Democratic Fatuities in Attacks on Michael Steele and Rush Limbaugh

–Richard E. Vatz

Matt Lauer asked Michael Steele, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, the umpteenth variation of the question liberal Democrats and liberal Democratic supporters have been asking all week: do you support Rush Limbaugh when he says he “wants the policies of Barack Obama to fail?”

Usually when an elementary logical mistake is made in political discourse, one expects it to be corrected by major media, or at least by a large number of the fragmented internet sources.

Lacking that happenstance, let me just say what is probably obvious to many, if not most, political observers: to want President Barack Obama to fail in his efforts to radically redistribute wealth in this country and fail in his efforts to mortgage the country beyond the ability of future generations to pay for it does not mean that one wants him to fail in improving America’s economy. If the United States had used nuclear weapons in Vietnam, and people objected to their use, it would not mean that they opposed the defeat of the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese.

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Let’s go on to unmask the charade that passes for fair national political dialogue. The President’s Chief-of-Staff Rahm Emanuel has been the major source of the effort to convince Americans that Rush Limbaugh is the face of the Republican Party. This would be funny if it were an update of “Alice in Wonderland.” Is Rahm “Republicans can go f— themselves” Emanuel the face of the Democrats? Is Keith “You’re a fascist, Mr. Bush” Olbermann the face of the Democratic Party?

When asked to reconcile his and Republican views with Mr. Limbaugh’s, the good Mr. Steele – and he is a good man – should simply bring up the foregoing examples or simply say, “Mr. Limbaugh is part of the conservative commentariat, and I have no interest in interfering with his freedom of speech. He brings good intensity to Republican efforts, and beyond that if you have questions about his opinions, just ask him.

Wonder how President Obama reconciles his views with those of the elected Rep. Dennis Kucinich?

Richard E. Vatz is professor of political communication at Towson University



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