Mark Ellis
I'm damn mad at Rush
By Mark Ellis
I'm damn mad at Rush Limbaugh, and I have every right. I have been listening for 20 years, am a charter subscriber to the Limbaugh Letter, and have defended him and extolled his show in the face of often withering criticism. I will not take back one word of my support for him, and will remain a listener. But we don't need this.
I could not care less about activist birth-controller Sandra Fluke. Here in Portland such big-government-entitled women are a dime a dozen. When allowed to run amuck they bankrupt every government agency they get their hands on. I also don't give a tinker's damn about the advertisers who are pulling out of Rush's show. I have no doubt that other companies will be lining up to pay his legendary "confiscatory rates." (Note: I was considering signing on with Carbonite to back up my computer files; I won't be doing that now.)
I'm mad because Rush has given the duplicitous and biased left a rhetorical club with which to wield against a Republican Party and conservative cause which desperately needs to win the White House this November. If Rush himself hadn't apologized, and then reiterated his apology, I would not be writing this column.
Why? Because Rush's apology is conclusive evidence that he knows he has committed a not-inconsequential blunder. For those who think I'm stating the obvious here, remember, Rush has not apologized once in 20+ years of controversial broadcasting. Even his loyal listeners are never exactly sure how he will respond to criticism.
That mistake will be wielded heavily against the right. People who publically rejoice at news of the death of Andrew Breitbart, who remain silent when Republicans are called "demons," and who snicker like junior high school reprobates when Sarah Palin and her children are impugned, are all giddy today. They know they can make hay out of this misstep, and by diverting the collective consciousness can blunt simple truths about the failures of the current administration, its Marxist governing philosophies and disastrous domestic policies.
Contraception was a non-issue when Mitt Romney wisely swatted George Stephanopoulos in one of the debates for his foolish harping on the subject. Left-wingers couldn't be happier now that this certifiably marginal issue is back on the front burner.
I was sitting in my pickup eating a fast food meal in 1989 when I heard the Star Wars "Theme from the Death Star" on my radio. It was Rush, railing against the détente-shoveling Gorbachev in the middle of the Bush 41 administration. I knew within five minutes I was hearing something new, and have frozen my radio dial on Rush's show virtually every morning since.
I am begging Republicans, including the radio talkers, including the granddaddy of them all. Get on message about jobs, national defense, trade imbalances, debt, deficits, the economy, Islamic jihadists, and border security. These are the party's strong suits, and these are the issues Democrats hope we become diverted from.
President Obama will have an estimated billion dollar war chest, and millions of voters like Sandra Fluke, who feel entitled to tax dollars to fund even their most private activities and will line up to vote for more-of-same until it bankrupts us all.
Please, Rush, and all other Americans who have seen enough of this administration:
Don't needlessly give them any more clubs.
© Mark Ellis
March 6, 2012
I'm damn mad at Rush Limbaugh, and I have every right. I have been listening for 20 years, am a charter subscriber to the Limbaugh Letter, and have defended him and extolled his show in the face of often withering criticism. I will not take back one word of my support for him, and will remain a listener. But we don't need this.
I could not care less about activist birth-controller Sandra Fluke. Here in Portland such big-government-entitled women are a dime a dozen. When allowed to run amuck they bankrupt every government agency they get their hands on. I also don't give a tinker's damn about the advertisers who are pulling out of Rush's show. I have no doubt that other companies will be lining up to pay his legendary "confiscatory rates." (Note: I was considering signing on with Carbonite to back up my computer files; I won't be doing that now.)
I'm mad because Rush has given the duplicitous and biased left a rhetorical club with which to wield against a Republican Party and conservative cause which desperately needs to win the White House this November. If Rush himself hadn't apologized, and then reiterated his apology, I would not be writing this column.
Why? Because Rush's apology is conclusive evidence that he knows he has committed a not-inconsequential blunder. For those who think I'm stating the obvious here, remember, Rush has not apologized once in 20+ years of controversial broadcasting. Even his loyal listeners are never exactly sure how he will respond to criticism.
That mistake will be wielded heavily against the right. People who publically rejoice at news of the death of Andrew Breitbart, who remain silent when Republicans are called "demons," and who snicker like junior high school reprobates when Sarah Palin and her children are impugned, are all giddy today. They know they can make hay out of this misstep, and by diverting the collective consciousness can blunt simple truths about the failures of the current administration, its Marxist governing philosophies and disastrous domestic policies.
Contraception was a non-issue when Mitt Romney wisely swatted George Stephanopoulos in one of the debates for his foolish harping on the subject. Left-wingers couldn't be happier now that this certifiably marginal issue is back on the front burner.
I was sitting in my pickup eating a fast food meal in 1989 when I heard the Star Wars "Theme from the Death Star" on my radio. It was Rush, railing against the détente-shoveling Gorbachev in the middle of the Bush 41 administration. I knew within five minutes I was hearing something new, and have frozen my radio dial on Rush's show virtually every morning since.
I am begging Republicans, including the radio talkers, including the granddaddy of them all. Get on message about jobs, national defense, trade imbalances, debt, deficits, the economy, Islamic jihadists, and border security. These are the party's strong suits, and these are the issues Democrats hope we become diverted from.
President Obama will have an estimated billion dollar war chest, and millions of voters like Sandra Fluke, who feel entitled to tax dollars to fund even their most private activities and will line up to vote for more-of-same until it bankrupts us all.
Please, Rush, and all other Americans who have seen enough of this administration:
Don't needlessly give them any more clubs.
© Mark Ellis
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