I dont listen to Rush all that often (in fact I hardly ever listen to radio) but I thought his speech on Saturday had some very salient points. He was dead on accurate about our need to stop pandering to the left, and I thought he explained his “obama fail” comment quite well. It made perfect sense.

I think that this is, as you say, a very concerted effort to get the “party” to move left in order to appeal to what they mistakenly think is the center, but for all intents and purposes, is the “center” as defined by the far left of the Democratic party. Its almost like the Conservative party in England, who after their defeat by Blair for so many years went back and left their roots and have come back much farther left than they were before. Its a shame.

Electing Steele, while a very nice man, is horrible for the party. Ken Blackwell was the only real choice, and unfortunately, just like during this primary season, the conservatives in the party were swallowed up and a moderate emerged. If we are not careful we could end up with the same thing happening in 12, with Pawlenty or worse Crist, coming out as the nominee, which I believe would please this current crop of “party leaders” just fine.

It’s easy to say “Limbaugh is not an intellectual” or that he is imperfect personally. It’s also clear that he repels some people.

But what is equally clear is that he is very smart and a great communicator of what he believes. I think he’s better than Obama at that, and for proof I offer his ability to speak for over an hour without note or aid. Perhaps a comparison is inapt, because Obama uses his powers to obscure what he believes rather than to convey it.

And Limbaugh puts some people off, with his self-assurance and faux pomposity. Once you listen long enough to know which is which, it’s really quite fun to imagine his critics’ blood pressure.

But what is most clear about those who look down on Limbaugh conservatives is that it is they, and not we, who are the arrogant ones. If you talk to people out here in the hinterlands, you’ll find that a goodly percentage of his listeners agree with Rush on almost everything. But you won’t find any who agree with him about absolutely everything, even if they offer “dittos”.

I could go on, but I won’t.

Regardless of what anyone says about Rush, Bush, Palin, Joe the Plumber, and Rick Santelli, the liberal Democrats are trying to distract the public when they attack these people. DON’T FALL FOR IT!

Attacking Rush will not create jobs.
Attacking Rush will not save everyones 401K plan.
Attacking Rush will not stimulate the economy.

The Democrats need to be attacked for changing the topic! Every time Obama speaks, every cries as their retirement funds melts away! And with the Democrats spending like crazy, when the bill comes due, they will just stop sending out the Social Security checks and tax refunds. You can be certain the Democrats will blame anyone but themselves for such disasters.

… one of these guys accomplishes something that actually advances conservatism, it will be the first.

Rush did more on Saturday to advance conservatism than Frum, Douthat, Brooks, et al. have done in their entire careers. And if you look at Rush’s entire career, his accomplishments in advancing conservatism dwarfs these puny little clowns.

No wonder they are envious of him.

He long ago figured out that the only reason you get popular with lefties is if you constantly undercut your own side, showing your ‘openness’. I’m sure his critics have a TON of our opposition just adoring them as their token Repub that understands how messed up conservatives are. Very popular at parties.

Rush is relentlessly positive, he’s doing it every day, and while he gets a few things wrong, and a few things maybe aren’t as humorous as he thinks, he’s the only 3 hours of talk I can always handle listening to. He is there to inspire, not to bring you down.

And he understands the way forward to victory is by focusing on freedom, not some half-baked moderation of the complete opposite of freedom.

As a side not I didn’t think Steele was that bad on that show, his first sentence was defending Rush, and his ‘ugly’ comment was probably just poorly chosen. I think as head of the RNC, he might not be far off calling some of the Shanklin songs ugly. He’s got to stay above all that. Anyway, they’ll work it out.

An AP story tonight says the left is gleeful as it handcuffs (in their mind) the Republican Party to Rush. They’re sure that Rush only attracts ultra conservatives (ie crazies), that ‘normal’ republicans would be repelled at the idea, and therefore will leave the party. While I’m not gleeful at anyone being cuffed, it appears the left wants the so-called Republican party to stand for the same things I do.

But he’s our a-hole.

And that’s why we love him.

the same ones who insisted on John McCain as being the future of the Republican party? Fat lot of good that did. It seems like they’re still insisting even as the US and the world augers into the ground.

and he apologized for it, I don’t think it’s fair to call him a Christine Todd Whitman Republican, Erick. I know you aren’t the biggest fan of Chairman Steele, but with all due respect, I think it’s a little unfair.

The truth is, the media is trying to drive wedges between people like Michael Steele, Eric Cantor, Rush Limbaugh and other conservative leaders in the party. They want Steele and Cantor to be seen as the sensible ones and Rush to be marginalized.

We need to be united. We may disagree on one thing or another, but we need to stand together and I think we fall victim to the left’s strategy if we begin to do this.

Rush’s critics don’t realize that he has been carrying the most consistent conservative message without fail for 20 years. Even the “idea man” Newt Gingrich will veer off in the weeds when gets too excited . If only the Republican party would understand that core principles of conservatism are the only way to communicate the vision of the party. No apology, no qualifications … American respect principles and vision but the Republican party has refused to promote or follow this for years.

Rush is the only one living this and we are so lucky to have him. With conservative values as the core, the ideas for growth of our country will flow and prosper. I can still remember how I naively thought that 2005 would be the year that the Republicans showed the country what conservatives could … I did not realize how few conservatives we actually elected.

Scott

Limbaugh has several advantages that make him the closest thing we have to True North on conservatism.

Longevity. He’s been around for decades, so he brings the view of experience, from the Reagan era to the Bush era.

Independence. Since he never had to run for office he never had to compromise his views. They are pure.

Clarity. Rush is a phenomenal speaker. He is better than Obama. I was riveted Saturday night. I’m amazed that he could be so entertaining for 1.5 hours when only scheduled for 20 minutes.

Rush quite simply deserves the deference that he gets from the Republican Party. I’ll stand with Rush before I stand with Republicans.

I think you are being a bit hard on Michael Steele.

I think Eric Holder was right about us being cowards about race; just not the way HE thinks we are cowards about race. Shelby Steele called it White Guilt in his book by the same title: we are afraid to confront blacks who use racism as a cudgel to get the policies they want.

I think on the Sunday show, to some extent Michael Steele was reacting as a black man, not as a Republican or even just as human. There have been other black conservatives who’ve had tsimilar thoughts, some of whom may even have voted for Obama in November, but whose opinions I respect. There is a certain sense in which rooting for Obama’s failure is the same as rooting for the US to fail in Iraq (I believe the comparison to be more fundamentally flawed than true, but there is a connection which leads down the wrong path). And I think the combination probably hit him like an unexpected gut punch so he reacted accordingly in what he said.

Then Michael Steele did neither Obama, nor any of his minions can do: he called Rush and talked to him. And after they finished talking, he spoke as a Republican and a human. He agreed the Rush and he have more in common than differences, and that the coordinated attack on him and Rush by Obama and the MSM made it clear that he and Rush would have to work together, because there are things more important to the future of our Republic than any petty differences between them. This action alone makes him worthy of our respect.

I disagree with Steele on many things. He is from the libertarian wing of conservatism, and I hail from the the paleo- wing. But Steele is not in the same class of Rinos as Frum, Douthat, Whitman, or Spectre. I am likely to frequently regard Steele as an opponent, but never an enemy. And I DO regard the other people on that list as enemies, as surely as I regard Obama himself as an enemy of the spirit of liberty for which has historically invigorated America.