Posted on 03/14/2012 7:39:14 AM PDT by Battle of Tours
Time for a Rush Reboot?
While the Fluke fallout may not be as bad as suspected, it's still bad. I cringed when El Rushbo, on Day 2 of the Fluke matter, doubled down on his remarks and reveled in the reaction he was getting - from members of Congress and the press. A complete miscalculation. But ultimately PR war was lost, simply because a gentleman can't call a woman a 'slut,' and if it takes a half-hour to explain what you really meant, you failed in making your point. The whole thing was like watching Lucy trick Charlie Brown into trying to kick the football. But in HD, and super slow-motion. While EIB's ratings may be up, I'm afraid the Fluke fiasco exposes what I see as Rush Limbaugh's problem: declining relevance, and (like many on the Right), reacting to the topic du jour, rather than driving the agenda. The Left chose this whole contraceptive battle ground, and set it up well in advance, starting with George Stephanopolous. But remember when Rush called the shots? Remember the spontaneity and populist feel of Dan's Bake Sale? Or when, in response to critics who said Rush artificially generated calls to Congress, he demonstrated what would happen if he gave out those numbers to call - and melted the DC phone system. That was the heyday of EIB! But on any given day lately, if you want to hear what will be on Rush (or Beck or Hannity), you can simply read the Drudge Report, which is about all Rush seems to do now. Matt Drudge, the Great Aggregator, drives the news cycle, and Rush seems content to merely comment on it. A far cry from the day when Rush drove the issue of the day, like exposing the House Banking scandal? Rush is The Voice on the Right, and to paraphrase him, I hope he succeeds. So I humbly offer some suggestions, and would be interested to read your comments or additions to them.
Bombshell Mondays
When Sarah Palin was named as John McCain's VP pick, an army of Dem investigators headed north to Alaska. We soon found out more (true or not) about her than anyone dared disclose about Barack Obama. Porn king Larry Flynt offered serious cash, and still does, to anyone exposing sexual misdeeds by Republicans. As a result, Congressman Bob Livingston resigned, Bill Clinton was not impeached, God knows what else due to Republicans being sh_t-scared of being embarrassed. When Donald Trump took up the Birther controversy, and backed it up with his resources, he forced Obama to release what he should have released long ago - his long-form birth certificate (or is it? Ask Joe Arpaio). It took a tabloid's digging to prove Johnny Edward's philandering. The point here is, well-funded and well-executed investigating yields results, except most of it is done by the Left. I can see why pre-rehab Rush wouldn't go here, as his own secret problems would have been exposed. Now that the Enquirer broke that (another example), what's to lose? Young Guns on the Right are doing similar work, but with the loss of Andrew Breitbart, some of that has gone, too. I want to see an army of EIB investigators digging into all the Left has to hide, with Rush leading off each week with Bombshell Mondays. Make the other side respond to Rush all week. Offer $100,000 or more for any of Obama's old girlfriends to come forward, then up it each month when it goes unclaimed. Offer money for anyone who can produce a report card, syllabus or class notes from an Obama-taught course. I bet they don't exist, either. Find the two people that the $11 million Business Attire boondoggle serviced, and see if they even got jobs. Look into Sarah Fluke herself. She has advocated so much for gay and lesbian issues, you have to wonder if she even needs birth control. Find the town hall sob story people that Obama promised to help, and see where they are now. Find out who paid for Obama's college tuition. Give a teaser of the bombshell expose on Friday, and make 'em sweat all weekend wondering what will happen Monday. Rush, stop relying on reporters to report, and get back in the driver's seat, please. The Left will never love you, so take a page from Machiavelli: better to be feared than loved.
Audacious, News-Grabbing Acts of Generosity
Any listener to Rush knows he is very generous, probably far more so than he lets on to the public. Countless times I've heard him give things away to callers (except the schmoes that ask for things), not to mention his annual fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. But imagine if, rather than call Sarah Fluke a slut and prostitute, Rush had sent her a Sleep Number bed, some Pro Flowers, and a thousand condoms. Point well made. On a grander scale, this has a lot of potential to show the hypocrisy of the Left, like Dan's Bake Sale showed that taking kids' donated money for deficit reduction was not beneath the Clinton Gang. The contrast to Fluke and her self-centered ilk's representation of womanhood is seen in Stephanie Decker, the 36-year-old Indiana mother that lost her legs trying to protect her children during a tornado. Decker's home was demolished. Buy her a new one, handicap-accessible. Hand her the keys yourself, that woman is a living, breathing example of the best of a woman's virtue, who's actions did more in a minute that Fluke has done in her measly, academic/activist life. Find Obama's half-brother George, who reportedly lives in a hut on next to nothing per year in Africa. Get him a job and a house, and get your picture with him in the process. Imagine how the President, who loves to quote the Bible and 'brother's keeper' language when it means separating taxpayers from their cash, would look in contrast. I would bet most people don't know Obama has an indigent brother. Or pay for Obama's illegal-alien uncle's legal fees in his drunk driving casae. Pay him to wear a Rush tie in court. Why? First, because it's funny. Second, because there's no comeback to that. It again shows Obama does not take care of his own, despite demanding other's money for his political agenda. Once a month, select a servicememberat random returning from war, and send, along with family members, them to Disneyworld for a week. All expenses paid. It's a slap in the face to the commander who never stops apologizing to foreigners for the actions of Americans. Oh, and mention it all during the Armed Forces Radio portion of the show. Pick a Chicago gas station, and offer a Pre-Obama Gas Price day. Get the local affiliate to cover it. Man, can you picture that? The lines that would form, the riot that would likely ensue, to sell gasoline at $2.40 per gallon, and more importantly, what a message it would send about the spike in gasoline prices under Obama. Sponsor a Steven Chu Bicycle Race in DC, with the winner getting a BMW (like Chu's wife drives). Targeted philanthropy coupled with a potent message is hard to criticize.
Push Aside the Haters and Promote your Supporters
It's always been weird how Rush trumpets Apple products, when, as a company, they recoil from him. I admit I enjoyed the report of Carbonite stock falling after they dissed Rush in the wake of Fluke. Now certain musicians are complaining about Rush using their music on his show. I'd like to see Rush pump up those who support him, and ignore the detractors. Trim from the bumper rotation those that have come out and repudiated you. There's a ton of musicians that would love that exposure (but please, no more Robert Davi tracks). Make a contest of it - submit your band's tracks to appear on Rush's bumper music, mention who it is on the website. Then thumb your nose at Peter Gabriel. Same goes for any ex-advertiser.
Well I suppose you could argue it was bad.
I heard the whole thing and it Rush’s bit was hilarious.
Of course he immediately went from being ‘an entertainer’ to the ‘Speaker of the Truth regarding the Content of Conservatives Hearts and Minds’.
This should have come with a ‘Barf Alert’ tag.
Why spend so much time thinking about it? Or writing,which of course I didn’t bother to read past the first sentence. Rush is like family to me. He’s kept my attention for 20 plus years. Takes more than sluts and nuts to bring him down.
Why don’t you like hearing the truth and from what I can see it isn’t working as well as the dems wanted it to because not all Americans are stupid and realize no one is trying to take away anything we just don’t want to pay for it for you.
Are you stupid?
Rush had nothing to apologize for and made himself look like a fool doing so. If any apology is forthcoming it should be Miss Flukes parents for bringing such a stupid and amoral woman into the world.
How long has the author of this piece been listening to Rush? This happened years ago with the musician who recorded the bump he uses to start the show.
Rush can use the music under Fair Use Laws, but I guess the musicians don't want their young fans to think they might support Rush, simply because their music is on his show. Oh, the horror!
” The disease is Obamacare and its mandates.” And what we voters need to do is ignore the chattering class and focus on the goal....We need to be united and focussed
Exactly. A “looks like a hearing, not really a hearing” hosted by the democrats is not the goal. It is the chattering.
Yeah she was just some poor, down troden, random law student barely getting by that was having so much sex she was going broke buying contraception but somehow she had funds to attend George Town University, some how she had the time and money to go to Capital Hill and testify, then some how miraculously her bank account magically grew over night that she was able to fly out to these different cities across the country to appear on TV shows and give interviews.
Rush has said that he is ALWAYS thinking several moves ahead. In the case of the fluker, the fact that he was sticking his neck out at the beginning of this kerfuffle told me that he was tweaking the media by design. Rush played the lefties and he won, big-time.
Rush has also said on more than one occasion, and I concur, that all of us have to become our own media outlets. Its not enough to listen to Rush, WE have to get the message out to our friends, neighbors and coworkers who may not listen to Rush or have discovered FreeRepublic.
WE have to become little Rushies. WE have to become Brietbarts and Levines. WE are, after all, Freepers!
When the conversation turned to how bad Rush was for calling the fluke a slut, I spoke up and spent the next five minutes educating the person who made the comment as to just why Rush was right. During the course of my dialog I heard “I didn't know that” several times.
It's not surprising that a lot of people who get their news from the Fifth Column of the Fourth Estate don't have a clue, but WE need to step up and let them know who Sheriff Joe is and what he's been up to, and report all the stuff that gets no mention by the drive-by media. The propaganda arm of the Regime won't do the job that a formerly free press used to do, it's up to US now.
end of rant
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