Mike Pence’s Ode to Rush Limbaugh
Here’s some video of Mike Pence being an idiot and talking about the joys of Rush Limbaugh:
The most egregious thing here, and I guess this will be the new conservative approach, is that in response to a substantive criticism of Rush, Pence turns around and denies that Rush is a racist. That, however, isn’t the issue. The issue is that Rush has taken the view that his loyal followers in congress ought to be hoping that the Obama administration’s policies fail.
The larger issue, however, is that Mike Pence is a moron, and any movement that would hold the guy up as a hero is bankrupt. You can see my colleague Amanda Terkel for more of the specifics on this, but I would refer you to this post from September about the earth-shattering ignorance and stupidity of Mike Pence. He has no grasp, whatsoever, of public policy issues. And yet I can only gather from the fact that his colleagues have elevated him to a leadership post, that a large faction of them are actually so much stupider than Pence that they don’t realize how dumb he is. But it’s really staggering. In my admittedly brief experience talking to him, his inability to grasp the basic contours of policy question was obvious and overwhelming.
68 Responses to “Mike Pence’s Ode to Rush Limbaugh”
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January 28th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
take away: GOP bends over, but not for just anybody or any President
January 28th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
I know this point belongs to a v. tired genre. Nonetheless it is striking how liberals and Democrats are constantly being pressured to ‘distance’ themselves from allegedly objectionable people or organizations like Moveon, in the first instance by Republicans, but then by the MSM, who all too often are willing to act as creatures of the Republican party, yet Republicans can’t separate themselves by a millimeter from Limbaugh, who is professional liar and slanderer and as manifestly loathsome a swine as there is to boot. And they pay no price for this.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
I can’t shake the fealing that the party is over for Rush. His coming implosion will be fun to witness.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Great post, but does this really pass your 501 C (or whatever) rules? If so, bravo.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Yep, he’s dumb as a sack of hammers, and no doubt reflects the collective intelligence of his constituents, (at least the ones who voted for him). I live in SW NM and until recent had Steve Pearce as my rep. Pence is a veritable genius compared to that knucklehead.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
That, however, isn’t the issue.
Not in this instance, but it’s never a bad idea to remind people with specific examples, that Rush Limbaugh is indeed a racist asshole and is wildly influential within the Republican party. He’s been the face of the party for going on 20 years now. And he’s a racist asshole in addition to a number of other bad things.
Chris Bowers has post over at Open Left on the Republican Limbaugh Problem and this Pence Situation. Bowers says that tho’ he’s wildly popular and influential in the Republican Party, Limbaugh polls poorly. So lets keep on keepin’ on bringing up that racist asshole up and tying him to the Republicans. Make dumbfucks like Pence keep on keepin’ on defending him.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
This is what the Republican party looks like without any moderates to buffer the crazies and the stupids from the rest of the world. Not pretty.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
For a little bit of backdrop, over at CAP’s incredibly intellectual blog TP – only eclipsed in its adherence to intellectual honesty by MattY himself – they keep referring to Rush et al as “hate radio”. Clearly, if they had their way Rush and all others who disagree with them would be off the air. Putting a phrase to that is left as an exercise, or a book title.
Note also that in addition to the prez’s latest anti-Rush attack, back in September he launched an extremely disreputable ad against him. Even JoeKlein and the NYT eventually came out against those ads.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
I actually watched the video, and I must say, Mr. Pence struck me as a smooth operator. He was able to effortlessly brush off the controversial comments and focus on the PR.
Keep the work up.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
And they pay no price for this.
Indeed. Thanks So-Called Liberal Media.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
I’ll believe the bit about the upcoming “implosion” of Limbaugh after his audience -for once dips below 20 million in a given week and his salary doesn’t have double digits. The periodic boast about Limbaugh failing must come out every six months.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
the earth-shattering ignorance and stupidity of Mike Pence. He has no grasp, whatsoever, of public policy issues.
Jennifer Palmieri post in 3…2…1….
January 28th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
Your inability to write a post without a spelling or grammar error is obvious and overwhelming.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
“The larger issue, however, is that Mike Pence is a moron….
Along with the rest of the GOP.
Remember, these are the people who applauded as G.W. Nero fiddled.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
It’s no surprise Pence is a moron–he was a right-wing radio blowhard before he got to Congress.
Pence comes from a world where facts and policy don’t matter; only shouting in a bombastic manner does. Most of the folks engaged in the trade are dumb as rocks and actually have very little understanding of how government work. Pence is a perfect embodiment of the Bushian GOP: a politics based on emotion (primarily rage) rather than reason.
January 28th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
Just a little misplaced S. When the grammar police are overwhelmed we are all safer:)
January 28th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Man, I find it very hard not be embarrassed by my fellow Hoosiers.
January 28th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
I think we have a misunderstanding here. Matthew obviously doesn’t realize that Republicans measure intelligence by whether someone knows the right butts to kiss, in the right order, in the right spot, and with the right degree of sincerity.
And that is NOT ill-tempered snark on my part — it’s the truth. The Republicans have repeatedly shown that they serve no God but Money. Bush could ignore reality because Bush felt he CREATED Reality. Kinda like ..er.. “Triumph of the Will”.
As a guy from Philly, James Wilkinson, once said: “The world operates on self-interest –and anyone who doesn’t realize that is a fool.”
(Wilkinson was the head of the Federal Army who conspired with Aaron Burr to form a separate country in the Mississippi River valley — then snitched on his friend Burr when he realized that Jefferson was onto them. As Commander of the Federal Army, Wilkinson represented the USA at the ceremony where Spain relinguished New Orleans to the USA as part of the Louisiana Purchase. Which no doubt amused the Spanish, since Wilkinson had been their paid spy for years. During the Revolutionary War, Wilkinson was also involved in the Conway plot to overthrow Washington as Commander of the Continental Army . Definitely the archtypical Republican — able to mimic civic virtue but not really understanding the concept.)
January 28th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
The accusation that Rush is a racist is based on what?
January 28th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
The accusation that Rush is a racist is based on what?
Um, his serial racism. Holy fucking shit dude, you ever listen to him? Ask your Black Friend, s/he’ll set you straight.
January 28th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
I can’t shake the fealing that the party is over for Rush. His coming implosion will be fun to witness.
Hard to say. The thing is, though, that the Republican party doesn’t work well when praising of Rush occurs in public. It’s more something that needs to be done with a wink and a nod. Nobody likes a dittohead, and the more that the Republicans become indistinguishable from the loudmouthed dittohead at the BBQ, the less they’re able to portray themselves as “one of you” to the rest of the electorate.
January 28th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Good for Norah O’Donnell. I hope this is the start of a little bit of equal treatment for this racist assholes.
And to any dipshit questioning whether Rush os a racist: did you see any critic of the Iraq war, when we presumably had to come together as a nation in the face of a crisis, that we were being asked to do so because Bush was white?
The fact that Rush Limbaugh consistently brings up racial favoritism in contexts where it has no rational connection, and further has no inhibitions about making fun of people because of their race, is the very definition of a racist. Are you really stupid enough to question that fact?
January 28th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
re: good for Norah O’Donnell.
Norah O’Donnell is on the side of the big battalions.
January 28th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
They pay no price? The party that thought it was on the verge of a “permanent majority” four years ago has lost the Presidency, a huge number of seats and control in both houses of Congress and any number of governorships and state legislatures. Short of mass exile to Gitmo, what is paying a price supposed to look like?
January 28th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
Rush as a racist? Can there be any doubt. Rush’s career as a football commentator was over when he went out of his way to attack quarterback Donovan McNabb on racial grounds. He pioneered ‘Barack the Magic Negro’. His career is replete with racialist statements that run the fine edges. You can’t keep flirting with the N**** word year after year and not be a race baiter.
But as far as flaws go… that’s the beginning for Rush. There’s the Oxycontin scandal, the fact that he was double doctoring for an extraordinary volume of drugs… a volume that would automatically presume trafficking. It’s likely that Rush was the center of an illicit Oxycontin distribution network in his circle. But the endless illegalities just all got washed away.
Then there’s that remarkable incident where Rush was taking a trip to a child sex tourism state… and got caught with a suitcase full of viagra.
And of course, there’s Rush’s role as mouthpiece of the militia and right wing violence movement… before Timothy McVeigh made that unsavoury.
But hey, I don’t mind Rush Limbaugh around. It helps to define people. Someone comes up to me and says “I’m a Rush Limbaugh fan…” Well, I know exactly what to think of them.
January 28th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
…what is paying a price supposed to look like?
They pay no price in the media. We wait years between votes, but these guys get up and make asses of themselves and the rest of us all the time- on our airwaves.
January 28th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Eric Cantor, on the other hand, is Jewish, therefore by definition an intellectual.
January 28th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
MattY can deny he’s a trotskyite all he likes, but we know the score!
Meanwhile, another incredibly intelligent TP commenter says: He pioneered ‘Barack the Magic Negro’.
Actually, that was someone else. A lot of the things you hear that Rush “said” are actually lies to outrageous lies, like the BHO ad linked in my first comment.
January 28th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
Google “Lee Atwater 1954″ and let me know what you find. Mm-kay? Thanks in advance.
January 28th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
“Rush’s career as a football commentator was over when he went out of his way to attack quarterback Donovan McNabb on racial grounds.”
As I recall, what Rush said was that the sports media wants to see African American quarterbacks do well, and that that might have caused them to overrate McNabb (which is arguable). I don’t think it’s fair to call that an attack on McNabb on racial grounds. If Rush had said that McNabb couldn’t do X because he was black, you might have had a point, but, as far as I know, he didn’t say that. The recently retired, great African American NFL coach Tony Dungy is going to be a guest on Limbaugh’s show this week, incidentally. Presumably, he doesn’t think Limbaugh is racist, but who knows — maybe he shares your view and he’ll accuse Rush of racism on the air.
“He pioneered ‘Barack the Magic Negro’.”
Actually, David Ehrenstein (who happens to be black) pioneered that. Rush did run with the phrase in a song parody of Al Sharpton, which also drew on some verbal contributions from Joe Biden. Even Sharpton himself has admitted he finds some of Rush’s parodies of him to be funny.
January 28th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
Those of you whose only familiarity with Rush Limbaugh comes from accusations about him on liberal blogs ought to read Zev Chafets’s fairly balanced NY Times Magazine article on Rush from last year, “Late Period Limbaugh”. That might give you a more nuanced view of him.
January 28th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
but, as far as I know, he didn’t say that.
Mm-hm. Maybe you should ask Tom Jackson what he thinks.
Rush did run with the phrase
And that would be where the racism begins. Sherlock.
Did you ever Google “Lee Atwater 1954″? Did you ever ask your Black Friend if Rush Limbaugh is a racist asshole?
January 28th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Those of you whose only familiarity with Rush Limbaugh comes from accusations about him on liberal blogs
My familiarity with him comes from what he said this week. I’ve seen the video. As of this week, he’s a racist asshole. (See also: the original post at the top of this page.)
January 28th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
What needs to be said about Rush Limbaugh is that he’s anti-American. His proudly stated desire to see the president fail in a time of national crisis can only be interpreted to mean that he wants to see his nation and his fellow citizens suffer. His loyalty to the Republican Party and to his paycheck far outweigh his loyalty to America.
Every blogger, every political writer, every citizen needs to say it as often as possible until it become the accepted epithet: “the anti-American radio host Rush Limbaugh.” We’ll know we’ve done our duty when Norah O’Donnell asks Mike Pence why he supports someone who is widely considered anti-American.
January 28th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Those of you whose only familiarity with Rush Limbaugh comes from accusations about him on liberal blogs ought to read Zev Chafets’s fairly balanced NY Times Magazine article on Rush from last year, “Late Period Limbaugh”. That might give you a more nuanced view of him.
OK, Dave, I went and read the Chafets piece. I must be missing something. What parts of that profile are supposed to be “nuanced” or likely to persuade me that Limbaugh’s not the obnoxious dick he portrays on the air?
January 29th, 2009 at 12:14 am
As an new immigrant in the 90’s with no idea who Rush was and knowing nothing about American racial politics, I accidentally stumbled on his show. Even I could tell he was a racist asshole. Actually, my first reaction was disbelief that I was seeing somebody randomly making fun of black people on national TV.
No overt racism, of course. Just happened to pick on people who just happened to be black.
January 29th, 2009 at 1:08 am
James,
If you start with the idée fixe that he portrays an “obnoxious dick” on the air, then probably nothing in Chafets’s article will give you a more nuanced view of Limbaugh. But some of the things that those coming to the piece with more of an open mind might be interested in reading about might include:
- Limbaugh’s battle to overcome his disability (deafness).
- That Limbaugh is admired for his talent and liked even by some on the left.
- That Limbaugh is a francophile.
- That his in-studio, off-air jousting partner (”Mr. Snerdly”) is an African American.
- Limbaugh’s candid discussion of his battle with drug addiction.
- Limbaugh’s self-awareness in acknowledging how it was immature of him to expect to be accepted as a peer by network news anchors when he worked in New York.
- The series of career failures Limbaugh surmounted to become the most widely-listened to personality on the radio.
- The Clinton Administration’s (recanted) attempt to tar him as a racist, and Limbaugh’s response to the charge.
January 29th, 2009 at 1:08 am
I do not mind that Rush is getting more attention. This is the ugly side of the Republican party which got it in trouble in 1996 and 1998 as well as the last two election cycles. This is the man who leads the Republicans into more and more of a regional party.
But the bigger issue here is the fact that this is a two-bit issue drummed up by the MSM. Does anyone thing this is going to matter in 2010? Does anyone care, really what Rush thinks?
The bigger issue is the fact that Pence is even involved in establishing laws for the nation? Rush can only preach to the choir. Pence can actually, you know, vote on sh*t.
January 29th, 2009 at 1:38 am
Of course he’s not a racist. He could only be a racist if white Republicans say he’s a racist.
Black people are notorious for mistaking innocent, good clean fun for “racism,” when they’re the most racist people in America.
Just ask Rush.
January 29th, 2009 at 1:49 am
I think if you speak to millions of people in support of aggressive incarceration, military aggression, government kidnapping and torture while littering your “arguments” with lies, ad hominems, and failed attempts at logical deduction, the best that can be said about you is that you are unaware and pathetic.
It is always wise to be compassionate, especially toward fools. It is certainly unwise to confuse denunciation of Limbaugh as a person with fighting the evil that he so witlessly champions.
January 29th, 2009 at 5:00 am
re DaveInHackensack, #38:
a more nuanced view of Limbaugh
WHAAA HAHAHAHAHAHAH HHAHHHAHHAHHAHHAAHHHHAHHHAAAA!
whew. thanks for the laugh.
January 29th, 2009 at 6:38 am
madorsky is right. pence is a grand canyon sized ayhole!!
January 29th, 2009 at 8:53 am
If you start with the idée fixe that he portrays an “obnoxious dick” on the air,
…then you’re a fool. Limbaugh isn’t portraying an “obnoxious dick”. That’s who he is! He’s the paragon of the modern Republican (i.e., since Nixon’s Southern Strategy). Why is this difficult?
January 29th, 2009 at 10:10 am
If you start with the idée fixe that he portrays an “obnoxious dick” on the air, then probably nothing in Chafets’s article will give you a more nuanced view of Limbaugh. But some of the things that those coming to the piece with more of an open mind might be interested in reading about might include:
Thanks for the response. What generally causes me to form a favorable impression of a person, though, is some evidence that he’s interested in something other than himself—and none of Limbaugh’s emo struggles you cited do anything to persaude me that he’s anything other than the self-absorbed, aggressively obnoxious button-pushing bully he plays on the radio. Unless having a black sidekick is supposed to be some kind of magnanimous humanitarian gesture. Whatever.
January 29th, 2009 at 11:07 am
“What generally causes me to form a favorable impression of a person, though, is some evidence that he’s interested in something other than himself…”
He’s obviously interested in things other than himself: politics, for starters (the focus of his show); football, music (other, lesser foci of his show), etc. Your characterization would be slightly more accurate if you were describing Howard Stern.
“Unless having a black sidekick is supposed to be some kind of magnanimous humanitarian gesture.”
I responded to your previous comment in good faith, but now you’re just being a dick.
Your artwork is interesting though. For those who haven’t seen it, click on James Gary’s name to see his gallery.
January 29th, 2009 at 11:17 am
Your artwork is interesting though. For those who haven’t seen it, click on James Gary’s name to see his gallery.
Thanks!
January 29th, 2009 at 11:47 am
Ivan Ivanovich Renko got is just right when he said,
Of course he’s not a racist. He could only be a racist if white Republicans say he’s a racist.
Black people are notorious for mistaking innocent, good clean fun for “racism,” when they’re the most racist people in America.
Just ask Rush.
Rush loves to lecture on how political correctness has made everybody too sensitive. Of course he can use the N-word and make racist comments because he’s just being funny. We all know blacks can use the N-word, so he can too. It’s bulletproof deniability.
But what’s really happening is he is appealing to all the racist fucks who are too stupid to know how racist they really are — it’s just a fact that blacks are lazy criminals, I don’t really hate them ya know.
Rush is a disgusting slimeball demagogue, plain and simple. I started listening to he and Hannity several years ago to hear for myself what info I might be missing from my usual news sources. What I found was both shows are incredibly free of facts or solid information. It’s all assertion with massively debatable assumptions that render their ‘discussion’ meaningless. That is, of course, when they’re not engaged in baseless personal attacks or thinly disguised racism. Assholes.
January 29th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
So for all we know, he doesn’t actually care about politics.
He had never been registered to vote until 1992. However, I think it’s fair to say that he realized the rewards of talking about and being involved with politics, so he has clearly developed an interest in that.
Talk radio takes a certain kind of talent: namely, the ability to talk for 3 hours about something, particularly when you don’t have a lot of material to work with in a given day. However, admiring someone for those “talents” is like praising the talents of the drumline troupe or the kazoo orchestra: difficult to pull off, to be sure, but not really something relevant or transferable, much less indicative of something useful outside that mileu. Your angry Rush-listening uncle can rant about politics for 20 minutes or so… only more if he’s conversing with someone. Rush can speak on his on, straight out, for 3 hours. Yes, he does something difficult. He’s still a dick, a racist, and a namecalling jerk who feeds into the worst instincts of American politics. He’s a cancer on the Republican party. Older Democratic politicians fear him, but younger ones seem willing to call other Republicans out on their slavish devotion to the man.
January 29th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
“But what’s really happening is he is appealing to all the racist fucks who are too stupid to know how racist they really are — it’s just a fact that blacks are lazy criminals, I don’t really hate them ya know.”
While I’m reading this comment from you, I’m listening to Rush respectfully, admiringly, interview an African American (Tony Dungy) on his show. Nothing yet from Rush on how Tony Dungy is a “lazy criminal”, but maybe he didn’t get to that part of the interview. Or maybe your (third-hand?) view of Rush is wrong?
“Rush is PAID, and paid a lot, to talk about these things on his show.”
Sure, he’s a businessman (and a talented one), and he’s not shy at all about that aspect of his work (see, for example, the NY Times Mag profile). But few people can be as on top of their game as Rush is and not like their work. I don’t doubt that he’s political junkie or a football fan.
January 29th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Sure, he’s a businessman (and a talented one),
…just like Father Coughlin.
January 29th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Last time rolling this bolder uphill…
“The “I can’t be a racist, some of my best friends are black” defense? Please.”
Tony Dungy isn’t a friend of his; this was the first time they had spoken. Although it’s impossible to prove a negative (that someone isn’t racist), expressing admiration and respect for an African American would seem to be inconsistent with accusations that someone is racist against blacks. Same with choosing an African American as your closest work partner. Of course, the real point of spurious accusations of racism is to marginalize the accused. See, again, the NY Times Mag article where this is discussed in the context of the Clinton Administration’s (recanted) attempt to tar Limbaugh as a racist.
My work is done on this thread. You can have the last word.
January 29th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
“The “I can’t be a racist, some of my best friends are black” defense? Please.”
Tony Dungy isn’t a friend of his; this was the first time they had spoken.
Is it really that difficult to understand? Does he have to say, “I can’t be a racist, I admire a black football coach” in order for you to get it?
Rush caters to the racist crowd, it’s part of his job description, NYT hagiography notwithstanding. As I said earlier, it’s all for the people who don’t understand that their views of blacks as lazy or criminal or (add negative stereotype here) are racist not realist.
It’s disgusting because it’s calculated. That fat bastard needs to rot in hell.
January 29th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
“Although it’s impossible to prove a negative (that someone isn’t racist), expressing admiration and respect for an African American would seem to be inconsistent with accusations that someone is racist against blacks.”
Nah, Rush is smarter than that. Racism is less overt than it used to be, and anyway, Tony Dungy is a contrite Bible thumper-therefore a “safe” black for Rush to have on his show. My guess is that if Tony veered off into supporting the NFL policy of having to interview one minority candidate for every open head coaching job, Rush’s true colors would veritably shine thorugh.
No, Rush is a racist because he associates himself with a political philosophy that advocates the politics of resentment and fear (”you needed that job, but they had to give it to a monority!”)
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