less dictated to us by Big Government.
Oh, and Trump still likes government health care - that’s a huuuge slice.
One of, if not the biggest on FR.
I'm at a disadvantage here, who was your candidate in the primary electon? Who did you vote for in the general election?
You argue like a girl.
He was good as Governor, I agree. But he didn’t stand for anything on the national scene. It seemed to me that there was no motivation there in terms of what he wanted to accomplish as President, other than to BE President. If that’s your only motivation, then you do what Walker did. You find a team of consultants and donors, and let THEM get you elected. And that means following their advice on what to say, and what to ‘believe’. Once you do that, to a large extent, you work for them, not the other way around.
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