Phil Gingrey feels the heat for telling Rush to stfu, and promptly puts his tail between his legs and apologizes:
Now more than ever, we need to articulate a clear conservative message that distinguishes our values and our approach from those of liberal Democrats who are seeking to move our nation in the wrong direction. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Newt Gingrich, and other conservative giants are the voices of the conservative movement’s conscience. Everyday, millions and millions of Americans—myself included—turn on their radios and televisions to listen to what they have to say, and we are inspired by their words and by their determination. At the end of the day, every member of the conservative movement, from our political commentators and thinkers to our elected officials, share an important and common purpose in advancing the cause of liberty, reigning in a bloated federal government, and defending our traditional family values.
Pathetic. Speaks his mind one day, goes running to lick Rush’s shoe the next day. I hope this gets a lot of attention so that the nation clearly understands: the Republicans in Congress are afraid of Rush Limbaugh, and will do whatever he says. I guess we can just add talk radio hosts to the long list of other things these wimps are afraid of, including gay marriage, people making their own decisions about their bodies, fair trials, accountability, etc. In fact, a better question is whether or not there is anything Republicans aren’t afraid of, except, of course, we know the answer to that- Harry Reid.
amorphous
I am reminded of this.
Incertus
Well, that’s what RedState wants. That’s their way of purging the party of everyone they don’t like. Of course, they also think that anyone who disagrees with them is a Stalin supporter, so you have to question their sanity a touch, but that’s who’s making the noise in the Republican party these days, it seems.
Stephen1947
You shouldn’t lump talk-show hosts in with all that other stuff, because all that other stuff is good…
ed
Rush Limbaugh is a racist shithead and the perfect embodiment of the modern Republican party (i.e., since Nixon’s Southern Strategy) . Sean Hannity and Newt Gingrich are shitheads too. Can’t be said enough.
Comrade Dread
Fixed.
Reverend Dennis
"giants"
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Zifnab
Remember when John McCain was running for the GOP Nomination? And he generally ignored or dismissed the winger radio talking points? And FOX News backed Ghouliani? And Limbaugh cheered on Romney? And remember who won the nomination?
Now, remember when Obama was running for the nomination, and Rush Limbaugh tried to convince his listeners to vote en mass for Hillary Clinton? And remember how well that worked?
Now, remember that time McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate? And the radio crowd went ape shit with applause? Remember how well that turned out?
This all begs the question, can Republican politicians really be THAT stupid?
Incertus
@Reverend Dennis: Oh, I think they’re giants–giant turd-burglars, that is.
Comrade Dread
Well, they are all relatively fat and/or doughy, so ‘giant’ could apply.
Lev
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the Republican Party that more obsessive outreach to the "base" won’t fix.
Trinity
@Zifnab: Yes.
Keith
"Talk show host" is a bit generous for Rush. He’s actually more of a political shock jock than host.
cleek
i encourage all GOP politicians to hitch their wagon to the bloated sex-tourist and Hillbilly Heroin addict. pledging fealty to Mr "I want Obama to fail" sounds like a sure winner.
freelancer
okay wtf,
GOP Talking Point regarding CBO estimate of stimulus not being used til 2010 trotted out again by Romney, 1 minute ago on MSNBC. Chuck Todd next, brings up the CBO report, but says nothing about the fact that what Mittens was quoting doesn’t exist.
God, between this, and the talk radio fringe rediscovering checks and balances, I never want to turn on my tv again.
Joshua Norton
They are kind of "giant" if you consider their over-fed, garbage gut and lard asses. You know, your basic giant food-smeared sphere.
Comrade Dread
Rush Limbaugh is an ad revenue generator. Nothing more.
He’s a great revenue generator as evidenced by the fact that people tune in and make his parent company millions even during a recession and by the fact that political leaders actually take his schtick seriously.
But I certainly wouldn’t take advice from him, unless I were going into the radio business and wanted tips on how to succeed in that career.
Napoleon
Totally off topic, but am I seeing things when I bring up TPM Muckracker on Firefox in the tabs mode (with a bunch of websites opened at once) and the logo on the tab looks like that woman who use to appear in chrome on truck mudflaps. Did someone hack their site?
former capitalist
It would be easier to ridicule the R’s for kissing Rush’s butt if the Democrats hadn’t done the same damn thing for the last 8 years.
Thomas
This kind of cowardice would never have happen’d back in his Mustache Days.
The Moar You Know
@cleek: Don’t knock OxyContin until you’ve tried it. That shit is awesome.
Napoleon
On topic, if the Republicans can not be trusted to stand up to Rush, how can they be trusted to stand up to the terrorist?
Joshua Norton
It’s rather easy. Make up conflict and then respond to your own contrivances. Basic Trolling 101.
It also helps if your listening audience practices only short term thinking, and has the collective attention span of caffeinated fruit flies.
Comrade Dread
I’d like to have mandatory critical thinking skills taught from grade 1 to grade 12, but that would probably undermine the rest of the curriculum taught in schools, save Math.
former capitalist
@The Moar You Know: Not me. It makes me sick to my stomach. Morphine, now…that’s another thing.
cleek
never been a big fan of pain killers. i prefer my recreational psychoactive substances to be more psychoactive. laying around like warm lox doesn’t sound like any fun to me.
Ash Can
I can see it now. Palin/Limbaugh 2012. The "WTF?" expression on Obama’s face alone would make my day.
Xenos
I tried Oxycontin when I had four wisdom teeth removed. Did nothing for me. Ibuprofin was much more effective. I guess I am just not wired the right way to appreciate the stuff.
Maybe I should just do what Rush probably does, which is to grind it up first.
Rush Limbaugh
I am the leader of the Republican party.
Paul L.
Should have used the Obama dodge and called it a "distraction".
or the Great Michelle Obama retort of
“You know, this conversation doesn’t help my kids.”
jibeaux
I don’t think *this* means what they think it means, either. I mean, hey, I’m not passing judgment on your three failed marriages or taking the divorce papers to your wife hospitalized with cancer, but I’m not real sure about the bragging rights….
Incertus
@Comrade Dread: I’d like that too–it would probably improve the quality of the "essays" I’ll be reading later today.
kay
If I were an elected Democratic leader, I’d start hammering home the fact that none of the conservative leaders are elected. Newt Gingrich is the closest, and he hasn’t run in years.
That’s a little scary. A movement built on leaders who never have to face an electorate.
The Grand Panjandrum
Imagine a politician backing down after taking a stand against the establishment. I am shocked!
@cleek: Acid. I love it. Nothing like your head melting into a shiny striped wall with lemur jumping out of potted plants.
Incertus
@jibeaux: Oh, I think they think it means "women are submissive and know better than to get uppity." And that’s what many would like to return to.
Xenos
@Paul L.: Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich have, in total, six marriages and no children. So I guess they can’t use that excuse. Hannity at least lives a personal life that appears to be in alignment with his professed values.
jibeaux
@Incertus:
Well, they know better than to stay married to Rush, anyway.
You forgot the "no gays" part, and the fine print definition of gay which excludes any actions Ted Haggart or Larry Craig may or may not have engaged in, all of which were definitely not gay.
Ash Can
That Paul L guy is a real glutton for punishment, isn’t he?
"Hannity at least lives a personal life that appears to be in alignment with his professed values."
What does he do? Keep slaves?
gypsy howell
I am amazed at how quickly I went from respecting Chuck Todd’s political analysis to rolling my eyes every time his face lands on my teevee screen. That White House Correspondent job must come with some strong Kool Aid.
priscianus jr
You gotta laugh. The Republicans are afraid of Limbaugh — and Obama isn’t. Pass the popcorn, this is gonna be good.
magisterludi
All this drug talk reminds me what Furry Freak Brother Free Wheelin’ Frank sez- "Dope gets you thru times of no money better than money gets you thru times of no dope."
Brick Oven Bill
Obama has faced very little criticism in his life. The action of wandering into the White House press room and expecting to pal around with reporters without being asked substantive questions is emblematic of this background. So was his reaction when asked a fully legitimate question.
The Presidency is a very tough job. I do not know why any honest person would want it in 2009. It was an error for Obama to challenge Rush by name. This legitimized Rush. The upcoming actions to silence talk radio will be all the more noted by the population.
Obama should have ignored talk radio, and quietly done it in with an FCC appointment. It will now be more difficult to quietly shut people up. Nobody likes the person who uses the power of his office to win a debate.
jake 4 that 1
Best news I’ve heard all week. Please Baby Jesus, let the GOP hitch the smoking remains of the Str8TalkXpress to brown dwarrows like Gingrich.
Yeah, I know. Single party political system sucks, but apparently we can’t get another functional party until the GOP kicks it. Putting Rush "Ass Boil" Limbaugh and Newt "Family Values Means Never Having to Say I’m Sorry," front and center can only hasten the process.
Tsulagi
He’s a Maverick!!
Paul L.
Who elected any of the nutroots, Keith Olbermann or Rachel
Maddow?
Brien Jackson
To be fair, Gingrey heads the Republican Study Group, which might as well be called the House Wingnut Caucus, so wingnut radio is kind of his constituency.
gypsy howell
Palin/Limbaugh2012: The Hatetalk Express.
The Populist
This has done it. The next time a con wants to call me liberal for not agreeing with them, I accept. If being liberal means I don’t have to be a bootlicker for assholes who have sold this country down the river, so be it.
Going forward, I am a proud member of the liberal majority!
Davis X. Machina
GOP Talking Point regarding CBO estimate of stimulus not being used til 2010 trotted out again by Romney, 1 minute ago on MSNBC.
Someone is deficient in their study of Reagan-Gingrich Thought.
‘Truth’, correctly-oriented cadres will recall, is not some static comportment with external reality. That is an outdated, bourgeois, conception of ‘truth’.
Statements like Romney’s possess a higher, dynamic, revolutionary truth. To the extent that such statements advance the Party, and support its role as Vanguard of the Revolution, they are True.
All power to the Soviets of hedge-fund managers and preachers!
Paul L.
@Xenos:
Phil Gingrey should have used the dodge.
He has 4 kids
BarneyG2000
Gingrey called into Rush’s show this afternoon to grovel.
disappointedGOPer
@Paul L.: Weak, weak sauce.
Tom65
Good. The more the GOP identifies with Limbaugh and his kind, the faster they’ll marginalize themselves.
nitpicker
Oh, wait…That wasn’t his tail he just tucked after all…
kay
@Paul L.:
Who are the elected conservative leader(s) ?
How did you end up with a political Party led by talk show hosts and op-ed writers?
The Moar You Know
@disappointedGOPer: The story of Paul’s life, sadly. I think he’s deficient in testosterone.
Fencedude
@Paul L.:
Who elected any of the nutroots, Keith Olbermann or Rachel Maddow?
Look, up above you.
Thats the point, flying WAAAAAY overhead.
different church-lady
The base: it’s a ball and chain around the GOP ankle.
Incertus
@Brick Oven Bill: To the people who listen to Limbaugh, he has all the legitimacy he needs, and Obama taking him on won’t matter. To the people who dismiss Limbaugh, they’re not going to suddenly take him seriously no matter what Obama does. The rest of the people don’t care enough to do much more than vote in elcetion years, if they do that much.
And for fuck’s sake, either come with some actual proof that there’s a move by either the Democratic party as a whole or President Obama to do anything whatsoever to talk radio, or shut the fuck up about it, because no one is going to shut it down.
Paul L.
@disappointedGOPer:
Correct, I forgot two of the towering intellects who lead the charge in bringing the progressive enlightenment to the masses.
Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert
Nylund
Well, he did differentiate between commentators and thinkers, so at least he’s admitting Rush ain’t much of a thinker.
kay
@disappointedGOPer:
Obama’s just recognizing a fact. He’s addressing the leader of the conservative movement.
And that’s scary. Because Rush Limbaugh never has to follow through. He never has to balance a budget or draft legislation or persuade people to vote for him and put him into a position where they actually have to live with his ideas, in practice.
Russ Feingold is a hero on the Left. But Russ Feingold actually governs. That might tend to temper Russ Feingold.
Zifnab
Hey now, both parties are built on philosophy. Goldwater in ’64 and Nixon in ’72 and Reagen in ’80 didn’t just appear from whole cloth. They had the (unelected) Irving Kristols and William Buckleys and Arthur Laffers in their wake.
That the GOP feels beholden to the Rush Limbaugh brigade says less about the individual Congressman than it does about the common wisdom concerning conservative voters. The GOP still clings to the dogma that Rush and Hannity and Drudge have the ideology in some kind of iron grip.
And this just isn’t true. The last few electoral cycles indicate that there are still big movers and shakers in the conservative community, but Rush just isn’t one of them. The political party thinks it is following (or perhaps stringing along) the views of its constituency. Just the opposite. When "titans" like Rush and Hannity break from mainstream thought, THEY are the ones that suffer – with sinking ratings and increased audience hostility.
The political party is simply trying to keep pace with its constituency, but right wing radio is proving to be a very bad metric of what even conservatives think.
kay
@Zifnab:
Right. Goldwater, Nixon, Reagan.
Anyone slightly more current? How about Congress? Anyone who enjoys the absolute devotion of a Dennis (OH) in the House or a Feingold in the Senate, as on the Left?
Incertus
@Paul L.: Both of whom pwn right-wingers when they dare to appear on their shows. I don’t know that anyone has ever made Bill Kristol look like more of a vacuum than Stephen Colbert has.
disappointedGOPer
@Paul L.:
More weak sauce.
magisterludi
Last night on the News Hour, there was a discussion about partisanship and the state of the GOP. The general consensus was that they needed to decide whether they were the party of Ronald Reagan or the party of Rush Limbaugh.
I think Limpdick really stepped in it this time.
Hedley Lamarr
We should at least be thankful that Josef Göbbels is no longer on talk radio.
Brick Oven Bill
Incertus; Obama’s error is that people like you, me, and hopefully the majority of this audience will take greater notice if talk radio is silenced. I hope that it is not.
I have an off-topic conspiracy theory on Rush Limbaugh, based on the price of radio advertizing. I exist in a relatively small radio market, but will provide a data point that you can buy a 30-second talk radio spot for under twenty bucks. Rush reportedly makes $50 million a year. The math does not seem to me to work, after you take into account all the salaries, and all the overhead, and all of the licensing.
I think part of his salary is provided by the oil companies, and other interests that want to keep the oil shale ban in place.
Another off-topic datapoint, I write this from Panera Bread, waiting for a meeting, and there are six employees, and six customers.
John S.
If Paul L. can’t manage to find a way to tie shit in with Mike Nifong and Duke lacrosse, his posts lose the only value they ever had to begin with: Entertainment.
Montysano
Are you sure he’s not a Democrat? ‘Cause that’s how we roll.
DougJ
Smart. Strong.
John S.
If
Paul L.Brick Oven Billcan’tcan manage to find a way to tie shit in withMike Nifong and Duke lacrossethe conspiracy against oil shale, his postslosegain the only value they ever had to begin with: Entertainment.This is the problem with you wingnuts – you can’t seem to tell the difference between anecdotes and actual scientific data. I’m sure if there were twenty customers and only two employees, you’d be the first asshole bitching about how long it takes to get service and how flawed Panera’s business model is.
SGEW
Hooray! More oil shale conspiracies!
I take back my opinion that BOB should be banned.
Brick Oven Bill
The best government is firmly based in reason, and reason consists of data points. There are twelve customers now. School probably got out.
If there is a long line, I do not complain, I just use their Internet and tables for free, without going through the motions of buying anything. This is hard to do when there are only a few people here though. The employees look at you strange. So I buy coffee. I met a Senator here once.
So, anyway, I went up to buy my coffee today, and it was FREE! So I bought a bagel.
The Moar You Know
@Backyard Crematory Bill: You are close. His ad revenues, indeed, don’t come close to supporting his salary, let alone the production costs of his show.
Instead of positing who is taking up that considerable slack without providing any proof, just ask the question:
Who is paying for Rush Limbaugh to be on the air?
And investigate accordingly. I suspect that you are correct, the oil companies pay some of the salary of the OxyContin Wonderboy – but they are not the only ones. He pimps for a lot of interests. It would be educational to find out who is paying his bills.
Who directly holds his contract?
Premiere Radio Networks
a subsidary of:
Clear Channel Communications
This much is obvious. Who are Clear Channel’s shareholders? Are they a subsidary of somebody else? This I do not know. But it would no doubt shed some light on the question of "who owns Limbaugh’s fat ass?" to find out.
Davebo
Paul,
I just got out of my car and I want to assure you that no one has silenced El Rushbo.
And at this point, his 23 million listeners pretty much make up the GOP.
Unfortunately, there are over 300 million Americans.
Xenos
@Brick Oven Bill:
Silencing talk radio? Who the hell has suggested that?
Wait- don’t answer. It must be the oil companies, making sure nobody ever hears about all that wonderful free energy in the shale deposits and the discoveries about evolution over the last 30,000 years. And how you can make a really neat oven in your backyard with some bricks and cement, escape from the tyranny of Big Bread, and go off the grid like an authentic Jeffersonian yeoman hero.
Ash Can
@kay:
Agreed, and it’s all the more reason to call him out. Get him front and center in as bright a national spotlight as possible. Make him repeat all the dreck he spews on his radio program, to an audience far, far larger than his current echo chamber. And make the geniuses that comprise the current incarnation of the Republican party own every last putrid bit of it. It’s long overdue.
Paul L.
I forgot to credit the people who make the empty suits look somewhat intelligent.
Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s writers
Because without them they couldn’t pwn Nancy Grace.
SGEW
Wow. Can we get Paul L. and B.O.B. to argue with each other?
Gold, Jerry! Gold!
TenguPhule
Corrected for accuracy.
Sephiroethlisberger
Holy shit!!!
I’M AT PANERA!
Does this mean I’m lucky enough to be at the same Panera as Brick Oven Bill?
Am I one of the final six??
bago
But Bill, you WORK for the New York Times!
John S.
@BOB:
For the last time, your personal anecdotes are NOT data points. Imbecile.
Ben Richards
BOB – you are all over the place. Get it together, man! You are like a younger, less erudite, less funny Grandpa Simpson.
Mike P
This, however, is full of win:
John PM
@Ash Can: #78
They did that already – He was an commentator on Monday Night Football for all of one game, until he questioned the ability of Donovan McNabb to be a quarterback because of his color. ABC could not get rid of him fast enough.
@Paul L.: #79
Now you are just talking out of your ass. Stewart and Colbert are the head writers for their respective shows. Nothing gets on the air without their approval.
Trollhattan
BOBjob wrote:
How the fig do you figure that? He went from birth to the White House on a gilded pillow borne aloft by Persian kittehs?
This guy’s got more steel in his spine than any preznet in the last twenty-five years, probably more. The rightist mewling classes will take at least eighteen months to figger that little detail out, and quite a bit longer to figger what to do about it. House of cards: fully ablaze.
Trollhattan
@ PauLyWalnuts
Heh, indeedy. Just ask Tucker Carlson.
Ash Can
@John PM:
Yes indeed, and wasn’t that grand? Imagine him as the acclaimed head of the Republican party, getting coverage like that for much, much more than just one news cycle. I can smell that popcorn popping already.