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.
Obama was not vetted and look what we got.....Now is the time to vet everyone who is running ...including the front runner
As to throwing the term liberal around on this board,the relationship between
Trumps cheering section and Trump remind me more and more of Obama and his minions .
And as to this article I want to read it more closely but I can sure see where the author is coming from..... Ive thought the same things about Rush lately
You obfuscated for countless posts before producing evidence you supported Cruz... but only for Senator. You act as though that somehow absolves you of your trolling behavior on EVERYTHING else. It doesn’t. You still won’t answer the question about voting for Trump (or a Trump-Cruz ticket) in November 2016.
Given your hatred for Trump, it appears you will not vote for him, even with Cruz on the ticket. So therefore, all your prior support for Cruz amounts to absolutely nothing.
So you’re accusing Trump of being like your idol, La Raza Rick (or Captain Gardasil, if you’ll remember... wanting to use the power of the government to force little girls into getting STD vaccinations at the behest of his big pharma puppetmaster) ?
You’re real good at “making stuff up” - a real pretzel maker.
Your posting exposes your tactics.
Like I said, you argue like a girl.
Weak, ridiculous and sexist remark. This is your “honest debate ?”
Outrageous bovine scat.
Where’s your honest debate ? More ad hominems and lies.
You are stupid or dishonest, not sure which. Pathans both.
Meh.
You know exactly what I mean - and that it's true; you spin the discussion until it becomes something totally different and focused on the person that you have decided to "take out."
Still, the fact remains, Trump is still a liberal.
Trump has been Front Page news for over 30 years. He is the most vetted candidate ever. All the rest need vetting I agree.
Sort of like the Clintons and Obama?
I don't think he is, but so what? This cycle nothing matters but (illegal) immigration. Give the Rats tens of millions of new Marxist voters and American conservationism is finished forever.
No. You are wrong again in your attempt to deflect the argument. You know as well as anyone that it is virtually impossible to prove a negative. Because you are a negative.
Just ask USS Alaska because some of us do know that he is far more experienced on dealing with you on a personal level than any of us. When you really go off the rails, he will even pipe in, not of scorn but for pity.
Now, your whole sorry little lot in life is hung on labeling people for what they may have said or done in the past never mind the context. But, you are not brave enough to put your whole life out for scrutiny while you use your cloak of a handle to drivel your revenge for what has darkened your soul. What is far more sorry is that your sad little life could not put your delusional hate aside for just one day, Thanksgiving. It makes one wonder just what awaits us for Christmas.
And what does all of your rantings come from? IMHO, a woman scorned with a penchant for hating and inciting argument from your soapbox is this forum, just so you can feel better about yourself?
Strike if you may, most of us have strong shoulders and remember our parents instilling in us that “Sticks and stones”. Like all liberals, they hate that phrase because it negates them from exacting their pent up hate and vitriol for what they think we should all give a rat’s ass about their emotional problems.
Frankly, my dear; I don’t give a damn. But, at the same time I pray that God may one day illuminate your heart because from all indications, it is today a very dark place.
Peace be with you. On this day to give thanks for His divine intervention and providence for the greatest social experiment in the history of all mankind.
Well to put it the most bluntly and to take the bull of your comparison right by the horns, because there is a bad way to look for hope and change doesn’t mean there is no good way to do that.
Looking at who’s cheering is one rough indicator of what is being cheered. It ain’t the free loaders who treated Barack Obama as pied piper, whoever it might be.
(Trump’s cheering section ain’t...)
Lady, you’ve got caught with your britches down more times than Bubba Clintoon with his interns... and that just in this thread alone. Repeating lies and falsehoods ad infinitum, as you have about Trump, won’t suddenly make them true.
...”Where did Rush officially endorse Trump? I must have missed that transcript.”...
I have listened to Rush for so many years, I can’t count them and Rush Limbaugh analyses politics better than anyone. I can hardly remember him being wrong on anything political. I would imagine that Rush feels relief just like the rest of us that someone other than himself dares to challenge the dangerous PC practiced and growing worse daily on the left through media, academics, the government and some religious institutions. That about covers the pillars of society. It is very dangerous to the people to be unnaturally muzzled about matters which give them their freedom. Rush talks about Donald because Donald is on the minds of Americans and supported by a good many of them. We can see that government insiders are mostly corrupt, feathering their own nest and, perhaps, want to weaken this nation out of existence. It is crunch time and Trump seems to be the one who can stand most strongly against the tide which threatens us. The decision we make in this election could well determine whether or not we survive and that is why he is on Rush’s mind. Rush never endorses a candidate.
Those three would be the LEAST vetted. Keep digging.
//The primary isn’t over, so don’t be demanding that I show fealty to Trump//
I am taking that as a ‘no’.
All USSAlaska does is insult me personally (and in caps).
What problmes do you have with the topic of this thread (you seem fixated on me)?
Oh and thanks for the blessing - nice touch.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.