And A Shriek Of Joy Was Heard Across The Land

Jon Stewart Earns the Wrath of Rush Limbaugh | Politicususa.com

Jon Stewart has now earned the wrath of Rush Limbaugh for getting Bill Kristol to admit on The Daily Show that government run healthcare works. Limbaugh said that Stewart is a sell out for using the military as healthcare example, because liberals like Stewart hate the military. Ugh, so now Rush is going after Jon Stewart.

Oh, I am SO tuning in tonight, even though it's somewhat pointless. That is to say, very, very few people who listen to Limbaugh will bother to tune in to the upcoming reality check.

It's not like you NEED John Stewart to fact-check Rush. There's Google, there's Factcheck.org, Snopes.com, white house, congressional and agency web-sites, hundreds upon thousands of newspapers, books and other publications and, with the exceptions actually recommended by Rush, a surprisingly large number will disagree with some or all of his public statements.

But then, if you are stupid enough to listen, you are also dumb enough to want to believe whatever Rush says.

Unlike Limbaugh’s old, angry, white man listenership, Stewart’s viewers will be shaping elections for years to come, so dismissing his program as a comedy show that young people think is real news is dumb thing to do. Stewart isn’t a sellout for pointing out the holes in the Republican healthcare argument. A sellout is someone like Rush Limbaugh who goes on the air everyday and acts as a propagandist for the Republican Party. Limbaugh is the very definition of a sellout.

You know, as tragicomically funny as this is, it's also deeply depressing. Because what Rush thinks should not matter to anyone.

Outside The Goldwater Limit

1AU T-Shirt by webcarve

Or send your favorite political Representative a little office accent...


I'm coining a new term. The Goldwater Limit. Anything further than one AU from center is incapable of naturally supporting intelligent life.

In related news, the Republican Imperial Martian Compound runs low on tinfoil and duct-tape; aid appeals sent to Uranus.

This is one of those stories I do where the story is about reactions to stories. In this case, it's a DKos diary referencing RedState, LGF and Freep reactions, the reactions there, and to top it all off, the Digg threads regarding all the above. I'm starting to wonder if I should even bother reading the original stories any more...

Nah. But it's important to realize it's the reactions that are driving the story these days - and most importantly, the people like Rush who are trying to make up stories to fit the expectations of their audiences, who seem to have less and less connection with reality.

The deeper and more significant aspect of this is that it seems apparent that Obama set this up with a casual remark, saying in a throwaway comment that people had to "quit listening to Rush Limbaugh if you want to get things done." He let the yeast rise a little -"exploded" might be a better word - and then sent out Rahm Emmanuel to hail the resultant wisdom of the crowd across the asile.

The end result - winguntta has exploded, trying to 'get active' and force the Republican party farther to the right, to join with them in their belief and demand that Obama must fail.

Since rational people have some appreciation of what happens to a nation when critical policy initiatives actually do fail - whatever disagreements you might have about what you may think they should have been, as opposed to what they happen to end up being - this has had the effect of peeling off significant numbers of Republicans. Oh, not to the Democratic party, or to the Left - but they have no home in the Republican party, and no-one speaking intelligently on their behalf.

And that leaves Obama - who is a died in the wool pragmatist and a skilled consensus builder whom I would personally peg as being Center-Right - well, the point is, he hasn't uttered anything conspiciously stupid, and he doesn't spit when he talks.

Meanwhile, back at dKos - the Schadenfreude is so deep you need hip waders.

Ben Smith notes today that Erickson has joined Limbaugh in rooting for Obama's failure. (h/t to Setrak) The RedState founder is even trying to recruit new "soldiers" for the RedState Strike Force, "to undermine Barack Obama's agenda and [help] him fail." Oh Noes!!!

UPDATE: STEELE'S METTLE FATIGUE

Publish Post

Steele Bows Down To Limbaugh: ‘No Attempt On My Part To Diminish His Voice Or His Leadership’

We may now visualize the "Hip-Hop" RNC leader with a tastful, decorative clock featuring Rush Limbaugh's face hanging from a Rebel Flag lanyard.