QOTD

I don't get it. The Republicans had eight years to change the face of America. Yet they did nothing but the same 'ol same 'ol. And on the topic of Rush,wanting the President to fail just because he's not a republican. You'd think it would'nt matter who raises the masses above hopelesness and dispair, but to a ranting drug addled bigot, it's his way or the highway. Anybody that subscribes to his way of thinking is selling themselves way short.

As it has now been proven beyond any doubt, the free market does't work without oversight.

There seems to be some sort of background to all this, involving Rush basically talking treason and some sort of statements by some Repugnican politicians, but I don't quite follow.
Could someone give a quick backstory of what's been going on? (Not that this isn't a lovely smackdown that would be worth saying just on general principles)

Incidentally, I've been unsurprised at yet another basic inconsistency of the American right that's been revealed lately. Let's see--they're still about as much at war as they ever were. "Terror" still exists, so does Al Quaeda, the US is still in Iraq, and they're more in Afghanistan than ever. So the basic right wing line for such circumstances has up until now been that you have to support the commander in chief and fall in line behind him no matter what your personal beliefs might be. So if I had the remotest notion that right-wingers actually believe a word that comes out of their mouths or hold to any of the principles they tirelessly espouse I'd be shocked to find that this turns out only to hold for right wing commanders in chief. The most disheartening thing, really, is that nobody is shocked. These clowns have no principles and everyone paying the tiniest bit of attention using half a brain knows it. Which still leaves far too much of the population.

So the basic right wing line for such circumstances has up until now been that you have to support the commander in chief and fall in line behind him no matter what your personal beliefs might be.

Unless the commander-in-chief is a newly elected Democrat in which case Limbaugh comes right out and says "I hope he fails" and claims that all Republicans feel that way but none of them have the guts to say it but him.

There have been a series of stories lately involving Republicans who have been critical of Limbaugh's comment to one degree or another only to walk their criticisms back and apologize to him. The most recent is newly elected chair of the RNC Michael Steele. There doesn't appear to be a single member of the GOP who's willing to say "I don't agree with Limbaugh hoping for a president to fail" out loud. So now senior members of the Democratic party are encouraging everyone to play up the idea that Limbaugh is the real leader of the Republican party. Over at Daily Kos they're encouraging Kossacks who live in Republican districts to contact their representatives and ask them if they agree with Limbaugh.

That's the backstory.

What is amazing is that Limbaugh was treated -- rightly -- for so long as a clown, even by Republicans, useful for rallying the narrowest part of their base but off there on the margins somewhere while the serious people held power at the centre.

But almost overnight, he is being taken seriously as a leader of the party? This is even weirder than Sarah Palin's run for VP (although not much).

This has nothing to do with governance and everything to do with politics. If I was Rush Limpdick, I would be hoping for Obama to fail too. The Republicans have managed to get themselves into a situation you normally only find Wile E. Coyote in - they can't win with their base and they can't win without it.

Aside from a few areas in Outer Wingnuttia, the Gooper base isn't big enough to win many elections. To win they have to go out and find actual semi intelligent and rational voters to support them. The problem is that everything they do to attract those voters alienates their base and everything they do to appease their base alienates everyone else. That is a recipe for a long tour in the political wilderness.

Aside from completely reinventing the Republican Party, the only hope they have for electoral success in the next decade (if not the next generation) is for the Democrats to fail on a scale that makes the Bush regime look competent. Although the usual caveat applies - ""No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public." And after watching Lou Dobbs - who is almost as stupid as Limbaugh - today, the caveat seems to be very much in play.