Limbaugh's Promise

Rush Limbaugh is a pusshead fraud because he makes promises that he doesn't keep. During the debate over health care reform, he declared:

"I don't know. I'll just tell you this, if this passes and it's five years from now and all that stuff gets implemented — I am leaving the country. I'll go to Costa Rica."

With the passage of bill Sunday by the House of Representatives and President Obama's signing today in the White House, Limbaugh's fat ass should be on an aircraft bound for Costa Rica.

An Unlikely Defense of Sharpton

A letter to the editor of the Washington Examiner newspaper that places me in the unusual position of defending the Rev. Al Sharpton, a man who I have loathed since the Tawana Brawley affair:

Re: Al Sharpton is today's Orval Faubus, October 19th.

The perfervid Star Parker writes, "[Al] Sharpton blocked Limbaugh like Gov. Orval Faubus tried to block black children from entering Central High in Little Rock, Ark., in 1957." This is a ridiculous argument. First, to equate an activist's campaign against a radio talk show host's effort to purchase a professional sports franchise with an Arkansas governor's defiance of federal law in preventing children from attending school is, on its face, a risible absurdity. Second, attempting to buy a footabll team is a privilege while seeking an education is a right. Third, whatever influence Sharpton had in bringing pressure to bear on the NFL and the investment group, he lacked the actual power to prevent Limbaugh from acquiring an interest in the team. Faubus, on the hand, as the highest ranking state official, wielded enormous power in depriving a group of its constitutional rights. And finally, Limbaugh was unceremoniously dumped not because of his conservative politics - the truth is, that club of billionaire owners is every bit as conservative as Limbaugh - but because he is a polarizing figure whose presence would bring unwanted attention to the league and, most importantly, interfere with the flow of commerce. Ironically, Limbaugh was insuffiently conservative for the club. On the original point, Al Sharpton might be a lot of things but Orville Faubus he isn't.

The Distraction

All the whining by conservative commentators over Rush Limbaugh being unceremoniously dumped from the investment group seeking to purchase the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League is quite comical and more than a bit disingenuous, particularly when they gloss over than negative statements he has made about black people throughout his career. The point that gets overlooked is that Limbaugh's chances of being welcomed into the exclusive club of NFL owners were slim and none, even before the firestorm of reaction he received once the matter was made public. The bottom line is that this conservative group were not welcoming of a polarizing figure whose membership would hit them where it hurt the most: in their pockets.

In Praise of Mathias Kiwanuka

Kudos to New York Giants defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka for speaking out against the notion of playing for Rush Limbaugh, who is part of group trying to purchase the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League.

"All I know is from the last comment I heard, he said in (President) Obama's America, white kids are getting beat up on the bus while black kids are chanting 'right on. I mean, I don't want anything to do with a team that he has any part of. He can do whatever he wants, it is a free country. But if it goes through, I can tell you where I am not going to play."

"I am not going to draw a conclusion from a person off of one comment, but when it is time after time after time and there's a consistent pattern of disrespect and just a complete misunderstanding of an entire culture that I am a part of, I can't respect him as a man."

Sotomayor's Critics

New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow weighs in, and quite effectively, on the charges of Sonia Sotomayor's racism emanating from the guiding lights of the Republican Party - Gingrich, Limbaugh and Tancredo:

Someone pinch me. I must be dreaming. Some of the same Republicans who have wielded the hot blade of racial divisiveness for years, are now calling Sonia Sotomayor, the Supreme Court nominee, a racist. Oh, the hypocrisy!

The same Newt Gingrich who once said that bilingual education was like teaching “the language of living in a ghetto” tweeted that Sotomayor is a “Latina woman racist.” The same Rush Limbaugh who once told a black caller to “take that bone out of your nose and call me back” called Sotomayor a “reverse racist.” The same Tom Tancredo, a former congressman, who once called Miami, which has a mostly Hispanic population, “a third world country” said that Sotomayor “appears to be a racist.”

This is rich.

Still a Dick

Former vice president Dick Cheney seems to be far more accessible these days since Obama came to office than he was when Dubya was in power. In his most recent appearance on CBS's Face the Nation, the erstwhile chicken hawk - he exhausted multiple deferments to avoid serving in Vietnam - railed against the Obama administration for placing the nation at risk and designated the bubble butt, pill popping Rush Limbaugh his kind of Republican over Colin Powell.

The Triumvirate

Charles Blow, in Three Blind Mice writes of the disarray in the leadership of the Republican Party:

The Republicans have reached a new low, literally.

According to the most recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, the percentage of Americans who view the Republican Party positively is at an all-time low. Meanwhile, President Obama’s positive rating is at an all-time high, and the Democratic Party’s positive rating is near its high.

Why? Because the Republicans have dissolved into a querulous lot of nags and naysayers without a voice, a direction or a clue, and we are not amused.

And who has surfaced as their saviors? Bobby Jindal, Michael Steele and Rush Limbaugh — the axis of drivel.

Moonwalking Michael Steele

In response to CNN's D. L. Hughley's characterization of Rush Limbaugh as the de facto leader of the Republican Party, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele answered: "No he's not. I'm the de facto leader of the Republican Party. Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh, the whole thing is entertainment. Yes, it incendiary. Yes, it's ugly."

Then after Limbaugh pretty much dismissed Mr. Steele on his radio show, the chairman did what Republicans typically do after crossing the pill popping blowhard, he apologized: "My intent was not to after Rush - I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh. I was maybe a little bit inarticulate." Indeed.

Take Me to Your Leader

Appearing on CBS's Face the Nation, White House chief of staff Rahn Emanuel cast right wing blowhard Russ Limbaugh as the intellectual force behind the Republican party. It should be clear at this point that the GOP is a party without any leadership and it is politically advantageous for the Obama administration to fill that void by by anointing Limbaugh as its titular leader. Such a strategy contributes to the marginalization of the party.