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The Tired War on Rush Limbaugh
by Jonah Goldberg

Here we go again. Rush Limbaugh is public enemy No. 1.

Liberal bloggers and media chin-strokers are aghast at Limbaugh’s statement that he hopes Barack Obama fails.

Well, given what Obama wants to do, I hope he fails too. Of course I want the financial crisis to end — who doesn’t? But Obama’s agenda is much more audacious. Pretty much every major news outlet in the country has said as a matter of objective analysis that Obama wants to repeal the legacy of Ronald Reagan and remake the country as a European welfare state. And yet people are shocked that conservatives, Limbaugh included, want Obama to fail in this effort?

What movie have they been watching? Because I could swear that opposing the expansion of big government is what conservatives do. It’s Aesopian. The scorpion must sting the frog. The conservative must object to socialized medicine.

Besides, since when did hoping for the failure of ideological agendas you disagree with become unpatriotic? Liberals were hardly treasonous when they hoped for the failure of George W. Bush’s Social Security privatization scheme.

Regardless, the war on Limbaugh from the left is a tired rehash. In 1995, Bill Clinton tried to blame the Oklahoma City bombing on Rush. In 2002, then-Sen. Tom Daschle, the leader of the Democratic opposition, claimed that Limbaugh’s listeners weren’t “satisfied just to listen.” They were a violent threat to decent public servants like him.

In just the last month, Obama suggested that Republicans were in thrall to Rush. White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel has anointed him the GOP’s leader. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., complained that Republicans didn’t give Obama enough standing ovations during his recent address to Congress because they are afraid of Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

Does anyone really think that Republicans, absent fear of Limbaugh’s lash, would be throwing flower petals at Obama’s feet as he sells the Great Society II? If that’s true, I say thank goodness for Limbaugh’s lash.

Just because the Democrats’ shtick is old and often dishonest doesn’t mean it’s tactically dumb. Limbaugh and other right-wing talkers are popular with a third of the country. Fairly or not, they turn off moderates and self-described independents (and, for the left, conservative talk radio is the font of all evil). Most politicians would prefer to have 70 percent of the public on their side at the cost of losing 30 percent, even if that requires being less than fair to the 30 percent.

The more interesting war on Limbaugh comes from the right. My National Review colleague John Derbyshire has written a thoughtful article for the American Conservative disparaging the “lowbrow conservatism” of talk radio. His brush is a bit too broad at times. Some right-wing talkers, such as Bill Bennett and Dennis Prager, can be almost professorial. Michael Savage, meanwhile, sounds like the orderlies are about to break through the barricaded studio door with sedatives in hand. Derbyshire is nonetheless right that conservatism is top-heavy with talk-radio talent, sometimes giving the impression the right is deficient in other areas and adding to the shrillness of public discourse.

Another point of attack comes from “reformist” conservative writers, such as blogger Ross Douthat of The Atlantic and former Bush speechwriter David Frum. They argue that conservatism is too attached to talk-show platitudes and Reagan kitsch. They want conservatives and Republicans to become more entrepreneurial, less reflexively opposed to government action. Hence, the New Reformers object to Limbaugh’s role as an enforcer of ideological conformity. What’s good for Limbaugh, many of them argue, guarantees that the GOP will become a powerless rump party only for conservative true believers.

I’m dubious about that, but I do have a suggestion that would help on both fronts. Bring back “Firing Line.” William F. Buckley Jr., who died almost a year ago, hosted the program for PBS for 33 years. He performed an incalculable service at a time when conservatives were more associated with yahoos than they are today. He demonstrated that intellectual fluency and good manners weren’t uniquely liberal qualities. More important, the “Firing Line” debates (models of decorum) demonstrated that conservatives were unafraid to examine their own assumptions or to battle liberal ones.

As Democrats try to ram through the “remaking of America” (Obama’s words) by exploiting a financial crisis, we need those debates. PBS could actually live up to its mandate to educate and inform the public. It would be the kind of entrepreneurial government innovation even right-wingers could get behind.

Rush Taints Momentous Day for Green Bay Middle Schoolers

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Rush Limbaugh, ladies and gentlemen, resisting the tug of popular sentiment as the Last Man Standing. I have to tell you something. Yesterday afternoon after the program, I got home, I was minding my own business, as usual. In fact, I was already working on today’s program. I received an e-mail from the New York office. It was from my trusty and loyal aide-de-camp, H.R., also chief of staff. Apparently we caused quite a hubbub in Green Bay, Wisconsin, yesterday. Let me read the e-mail. This is an e-mail sent by an anal liberal teacher to I think somebody who is in management at our radio station in Green Bay. Basically what happened here, to set this up before reading the e-mail to you, ’cause it’s hilarious, what happened was they prepared the kids, it’s a middle school in Green Bay, they prepared the kids for weeks for this most momentous day in their lives, quote, unquote, the inauguration, the immaculation of Obama. And somehow they ended up piping my radio show through the PA system while the kids were sitting there listening to the immaculation. The teacher in this particular classroom was not happy with what she heard. So here is her e-mail to the radio station, I guess.

“Dear Mr. Bader: My name is [liberal anal teacher] and I contacted you via phone message earlier today. I just wanted to put into writing my complete and utter disappointment in your radio station’s choices during President Obama’s inauguration speech today. I understand that Rush Limbaugh built his career around his opinion and commentary. But I thought that even he would have the decency to honor such a historical and momentous event in our country’s history. I am a teacher at a middle school in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It was highly unfortunate that when our school decided to broadcast Obama’s speech over our PA to our student population of 1,200, our administrators randomly selected Mr. Limbaugh’s program. My students were shocked, angered, and saddened by the interruption of what was a respectful event, truly the most momentous moment of their young lives.”

If I may pause and ask a question, have none of these kids seen the birth of a brother or sister? Have none of these kids experienced Christmas morning? This was the most momentous moment of their young lives? Back to the e-mail now.

“We spent the morning preparing them for the event, explaining significance of the day –” I’ll bet they did “– and what it meant for equality and our future. Mr. Limbaugh could have and should have shown the respect the moment deserved. I was proud of my students’ conduct today, proud of the respect they showed this moment in history, and I was proud of their outrage at such an overstepping of boundaries by Mr. Limbaugh. Sadly, due to your radio programming, I was also disappointed, disappointed to have to be present as my middle school students experienced ignorance and arrogance on such a public scale. Following this day, Mr. Limbaugh has the next four years and longer to anyone willing to listen, for today we were hoping to take part in a piece of history without his commentary. My students will not forget the choices he made, nor will I forget what your radio station chose to do on this day. Thank you for your time, [anal liberal teacher,] art specialist, Green Bay, Wisconsin.”

Then there is a PS in e-mail: “Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.” So when I got this e-mail, ladies and gentlemen, I chuckled. I was also was told that there was another phone call to this station from another school in which whoever was on the phone from the school said the kids were crying. They were reduced to tears by my commentary during the immaculation speech of Barack Obama. Then I proceeded to print this e-mail 150 times on my home computer after reading “please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.” I would love to respond and say, “Please consider the environment before sending this e-mail.” By the way, this liberal teacher, now you know what it is like for us. My guy Snerdley came in here depressed because he has to listen to drivel and bilge 24/7 from the Drive-By Media talking about Obama and we’ve had to do this for a year-and-a-half.
So maybe, Ms. Teacher, you understand what it’s like for 58 to a hundred million Americans to have to listen to the tripe that is now couched as news and analysis by the Drive-By Media 24/7 regarding Obama and this new administration and America in general. But I thought why not turn this into an opportunity, ladies and gentlemen. I am thinking of — in fact, grab audio sound bite number 40. This is audio of the teacher who called our Green Bay radio station, WTAQ. Not going to mention her name ’cause I’m not trying to embarrass her or single her out, but here is audio of her phone call prior to the e-mail she sent the station that I just read you.

TEACHER: I’m a teacher in the Green Bay public schools. I’m calling to complain about your radio program today. Your program was unfortunately the one that was chosen to play to 1,200 students so that they could hear President Obama’s inauguration speech, and instead of being able to listen to their speech we had to listen to a disgusting commentary from one of your announcers. I believe it was Rush Limbaugh. I’m very, very disappointed that you allowed this to happen. I’m disappointed in his choice to take a wonderful moment of history and to taint it the way he did.

RUSH: And there was I guess a PS on this. Before playing back this message a second time, remember the environment. So that was the teacher. I guess she was not satisfied with the phone message so she sent the e-mail. Wonderful moment of history. You know, indoctrination is going on in the public schools all over the place out there, and the examples of it that I’ve cited for you here in southern Florida, south Florida, where teachers required parents to come watch Algore’s movie with the kids in class, if they didn’t, the kids’ grades were threatened by the teachers and the school administration. “Disappointed that you allowed this to happen, disappointed in the choice, take a wonderful moment in history to taint it the way he did.” There’s a lot of taint that has occurred in our culture, our pop culture, a lot of taint that has occurred in public education, so here’s what I’d like to do.

I would like to offer to go to Green Bay to this middle school and do a lecture or two for the entire student body on civics, and then I’m going to have a little raffle and I’m going to choose 15 to 20 kids and I’m going to take ‘em for a ride in EIB 1, and while up there I’m going to explain economics to them. I wonder if the school would receive this offer in good faith. You don’t think so, Dawn? Well, probably won’t. They probably won’t accept it, but I would like to go up there and just give a little lesson on civics. I have to wonder, too, did the kids really cry, or is the teacher upset? They were in class watching, or they were somewhere, maybe assembly or whatever, they love getting out of class. They didn’t have to do any work, but I know the teacher was probably more upset than the kids. (interruption) Well, we were asking about that, too, when I first read this, this is an amazing coincidence because you have to figure that a lot of radio stations in Green Bay, Wisconsin, were carrying the inaugural immaculation speech of Barack Obama. I think somebody in the school happens to love this show. He-he-he-he. We don’t know who. We haven’t inquired about that.

So, I’ll go up there, I’ll do a couple lectures on civics, give some students a ride on EIB 1 and explain economics to them, if the middle school in question is interested. But I have learned from this, I have learned from the past 24 hours, Mr. Snerdley, I understand what it’s all about now. I am the Last Man Standing, ladies and gentlemen, with all of you, too, but I’m talking about it in terms of national figure. There’s nobody in the Republican Party, there is no elected Republican Party leadership. I’m it. I am the one resisting the tug of popular sentiment. The whole country — well, not the whole country, but a good portion of the whole country has checked their brains at the door. They have just gotten caught up in this wave of popular sentiment. Newt Gingrich is caught up in it, Tom Coburn is caught up in it, the entire Republican Party, except maybe John Cornyn and Jeff Sessions, are caught up in it. Kay Bailey Hutchison running for Texas in 2010, she’s not caught up in it, but most of the conservative media totally caught up in the tug of popular sentiment.

You know why it is, because Obama has been portrayed as universally the most popular human being ever to be president, and nobody’s got the guts to stand up and oppose him or even criticize him, Obama, because his popularity is such that they will be hated, and they don’t want the kind of attention that, of course, I am going to get, as resisting the tug of popular sentiment. I have never been a conformist. One of the things that bothers me more than anything is groupthink, when people set aside their brains, set aside thinking and simply rush with emotion like lemmings wherever they are being led. That is what is happening here because there is no substance whatsoever that could possibly explain this kind of mass public sentiment that asks no questions, that has no doubts. So I think I figured it all out.

END TRANSCRIPT