DontEatTheFigs
Rookie
- Jan 29, 2009
- 5
- 1
- 0
- Banned
- #1
People as varied as Stalin and Orwell (and Bloomberg, recently) have
pointed out that every great leader needs enemies, and if he doesnt
have them he must create them.
The problem for Obama, if you want to call it a problem, is that the
GOP is now in such disarray that they dont even have unified
philosophies, strategies or goals anymore they are completely lost,
with moderates under fire from true believers, and supply siders
clashing with culture warriors clashing with neocons. And by the same
token, they dont have clear leaders. Last time I checked, they hadnt
even agreed on an RNC chair yet. McConnell is too busy trying to hold
his troops together for possible filibusters, but fully one third of
his Senate Republicans have voted with Obama, not against him, on a
majority of the bills proposed so far. On the House side, Boehner is a
heinous fake suntan with no brain, pursuing the same unanimous-
rejection strategy on the current stimulus package, that Gingrich used
on Clintons stimulus package in 1993, a package which helped generate
20 million jobs and reelect Clinton. Doh!
So right now Obama doesnt really have a clear enemy to campaign
against. Clinton had the Gingrichs and Atwaters of the world, and the
Bush administration provided an incredible rogues gallery of
irresistible targets for Democrats to shoot at, from Rumsfeld to Craig
to Vitter to Gonzalez. But now, nobody. Obama cant really use Bush as
a target, because the Republicans are already targeting Bush
themselves, accusing him of betraying their conservative principles:
when Obama attacks Bush, a Republican simply says me too! And
demonizing a Capitol Hill Republican makes it hard to serve
bipartisanship and seek GOP votes to get things done, at least for
this year (2010 is an election year of course so the gloves come off).
And Americas GOP governors are mostly people that no one has ever
heard of, with a few exceptions like Palin.
So did Obama fume in frustration? No. He picked Rush Limbaugh as his
enemy. And notwithstanding all the handwringing from Democrats, it was
brilliant. Rush is not a lawmaker of any kind, he perfectly reflects
everything America hates about the GOP, hes an easy target since he
has no expertise in practically anything, and most importantly he
actually wants to be that target.
Rush has walked right into Obamas trap. After proclaiming that he
hopes Obamas efforts fail, Rush is now gassing away in the Wall
Street Journal about his own proposal for the economy. He insists
Obamas plan is all pointless partisan pork. He claims that Keynesian
economists, supply-side economists, and the American people all would
prefer his own plan, which is essentially a big tax cut for the rich
and corporate fatcats. Rush grandly proposes to combine Obamas plan
and his own, and call it the Obama-Limbaugh Stimulus Plan of 2009, by
spending half the money on Obamas alleged pork and half on Rushs tax
cuts. And he caps it all off with this: The leader of the Democrats
and the leader of the Republicans (me, according to Mr. Obama) can get
it done. He has promoted himself to party leader already.
Incredibly, Republicans are now waking up into a new world in which
Rush has in fact taken over the leadership of the party, because no
one else had what it takes to seize the reins. A GOP Congressman who
had told Rush to back off, was forced to call Rush on his show and
apologize for his stupid comments, calling him a conservative
giant.
Lets remember that Obama, one of the most gifted politicians of the
last century, will have no trouble outsmarting Limbaugh. Rush, who has
been proclaimed by his drooling fans to be America's anchorman,
America's truth-detector, a living legend, Doctor of Democracy, the
Mr. Big of the vast rightwing conspiracy, the most dangerous man in
America, talent on loan from God, the man who is running America, the
mandarin of talk radio, chief of the non-existent Excellence In
Broadcasting Network and the Limbaugh Institute of Conservative
Studies is actually an empty suit. After two semesters at the
hardly-brutal cow college of Southeast Missouri State University, Rush
flunked out and spent the 1970s wandering up and down the dial as a
DJ, before finally stumbling into the no-talent-required world of talk
radio. So essentially hes never been able to successfully hold a real
job in the real world, and has no expertise of any kind in any of the
topics he bloviates about economics, national security, foreign
policy, anything. So setting Rush up as an enemy, and then destroying
him, will be childs play for Obama.
So Rush, is dangling from a tree branch, dressed in holiday colors
like a gigantic piñata, shouting Look at me! Look at me! while Obama
is walking up with a Great. Big. Stick.
And after he spends two years whupping up on Rush as the poster boy
for GOP incompetence, winning the 2010 elections handily in the
process, he will train his sights on Palin and the other 2012
contenders. And win handily again.
Rushs economic plan:
Rush Limbaugh: My Bipartisan Stimulus - WSJ.com
pointed out that every great leader needs enemies, and if he doesnt
have them he must create them.
The problem for Obama, if you want to call it a problem, is that the
GOP is now in such disarray that they dont even have unified
philosophies, strategies or goals anymore they are completely lost,
with moderates under fire from true believers, and supply siders
clashing with culture warriors clashing with neocons. And by the same
token, they dont have clear leaders. Last time I checked, they hadnt
even agreed on an RNC chair yet. McConnell is too busy trying to hold
his troops together for possible filibusters, but fully one third of
his Senate Republicans have voted with Obama, not against him, on a
majority of the bills proposed so far. On the House side, Boehner is a
heinous fake suntan with no brain, pursuing the same unanimous-
rejection strategy on the current stimulus package, that Gingrich used
on Clintons stimulus package in 1993, a package which helped generate
20 million jobs and reelect Clinton. Doh!
So right now Obama doesnt really have a clear enemy to campaign
against. Clinton had the Gingrichs and Atwaters of the world, and the
Bush administration provided an incredible rogues gallery of
irresistible targets for Democrats to shoot at, from Rumsfeld to Craig
to Vitter to Gonzalez. But now, nobody. Obama cant really use Bush as
a target, because the Republicans are already targeting Bush
themselves, accusing him of betraying their conservative principles:
when Obama attacks Bush, a Republican simply says me too! And
demonizing a Capitol Hill Republican makes it hard to serve
bipartisanship and seek GOP votes to get things done, at least for
this year (2010 is an election year of course so the gloves come off).
And Americas GOP governors are mostly people that no one has ever
heard of, with a few exceptions like Palin.
So did Obama fume in frustration? No. He picked Rush Limbaugh as his
enemy. And notwithstanding all the handwringing from Democrats, it was
brilliant. Rush is not a lawmaker of any kind, he perfectly reflects
everything America hates about the GOP, hes an easy target since he
has no expertise in practically anything, and most importantly he
actually wants to be that target.
Rush has walked right into Obamas trap. After proclaiming that he
hopes Obamas efforts fail, Rush is now gassing away in the Wall
Street Journal about his own proposal for the economy. He insists
Obamas plan is all pointless partisan pork. He claims that Keynesian
economists, supply-side economists, and the American people all would
prefer his own plan, which is essentially a big tax cut for the rich
and corporate fatcats. Rush grandly proposes to combine Obamas plan
and his own, and call it the Obama-Limbaugh Stimulus Plan of 2009, by
spending half the money on Obamas alleged pork and half on Rushs tax
cuts. And he caps it all off with this: The leader of the Democrats
and the leader of the Republicans (me, according to Mr. Obama) can get
it done. He has promoted himself to party leader already.
Incredibly, Republicans are now waking up into a new world in which
Rush has in fact taken over the leadership of the party, because no
one else had what it takes to seize the reins. A GOP Congressman who
had told Rush to back off, was forced to call Rush on his show and
apologize for his stupid comments, calling him a conservative
giant.
Lets remember that Obama, one of the most gifted politicians of the
last century, will have no trouble outsmarting Limbaugh. Rush, who has
been proclaimed by his drooling fans to be America's anchorman,
America's truth-detector, a living legend, Doctor of Democracy, the
Mr. Big of the vast rightwing conspiracy, the most dangerous man in
America, talent on loan from God, the man who is running America, the
mandarin of talk radio, chief of the non-existent Excellence In
Broadcasting Network and the Limbaugh Institute of Conservative
Studies is actually an empty suit. After two semesters at the
hardly-brutal cow college of Southeast Missouri State University, Rush
flunked out and spent the 1970s wandering up and down the dial as a
DJ, before finally stumbling into the no-talent-required world of talk
radio. So essentially hes never been able to successfully hold a real
job in the real world, and has no expertise of any kind in any of the
topics he bloviates about economics, national security, foreign
policy, anything. So setting Rush up as an enemy, and then destroying
him, will be childs play for Obama.
So Rush, is dangling from a tree branch, dressed in holiday colors
like a gigantic piñata, shouting Look at me! Look at me! while Obama
is walking up with a Great. Big. Stick.
And after he spends two years whupping up on Rush as the poster boy
for GOP incompetence, winning the 2010 elections handily in the
process, he will train his sights on Palin and the other 2012
contenders. And win handily again.
Rushs economic plan:
Rush Limbaugh: My Bipartisan Stimulus - WSJ.com
