"One of our singular achievements here is that we have made the word 'liberal' a dirty word."

Another great quote from Limbaugh, who I'm not done with yet. Just because I heard this argument yesterday and it struck me as notable, but didn't fit into my earlier rant.

It happened yesterday afternoon, some guy named Ward Sloane. Have you ever heard of Ward Sloane? I haven't, either. "In a way, it's sad that people like Rush Limbaugh... are today's mouthpieces for conservatism. What a far leap they are from the quick witted and smart Buckley. I think it's fair to say that even Buckley's ideological enemies admired him and respected him. That's because Buckley was not a hate monger; he was a serious-minded person who made reasoned and rational arguments for his cause. No apologies to Limbaugh... or [his] listeners and adherents -- they are no substitute for Buckley's class and intellectualism." Okay, I have a question for you, Mr. Sloane. If Mr. Buckley made reasoned and rational arguments for his cause, and he was very smart, why, Mr. Sloane, are you still a liberal? Why, Mr. Sloane, do you not list some of Mr. Buckley's better conservative arguments? If he was so brilliant, and if he was so admired and so respected and so quick-witted and so smart, then how come you are still a liberal, and how come you can't cite the brilliant arguments that Buckley made?

The truth is, all of these people like this clown, Ward Sloane or Richard Corliss, and I'm sure you've read similar entries such as this. The truth is that all of these liberals would love it if all conservatives would just shut up. We would be easier to ignore. That's what they mean when they talk about civilized and mild-mannered. The point is, these people can't win these debates. They can't win these arguments, and so they want us to shut up.

Yep. Rush Limbaugh cannot conceive of someone respecting someone they disagree with. This is because he cannot do it himself. He can profess to respect people he disagrees with, but sooner or later his real feelings come out.

In Limbaugh's mind, people who disagree with him are corrupt, crazy, or ignorant. There's no other explanation for failing to come to the same self evident truths he professes.