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Thursday, 05 March 2009
S.C. Dems loving them some Rush
Just in case you doubt what I say about how partisan Democrats' symbiotic, co-dependent relationship with Rush Limbaugh, note this gleeful ode of adoration from from Brad Hutto and John Land, who are probably the most unapologetically partisan Democrats in the S.C. Senate:
South Carolina Senate Democratic Caucus
For Immediate Release
March 5, 2009
SC Senate
Democratic Leaders Introduce Advance-Apology Resolution for
Limbaugh
Senators
Land and Hutto call for Pre-Emptive Apology before the fad
ends
Columbia, SC - South Carolina's two leading Senate Democrats introduced a resolution in the state Senate today offering advance apologies to conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh. Senator John C. Land, III (D-Manning) and Senator Brad Hutto (D-Orangeburg) said if the Palmetto State does not pass this resolution, politicians who criticize Limbaugh in the future will miss out on the fad that is sweeping the nation - to openly grovel before the out-spoken radio host.
"If we wait much longer, apologizing to Rush Limbaugh will go the way of rapper Vanilla Ice and the Chia Pet," said Sen. Hutto. "We need to be pro-active on this Rush-apology fad. We need to be out in front on this."
The resolution follows South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's comments last week referring to Rush Limbaugh as an "idiot" for Limbaugh's declaration hoping President Barack Obama, and his administration, 'fail'.
"Anybody who wants [Obama] to fail is an
idiot." Sanford said in an interview with Real Clear
Politics on February 25. Sanford did not apologize for the remark that
was directed at Limbaugh but was rebuked by the radio host.
Sanford's remark was followed by
newly-elected Republican National Committee Chairman, Michael Steele
calling Limbaugh's talk show "incendiary" and "ugly" last Saturday on
CNN. Steele did apologize for his
remarks.
"With all these Republicans groveling before their Party's new standard-barer, I think everyone needs to go ahead and get the apologies out of the way so we can finally have a real dialogue about moving our state and country forward. Besides, I may want to quote lines from Al Franken's book, Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot, and I don't want to be burdened by the need to say 'I'm sorry'. I may even feel the need to quote the title of the book one day," said Sen. Land.
The resolution was pulled following objections by GOP members of the state Senate.
(copy of resolution below)
Whereas,
Rush Limbaugh clearly speaks for the common man of America with wisdom that has
developed through the firsthand experience of flying across our fine country and
looking down from his private jet;
Whereas,
Rush Limbaugh has employed the principles championed by the Republican Party in
his personal life to pull himself through an addiction to prescription
medication by his own bootstraps; and
Whereas,
Rush Limbaugh is the preeminent political talk radio host and de facto leading
voice of the national Republican Party and conservative movement; and
Whereas,
Rush Limbaugh, on multiple occasions, has publicly wished failure upon President
Obama and his administration and, in response, was tacitly called an "idiot" by
Governor Mark Sanford and admonished by Michael Steele, the chairman of the
Republican National Committee; and
Whereas,
Chairman Steele, who has apologized on multiple occasions, has been
at the forefront of a massive wave of apologies to Rush Limbaugh;
Now, therefore,
Be
it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives
concurring:
That
the members of the General Assembly, by this resolution, in recognition
of the statements from Governor Sanford and Chairman Steele and in an attempt to
prevent the State of South Carolina from having to take a position in the rear
of the ever growing line of those wishing to apologize to Rush Limbaugh, hereby
apologize to Rush Limbaugh for all past transgressions which have originated
from any person in, or associated with, the State of South Carolina and
preemptively apologize for any future
transgression.
Be
it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to Mr. Rush
Limbaugh.
‑‑‑‑XX‑‑‑‑
Need I say more?
Political parties are just SO unbelievably obnoxious....
Posted by Brad Warthen at 01:46 PM
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Comments
This torrid affair between Dems and Rush has to be making the Republicans jealous. They just don't have anybody like Rush to whip up partisan fervor with. They used to have Ted Kennedy, but the poor man is terminally ill. Note that Al Franken is mentioned above, but I'm sorry -- that's pathetic. Al Franken is nowhere NEAR the polarizing figure that Rush is, try as he might. And the current president? Fuggedaboudit. People still love the guy.
No, Republicans are sitting around pining over their old pictures of Bill Clinton, remembering when...
The Republican Party won't be back on the comeback trail until it has somebody it can safely fulminate against the way the Dems have Rush. Because that stupid, pointless antagonism is what makes the partisan world go 'round.
Posted by: Brad Warthen | Mar 5, 2009 1:54:36 PM
Two points:
1) Six months hints, Obama will be the obvious demon you say the GOP needs.
2) Doesn't the Senate have better things to waste taxpayers' time and money on than resolutions about Rush Limbaugh? Overhauling the state's tax system, for example?
Posted by: Weldon VII | Mar 5, 2009 2:20:48 PM
Two points:
1) Six months hence, Obama will be the obvious demon you say the GOP needs.
2) Doesn't the Senate have better things to waste taxpayers' time and money on than resolutions about Rush Limbaugh? Overhauling the state's tax system, for example?
Posted by: Weldon VII | Mar 5, 2009 2:21:27 PM
You gotta admit that is just hillarious. I just can't stop laughing. I'm sorry you're taking this so seriously Brad, but frankly the GOP has brought this on themselves. When you let someone as totally idiotic as Rush Limbaugh give the keynote address at your national convention you deserve nothing but total, 100% ridicule. Land and Hutto deserve a medal.
Posted by: bud | Mar 5, 2009 2:28:49 PM
Who let Rush speak at their national convention? I thought it was some right-wing PAC or something, not one of the political parties.
Funny thing is, I almost posted something the other day about a release I received from someone offering a video or transcript of something of their speech at this event (CPAC -- I had to look it up to remember what it's called), only I didn't get to it before this Rush stuff came up. My headline was going to be something like, "No, I'm not going to watch your CPAC video," and I was going to make the point that I've got WAY better things to do than pay attention to what a bunch of ideological extremists do when they get together to stroke each other about how ideologically pure they are. What a total waste of time.
That was before this OTHER person I pay no attention to spoke there, and the White House chief of staff attached importance to it, and all sorts of foolishness ensued, up to and including the "resolution" above.
Posted by: Brad Warthen | Mar 5, 2009 3:00:36 PM
Brad, you're forgetting Nancy Pelosi who is a favorite target of the partisan right.
Posted by: Phillip | Mar 5, 2009 3:05:28 PM
Just looked back, and the guy who wanted me to see his CPAC video was Mike Huckabee. Here's the release
. I see that I misremembered when it came in -- I think I had heard about the Rush thing before I saw this, although it was before I had focused enough on the whole thing to be thoroughly disgusted.
By the way, in case you think I'm just being figurative about how parties depend completely upon this kind of stupid, pointless conflict for their financial life, here's the latest Democratic Party fund-raising appeal
based entirely on the Rush thing.
Just so you know what it's all about for all parties involved...
Posted by: Brad Warthen | Mar 5, 2009 3:08:38 PM
Where's your sense of humor Brad? Sure it's juvenile. So what? It's hilarious in the same way as an Arial cartoon. You should laugh more, loosen that tie (or get rid of it altogether) and worry less about trivial stuff. In the end it will be as theraputic as an hour long workout in the basement.
Posted by: bud | Mar 5, 2009 3:08:39 PM
You can't loosen a bow tie. It's either on or off. Although I am going to take it off briefly -- I'm going downstairs to work out...
Posted by: Brad Warthen | Mar 5, 2009 3:10:12 PM
But you're right that I don't find anything about political parties amusing -- at least, not about this aspect of them. They disgust me completely.
I used to be more amused -- when I was a young news guy who was pleased and proud not to care. I remember making the observation more than once, in my young and arrogant and insousciant days, that I regarded politicians the way I did monkeys in the zoo -- I found them interesting and amusing, but I didn't identify with them in any way; they were as members of another species as far as I regarded them. This was how "objectivity," that vaunted journalistic "virtue," manifested itself in me in those days.
I don't much like the young guy who once said that. Somewhere along the way, I started to care. About my country, about South Carolina, about the community in which I live. My country, my state and my community so badly need open, honest, good-faith dialogue about the important issues that face us. And I HATE the political parties for the way they tear such dialogue to shreds and drag it through the sewer of their stupid, purposeless spin cycles.
So no, I don't think it's funny. Not anymore.
Posted by: Brad Warthen | Mar 5, 2009 3:18:04 PM
Let us know when you are ready to discuss the points Rush Limbaugh and others are making about Hussien Obama:
1. He is governing far to the left of any centrist, bipartisan image he tried to convey during the campaign.
2. All that talk about "accountability" and "ending business as usual" was just talk.
3. Anyone who believed those yarns about "balancing the budget by cutting wasteful and obsolete programs" should feel really stupid by now.
4. One minute, Obama says American needs "my plan for recovery right now", and the next minute, the waste and pork are not his, but "last year's business".
5. Since experts agree that this spending spree is unlikely to save or produce any jobs, and the bailouts cause the stock prices to plummet, is Obama really interested in economic recovery, or in wrecking the private sector so the feds can confiscate entire business sectors of banking, transportation, medicine and retirement accounts?
Posted by: Lee Muller | Mar 5, 2009 3:58:23 PM
Somewhere along the way, I started to care. About my country, about South Carolina, about the community in which I live. My country, my state and my community so badly need open, honest, good-faith dialogue about the important issues that face us. And I HATE the political parties for the way they tear such dialogue to shreds and drag it through the sewer of their stupid, purposeless spin cycles.
So no, I don't think it's funny. Not anymore.
I wholeheartedly agree, Brad. But what can you do? Democrats and Republicans own this country.
Posted by: Birch Barlow | Mar 5, 2009 3:58:49 PM
The best thing the Republicans could do for themselves would be to dump Rush. Simply distance themselves from him and start behaving like a grownup party with thoughtful, realistic ideas. The Politico has a good article about how Republicans are increasingly misrepresenting the "Democratic" Party as the "Democrat" Party. It's intended to push the buttons of the Dems and puts them in the awkward position of either (A) calling the Republicans on this juvenile tactic. If they do this then they appear to be distracted by petty issues. Any party that gets so distracted by something so small wouldn't be clearheaded enough to deal with Al-Qaeda. Or (B) Ignoring the taunt. In that case they are open to the charge that they are too timid to deal with Al-Qaeda. Either way, or so the strategy goes, the Republicans win. (Brad's buddy Lindsay Graham uses this perjoritive frequently).
So while it may be true that the Democrats are seizing on this opportunity to play politics with the Republicans it's far more telling for the GOP. They are showing very poor judgement by continuing to cotton to Limbaugh and his inflamatory rhetoric. If they are to have any hope of being taken seriously as a party they need to drop Rush and quite referring to the "Democrat" party.
In the meantime I can't help but laugh at the way the Dems are using this GOP debacle to their best advantage. As it stands there is no chance of having a serious dialogue with the GOP. For that we may as well just debate within the ranks of the Democratic Party. The GOP simply cannot be taken seriously. And yes I do find that sad. NOT!
Posted by: bud | Mar 5, 2009 4:21:59 PM
Bud, it's pejorative, not perjoritive.
And of course there's no chance of a serious dialogue with the GOP. Obama doesn't want one. He wants to get his entire socialist agenda passed in an off-election year while his approval rating remains in double digits. He's using Limbaugh as a distraction, and you're taking the bait.
Posted by: penultimo mcfarland | Mar 5, 2009 4:43:28 PM
(Sigh.)
Back and forth, back and forth, never-ending...
Posted by: Brad Warthen | Mar 5, 2009 5:01:52 PM
Brad, are you still so in denial about Obama's socialist ideology that you are unable to discuss the subject with Penutimo McFarland?
Posted by: Lee Muller | Mar 5, 2009 5:57:57 PM
Thanks, Lee.
Heck, Brad, I think somebody needs to provide a sensible alternative to Democrat rants.
Posted by: penultimo mcfarland | Mar 5, 2009 10:35:51 PM
Brad, you're the one who wants to rid the world of partisan politics. What I'm suggesting fits perfectly with that way of thinking. The GOP has clearly allowed the worst of the worst from the hackneyed world of talk radio to have an undue influence on it's party. The Dems are only fighting back in kind in self-defence. Over the years the Dems have been very slow and until very recently ineffective in fighting this battle. Why? They are just not comfortable with this game. Heck, I don't much like it. But it's about survival. Once the playing field was leveled a bit, though by no means completely, the Dems were able to score back-to-back electorial victories.
The gig is up for the GOP. The voters have decided that Rush is even less popular than William Ayers and they are not about to buy into his inflamatory rhetoric. Oh sure there are a few dittoheads that will never see the light. But they are irrelevant. I invite all clear-thinking folks who are still members of the GOP and who believe in rational economic policy and a sane foreign agenda to join with the Democrats to forge a future that returns us to the principals of the founding fathers. Let's respect other people in the world and the plight of the American working family.
If that can be accomplished with the help of a few sensible people from the old GOP, great. If not then the Democrats will have to go it alone. There is no sense in kissing the pimpled ass of Rush Limbaugh in order to move this country forward. Shame on Michael Steele for doing just that.
Posted by: bud | Mar 6, 2009 9:29:31 AM
bud, you are a socialist who lives for someone else to take care of you. Your opinion on the GOP is worthless.
If more people knew who Bill Ayers was, they never would have tolerated Obama as a candidate.
Obama is a media creation. The media hid his communist background, his racist beliefs, and his radical agenda from the voters.
Posted by: Lee Muller | Mar 6, 2009 9:54:01 AM
The Dems are only fighting back in kind in self-defence. Over the years the Dems have been very slow and until very recently ineffective in fighting this battle. Why? They are just not comfortable with this game. Heck, I don't much like it. But it's about survival.
One day Americans will have to fight back against the Republicratic Party.
It will be about survival.
This free and prosperous nation was fought for and earned by generations past. Today, we as citizens of this country for the most part get to enjoy the freedom and prosperity and take it all for granted. But it won't be that way forever.
Posted by: Birch Barlow | Mar 6, 2009 9:57:25 AM
If you want to see what Real America thinks of Hussein Obama's socialist threats, just look at the stock market dropping every time he speaks.
Or go to the gun show this weekend.
Posted by: Lee Muller | Mar 6, 2009 1:14:49 PM
I invite all clear-thinking folks who are still members of the GOP and who believe in rational economic policy and a sane foreign agenda to join with the Democrats to forge a future that returns us to the principals (stet) of the founding fathers.
First, bud, spending $1.75 trillion more than you take in per annum is not rational economic policy.
Second, negotiating publicly from a position of weakness is not a sane foreign agenda.
Third, principals head schools, hopefully, according to sound educational principles.
So, lastly, quit preaching sermons about what the GOP ought to do. You don't know. You don't even know what the Democrats ought to do. Nor do you understand the principle of our founding fathers.
You apparently think the world is a gigantic playground where if you just make nice, everybody will be nice to you. That attitude will get your head chopped off.
Obama's first foreign policy overture -- his stupid letter to Russia -- had already met with humiliating derision.
So watch as your guys destroy us from within and invite destruction from without. And give the preaching a rest.
Posted by: weldon VII | Mar 6, 2009 2:43:02 PM
That should be "principles of our founding fathers" and "has already met with humiliting derision". Pardon me.
Posted by: weldon VII | Mar 6, 2009 2:45:41 PM
Weldon, how much did the GOP spend relative to intake 2002-2006 during a war. TAX CUTS for the wealthy while spending 12 BILLION dollars a month on Iraq? I can't conceive how you could be more hypocritical.
Obama is including the spending on the WARS in the budget. There's a novel idea. He inherets TWO WARS and the worst economic crisis in 70 years and you think we'll tax cut our way out of this? Tax cuts for the MILLIONS of people, sounds familiar...BUSH did that LAST YEAR. What a fantastic idea, let's hope it works this time.
Posted by: Randy E | Mar 6, 2009 3:17:46 PM
All of this business with Rush, along with the Bobby Jindal kerfuffle, point to a big problem for the Republicans: beyond their circle of loyal white folks in the south and in rural areas, they don't know who they're talking to anymore. In times like these, anyone with a decent education -- and folks who've had some college are pretty likely to vote -- can only handle so much of the Rush / Hannity / Coulter horse and pony show. Bobby Jindal dumbed himself down so much that he sounded totally condescending. ("I was whut the insurance companies call uh pre-ex-issss-ting condition.") Who wants to be talked to like that?!?
If they're smart, the Dems shouldn't work this line on Rush too hard. The Republicans might be forced to show him the door.
Posted by: beetrave | Mar 6, 2009 3:39:28 PM
