Your weekly Rush

There are others, not me, who are telling other people to shut up, to not say things because they don't have the right to say things, they don't have the right to think things, and they ought to be punished when they do, but it's not me. I'm not the one that's intolerant nor are many on my side of the ideological aisle.

I'm not a big supporter of ESPN's decision to show Rush Limbuagh the door, but this is a bit disingenious. He and his supporters have been on a tear about Hollywood liberals all year long. There are websites set up specifically to silence Hollywood liberals. And, let us note, it's not like Alec Baldwin stops in the middle of a scene to rail on President Bush. Limbaugh did make his comments during his performance, and, from ESPN's position, it hurt his performance in the job they had hired him for.

I do think ESPN should have given Rush a second chance, but I can see their side of it too.

The Lyrics to Almost Cut My Hair by David Crosby

Almost cut my hair
It happened just the other day
It's gettin kinda long
I coulda said it wasn't in my way
But I didn't and I wonder why
I feel like letting my freak flag fly
Cause I feel like I owe it to someone

Must be because I had the flu' for Christmas
And I'm not feeling up to par
It increases my paranoia
Like looking at my mirror and seeing a police car
But I'm not giving in an inch to fear
Cause I missed myself this year
I feel like I owe it to someone

When I finally get myself together
I'm going to get down in that sunny southern weather
And I find a place inside to laugh
Separate the wheat from the chaff
I feel like I owe it to someone

Around the Horn for Rush Limbaugh

One wishes Rush had explained himself better. Maybe it would have mollified his critics had he explained that it is also in the conservative impulse to cheer the achievements of barrier-breaking blacks, so long as the achievement is real (Woods, Williams sisters) and not construed (in Rush's analysis, McNabb). But that's the stuff of three-hour radio talk show discussions, not seven-second TV soundbites. That mistake, coupled with the media's unwavering commitment to political correctness, is what spurred ESPN to grow queasy and hush Rush. - Brent Bozell

First Michael “You should only get AIDS and die, you pig” Savage, then Rush Limbaugh. The great thing about putting these right-wing radio nuts on television is that everybody gets to see the racism, homophobia and hatred they regularly spew under the radar screen to only their devoted listeners.
Eric Alterman

The sports news network hired Rush Limbaugh to do pre-game football commentary and chatter for its "Sunday NFL Countdown." Rush Limbaugh is a conservative talk show host with strong opinions about all sorts of things, including race and media bias. He offered his opinion about race and media bias. He lost his job. Who did ESPN think it was hiring? Martha Stewart? - Jonah Goldberg

When white men gather in living rooms, locker rooms, or sports bars, you'd be amazed at how often they make racist comments.

It doesn't happen all the time. But it happens a lot.

So maybe Rush Limbaugh did the country a favor by reminding us, yet again, of the insidiousness of white supremacy.
Matthew Rothschild

Next, Rush Limbaugh will be forced to resign for saying that Katie Couric is cute, that Saddam Hussein is evil, and that the sun rises in the east. His recent comment on ESPN that sports reporters might want a black quarterback to succeed because of their "social concern" is self-evidently true. That it created a furor leading to his resignation is a sign of a pervasive double standard in American life -- the left obsessively racializes nearly everything, but if a conservative dares mention anything related to race, he is dubbed a "racist" and considered unfit for polite company. - Rich Lowry

The creation of the Rush Limbaugh era was a move of astonishing cynicism by ESPN, a race down the low road in search of a buck or two, middle finger extended out the driver's side window at its best customers, hardcore sports fans. Knowing that any publicity is good publicity and that hiring Limbaugh would have tongues wagging, the network hired him knowing he'd add nothing to viewers' enjoyment of the games but plenty to the bottom line as the curious tuned in to see how Rush would try to shape the events on the field to fit his know-nothing political agenda.

Time and again in his brief, idiotic tenure Limbaugh returned to one of his favorite themes, the liberal media, sometimes imagined as an unthinking horde marching in lockstep, sometimes as individual reporters, legions of them, all acting in exactly the same way for some reason that's obvious to Rush if not to the rest of us.
King Kaufman

The nice thing about posts like this is that I don't really have to add anything. Just present the info.

Rush Limbaugh's Trouble

You'd think this would be a happy story for me to write on, but actually it's kind of a downer. The New York Daily News and the National Enquirer are reporting that Rush Limbaugh has a drug problem. "Talk-radio titan Rush Limbaugh is being investigated for allegedly buying thousands of addictive painkillers from a black-market drug ring."

I've enjoyed listening to Rush, and certainly he's provided me plenty of fodder for my website, so I wish him luck in dealing with these problems.

Ann Coulter - Nuttier than Three Squirrels

Yep. Ann wisely chooses to ignore Republican Treason (i.e. the outing of a CIA undercover operative. For more info check out these comments, via Atrios) in favor of spending an article making fun of the Democratic Presidential Candidates. So let's dive right in.

According to a new survey, six out of 10 Americans can't name a single Democrat running for president. And that poll was actually taken among the 10 current Democratic candidates. According to the survey answers, "the military guy" leads with 19 percent, followed by "that doctor, what's his name?" with 12 percent, and "the French-looking guy" with 9 percent.

Actually said survey did not occur; it is in fact completely made up. The military guy is General Wesley Clark, the doctor is Howard Dean, and the French looking guy is John Kerry. Oh, and in Ann Coulters twisted world looking French should disqualify you from being President.

"Since Wesley Clark entered the race, Democrats have been salivating over the prospect of a presidential candidate who is a four-star general, and has the politics of Susan Sarandon! Clark's entry into the race was seen as a setback for John Kerry, the only other Democratic contender with combat experience. (Although back in the 1970s, Dennis Kucinich served in the Kiss Army.)"

While Clark is certainly more liberal than Ann Coulter (who isn't?), he is not actually as far left as Ms. Sarandon. He is in fact a liberal centrist. Also, there is no evidence that Dennis Kucinich served in the KISS army (and when you refer to KISS you use all caps, Ms. Coulter).

Before Clark becomes the answer to a Trivial Pursuit question, consider that Clark's main claim to fame is that he played a pivotal role in what most of his supporters passionately believe was an illegal, immoral war of American imperialism in Vietnam. How does that earn you points with Democrats?

This argument reflects Ms. Coulter's belief that the part is exactly equivalent to the whole. She believes that if you are a liberal you share every opinion with every other liberal; and same for conservatives. It's this sort of black and white division of the world that she and many of her followers see as a strength; when in fact it distorts the world almost out of recognition. But for her benefit, allow me to state that, as hard as it to believe, one can believe a war is immoral and wrong, and still respect the troops, even leaders of troops, for following orders.

I have to say this diving right into Ms. Coulters argument is starting to make me a little fatigued. I think I'll skip down a bit; she spends the next few paragraphs attacking Clark.

Howard Dean is not a general, but he is a doctor. Democrats are enthusiastic about Dean since they figure that if this Democrat were ever caught with a naked intern, he could just say it was her annual physical.

Actually Democrats like Dean because he acts like he opposes President Bush and his policies. There's something energizing in an opposition candidate acting like an opposition candidate, although I understand Rush Limbaugh (who presumably has a lot on his mind) wishes we would act like pansys and support the President. I don't know about other Democrats, but I personally don't think that's a very positive route to go down.

Sen. John Kerry has said we need to "de-Americanize" the war, I guess on the theory that the "de-Americanizing" process has worked out so well for the Democratic Party. He is furious at Bush for prosecuting a war Kerry voted for, saying the difference is, "I would have been patient." He would have had to be extremely patient in the case of Germany, inasmuch as Gerhard Schroeder announced before the war began that he would never authorize war in Iraq under any circumstances.

Actually the Democratic Party is an American party, made up of people who love their country and want to see it succeed and prosper. It is, to borrow a phrase, as American as apple pie. And I think that most people understand where Mr. Kerry is coming from. We were told that Congressional Support for President Bush's authorization was necessary to push Saddam to being more open. Then President Bush took us to war, insulted the rest of the world, handily defeated a military decades out of date, and failed to prepare any sort of exit strategy. So perhaps we Americans can understand Mr. Kerry's feelings; as we share his sense of being betrayed by a President determined to take us to war.

I'm done. This is too hard--if you want to read the rest of the article, here it is.

One more thing on Robert Novak

It need hardly be said that if this scandal has legs, it will hurt Robert Novak. I don't agree with him much, but I do respect him as a good writer with an insightful mind. So it would be a bit of a tragedy to see this current scandal drag him down as well. But, if it does, I suppose that was his choice.

Robert Novak

I don't know how many of you are following the Joseph Wilson story. Robert Novak, who instigated the story by describing Wilson's wife as a CIA operative, wrote on it again today. "How big a secret was it? It was well known around Washington that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA. Republican activist Clifford May wrote Monday, in National Review Online, that he had been told of her identity by a non-government source before my column appeared and that it was common knowledge. Her name, Valerie Plame, was no secret either, appearing in Wilson's "Who's Who in America" entry."

So he's explicitly following the Clifford May line (referenced earlier) of suggesting that Washington Insiders all knew about the leak anyway. This is an almost perfect example of Bias. There is a key factual element to this story that is unknown; namely was it well known around Washington insiders that Ms. Valerie Plame was a CIA Analyst? If the answer is yes, than what Novak did was no big deal. If the answer is no, than Novak, possibly with the help of the CIA, outed Ms. Plame.

The problem, of course, is that I and, I would assume, most of my my readers are not Washington Insiders. We have no way of verifying this information. So what are we to believe? Well if you are a good Republican you will believe it is well known and if you are a good Democrat you will believe that it was not well known.

Kind of an ambiguous situation, but perhaps information has not finished dribbling out of this story.

Other Signs the Election might be Tight

Linda Chavez this time, commenting that the awful Democrats are trying to portray President Bush as a failure and that the Media is doing everything they can to help out. Far be it from me to suggest that some of President Bush's bad press might be a result of bad policies and decisions. Clearly any suggestion that this is a recovery that benefits Wall Street more than the American people, or that Iraq appears to be not going very well would just be wrong headed.

But Linda Chavez is not convinced that the best policy for the Bush Administration is to do nothing. "Unless the Bush campaign begins to counteract these stories -- and soon -- the Democrats could just get their wish. Republicans are counting on the Democrats to defeat themselves with outrageous rhetoric and far left proposals. But if the Bush campaign isn't careful, the American public won't even notice how outside the mainstream the Democrats are. They'll be too busy being mad at George W. Bush for his "jobless recovery" and his "failed" war in Iraq."

You never know.

Calls at Dinnertime

This scene is repeated several times a week.

"Mmmmmmm this is good Peking Duck. Being an internet commentator sure has been my ticket to the easy life; I'll have to complement Jules on it later. What's that ringing noise? Is it the doomsday alarm? Oh No! Oh wait it's just the phone. [picks up the receiver] Hello?

"Hello Mister Mangled-Name?"

[realizing that anybody who mangles my name probably isn't my best friend] "Do I owe you any money?"

"Uh, no, we have a very exciting offer for you . . " [Phone Hangs Up]

Still the Supreme Court has apparently said that's ok. Not like it takes a lot of time to hang up, I suppose, and it does employ people. Mona Charen has an article on this today in which she contrasts the SCOTUS's position on this position with their position on Campaign Finance Reform, and finds both positions wanting.

Oh, and being an internet commentator has not made me fabulously wealthy; that part of my story was made up. Unfortunately, I do talk to myself.

Up Against the Wall, Iraq

This is Cal Thomas's new theory, although, naturally, he doesn't put it that way. He puts it this way. "The Bush administration is proposing to spend another $87 billion ($20 billion for Iraq reconstruction) on top of what has already been spent in Iraq and Afghanistan. Instead, this country should be calling on Iraq and the rest of the oil-producing states to rebuild those nations. Freedom costs, but it should not just cost the United States. Those who benefit most from freedom should pay part of the bill."

Yep. Except Iraq didn't request us to invade and doesn't get any say in how we are repaid. We took over the country by force and are now going to require them to pay for the benefit of us invading.

Of course I'm aware that Saddam was a monster, and I doubt there are too many in Iraq who are sorry to see him go; but we invaded for our own reasons, because we were told our national security was at stake. Given that, it seems a bit beyond the pale to require them, at the barrel of a gun, to give up their barrels of oil.

Even More Rush Limbaugh

Rush Limbaugh read an article today by Clifford May, the totally disinterested observer of the Joseph C. Wilson IV story. Mr. May is totally disinterested, unlike Mr. Wilson who was known to have lots of connections to the Middle East, no experience, and was, in general, a dirty liberal.

Fortunately Clifford May is pretty much totally disinterested. I mean he writes for the National Review, a conservative magazine. And he founded The Foundation for the Defence of Democracies, a non-profit, "non-partisan" foundation that, coincidentally, largely follows President Bush's line (they are a bit more hardline on Saudi Arabia, which is always nice to see).

Clifford May writes about how as a Washington insider he was well aware that Wilson's wife was a CIA operative.

"On July 14, Robert Novak wrote a column in the Post and other newspapers naming Mr. Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, as a CIA operative.

That wasn't news to me. I had been told that — but not by anyone working in the White House. Rather, I learned it from someone who formerly worked in the government and he mentioned it in an offhand manner, leading me to infer it was something that insiders were well aware of."

This is the entire proof that May and Rush bring to the table, suggesting that Novak's outing of May's wife was really no big deal. He heard it in such a way that he concluded that everybody knew, so everybody must have known it. Yep. Makes perfect sense.

More Rush Limbaugh

Listening to Rush Limbaugh while driving home for lunch and heard him give helpful advice to Howard Dean (who Rush playfully calls "Nikita Dean.") His advice; play up your conservatism. I have a feeling that Rush will be very, very helpful to Republicans over the next year. And I suspect his help will consist of suggesting that the Democrats abaondon liberalism and move to conservativism.

I mean, wouldn't it be great if, when Americans step into the voting booth in November of 2004, there were two Coservative Candidates? President George W. Bush, hero to us all, and Howard Dean, who is just about as Conservative but not quite. Then the American people would have a real choice.

Still, if people have the choice between a Republican and a Democrat trying to be a Republican, won't they just vote for the Republican? Particularly since most analysts have concluded that the victor of this election will go to the candidate who mobilizes his base the best. I don't think adopting conservativism is the best way to motivate the Democrat Party Base.

Oh and if anybody wants my advice, just let me quote Harry S. Truman. "Carry the battle to them. Don't let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive. And don't ever apologize for anything."

I'm Behind the Curve

I know that President Bush's big speech to the U.N. was last week, and that this is this week, but I'm still going to point you to a good analysis of the speeh by Fred Kaplan (at MSNBC.COM).

"he [President Bush] cited only three areas in which the role of the United Nations (or any other nations) should be expanded: writing an Iraqi constitution, training a new corps of civil servants, and supervising elections. None of these notions is new.

Otherwise, Bush’s message can be summarized as follows: The U.S.-led occupation authority is doing good work in Iraq; you should come help us; if you don’t, you’re on the side of the terrorists."

President Bush should smarten up a little bit, I'm afraid. And get real.

Robert Novak's Latest Article

Good news for Democrats, according to Mr. Novak. Apparently President Bush's reelection is not as certain as some would like to portray it. Robert Novak looks at recent moves by the administration and finds them wanting.

"While a skillful sales job for aid to Iraq would not guarantee success, it has been anything but skillful. In his Sept. 7 speech to the nation, Bush looked uncomfortable standing in the Cabinet Room instead of seated in the Oval Office. The Sept. 22 U.N. speech convinced soft-liners that the president was defiant and convinced hard-liners that he was cringing.

. . . No wonder the arrogance quotient at the White House is diminishing."

Maybe the Democrats have a chance after all.

New Quote

New quote up at the top and the Quotes Page is updated as well, with a quote from Ms. Helen Keller.