Posted on 01/26/2009 1:20:45 PM PST by lewisglad
“I hope he fails.” — Rush Limbaugh
It is, of course, a calculated outrage.
Meaning, it was spewed by a clown in the media circus to kick a familiar sequence into motion: angry denunciation by bloggers, pundits and supporters of President Obama (the “he” whose failure is hoped), followed by Rush Limbaugh refusing to retract a word, a courageous truth teller who will not be moved. And, trailing behind, like the folks with brooms trail the elephants in the circus parade, Limbaugh’s devotees, complaining that their hero has been misquoted, misunderstood or otherwise mistreated. “What Rush meant was ... yadda yadda yadda.”
A calculated outrage.
And knowing this, knowing how adroitly media are manipulated by self-promoting media clowns who defame conservatism by calling themselves conservative, one is tempted to let the statement pass, to make its way unimpeded to the dustbin like so many other manufactured controversies. But occasionally, it’s necessary to intercept one of them and hold it up to the light.
This is one of those times. Not because what Limbaugh said on his radio program a few days before the inauguration was an outrage — outrage is the point, remember? — but rather, because of what the thing he said says about him and his fellow clowns.
“I hope he fails.”
Do you ever say that about your president if you are an American who loves your country? Would you say it about George W. Bush, who was disastrous, about Bill Clinton, who was slimy, about Jimmy Carter, who was inept, about Richard Nixon, who was crooked? You may think he’s going to fail, yes. You may warn he’s going to fail, yes.
But do you ever “hope” he fails? Knowing his failure is the country’s failure? Isn’t that, well ... disloyal?
The irony is that Limbaugh and the other clowns would have you believe they are bedrock defenders of this country, that they love it more than the rest of us, more than anything.
That’s a lie. Limbaugh just told us so, emphatically.
It’s not the country they love. It’s the attention. The ideology, their perversion of conservatism, is but a means toward that end.
Yes, an observer might point out that it’s counterproductive to give them attention while decrying their love of attention. But, as already noted, occasionally the clowns spew something that cannot, and ought not, be ignored.
Ideological division is nothing new to politics. But has ideology ever taken quite the seat of prominence it now enjoys? Have people ever been quite so prone to regard their ideological identity as more important than their national identity? The last 30 years are rare in that regard, if not unique.
“I hope he fails?!”
So that, what? The defamation of conservatism Limbaugh represents will stand vindicated? The Republicans will pick up a few seats in the midterm election? Limbaugh’s “side” — his word — will score points?
Is this only a game, then? No lives at stake, no future on the line, no planet in the balance? Just a game?
I hope he bricks this free throw.
I hope he fumbles that pass.
I hope he fails.
And to hell with the country.
The country doesn’t matter. The “side” does. And Limbaugh’s side seems angry in power and angry out. It’s as if anger is all they really have.
Barack Obama was elected in large part on a promise to carry the nation past anger, past the notion that either party has a monopoly on wisdom, past the belief that ideology is identity. He was elected because people want a sense of mission that makes them feel like Americans again.
If he is successful, Limbaugh and the other clowns will face tough sledding in a radically different world. Small wonder he is so eager to strangle this presidency in its infancy. And need it even be said?
I hope he fails.
Leonard Who?
Where is the Barf Alert?
Who let the troll in here?
Because “white will embrace what’s right” and stimulus jobs not being for white construction workers is really getting past hate...give me a break.
I support the 0ne, just not anything he says or wants to do.
If Obama fails, America wins.
Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.
Controversy = revenue.
And that’s all Limbaugh is in it for.
Sure he does. But Zero is an ‘attention whore’. ;)
WHO LET THE TROLL IN?!? (HOO! H00! HOO! HOO!)
I should have put the barf alert up, my bad.
Nice cherry-picking of quotes, Pitt. If the author cared to put Rush in context, he would have reported that Rush actually said that if Obama supported tax cuts and other things that would REALLY stimulate the economy, Rush would support him. But if Obama continues down the road he’s on with socialist policies, Rush hopes the POLICIES fail. In fact, Rush says that they have never worked in the past, and he doesn’t expect them to work this time, either.
I hope Obama does succeed (and so said Rush) and by succeed, we mean succeed in keeping America the bastion of freedom it was created to be.
Unfortunately the Obama agenda is geared at some Marxist paradigm to let the country take care of us all. Pure Unadulterated crap, that we can't let succeed.
If you wanna make a bambi supporter’s blood boil,
point out what a dumbass and what a racist zero is.
He didn't listen; did he!
"I hope his POLICIES fail."
Leonard; YOU may want MASSIVE government intrusion into more of YOUR life; but MILLIONS of us DON'T!
Lenny who and do these people really understand who they are dealing with?
Rush didn't sound outraged at all.
This asshat on the other hand who expresses outrage after outrage in his column is probably lost in the irony.
I notice he wrote a spirited column about the nuances in Michelle O’s “first time I’m really proud of this country” statement. But I guess a different standard exists for white guys. No nuances allowed.
I view that as a threat. This puke may not like this radical "New World" he seems to want. He should read "A Brave New World".
Fortunately, we don’t have to spend any time or energy hoping Leonard Pitts fails. He already has.
Leftists have been claiming for years that they “support the troops”, but not their mission. Well, Rush supports Obama but not his mission.
LOL!!
But, but, but... this is a (ahem) "historical" presidency, right Leonard? No time for intelligence and common sense. Throw "content of character" out the window, who cares?.... ain't that right, Leonard?
pig.
One name. Dick Gephardt.
I wonder if this guy ever wanted Bush to fail, or spoke out against Bush’s policies?
Looks like a typical Obama Loser.
I hope Obama fails too!! In everything he does!
Leonard,
Submit the attached document under your name. NOW!
Rahm
Pitts is just jealous no one will listen to him on a radio or TV show.
That would be the proper response. No one knows who this person is. Mention Limbaugh and hope Rush acknowledges him and then everyone will know who he is. Someone is looking for attention here...
Here's the exact quote from Rush: "I got a request here from a major American print publication. "Dear Rush: For the Obama [Immaculate] Inauguration we are asking a handful of very prominent politicians, statesmen, scholars, businessmen, commentators, and economists to write 400 words on their hope for the Obama presidency. We would love to include you. If you could send us 400 words on your hope for the Obama presidency, we need it by Monday night, that would be ideal." Now, we're caught in this trap again. The premise is, what is your "hope." My hope, and please understand me when I say this. I disagree fervently with the people on our side of the aisle who have caved and who say, "Well, I hope he succeeds. We've got to give him a chance." Why? They didn't give Bush a chance in 2000. Before he was inaugurated the search-and-destroy mission had begun. I'm not talking about search-and-destroy, but I've been listening to Barack Obama for a year-and-a-half. I know what his politics are. I know what his plans are, as he has stated them. I don't want them to succeed."
Now Leonard, you a$$clown, you figure out what is misquoted, misunderstood, and who was mistreated.
Leonard Pitts: goosestepper...
Hey, Leonard - you moron...
You forgot the first part of his sentence (wink, "forgot"...), which is "If his policies are socialist, I hope he fails."
Way to continue being a horrible liberal columnist.
But we all know that, don't we, and it won't make a hill of beans worth of difference in the MSM, which did the same as Mr. Pitts for the last 8 years, but seems to be suffering from collective amnesia in that regard.
Leonard Pitts
I like to go a step further and explain how their policies on abortion, welfare, education, social security, and estate taxes are designed to keep a high percentage of the city dwelling black population subservient makes them a much larger racist than any of their bile directed towards me or conservatives as a whole... :)
What makes you say that?
Leonard Pitts is no Dave Barry.
Hey, Leonard! I want Odumbo to fail, because what he wants to do to America is pretty much everything I oppose. Ergo, his failure would be America’s salvation and his success would be America’s doom. Leonard, you libs are forever associating one’s opposition to one of your chosen heroes to smack of something personal, as you always reduce everything to a personal level. However, in Odumbo’s case he has steadfastly refused to tell the American people anything about his past, or about himself pesonally (and the MSM, which includes you, Leonard, refused to even begin to question him, and thus you are complicit in his throwing a cover over who he is) as a person, so all we know about him is his politics; thus, all we know about him is his politics, and, quite frankly, his politics suck.
Exactly, Rush said if Obama persues a socialist agenda he would have no choice but to hope that he fails.
Lenny Pitts and any other idealogues trying to be “journalists” should not write about topics they know nothing about. Rush hopes 0 fails to get his agenda enacted because it’s bad policy and bad for America.
And you, of course, Leonard Pitts, want no attention and want no one to read your article.
Idiot. Columnists, talk show hosts, anchor people on TV, entertainers: all of you want attention. That’s your JOB! To sell advertising space or time. Authors want to sell books. Attention can earn you a living. Haven’t you figured that out? Or are you pretending you don’t know the secret? If you are dull, you will get no attention. Your newspaper will fire you.
You, yourself, are using Limbaugh’s name to get attention for yourself.
Detroit Free Press: ‘Which Books Would Palin Want to Ban?’
Posted by Mike Bates on Sunday, September 28, 2008 1:49:52 PM
Last week, the Detroit Free Press’s Web site posted “Which books would Palin want to ban?,” a column by syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. Pitts begins with a series of possible questions for Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Then he makes his point:
Wow, every day SOMEONE comes out against Rush? Rush is such a treasure to this country — a man who speaks the truth boldly. I think we should watch his back.
This guy is in desperate need of an editor. Or maybe he should just quit crack. Either would go a long way, probably.
“white will embrace what’s right”
I just shake my head to have heard that on that day.
These libtards always write articles based on what they were told that someone else said. How about they actually LISTEN to the show and then write the article? That used to be taught in Journalism 101.
Yeah, darn that Rush for making Bambi mention him. Wonder how he got him to do it.
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