CJR:
Please stop covering Rush Limbaugh, seriously. I strongly, vehemently agree. Ignore the irritating, they go away. There is no such thing as negative PR, and every Democrat and media organization is falling into this black hole, pushing Rush’s profile and importance to undeserved and misleading levels. You can’t goad an entertainer into pulling a punch. A politician, yes. An entertainer, no. He’ll just dance around you rhetorically, because his patter has fewer limitations.
Comments:
I agree. Rush is an idiot and a douchebag; I think we can all agree on that. However, being an idiot and douchebag is exactly the role he cast himself in. He pitches himself as the idiot and douchebag because *that is what his audience expects*. If they wanted a civil discussion about politics with well-balanced reasoning, Rush would be out of a job.
I think that the Democrats can’t get enough of Limbaugh. When you are trying to promote policies, it’s helpful to contrast them against the most offensively stupid alternative as possible, and Limbaugh provides that. Republicans are in a trap. When they disavow Limbaugh, they’re punished, so they have to take it when Democrats attack Limbaugh’s outrageous statements. It’s just a more absurd version of putting George W Bush in every Democratic campaign ad last fall.
I wonder why noone has sued talk radio or other media for libel and/or defamation.
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I think Functional Ambivalent has an interesting take on this whole phenomenon.