Rush to judgement

I will confess that I am not a fan of Rush Limbaugh. Every now and then he says something that I agree with, but his opinion does not often reflect my opinion as a moderate Conservative. I am a social liberal who believes strongly in small government and free markets. This idea that Rush endorses that the Republican Party would have won the election had they nominated a more conservative candidate is hogwash. In the last election, Republicans lost support with moderates, so the notion that they would have enticed more moderates with a far right candidate is just wrong. McCain did not lose because he is a moderate; he lost because he is too old and has an idiot’s understanding of economics.

I do not want Rush Limbaugh to speak for me, but his role is that of an entertainer who has a radio show. We have freedom of speech, and whatever he wants to say to get ratings is his business. Now this idea that he is the defacto leader of the Republican Party is also foolhardy. That idea however, did not come from Rush, it came from Rahm Emmanuel, Paul Begala, and James Carville, who took the sound bite that he wants Obama to fail and then decided to frame him as the fearless leader so that they can attack him and slander the Republican Party in the process. The irony of it all being that James Carville proclaimed that he wanted George Bush to fail moments before 9/11, and then retracted his statements when the planes hit the towers. There is an element of hypocrisy that someone who wanted Bush to fail would then devise a strategy for attacking a conservative talk radio host for saying that he wanted Obama to fail.

I don’t want Obama to fail, even if I think his policies will, because my life and the lives of my family have been adversely affected by this economic downturn. If conditions worsen, that has a negative affect on my life, and for me to cheer for that would be absurd. I want the economy to improve. Perhaps if things get worse I can say “I told you so” as I did not support Obama during the election, but that does not help my family members who have lost their jobs in this downturn, nor does it help the retirement savings of my parents. In my ideal world, I would prefer that the Oval Office spend more time fixing the problem than devising a plan to attack Republicans. They just took office! If conditions improve that will help their status in the next election far better than a slander campaign against a radio entertainer who does not represent the Republican Party.