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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." . . .Kind of like: It won't work.
Look, what he's talking about is the absorption of as much of the private sector by the US government as possible, from the banking business, to the mortgage industry, the automobile business, to health care. I do not want the government in charge of all of these things. I don't want this to work. So I'm thinking of replying to the guy, "Okay, I'll send you a response, but I don't need 400 words, I need four: I hope he fails." . . . I would be honored if the Drive-By Media headlined me all day long: "Limbaugh: I Hope Obama Fails." Somebody's gotta say it.
UPDATE: Lefty blogger Steve Benen:
It takes a special kind of American to hope for our failure. . . . No, I don't think Americans have to root against the country. If Obama fails, we fail. If his presidency falls short, there are negative consequences for all of us. This is the opposite of patriotism.But if you believe (as Rush says) that Obama's agenda will harm the country, then Obama's "success" in implementing that agenda will have "negative consequences for all of us."
Now, suppose tomorrow Obama were to look at the budget and say, "Hey, what's up with this National Endowment for the Arts? Subsidizing ballets and art exhibits for rich people? We're in a serious crisis. We can't afford that fancy crap. Zero it out." At which point, Rush would be shouting, "Mega-dittos!" So if Obama wants Limbaugh's support, he can tune in to WMAL (630 AM) at noon daily and find out how to get it.
UPDATE II: Joseph Farah isn't on the Obandwagon.
I agree, but would be more impressed by: "What will work instead".
ReplyDeleteTo go purely negative is to give ammunition to the slack-jawed nitwits.
To assert WTF We Need To Do in a postive way, derived from common sense and that overlooked Constitution gadget, is exactly where the leadership needs to go.
A curmudgeonly Rush might has his place, in the same sense wheat has a husk.
Steve Benen:
ReplyDeleteIt takes a special kind of American to hope for our failure. . . . No, I don't think Americans have to root against the country. If Obama fails, we fail. If his presidency falls short, there are negative consequences for all of us. This is the opposite of patriotism.
All of these points, with the requisite substitutions, apply - and far more legitimately - to the War on Terror. I would be curious to know what Benen has had to say about the subject over the past 8 years.
Further, did Benen castitagate Harry Reid and the rest of the Democrats for actively rooting for and declaring failure in the war effort?
I expect not...
The media will judge obama's success not by what happens to employment, gdp and the country, but only whether he gets through the far leftist agenda. Like tax hikes, more welfare, homo agenda, etc.
ReplyDeleteWe should decide if we want bo to succeed or fail on the same basis they do.
While I do think that Obama's agenda, as stated and inferred during the campaign is not in our country's best interest, I do wish him well. I think and hope that along with the assumption of the reigns of the presidency, there will come with it a sobering realization of the realities of these times and I hope that this will temper Obama's behavior.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, Benen's comment, "It takes a special kind of American to hope for our failure..." reflects more on the infantile lefties who raged and foamed for the last eight years.
Remember Stevie boy, when Bush and his staff vacate the Whitehouse, the offices will not be trashed, the silverware and gifts will remain and the 'O' will still be on all of the computer keyboards.
Those on the right will not gloat at American casualties in war or pre-emptively proclaim the military is defeated. Neither will they selectively leak in order to politicize the president's war effort. Those on the right will not act like they are in the final stages of rabies for the next four (hopefully) years .
Yes it does take a special kind of American to hope for our failure, they are called democrats.
I rather expect that the new President will listen to Obama 1260 rather than AM 630. Not like he's incurious or anything.
ReplyDeleteDamn, Smitty is on fire!
ReplyDeleteListen, Rush has a job and that job is called ratings.
The saddest thing is to see people take what this impotent, limp-d*cked slob says seriously.
Schlock-politics has a place as entertainment to those entertained by such dribble.
Don't be led astray by someone who's political rantings is nothing more than self-serving special interest Snake-oil.
Tim,
ReplyDeleteI guess Rush is a Democrat now.
@Y4E:
ReplyDeleteDon't be led astray by someone who's political rantings is nothing more than self-serving special interest Snake-oil.
And that is really the nature of labor unions, political action committees, and political parties.
So the useful question becomes how to make things sane and transparent enough that actual men and women of character become involved in politics, and not the stuffed shirts you see on both sides of the aisle.
We are told in the Bible that things will go very well for a period of time and then everything will collapse. It won't be long until we all discover exactly what Obama means by his "change has come to America" pledge. Understand, everyone, that Obama is Muslim and so will it be. I couldn't care less that he is black, but I am extremely concerned that he is Muslim.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting how this same quote is being spun on this blog:
ReplyDeletehttp://thinkprogress.org/2009/01/20/limbaugh-obama-fail/
They left out some very important parts of his quote.
So do we get to paint Rush and all you guys who agree with this "courageous statement" as anti amercian? Because when people on the other side of the aisle said the exact same things about Bush then they were obviously un-American and wanted America to fail. Only 1 day and the hypocrisy rears its head. I wonder what would have happened to someone right after 9-11 who had the "courage" to stand up and say if we are going to react by turning towards fascist like behavior I hope president Bush fails.
ReplyDeleteIdiot.
ReplyDeleteBush had the whole country behind him right after
9-11.
And what does the idiot do? He spends all his political capital on a little pet project we now call the Iraq War.
It was then that opposition began to build. We were all on board for Afghanistan.
But you morons don't see the difference, do you?
Too nuanced for you to wrap your mind around it?
Nevermind that Obama hasn't yet been President for a week. Your pettiness and your party's pettiness knows no bounds.
Sore-lo-sers.
Just pathetic...
@Y4E:
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of oversimplifications...
Do you really think that the Iraq war was a "pet project", and not coordinated at high levels internationally? Really?
The "had the whole country behind him right after 9-11. And what does the idiot do? He spends all his political capital" is a convenient way to get Bush to do the dirty work, then step up to the sink and wash the hands.
Way to go, Pontius.
Smitty, I had no reason to wash my hands. I realized from the beginning to the ramp-up to the Iraq War that it was a terrible mistake and was vehemently opposed to it.
ReplyDeleteFollow the paper trail and you will see that over-throwing Saddam was something Bush had in mind before 9-11, and several people within his administration even suggested going after Saddam immediately after the attacks.
It was a coordinated effort,at the highest levels of his cabinet, to take advantage of the support Bush had at the time to engage in a war that had nothing to do with 9-11.As a mission,Afghanistan wasn't even finished nor had Bin Laden been captured.
Pet project? Absolutely.Bush dragged the whole of America into a personal dispute between himself and the person who he said" tried to kill my daddy".
Pet project?
You betcha....
@Y4E:
ReplyDeleteAs some dispassionate writers have noted, I believe that any final judgment about the Bush years must be put off for at least a minimum of ten years, when we can see how things work out in the future, and more records of the administration are made available.
The angle that interests me, as records and memoirs become available, is to what degree the utterly gross incompetence of the likes of Dodd and Frank are a result of horse trades to get the free funding.
The 110th Congress was elected to halt the "pet project", no? But, hey, let's not admit that we have three branches of government when it's inconvenient, eh?
But I don't mean to distract substantially from the central question of whether Bush was in 'pet project' mode. Do you think that any POTUS overrides the plutocrats who meet at Davos and call the shots? Sure, sell me your bridge--you're a fantastic salesman.