Sunday's Quote: When "historic" fades

Doing a bit of research about a future piece summarizing the Obama presidency and his chances for victory in 2012 led me to a point recently made by the guy pictured on the right (appropriately enough) who, like many, believes the elements of what got our 44th president elected will not factor in getting him re-elected:

"The historical nature and aspect of Obama's presidency has long since settled in, and now he's President of the United States, and now he is and should be held accountable like any other president would be.  All these surface characteristics are irrelevant.  The color of his skin, all of that means nothing -- and it shouldn't."

-- Rush Limbaugh; May 31, 2011

Sunday's Quote: The law of diminishing returns

Economists will tell you that the value of a commodity tends to decrease once a certain goal or result has been attained.  Obviously this principle applies to the marketplace, but it also appears to fit well within the parameters of grievance and racial politics.

Having recently caught a certain degree of heat for criticizing Michelle Obama because "it doesn't look like [she] follows her own nutritionary, dietary advice," Rush Limbaugh is no stranger to controversy.  But something unexpectedly feels different now.

It seems like only yesterday that even the slightest verbal affront to the First Couple guaranteed the harshest elucidation from the Obama's most committed protagonists.  But that didn't happen this time.  Sure, there was the usual name-calling and charges of racism (a la Donovan McNabb) which barely raise an eyebrow anymore.  Yet the headlines customarily witnessed throughout our multifaceted national media were noticeably absent.  In fact, thanks to this post, there's a chance that you're learning about this contention for the first time.

Whether the potential for milking the story for all it's worth was impacted by the President's ever-fluctuating approval ratings, or if a race-based fatigue is beginning to take hold, it's apparent that a certain recoil has resulted from the persistent favoring of Obama and his wife as "chosen" and untouchable entitles.  Taking the radio maven himself into account, and in the First Lady's defense, the merit of Limbaugh's comment is on par with habitually alluding to political guttersnipe Paul Begala as "The Forehead" (in lieu of his own receding hairline).

For some, the scariest question one could ask is: What if it isn't racism?  The impassioned Obama devotee considers that unthinkable.  But with that in mind, I'll have El Rushbo himself respond with a statement that implies a form of equality:

"If anybody looks at African-Americans in this country as inferior and incompetent, it's the American left and the Democrat Party. ... I have parodied Bill Clinton and I have parodied Mrs. Clinton and I have parodied John Kerry and I have parodied Joe Bite Me and a number of other people.  If they're liberals, they're targets.  It doesn't matter if they're from Mars to me.  It's just I have the courage not to leave the African-Americans out of it."
-- Rush Limbaugh (with emphasis added); March 3, 2011

Sunday's Quote: Limbaugh and the NFL (redux)

So Rush Limbaugh isn't good enough for ownership of the St. Louis Rams, but apparently Shahid Khan (a Muslim named for Islamic martyrdom) is just fine.

In the interest of full disclosure, Khan and his wife are currently under investigation by the IRS for illegal tax shelters reportedly worth $250 million.  They are also being sued for negligence and professional malpractice for their purported dealings in "distressed debt," a questionable strategy that uses weak foreign currency to lower taxes.  The Khan's next court date is scheduled for Tuesday.

"Hypocrisy: prejudice with a halo."
-- Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?), journalist, short story writer, and satirist whose disappearance in Mexico remains a mystery to this day

Sunday's Quote: That Limbaugh guy

Colbert King, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Washington Post, referred to Rush Limbaugh recently on PBS's "Inside Washington" as "the Taliban wing of the Republican Party who is urging... the party in Washington to say 'no,'... to be the party of 'no.'"

Limbaugh's rebuttal this past week is a vintage demonstration of his moxy:

"I know it's pointless to try to educate these people inside the Beltway, especially Democrats and columnists, but what in the world is there to want to compromise with this administration on?  This administration's destroying the private sector on purpose.  This administration is trying to take over one-sixth of the US economy.  And, by the way, I'm talking about health care, and one thing we need to keep pounding and reminding everybody, Obama's health care proposals are not intended to help the people.  They are intended to help the Democrat Party, and that's why Obama keeps pushing it. ...

"You know, let me ask you something, Colby.  You think your real enemy is us?  The real enemy is the real Taliban and the real Al-Qaeda, and it would be nice if people like you had a little bit more serious take on them than political opponents who simply support capitalism, freedom, and liberty and see no reason to compromise with people who don't believe in any of that.  Where is the compromise between right and wrong?  Where's the compromise between good and evil?  If I believe in liberty, free market capitalism and all that, where is there any area of compromise with this administration?  If I think the federal government has no business running health care to any greater extent than they already do, why should I entertain any bit of compromise with them, why should I accept their premise, Colby?  I disagree with every premise. ...

"We're here to defeat them.  We're here to politically defeat them and see to it their agenda does not succeed.  And when was the last time, Colby, you asked the Democrats to compromise with me?  When's the last time you asked the Democrats to compromise with Newt Gingrich or George W. Bush?  You guys have this one-way street, you have this august view of yourselves as in power in perpetuity, as a birthright and we're just a bunch of little ankle biters knocking around bugging you people, a bunch of Chihuahuas and we gotta start healing, 'Yes master.'  We gotta run around and when you say sit we sit, when you say heel we heel, when you say lay down we lay down.  It ain't that way Colby.  There's nothing to compromise with here.  Zilch, zero. ...

"You know, back in the old days, Colby, your job as a columnist -- as an esteemed member of the fourth estate or the fifth column -- was to be critical of people who have real power: The government.  Colby, no matter what I believe I can't change your life at all.  I may make you miserable, but I can't raise your taxes, I can't send your kids off to war, and I can't take away your health care.  You guys used to criticize government.  Now you criticize the critics.  Stop and think of that.  You're out there criticizing the critics.  I mean, I'm honored to be a target.  I enjoy it."

Guilty Pleasures: Rush Limbaugh & Howard Stern

Though it wasn't my intention to feature any of the Guilty Pleasures so close together, the twelfth of January marks the shared birthday of the two men who are chiefly responsible for re-shaping the radio medium.

Known as firebrands of their own accord, Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern are provocative, charismatic, largely unconventional, and unapologetically opinionated, which is where their similarities end. And yes, I'm a modest listener of both.

Critics pass similar judgments on each conversationalist, and sometimes even the most cutting analysis is legitimate. The difference, however, arises from varying forms of fascination with each provocateur.

Stern is perceived as an entertainer, and thus allowed more leeway for mischief. But to hear Stern tell his side of the story, the self-proclaimed "King of All Media" was terrestrial radio's version of Nelson Mandela because station managers, Infinity Broadcasting, many listeners, and the FCC frowned upon his lowbrow witticisms, phony phone calls, and features such as Bestiality Dial-a-Date, the Homeless Game, Lesbian Dial-a-Date, the Mexican Delivery Guy Game, the Tickle Chair, and the Wheel of Sex. Oh the oppression!

"There were some really good-looking girls running with their hands over their heads. Did those kids try to have sex with any of those good-looking girls? They didn't even do that? At least if you're going to kill yourself and kill the kids, why wouldn't you have some sex? If I was going to kill some people, I'd take them out with sex."
-- Stern, commenting on the Columbine High School massacre; April 21, 1999

Limbaugh, on the other hand, carries the banner of Conservatism by taking it upon himself to challenge even the most hardcore Left Wing ideologues. However imperfect, Conservatives are held to a higher standard by their antagonists because the Right dares to endorse, and endeavor to maintain, their convictions without apology. Rush Limbaugh is among those at the forefront of this faction, and some people (who have never been the majority) hate that.

Stern has been with Sirius XM since January '06 after being all but forced to part ways with mainstream radio, while Limbaugh owns the AM side of the dial like never before. Both are rolling in similar amounts of cash thanks to audiences that still numbers in the seven- and eight-digit range, and just like those millions I'll be listening, however reluctantly, to both for years to come.

Note: To see a bit more about Stern, check out a post from last November.