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Has Steele turned his back on Rush and the GOP Grassroots? Show some spine, Michael! BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I was not going to talk about Michael Steele. I have had e-mails from the Drive-By Media. I have had interview requests to be on television shows to talk about Michael Steele and what he said about my speech Saturday night. He was on CNN and I was going to ignore it, but so many of you are e-mailing me asking me to respond to this that I have changed my mind and I'm going to do so. Here is what...

ABC News' Steven Portnoy reports: The nation’s most listened-to conservative talk radio host, Rush Limbaugh, practically declared war on the newly-elected leader of the Republican National Committee today, following a television interview in which the RNC chair called Limbaugh’s show “incendiary” and “ugly.” In the interview that aired Saturday, Michael Steele, who became the Republican chairman last month, took umbrage when CNN’s D.L. Hughley suggested that Limbaugh is the “de facto leader of the Republican party.” “No, he’s not,” Steele said. “I’m the de facto leader of the Republican party.”

President Obama and Rush Limbaugh do not agree on much, but they share at least one thing: Both wish to see Rush anointed as the leader of the Republican party. Here’s Rahm Emanuel on Face the Nation yesterday: “the voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican party.” What a great endorsement for Rush! (And we know Rush is fond of compliments – listen to his loving account in his CPAC speech of the birthday lunch given him by President Bush just before Inauguration Day.) But what about the rest of the party? Here’s the duel that Obama...

On the same night he was offering the keynote address to the Conservative Political Action Conference, Rush Limbaugh drew criticism from an unlikely source: Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. In a little-noticed interview Saturday night, Steele dismissed Limbaugh as an “entertainer” whose show is “incendiary” and “ugly.” Steele’s criticism made him the highest-ranking Republican to pick a fight with the popular and polarizing conservative talk show host, and prompted a furious counter-assault by Limbaugh on his show Monday afternoon in which he told the locquacious RNC chair to pipe down and recognize that he's not a "talking head media...

White House fires back at Rush Limbaugh By Sam Youngman Posted: 03/02/09 03:56 PM [ET] The Speaker of the House won't mention his name, but the White House has shown a willingness to invoke the name of radio host Rush Limbaugh whenever challenged. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) won't comment on anything the hero of conservatives has to say — and he has a lot to say — but the White House on Monday was only too happy to respond to Limbaugh's repeated assertion over the weekend that he hopes President Obama's presidency fails. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, who...

Here is audio of Rush Limbaugh today blasting GOP Chairman Michael Steele for his characterization of Rush's comments at CPAC as "incendiary and ugly." He also said Rush is an "entertainer." Limbaugh said Steele and others afraid to affirm what they believe about Obama's policies as "gutless." For those who questioned whether Steele's comments were an attack on Limbaugh, I guess this answers it. At least Rush took the remarks as an attack on him. . . . . (Listen to Rush Limbaugh Audio)

The CPAC Convention was held these last few days, firing up the Conservative base in light of our nation’s current socialistic and entitlement mentality (i.e., the “narcissistic crisis”). A variety of conservative speakers were on tap, and the commencing address was given by none other than the true leader of the Conservative movement, The Doctor of Democracy and America’s Real Anchorman: Rush Limbaugh.

Here’s the speech that Dr. Paul gave at CPAC yesterday, 2/27/2009: Part 1 (10:00) Part 2 (10:00) Part 3 (4:08)

[video the the amazing boy] Jonathan Krone, 13-year old author of “Define Conservatism” delivered an address at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, DC this weekend. To repeat, the kid’s thirteen years old. He’s already written a book. And he’s a hell of a good speaker, too. We did an informal survey of the editorial staff here at IHateTheMedia.com, asking the question “What were you doing when you were thirteen?” The results are as follows: 33% were collecting baseball cards and comic books. 33% were worried about pimples. 33% were inappropriately touching themselves. Damn you, Jonathan Krone, damn you....

The Democrats have been working overtime lately on a mission to publicly demonize Rush Limbaugh. They’re even running anti-Rush commercials, which admittedly could endanger the Senate seat he holds in Florida (oh wait, he’s not a senator). Come to think of it, he’s not a congressman or governor either. He’s a talk radio host who, despite the protestations of the Democrats to the contrary, quite regrettably has far less influence on the Republican Party than, say, MoveOn or the DailyKos appear to have on the Democratic Party. That said, Rush is extraordinarily influential with conservatives and a genuine danger to...

Rush is addressing the comments directly.

CPAC Reset Political Clock to 1993 John McCain, the 2008 Republican Party nominee for president, was not invited to speak at this past weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference. Neither was former President George W. Bush, and neither was former Vice President Dick Cheney. “Our big effort this year was not to look back, but to look forward,” said David Keene, the chairman of American Conservative Union, a CPAC sponsor, on Saturday. The 36th annual meeting of the conservative movement — the largest ever, with more than 8,500 attendees, as organizers delighted in pointing out — was marked by its rejection...

Limbaugh's latest attacker: RNC's Steele By: Jonathan Martin March 2, 2009 12:07 PM EST On the same night he was offering the keynote address to the Conservative Political Action Conference, Rush Limbaugh drew criticism from an unlikely source: Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. In a little-noticed interview Saturday night, Steele dismissed Limbaugh as an “entertainer” whose show is “incendiary” and “ugly.” Steele’s criticism makes him the highest-ranking Republican to pick a fight with the popular and polarizing conservative talk show host. But the new RNC chairman’s extraordinary comments won’t sit well with the millions of conservative listeners Limbaugh draws...

The Democrats have been working overtime lately on a mission to publicly demonize Rush Limbaugh. They’re even running anti-Rush commercials, which admittedly could endanger the Senate seat he holds in Florida (oh wait, he’s not a senator). Come to think of it, he’s not a congressman or governor either. He’s a talk radio host who, despite the protestations of the Democrats to the contrary, quite regrettably has far less influence on the Republican Party than, say, MoveOn or the DailyKos appear to have on the Democratic Party. That said, Rush is extraordinarily influential with conservatives and a genuine danger to...

Steele calls Rush's views "incideniary" and "ugly" but lets a comment by host D.L. Hughley that the Republican convention looked like "Nazi Germany" go by without comment.

Posted March 2, 2009 11 :23 AM Former Rep. Pat Toomey (R PA-15), president of the Club for Growth said on WAEB, a Lehigh Valley radio show that a Primary challenge to Senator Arlen Specter is "now back on the table." Via an email from Republican candidate for state House Ron Shegda: "Toomey acknowledged that "Senator Specter cast the deciding vote on the very worrisome stimulus Bill, when he could have negotiated with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama for more productive tax cuts and less wasteful spending."

The mood at the Omni Shoreham Hotel late Saturday afternoon was off the electrical meter when Rush Limbaugh took center stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Hundreds of revelers packed the Regency Ballroom and hundreds more filled overflow rooms, hallways and stairways to watch on wide-screen TVs. It was a rare and much-anticipated public appearance of the man so powerful that President Obama singled him out for destruction in his administration's first days. Conservative pundits, party leaders and movement bigwigs took special care to position themselves close by so they could hang on every word of the only...

There was at least one 2012 presidential contender missing from the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington this weekend, traditionally a testing ground for any Republican even remotely considering a White House bid. That could be in part because Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. risked getting booed off the stage for some of his views. -SNIPAfter running for governor in 2004 as a supporter of a ballot measure that year that not only banned gay marriage but also civil unions, Huntsman made national news earlier this month by saying that he had changed his mind on civil unions. Largely under...

This is the dude who spoke at CPAC.

Back on January 29, we discussed [1] the daily strategy phone call engineered by Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel for friendly TV commentators and "reporters." Politico reported that Emanuel has a daily phone conference call with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, and CNN's James Carville and Paul Begala. With Rush Limbaugh's raucous CPAC address, as he termed it his "first address to the nation," we can see at least one example of what is likely an attack strategy resulting from the Emanuel phone session with a rush to bash Rush the day after the appearance. [Image credit: politico.com] As soon as...

CPAC Conference, The problem is that Republicans stopped being conservatives If conservatism perished this week, the nearly nine thousand mourners who showed up at its funeral were oddly upbeat. Attendance at this year’s CPAC exceeded last year by a whopping 40%. The host hotel was overwhelmed. Incomprehensibly, some pundits and bloggers believe that the largest turnout in history at CPAC is indisputable evidence of the death of conservatism. Mr. Kay, the problem is not that conservatism is dead. It is not and never will be. The problem, sir, is that you do not understand conservatism. What has been placed on...

It's time for the grassroots conservatives gathered at the Conservative Political Action Conference to again lead the fight for the principles of freedom that have propelled America to greatness. "Sometimes it is said that man can not be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question." ~ President Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801 There has been a constant battle throughout history between those who wish to control others and those who...

Speaking to a packed room at the opening day of CPAC in Washington D.C. yesterday, former UN Ambassador John Bolton warned convention attendees of something he believes "goes to the heart of the Obama administration" and that will affect not only us but our children and grandchildren. No, not the stimulus bill (although that’s a good guess) - it's what he termed "the coming war on American sovereignty." The problem, he said, is that liberals believe differences in policies that affect Americans shouldn't be debated here at home, but on the international stage - and we can expect it to...

The battle is on for the future of the Republican party. Will it be a conservative alternative with a pro-American message distinct from the socialism of the Democrats, or will it be Democrat-lite? The White House, unable to let Rush speak without responding, weighed in today. It's disturbing to see the White House singling out any American citizen for criticism... but also quite fascinating. Rush's CPAC speech has Rahmbo telling CBS's Sunday morning mind melt show host Bob Schaeffer how he sure hopes Republicans don't follow the lead of people like Rush Limbaugh... for the country's good, of course. GOPers...

I didn't attend the CPAC conference, but, thanks to the Internet, I got to see a lot of the speeches. Thoroughly loved a lot of what I saw. Rush's speech was spot on. And Ann Coulter had me laughing so hard my ribs hurt. Some excellent speeches from quite a few others well: Jonathan Krohn, Mike Huckabee, etc.. One of the things I noticed before CPAC was that people kept talking about "redefining conservatism". But I kept asking myself over and over... why would we need to redefine conservatism? What's wrong with it that makes it out of touch? But...

RNC Chair Michael Steele on CNN's DL Hughley show last night... I think the correct message would have been along the lines of "I'm the political leader of the party, but Rush delivers our message with punch and humor every day to millions of Americans..." Oh well.

The 13 year-old Conservative Prodigy Jonathan Krohn has now turned 14 -- today (Happy Birthday!)! Krohn wowed CPAC the other day with his speech there. He appeared on Fox and Friends this morning where he predicted a Republican victory in 2012 at the rate President Barack Obama is going. Krohn says he thinks Obama will turn out to be another Jimmy Carter, and that Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin or Bobby Jindal will have an "easy time" winning in 2012. This kid articulates the conservative message in an amazingly clear way. And he has something Republicans need right now besides the...

Meet Hi-Caliber... arguably the first conservative rapper. He made an appearance at CPAC and fascinated more than one reporter... and just FYI - He'll be appearing on Evil Conservative Radio soon

What do you think of Limbaugh's speech? Thumbs up 64% Thumbs down 36% Total Votes: 115,511 What's your overall opinion of Limbaugh? Mostly positive 58% Mostly negative 37% Neutral 5% Total Votes: 118,345

"Well, conservatism isn't dead because it cannot be dead. Conservatism is not manmade. Conservatism is a philosophy. It's not a scheme. It's not a plan to figure out what the American people need and want, and then give it to them. That's populism! Conservatism is a philosophy based on God-given natural rights...You know it and I know it, and that's why this Republican roster of candidates has always been somewhat disquieting, and we know that it is because if you look at it, it's pretty much evenly spread, the support around all the top-tier people. Look what happens, by the...

Here's a quick and funny clip of MachoSauce-on-the-street interviewing some folks at CPAC. Enjoy!

I posted this last night on NMATV, but a lot of people have been asking for this, so here it is... Rush's entire CPAC speech from yesterday. Part 1

I wanted to reach through the TV screen and pull Rush back onto the stage at CPAC ‘09, “you haven’t finished Rush! You haven’t given them any specific direction or strategy. Only generalizations. Certainly you provided no shortage of profound truth, to be sure, but you must get back up there and tell them what they did wrong resulting in 11/7/06 and 11/4/08. Give them some specifics El Rushbo! Give them a direction.” But then, if he did that he’d probably have to give a series of lectures over the next week or do an all-nighter. And I think that...

In all the furor yesterday over Rush Limbaugh's tremendous speech at CPAC, I failed to post video of Gov. Mitt Romney's speech. So the video above is of Romney's speech at CPAC 2009. If you want to skip the introductions, Romney actually begins speaking at the 13:00 mark of the video. Romney turned out to be the winner of the CPAC 2012 Straw Poll, getting 20% of the vote, with Jindal running second at 14%. So, it was a very good day for Romney, who is in a strong position to run again if he chooses to. . . ....

March 1, 2009 | WASHINGTON -- Seizing the opportunity to speak to a national TV audience, conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh told a packed house of cheering supporters at the 2009 Conservative Political Action Committee's annual meeting in Washington to resist President Barack Obama's plans to expand government and not "think like a minority." As Fox, CNN and C-SPAN carried his speech live and commercial-free, Limbaugh closed CPAC's 37th national convention by rallying conservatives still smarting from the Democrats' 2008 sweep of all branches of the national government and expanded electoral reign in the states. Limbaugh exhorted conservatives...

Among the Young ConservativesNotes from CPAC, the national conservative conference, where this week youth has been served. By Mollie Reilly | Newsweek Web Exclusive Feb 28, 2009 It's 9:15 a.m. on Friday morning. Most college students across America are still hitting the snooze button. But here, in the ballroom of the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C., thousands of young people are standing and cheering for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. "Some people call this the conservative spring break," said the 67-year-old senator from Kentucky. I am at the second day of the 2009 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The...

What do you think of Limbaugh's speech? Thumbs up Thumbs down

Worth watching, this is one of Ann's funniest speeches; I was laughing so hard it started hurting! Se video at the link.

While right wing conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh gave a speech to CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference), newly minted leader of the Republican Party Michael Steele was in Los Angeles at the 10th annual State of the Black Union, presented by Tavis Smiley. Steele has stated that he wants to create new inroads with the African-American community in an attempt to lead his party in a new direction. President Barack Obama not only opened doors for his own party, but he may have shown the Republicans how they can beat him in 2012. In speaking with Tavis Smiley, assorted panelists...

President Barack Obama wants to “punish” those who succeed and who helped make America great, radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh told a wildly cheering crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday. Limbaugh said Obama and the Democrats are waging an “assault” on capitalism by raising taxes on those who make more than $250,000 and by expanding welfare, limiting deductions on charitable contributions, increasing the deficit and giving the government an expanding role in Americans’ lives. “We can take this country back. All we need is to nominate the right candidate,” he said. Just before he spoke,...

Will the mainstream media continue to attack Rush Limbaugh's speech yesterday to CPAC on the basis of "feelings" such as Bill Schneider of CNN did? Schneider called the speech "angry," "mocking," "bullying," and "full of contempt." What Schneider conveniently left out was any sort of challenge about Limbaugh's facts. So let this humble correspondent do the fact checking that the MSM seems to be reluctant to do. One of the most amusing facts that Limbaugh cited was the absolutely cluelessness about the Barack Obama stimulus package on the part of Vice President Joe Biden: Joe Biden, ladies and gentlemen, was...

CNN Analyst Bill Schneider says Rush's "angry, bullying" speech at CPAC angered lots of liberals and Dems. Well...that can only mean one thing. Rush did a great job.

During our exclusive interview on "This Week," Republican Whip Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., rejected comments made by Rush Limbaugh at the CPAC conference. <Snip> Limbaugh said Saturday to the conservative conference, "What is so strange about being honest and saying I want Barack Obama to fail if his mission is to restructure and reform this country so that capitalism and individual liberty are not its foundations?" Cantor today rejected Limbaugh's rhetoric. "So the Rush Limbaugh approach of hoping the president fails is not the Eric Cantor, House Republican approach?" I asked. "Absolutely not," Cantor said. "And I don't -- I...

Here is video of CNN Political Analyst Bill Schneider lambasting Rush Limbaugh's CPAC speech as "angry." He said the tone of this speech was "mocking, bullying, full of contempt, and harsh." . . . . . . . (Watch Schneider's Reaction)

President Obama's chief of staff said conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh is the de facto leader of the Republican Party, and suggested that Limbaugh's desire for the president's policies to fail is the uniform position of the GOP. Chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said Limbaugh is the "intellectual force" of the GOP and Republicans now have to live with that choice. "He is the voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican Party. And he has been up front about what he views, and hasn't stepped back from that, which is he hopes for failure. He said...

OK, thanks to Rick Santelli’s rant we’ve all had our symbolic “tea parties” around the country, then CPAC, and are feeling pretty good. Some have protested in public before, others haven’t but enjoyed getting out and meeting other outraged citizens, and others couldn’t make it because it was on a Friday and they still have a job. So, ‘what’s next’ many are asking. Here’s a suggestion, with some built-in skepticism, expounded upon by a recent post by FReeper LS It's Not Time Yet, But . . .. Turn the proposed “Bonus Army” massing of people in DC into a We...

I posted spectator video, earlier, of the tail end of an altercation between "Media Malpractice" filmmaker John Ziegler and The Daily Beast's Max Blumenthal. Immediately afterward, Ziegler came down to Bloggers' Row to tell us all about it. Being the fair-minded guy that I am, I immediately set out to track down Blumenthal's side of the story. Together, their accounts form a weird, blogtastic version of Rashomon.

A house divided...

Go to CNN.com and freep their poll on whether Rush is right about Obama stoking fear to push a liberal agenda. Scroll down... on the right side. Currently only 30% siding with Rush.

...Limbaugh closed CPAC last evening by declaring that too many misconceptions exist about who conservatives really are, and he wants to change that. "When we (conservatives) look at a group of people, we see Americans -- we don't see groups of people, we don't see victims, we see potentials." he said. "Conservatism is what it is and will be forever. It is not something you can bend and shape," he said.