Limbaugh, Palin, and GOP Snobbery

Monday, March 2, 2009 2:48 PM

A while back Rush Limbaugh was saying, as I recall, that the Republican Party often manages to "snatch defeat from the jaws of victory." Well, it seems to have happened again. Not all of the details are in yet, but according to blogger Michelle Malkin, Michael Steele, GOP National Chairman, engaged in some Rush-bashing while on a mainstream media interview program. In my view, there was more to the story, but it was still a mess. A horrible mess for the GOP.

But what do I mean by "jaws of victory?" This: the GOP seems to be recoalescing around the outrageous looting of the US treasury perpetrated by Obama and the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Simultaneous "tea parties," named after the Boston Tea Party, took place on February 27. Though ignored, as one might expect, by much of the Democrat-occupied mainstream media, the event was a success to kick off rebuilding the party.

Then, at the 2009 meeting Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC), Rush Limbaugh gave a speech which galvanized the audience. Rush's speech, which was articulate, impassioned, and idea-rich, was an example of a real orator at work, as opposed to the empty flim-flam of a Barack Obama.

Here is the link to the infamous Steele Rush-bashing interview. To see what happened to Michael Steele, you must watch the video. At seven minutes into the video, Steele found himself saying that Rush was "ugly" and "incendiary." Steele dismissed Limbaugh, an orator whose skill goes far beyond that of the overhyped Barack Obama, as "an entertainer."

What happened here? In my opinion, it was Michael Steele's "Katie Couric" moment. I am referring to the incident where GOP VP candidate Sarah Palin was ridiculed by Katie Couric because she was not prepared for the viciousness of the interviewer and tried too hard to be accommodating answering a trick question about Russia.

In this instance, Steele (in my opinion) set himself up by participating in a vicious shooting gallery interview by a bunch of vicious Black liberals masquerading as spokesmen for Black America, and playing the race card. Although Michael Steele, a Black man who grew up on one of the less mean streets of Washington DC, has no reason for "White Guilt," the interviewers maneuvered him into a defensive stance, and, sadly, mopped the floor with him. They provoked his attack on Rush by calling Rush the "real leader" of the GOP.

In baseball you're not out until the third strike, but in politics, in my opinion, two strikes might be enough. Michael Steele cannot afford to be maneuvered once again, into denouncing Rush Limbaugh as an ugly, incendiary entertainer. That's tantamount to a liberal Democrat denouncing Obama as an arrogant blowhard Indonesian, and believe me, you don't see that often.

But I have a question. The question is why? Why do some members of the GOP establishment hate and repudiate Rush Limbaugh, whether under duress like Michael Steele did, or in the calm light of reflection? Rush has addressed this repeatedly on his radio program, blaming the phenomenon on the "culture of the Beltway," and a desire to be invited to the "best Washington cocktail parties.

Maybe so. I can add to what Rush said, I think. In my opinion, the answer to the "why" question is very simple: snobbery. Snobbery born of vanity, insecurity, and, yes, Eric Holder's buzzword, cowardice.

Liberals and "progressives" avoid debating the facts. Even when they pretend to do so, they hammer home a mantra-like talking point which is not really a matter for debate: "Bush lied. The last 8 years."

Instead of debating the facts, liberals and "progressives" use what Ayn Rand called the argument from intimidation, basically a form of ridicule based on hot air and social pressure: "You listen to RUSH LIMBAUGH? YOU? RUSH? I can't believe that!" Then they shake their heads. It is a trip back to sixth or seventh grade. But when adults behave this way, there is a precise word for it: snobbery.

How do I know this? Because I have been through it, having been a Rush listener for years, and having lived in an urban area, once Republican, but long dominated by noisy, arrogant, condescending Democrats.

Obama, the Progressive Caucus, and most of the Democrats rely entirely on this kind of snobbery to intimidate their adversaries, not only Rush, but Sarah Palin, and now Bobby Jindal. Top-ranking Republicans must have the grit to stand up against this snobbery. If they refrain from praise of Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, or Bobby Jindal, that is their right of free speech. To denouce them, on the other hand, is to doom the Republican Party to the dustbin of history, which is where it will probably find its last resting place if there are no victories in 2010.