“You can’t just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done.”
I took the following Obama quote off foxnews.com:
“You can’t just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done,” he told top GOP leaders, whom he had invited to the White House to discuss his nearly $1 trillion stimulus package.
One White House official confirmed the comment but said he was simply trying to make a larger point about bipartisan efforts.
If this is the tone Obama intends to use to get Republicans to cooperate with him, he’s going to fail. It sound pretty belligerent to me. I suspect Obama intends merely to shove his new bailout legislation down Republicans’ throats.
This may be good, when you think about it. The faster he tries to take us down the road to socialism, the better the chance that Americans will rebel against it. Both Democrats and Republicans have been very successful for the last several decades using the “slow” approach in remaking America into a Big Government-dominated society. Maybe a guy in a big hurry like Obama is just what we need to promote a reaction from that section of the population that still values freedom.
Notice how concerned Obama is of Limbaugh. I predicted in last issue’s editorial that he would go after talk radio with the Fairness Doctrine. This may be his opening salvo.
The “grace period” I talked about last post may be short-lived if this is an indication of the strong arm tactics Obama intends to use.
January 24th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Mr. Duffy,
I think you are right on. Socialism and extreme left-wing ideology have “slowly” taken over our society for the last forty plus years. And honestly, the stealth approach has worked much better than an armed invasion could have ever accomplished. However, a sudden, drastic, and impatient shove could be the catalyst to ignite conservative Democrats, Moderates, Independents, and Republicans to grow a spine for once. As a conservative leaning Libertarian, I have always been resistant to extreme-left fascist ideology and have often wondered what it would take to wake up the masses. Maybe Barrack the Messiah, is not only a blessing to his followers, but also a blessing to people who understand and resist socialism and all of its principles. Only time will tell if liberty will reign, or the United States is swallowed up by European style socialism due to patriotic inaction of the still silent majority.
Best regards,
Kerry
January 24th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
WTF, at least El Rushbo is constitutionally qualified to be President!
January 24th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
I can’t help but think how refreshing it would have been if Pres. Bush had taken a similar stance. ie. standing up for his principles instead of trying to always get along with the other side.
January 25th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
I really have little use for blowhards like Limbaugh, Michael Moore, and so on, even when I agree with them. Regardless of whether the politics involved are Right or Left, it’s sad that Americans need to listen to “professional citizens” such as these people in order to form opinions.
One problem is that these guys are needlessly polarizing. (Well, the polarizing IS needed in one way…. it makes these guys amazingly wealthy….more below.) We really don’t get much done when we listen to these sensationalists, and it’s too bad Obama has bought into the scene with his recent comments.
Thanks to the amazing power of electronic media to concentrate advertiser revenue into the hands of a few, these people make extreme and outrageous amounts of money too and this is true for the Hollywood and music types as well. Rapper 50 Cent, thanks to electronic media, lives in a multi-million dollar mansion all for spewing hate, racism, and sex into a microphone. Now Rush is not quite doing hate, sex, or racism, and I actually agree with some of his positions, but overall the phenomenon is the same and it’s rather sickening in my opinion. He rants into the microphone with his hyped up opinions, and rakes in hundreds of millions of dollars.
I criticized Rush, 50 Cent, and several other celebrities in this way once in front of a couple of my students, and they responded by pointing out that 50 Cent makes something like 1000X what I make, so he MUST be better, more right, more just, etc. ……..Ya, sure.
January 25th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
I also have to respectfully disagree with LibertyNews. I don’t think Bush II tried to get along with the other side as I saw many times when he tried to pick a fight with hyperbole, etc and that’s fine. He wasn’t elected to get along with the other side.
Regardless, I think the real reason government grew so much under George Bush II is because despite all the small government and freedom smokescreen talk, his true principles were to take our money from us as fast as the Democrats, while taking our freedoms via the Patriot Acts I and II, Military Commissions Act, and so on too. Either that or he had no principles and just wandered into larger government. Either way, that’s where we ended up.
Except for the fact that Obama talks more overtly about the growth of government, I really don’t see much difference between him and Bush.
January 26th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
You go Dave! I totally agree. If Rush is the concern of the Obama adminstration, then we do have issues. I did vote for Obama because I wanted BUSH out, but the libertatian candidate had already lost, so I had no option. I wonder how many other presidents worry about TALK SHOW HOSTS???? Doesn’t that even sound strange?
February 3rd, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Dave, you mentioned shortening the grace period, here’s another warning sign: A bill introduced on Jan 22, known as H.R. 645, the full text of which can be found here: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-645
Its surprisingly short for a piece of legislature. I’d suggest reading the whole thing once, then re-reading Section 2-b-4. Its damn creepy.
Wish I could join with those saying they’ll fight to the last. Unfortunately I can barely walk at the moment (health issues), which kind of ruins the whole “blaze of glory” image. But I’m good at coming up with ideas, anybody need a resistance consultant? LOL
February 4th, 2009 at 9:16 am
Dave, you are so on-target !
Obama’s rationale that I am right because “I won” doesn’t hold much water with me. The one twinkle of hope I see is coming from the 50+ Democrats in the House of Representatives who are trying to return ‘Regular Order’ to the proceedings in the House, opening the possibility for some level of rational discussion and votes.
That twinkle is so slight however, that I still will prepare, Prepare, PREPARE!
As part of that preparation, I am now finally ready to subscribe.
February 6th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Dave,
I have always worked to be self sufficient, and now more than ever that is at the forefront of my life these days. The porkulus package is going to pass in one form or another and there is no way to stop it. I continue to send up to 25 emails to my Virginia Politicians followed up with calls. I have not received one response and I know how my politicians from Virginia are going to vote. It’s sad that are where we are at today. I want to thank you for all your work and advice and lessons that you have provided over the years. As a constitutionalist it sickens me to see what is happening to our constitution and our country.
February 12th, 2009 at 11:29 am
Dave;
While unconstitutional to be sure the fairness doctrine will not be the disaster for conservatives and freedom lovers that some think. Though I concede it could be a real problem for small print outlets like yours (though to be honest I got started on BWH through your website).
The fairness doctrine will only speed the inevitable and destroy the liberal media. Right now, despite talk radio and the blogosphere, the flow of information to the people is largely controlled by the mainstream media which is nearly universally liberal leaning. Conservative talk radio is wildly succesful because there is a market for it. If you force the conservatives down and limit them, Rush and compatriots will not operate in that condition. They are going to drop off the mainstream media and stop doing radio and TV. They will go 100% onto blogs, podcasts and other alternative media. It will also cause the rise of new stars as yet undiscovered by the mainstream. Talk radio will be left as a barren wasteland where Air America types will broadcast to empty space with few listeners.
The people will listen to Podcasts on MP3 players in their cars, stream off the internet in their offices and homes. LewRockwell.com, for instance, has a very large listener base with almost no overhead costs by using purely online content. He has a website with blogs and articles, supplemented with a podcast. As the people turn to these alternative media they will stop watching the regular TV news as much, as they cruise the internet they will read fewer print newspapers. The network news will lose viewership (and influence). As people spend more time online they will discover more, non-conventional news sources. Less MSNBC.com, less CNN.com, even less Fox.com.
The new online media will be decentralized and hard to manipulate. There are no FCC lisences, no boadcasting equipment to buy. You can podcast with a computer and a $40 microphone. The liberal media will not be able to have their stranglehold on information that they do now. With a limited number of papers and TV stations currently you have to have a certain pedigree to work in the media. You have to go to school and study jouranlism and get influenced by the instructors, it takes a young kid who leans liberal and makes them dyed in the wool liberal. In the new media ANYONE willing to invest the time can be a journalist, they can fight on the market for people’s time, they can fight with the big boys for people’s time . My time on Drudge, on LewRockwell.com, on Reason Magazine’s website, the Gun Rights Radio Network and numerous blogs is time I am not looking at traditional media. I listen to podcasts in the car, I dont listen to the radio anymore. I dont buy newspapers. The fairness doctrine will only hasten the end to the liberal media. I dont support it, it is un-constitutional…but if they do get it through it will only hasten the destruction of the liberal media.
The liberal media and the government can try to regulate and control the internet but I dont think it will work. Tom Brokaw was once quoted as saying something had to be done about these online bloggers, that they would ruin the news because there was no control, no monitoring and people could publish just anything. I suggest he go back and read the constitution. But to the government and the media I would tell them that the question is not how or should you regulate the media. The question is CAN you regulate it. I will turn it over to Princess Leia from Star Wars to sum it all up.
“The more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will slip through your fingers”
-Princess Leia Organa