News Roundup for 3/3/09

Those who have offended Limbaugh do penance

-Headline of the day-
"Steele Bows Down To Limbaugh: ‘No Attempt On My Part To Diminish His Voice Or His Leadership’."

Yeah, it's a long, drawn-out story, but one worth the telling. It all began way back on Saturday, when Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele had an appearance on D.L. Hughley's CNN talk show. Hughley said that Rush Limbaugh was "the de facto leader of the Republican party" and Steele took offense. "I’m the de facto leader of the Republican Party!" Steele said -- being the titular head of the party and all.

The subject of the conversation was Limbaugh's hope that Obama -- and, with him the nation -- fails. Steele said he didn't agree with that. Assumedly because it's insane.

"So let’s put it into context here. Let’s put it into context here," Steele said. "Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh, his whole thing is entertainment. Yes, it’s incendiary. Yes, it’s ugly." That didn't go over well with the de facto leader of the Republican party.

"So I am an entertainer and I have 20 million listeners because of my great song and dance routine," Limbaugh said on his show. "Michael Steele, you are head of the Republican National Committee. You are not head of the Republican party. Tens of millions of conservatives and Republicans have nothing to do with the Republican National Committee... and when you call them asking for money, they hang up on you."

Steele saw the light, got down on his knees, and begged the all-powerful Rush to drop his pants, that he might kiss is most august ass.

"My intent was not to go after Rush -- I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh," Steele told Politico in a telephone interview. "I was maybe a little bit inarticulate... There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership...

"I went back at that tape and I realized words that I said weren’t what I was thinking. It was one of those things where I thinking I was saying one thing, and it came out differently. What I was trying to say was a lot of people... want to make Rush the scapegoat, the bogeyman, and he’s not."

The leader of the Republican party clearly isn't Michael Steele. It's some right wing radio clown who likes brown-nosers. In Rush's party, there's never any shortage of those. (Think Progress)


-BTW, I'm dumb-
In my morning post yesterday, I repeated referred to a "Conservative Political Action Committee" -- this is what happens when you get lazy and rely on copy and paste to do your typing for you. If you make a mistake the first time, you make it every time.

I know, it's the Conservative Political Action Conference. It was just a brain fart. (Griper Blade)


-About that de facto leader-
Michael Steele may have earned points with the base by kissing up to Rush Limbaugh, but those of us who aren't completely insane aren't going to like it. At least, that's what the findings of Gallup polling throughout February suggest.

According to the report, that polling shows "that Limbaugh has less favorable ratings from the mainstream public than former President George W. Bush. But while members of Congress and presidential aspirants spent most of the last two years trying to run away from Bush, Limbaugh's power seems to be expanding." In the last poll, Rush had an approval rating of 28%.

In polling vernacular, this is referred to as "less popular than a dose of the clap." (Raw Story)