Rush Limbaugh: A Land of Contrasts

Sure, fine, Limbaugh died a monster.  No question.  But what us stupid Liberals don't seem understand is how much fun he was! Y'know, all those years and years and years of mocking the poor, and the feminazis, and AIDS victims, and negroes, and, of course, us stupid Libtards.  

From Charlie Sykes in the Washington Post:

To a degree that is not always understood on the left, Limbaugh invented a new genre in which conservatism could be entertaining, even fun. He was a master at using parodies as weapons. He was outrageous and daring; occasionally funny and charming, but also often dishonest and offensive.

Because Limbaugh's whole schtick was punching down.    Dr. Krugman brings the late Molly Ivins to the party:

Since there have been some people talking about how Rush Limbaugh was funny, it's worth quoting Molly Ivins https://t.co/rRrg9bxAYE pic.twitter.com/j0nsIOJBbw

— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) February 17, 2021

He was thug, who made sport of the weak and relatively defenseless, so of course Conservatives loved it.   He was their Jabba the Hutt, and imitators like Sykes were his Salacious Crumbs.

Then, according to Mr. Sykes, things happened and time passed.  What things?  Who knows.  How much time passed?  Was it hours?  Days?  Months?  Years?  Decades?  Sadly, all records how or when or who is responsible for what are lost forever.  All anyone knows for sure is that something something something Trump!

The fact is that Limbaugh was fundamentally uninterested in ideas, and by the time he had helped Trump’s improbable rise to the presidency, the host was essentially done with conservatism as a set of principles.

Sure it is objectively true that Rush Limbaugh gave Charlie Sykes his political manhood.  That Sykes owes everything he has to the Hate Radio House That Limbaugh Built and that he spent his entire radio career as Wisconsin's own two-bit, decaffeinate Limbaugh knockoff, working tirelessly to turn Wisconsin in the wingnut basket case it is now.  But if you're willing to ignore all of that, it's clear that the real standard-bearer in the fight against Rush Limbaugh was... Charlie Sykes!  

As a radio talk-show host myself, I admired his skill as a broadcaster, even as I was alarmed by the role he was choosing to play. For years, I had pushed back against the charge that talk radio was simply about entertainment, outrage and anger. I made an effort to talk about issues and struggled to find ways to repackage conservative ideas in fresh terms.

But as time went on, Limbaugh went in another direction...

Because aren't Never Trrumpers always the hero of every story?  

If you doubt it, just ask Sykes' fellow MSNBC in-house Never Trumper, Michael Steele, about whom I wrote some stuff less than a month ago:

Michael Steele:  Accountability For Thee But Not for Me

...

And now that all political history prior to 2015/6 has officially been erased and we have clearly established who the Sinners are, Michael Steele can once again to use his position at MSNBC to continue elevating himself to political Sainthood by rewriting his years as RNC chair any way he pleases:

Steele:  One important point.  When I took over the party in 2009 it was very very important for me to approach where we were based on where we had come from.  We had come from a place where the party had lost uh in 2008 lost in 2006 and we had to understand why the par... why the party was being rejected.  So you have to begin with the "mea culpa".  You have to begin with owning the losses. Owning the carnage that you've left behind, because if you don't do that you can't begin to take the steps forward.  Besides no one will believe you.  You have no credibility.  I can't go to the country and say hey vote for us when they go, "Wait a minute, you got all this stuff, all this baggage..."

As those of us who were there and taking notes during Steele's Reign of Error know, Mr. Steele's fanciful Remembrance of Chairmanships Past bears no resemblance to actual history.  And so I must once again beg your indulgence while I give Clio the Muse of History her due by repeating that these are exactly the same very reasonable terms that some of us dirty, disreputable Libtards insisted that men like Michael Steele should be required to live up to before they could be trusted to join our team.  Because (as some of us dirty, disreputable Libtards warned) if we didn't draw that line, the day would come sooner that you would believe possible when men like Michael Steele would have completely colonized the media and there would be no one to say otherwise as they advanced their careers by lying and lying and lying about their own past and their complicity in building the GOP monster machine that produced Donald Trump.

So, for those of you who weren't paying attention at the time,  this is what actually happened during Mr. Steele's tenure as RNC chair.

After the Democrats nominated and elected of Barack Obama, the GOP found itself suddenly in urgent needed of a black man who was morally flexible enough to front for the deeply racist Republican Party, and Michael Steele was just the man for that job.  The party's recovery from its losses in 2006 and 2008 had nothing whatsoever to do with understanding "why the party was being rejected".  I had everything to do with leaning all the way in on the deeply racist Republican Party's rebranding scam called the "Tea Party" and their rallying cries of Birtherism and Death Panels.

Steele's tenure was a bumbling failure, and I can't help but laugh (albeit bitterly) when I hear Steele now saying shit like this with all the courage and conviction of a man with a steady media gig and no fear of being called out in public --

You CANNOT SLAP ME out in front of MILLIONS of people AND expect me to apologize TO YOU! Michael Steele on MSNBC. Millions agree. The Greedy Old Pirates BETTER RECOGNIZE!

— Hollis Key Jr (@JrHollis60) January 21, 2021

-- when getting slapped in the face and then being forced to apologize to the slapper was literally what happened the one time he dared to venture out of his role as the GOP's front man to mildly rebuke the real head of the Republican Party, Rush Limbaugh.  Limbaugh dropped a house on him and Steele obligingly ran to him and groveled for his forgiveness...

Heroes.

Heroes all. 

Burn The Lifeboats