Limbaugh vs. Steele

ARozanski · 03-02-2009, 12:45 PM

Limbaugh's latest attacker: RNC's Steele

Who's really in charge?

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Limbaugh's latest attacker: RNC's Steele
Jonathan Martin Jonathan Martin 46 mins ago

On the same night he was offering the keynote address to the Conservative Political Action Conference, Rush Limbaugh drew criticism from an unlikely source: Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele.

In a little-noticed interview Saturday night, Steele dismissed Limbaugh as an “entertainer” whose show is “incendiary” and “ugly.”

Steele’s criticism makes him the highest-ranking Republican to pick a fight with the popular and polarizing conservative talk show host.

But the new RNC chairman’s extraordinary comments won’t sit well with the millions of conservative listeners Limbaugh draws each week, and Steele aides scrambled to limit the damage Monday morning by trying to change the subject.

“Rahm Emanuel and the Democrats know they lose an argument with the Republican Party on substance so they are building straw men to attack and distract,” said RNC spokesman Alex Conant.

“The feud between radio host Rush Limbaugh and Rahm Emanuel makes great political theater, but it is a sideshow to the important work going on in Washington. RNC Chairman Michael Steele and elected Republicans are focused on fighting for reform and winning elections. The Democrats’ problem is that the American people are growing skeptical of the massive government spending being pushed by Congressional leaders like Nancy Pelosi.”

Limbaugh, asked to respond, said he’d save his counter-attack for his listeners.

“I’ll handle it on the radio,” he wrote in an e-mail.

In an interview on CNN with D.L. Hughley, Steele assured that he, not Limbaugh, was in charge of the party before saying that he wanted to put the right-wing talker “into context.”

“Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer,” Steele said. “Rush Limbaugh, his whole thing is entertainment. Yes it’s incendiary, yes it’s ugly.”

Steele’s comments, first noticed by NBC producer Chris Donovan, are sure to rankle Limbaugh in part because they validate the liberal critique of the conservative force: that he’s merely an “entertainer.”

That’s one of the phrases often used by Democrats who seek to diminish Limbaugh. MSNBC’s liberal talk-show host Keith Olbermann, for example, frequently mocks his broadcast adversary as “comedian Rush Limbaugh.”

Steele’s broadside comes as top-level Democrats are working to portray Limbaugh as the face of the GOP and daring anybody in the party to separate themselves from him.

A liberal coalition has aired two ads tying congressional Republicans to Limbaugh and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday that the radio talker is the “the voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican Party.”

Emanuel also noted that Republicans face repercussions for criticizing Limbaugh.

“When a Republican did attack him, he was — clearly had to turn around and come back and basically said that he's apologizing and was wrong,” Emanuel noted.

He was referring to Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) who last month took a shot at Limbaugh to POLITICO only to appear on his program the next day and plead momentary “foot-in-mouth disease.”

Conant, the RNC spokesman, didn’t say whether Steele would go on the show.

dave b · 03-02-2009, 01:20 PM

Bummer, man...

db

mac 1 · 03-02-2009, 01:52 PM

Just the name Limbaugh makes me

cacapants · 03-02-2009, 01:59 PM

I wonder why Limbaugh is so popular. I guess its because he say the things that most Republicans think and sends his maid out to get the drugs that most republicans get addicted to.

baldheadeddork · 03-02-2009, 03:12 PM

Which brings us to today's episode of Republicans eating their own:

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Over at Free Republic, the rabble is pissed...and I've been enjoying the show:

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Is he nuts? Does he not want contributions? You insult or stand AGAINST Rush....you are spitting on your base. Looks like I may have to change my affiliation to INDEPENDENT (until CONSERVATIVE) is allowed. I didn’t leave the Republican party...they left me.

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This is very disappointing.
Personally I was jazzed by everything Rush said.
I've never been inspired by Michael Steele's comments on Fox. Now I see why. He's one of "them".

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buh bye credibility of Michael Steele-

what little you had with me

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knowing what a political campaign loser you were in Maryland with the very folks and factions you claim to be leading the RNC to attract to the GOP

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Perhaps Mr. Steele should be reminded that he can be replaced.

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You are the head of the RNC and you don’t want him to fail?

Pray for America

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I think Steele might be a Dem plant to destroy the GOP from the inside.

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HEY STEELE
Country and free marktets are going to hell in a handbasket WHEN IS THE TIME TO BE INCENDIARY? When its %*$ Gulags for Conservatives?

Thats it I am leaving the party.

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Limbaugh and other limited government folks are drawing a line in the sand.

The Republican Party whores like Steele do not want lines. Instead they want to transcend across ideological plains with the hyper-collectivist who constantly play them like a Stradivarius.

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Are the Republican leaders just this stupid? Really, here we have a man, Rush Limbaugh, who brings down the house, with the audience on their feet, comment after comment. Twenty-two million people can not wait until noon every day to hear his comments. What does the Republican party do? They make Limbaugh an enemy. It is beyond belief.

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I just emailed Steele and gave him a piece of my mind. He is pitiful, spineless, and a disgrace.

I am disgusted.

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Fire that lameass RNC leader. Fire him now!

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WHAT HE SAID WAS INEXCUSABLE!

In his high position, he should be trained enough to control his words.....especially when he trashes someone ON OUR OWN SIDE!

Steele has revealed himself.....and the only thing we can do now is vote with our wallets when it comes to donations to the RNC.

He'll probably give the usual portion of OUR money to Snowe, Collins, Spectre and McCain, anyhow.

I'm livid! Was the man drunk?

And what would a Freeper meltdown be without some racism?

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Steele really disappointed me in his comments. I wonder if he is revealing his deep hidden allegiance to obuma’s skin in the game loyalty of race?????

Rush’s comments were clear, consise and to the point. Rush said what the Repubs are too, scared to say "the truth."

In summation, steele is just "another got skin in da game rino brother."

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Gee Michael, maybe your BROTHERS will share a spliff w/you later. How pathetic to cave so they can say your bright. He thinks your a wimp and he’s right.

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Frankly, I wouldn't take this too seriously. Steele will be glad to have Rush on his side when the time comes. This is, to be honest, a black guy talking ya-ya with other black guys and that kind of "dialog" never yields anything terribly useful.

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It’s like Rush said, we’re always acting like we’re the minority, letting the dems set the agenda while all we do is react to their bullying. We’ll, they set the agenda with a black president, and the pathetic GOP had to find their own black person to put in the store window. Enough of that crap.

And the backlash against Cantor is just beginning:

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Well, Steffie succeeded in his goal to get Cantor to repudiate Rush’s "fail" remark.

That was a big mistake by Cantor. Instead of answering the question whether he agreed with Rush that this jerk in the wh should fail by saying no one wants him to fail, he should have said that Rush only wants him to fail in taking us away from liberty and free market principles.

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We need to start a Rebel Republican movement to drag the GOP our way. Or perhaps its time for the Turd Party? What have we got to lose?

Pray for America, Our Troops and obama’s Failure

The denizens of RedState are also fuming:

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If Steele and the GOP think they can shun Rush Limbaugh Conservatives, they are headed for years, if not decades, in the minority.

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I saw [Cantor] on Hannity this week refuse to criticize Obama. He fears Obama.

This is quite depressing esp since Rush had Cantor on the show a few weeks ago. I would say that Cantor is quite vague in his criticism. coward

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what’s wrong with our leadership–they can’t even agree that they want this socialist experiment with our country to fail! Which leaves a huge amount of confusion for ignorant voters who don’t understand what’s wrong with Obama’s plans for America in the first place. If we can’t castigate socialism and show the problems with it in comparison to freedom and capitalism, then what have we got?

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What are these guys thinking? Pampering with the MSM? MSM’s line is a no-brainer:

"Diss GWB and Limbaugh.... and you’ll be fine with us!"

They are making a big mistake... like the mistakes of John McCain.

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the past 10 days is astounding. I wonder if Obama now has a Clinton like mafia with dirt on everyone that they can silence critics with?

Oh my. What will the GOP do? Continue to inch away from Rush and completely alienate their base (perhaps incrementally improving their public image)? Or do they beg Rush for forgiveness, strapping themselves to a sinking ship?

The have no good choices...thanks to Rush (with a little help from Obama).

UPDATE:

Erick Erickson at RedState has now decided that Cantor didn't really repudiate Rush. It's a hit job by ABC News!

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According to George Stephanopolous, Eric Cantor (R-VA) publicly rejected Rush LImbaugh’s rhetoric.

It is an absolute lie.

Remember, folks, Stephanopolous has daily phone calls with Rahm Emanuel to plot Democrat strategy via ABC News. No doubt this is a coordinated effort to cause a rift in the party where there is none.

But Erick's readers aren't buying it:

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While Cantor may have gotten around to making Rush’s point, why give Stephy and the MSM the opportunity to take this out of context. Sorry, I don’t feel sorry for Eric. He went along with the media set narrative, and then hoped to make Rush’s points by providing futher context.

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I saw Cantor myself on Hannity this week and he was way too timid in his deference to Obama and his agenda.

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This is really quite depressing when one considers that Cantor is supposed to be one of our stars!

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It would have been better if Cantor had said "Limbaugh makes a good point and here’s why..."

Why is it the the Dems could rip Bush and accuse him of everything, but the GOP must sit there like trained seals and bark on cue to whatever the Libs throw at them?

Are there any heroes in the GOP? Have they all gone into retirement?

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What a disapointment. Don’t any of our cowering representatives have the intestinal fortitude to stand up to this idiot Obama?
They all simper and whine and go crawling to whatever summit o summons them too.

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Eric Cantor is making the same terrible mistake that Tom DeLay made. He is the whip he needs to be the whip and get his face off national TV. ABC understands that the more Cantor talks the more he will be less effective.

Cantor has to park his ego and get off TV. Let the firebrands go on the air that is what they are for to stir the masses.

Hilarious. I'm reminded of Chris Matthews being perplexed about why Obama would ever want to elevate Limbaugh. Yes, what a terrible strategy that was.

UPDATE #2:

Also, for more wingnut-meltdown schadenfreude check out the comments on Hot Air. A few examples:

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I think I can honestly say that if this is the best that Steele, and Cantor can come up with, I hope they too fail.

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and does anyone really wonder why the republicans are a bunch of losers?

spineless wimps...they care more about the democrats liking them than they do about freedom.

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Cantor....cross another name off the list. I want no part of this weenie.
Steele...so far, more ‘cringe’ moments than ‘attaguy’ moments. Also looks like a bust.
GOP=Whigs.

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GOP: The party of wusses. And they wonder why they lost the election?

It goes on and on like that...truly a Ship of Fools.

cacapants · 03-02-2009, 03:15 PM

Apparently these people don't understand they are deifying the Howard Stern of politics.

jim schmidt · 03-02-2009, 03:31 PM

I'd suspect Rahm Emmanuel is behind the effort to make Limbaugh the face of Republicanism. Sure Limbaugh loves the attention, but making voters think RNC=Limbaugh is brilliant politics. And Limbaugh can be counted on to continue to make the RNC look like a bunch of silly bastards every time he opens his mouth. He says things every day that would make most of the other 99 percent cringe if they heard them.

I wonder if they had this in their pocket just waiting for CPAC.

Of course Steele is shitting his pants. His ego is just as big and he's also gotta know who's driving this train.

baldheadeddork · 03-02-2009, 04:13 PM

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Originally Posted by jim schmidt

I'd suspect Rahm Emmanuel is behind the effort to make Limbaugh the face of Republicanism. Sure Limbaugh loves the attention, but making voters think RNC=Limbaugh is brilliant politics. And Limbaugh can be counted on to continue to make the RNC look like a bunch of silly bastards every time he opens his mouth. He says things every day that would make most of the other 99 percent cringe if they heard them.

I wonder if they had this in their pocket just waiting for CPAC.

Of course Steele is shitting his pants. His ego is just as big and he's also gotta know who's driving this train.

I don't think it's an organized campaign. Emanuel is doing it, but so is Paul Begala and a lot of others on the left.

I think this is an extension of a tactic the Dems started using in 2006, when they successfully hung Jack Abramoff and Mark Foley around the neck of the GOP as a whole. They did it again with "Bush's third term" last fall and now they're using it as a political tactic between elections. I don't think they had it in their pocket per se, I just think they consciously realized last fall that it worked and they filed it away for future use.

I've said before that the Dems are becoming very good a political judo and this thing with Limbaugh is the best example yet. They're taking the energy of a conservative attack and turning it against the GOP by holding it up to everyone as a referendum on where the Republican party is going. Limbaugh almost makes it too easy for the Dems, because he wants this fight for control of the party and the conservative movement more than anyone. Steele and Cantor have seen the polling, they know how badly this hurts them, but Limbaugh and the base don't care about little things like winning elections.

You're going to see this come up again and again. Dems are going to work this like a pressure point every time there's an issue where the conservative base is strongly against what the rest of the country wants. When the Republicans are spending half of their time fighting with their base, it's going to make it a lot easier for Obama and the Dems to get things done.

baldheadeddork · 03-02-2009, 04:19 PM

And right on cue, Limbaugh responds:

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Originally Posted by Fat Junkie

Yes, said Michael Steele, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, I’m incendiary, and yes, it’s ugly. Michael Steele, you are head of the RNC. You are not head of the Republican Party. Tens of millions of conservatives and Republicans have nothing to do with the RNC and right now they want nothing to do with it, and when you call them, asking them for money, they hang up on you. I hope that changes. I hope the RNC will get its act together…

It seems to me that it’s Michael Steele who is off to a shaky start….

Now, Mr. Steele, if it is your position as the chairman of the Republican National Committee that you want a left wing Democrat president and a left wing Democrat Congress to succeed in advancing their agenda, if it’s your position that you want President Obama and Speaker Pelosi and Senate leader Harry Reid to succeed with their massive spending and taxing and nationalization plans, I think you have some explaining to do.

Why are you running the Republican Party? Why do you claim you lead the Republican Party when you seem obsessed with seeing to it that President Obama succeeds? I frankly am stunned that the chairman of the Republican National Committee endorses such an agenda…

I don’t understand why you’re asking Republicans to donate to the Republican National Committee if their money is going to be spent furthering the agenda of Barack Obama? If we don’t want Obama and Reid and Pelosi to fail, then why does the RNC exist, Mr. Steele? Why are you even raising money?…

I’m not in charge of the Republican Party, and I don’t want to be. I would be embarrassed to say that I’m in charge of the Republican Party in a sad-sack state that it’s in. If I were chairman of the Republican Party, given the state that it’s in, I would quit. I might get out the hari-kari knife…

When you send those fundraising requests out, Mr. Steele, make sure you say, we — we — we want Obama to succeed. So people understand your compassion. Republicans, conservatives are sick and tired of being talked down to, sick and tired of being lectured to. And until you show some understanding and respect for who they are, you’re going to have a tough time rebuilding your party.

county · 03-02-2009, 04:32 PM

This is kinda like if F&D started fighting with Blur. To put things in perspective.

baldheadeddork · 03-02-2009, 04:34 PM

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Originally Posted by county

This is kinda like if F&D started fighting with Blur. To put things in perspective.

jim schmidt · 03-02-2009, 04:39 PM

As I said, Limbaugh is the perfect sucker for this strategy. This is not merely a repeat of a useful political tactic, I think its the perfection of it.

Pick the biggest fathead in the room and make him imagine he can be King of the Hill. Then wait for the inevitable rhetorical excesses -- AND MAKE SURE EVERYONE HEARS THEM. Then make sure everyone puts two and two together.

Limbaugh does the hard work and the opposition further fractures. Brilliant!

F&D · 03-02-2009, 05:41 PM

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Originally Posted by county

This is kinda like if F&D started fighting with Blur. To put things in perspective.

Not exactly. Blurr may be alot of things, but I do not get the impression that he's an ass-kissing RINO Democrat-lite.

Steele is worthless. The Republican party will remain a ship without a rudder as long as they continue with "leadership" like this. I have no use for the Republican party, and it has nothing to do with Limbaugh.

You guys don't have to worry about 2010 or 2012. There is no challenge on the horizon, because we don't even have a two-party system in this country anymore, and it seems like most of the population now wants a .GOV nanny to take care of them. You guys have bought the politics of class warfare. Let's see how you like it when you find yourself on the other side of the line.

Of course, by 2012 there probably won't be much of a country left to govern anyway, given the rate at which Obama and Pelosi are demolishing it.

BigBadBoom · 03-02-2009, 06:02 PM

The Power of Rush:

Watching 1600 on MSNBC Sen John Barrasso (R) tie himself in knots trying not to say that Rush was wrong all the while saying that he wants Obama to succeed.

More acrobatics than a Flying Walenda's show.

BDFINALLY · 03-02-2009, 06:36 PM

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Originally Posted by jim schmidt

I'd suspect Rahm Emmanuel is behind the effort to make Limbaugh the face of Republicanism. Sure Limbaugh loves the attention, but making voters think RNC=Limbaugh is brilliant politics. And Limbaugh can be counted on to continue to make the RNC look like a bunch of silly bastards every time he opens his mouth. He says things every day that would make most of the other 99 percent cringe if they heard them.

Dead...Solid....Perfect