Rush-ing to Failure

Like him or not, Limbaugh is filling a void in the Republican Party. The Conservative Right - the 10 to 12 million who always vote - are hungry for new leadership, leadership that sticks to their very conservative, Bill Buckley, Ronald Reagan, James Dobson, Pat Robertson point of view.

This group does not believe in inclusion - it's their way or the highway. In Oklahoma you can see this in the face of such longtime Repubs as Charlie Meadows, Cheryl Williams and the rest of the true believers. They have a 100 point test to determine if you are a real Republican. If you don't get a perfect score - out you go.

These people are so hungry for a leader who will take their stand publically, they're flocking to Rush the Entertainer. He speaks their language, promotes their values and makes them more afraid of anyone who doesn't believe like they do.

Rush is a fear monger, a name caller and an outright liar.

The rest of the Republican Party is running hard to get away from these people. Sadly, they have no place to go because the radicals have the cash and have the airways.

This is very reminiscent of the Democratic Party of the early 70's (tree huggers, peaceniks, and radical liberals like Pelosi). The radicals took enough control to change the very image of the party. They made liberal a dirty word and paved the way for Republicans to spend a lot of time in control.

Now we've turned a corner and we have the head of the Republican Party to thank. By apologizing to Rush, he's opened the door for Rush and the gang to hijack the party and get control - forcing the rest of the Republicans to find another party to represent them because they can't stomach the rantings and ravings of the far right.

Best of all, Rush has played right into the hands of the White House. They will pull out every quote, every stupid hateful thing Rush has ever said and use it against him. with Rush's approval rating at 38%, it will be a struggle but he will be taken down just like Father Coughlin was in the 30's, like McCarthy, like Joe Pine, like so many others who are more filled with their own hubris and hate than anything else.

These people do spread hate. They’re not interested in another point of view. If you aren't a true believer, they will try to destroy you. Rush wants you to be afraid because it brings him fame and money. It gives him the power he cannot get on his own. Rush found a niche and is exploiting it. Hitler did the same thing. Yes, i do compare Rush to Hitler - their tactics are strikingly similar.

The rest of the fringe commentator element; Hannity, Ingram, Malkin, Coulter and the rest will be willing accomplices’, whipping the conservative base into a revival frenzy against the rest of the US. They will cover the country like evangelists, preaching to the choir, taking their money, making them fear the opposition and giving them false hope that they can somehow regain "their country" - for it's not yours or mine, it's only the country of the true believers. They will rally, take up arms (as Hannity wants them to do) and try to force their way of life on the rest of us with renewed vigor and purpose.

And they will fail. Fail because America isn't about one group's opinion, it's about a collective opinion that articulates a position that is best for the country. Whether it's economics, social policy, military policy or whether to stop the insane embargo against Cuba (because it's worked so well), America's policies should always be what's best for all. Perhaps that's new trade policies, bailouts, realignments with other countries, new public education systems... it doesn't matter. It has to be what's best for America as a whole.

Rush and his gang want America to be about them, to force the rest to submit to their way of thinking.

It's a philosophy that will fail, fail because the world has changed since the 50's. Reagan and Buckley are dead. Their era is gone. The world is a new place. 21st Century America will have to adapt to the changing world. Isolationism is over. The Old World Order is over.

Soon enough Rush and his gang will learn the awful truth, most of us, Republicans and Democrats, don't want to be like them.

He will be tossed to the side just like so many other radicals have been through the years.

The rest of us will clean up his mess and continue to move our country forward, remembering that we are:

Of the People
By the People

And most importantly

For the People.

We are not and never have been a country of the few, by the few and for the few. It's a lesson Rush will learn the hard way.