nextWednesday, March 4, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Limbaugh vs. Steele; Letterman vs. Limbaugh
The new head of the RNC, Michael Steele, appeared with D.L. Hughley and said that Limbaugh's comments are, "ugly and incendiary":
Needless to say, Steele could be referring to a long, long list of past comments by Limbaugh. Or Steele could just be referring to the general tone of Limbaugh's radio show. Here's an example of Limbaugh's comments from CPAC, a conservative conference at which he spoke recently:
here's a transcript of Limbaugh's whole speech complete speech
Needless to say, Steele could be referring to a long, long list of past comments by Limbaugh. Or Steele could just be referring to the general tone of Limbaugh's radio show. Here's an example of Limbaugh's comments from CPAC, a conservative conference at which he spoke recently:
here's a transcript of Limbaugh's whole speech complete speech
Steele was just giving his opinion. But of course Steele felt compelled to apologize to Limbaugh just as Rep. Gingrey felt he had to apologize when he criticized the talk show host.
Steele, Gingrey and the rest of the GOP seem to believe that they're accountable to Limbaugh. But, it's not a two way street. Not only is Limbaugh not accountable to the GOP but he's accountable to no one at all, save his devoted radio listeners (more on them below).
Apparently no one in the GOP has the guts to stand up to Rush Limbaugh or stand by their stated opinion. Why? In conservative districts and states Limbaugh is presumed to be able to sway votes to and away from candidates. If Limbaugh is so powerful and is the leader of the Republican party what happened in the past election cycle? Where was the "Limbaugh effect" when Republican senators and representatives were losing to Democrats? Why didn't Limbaugh rally the electorate to defeat Obama? Granted, the "Limbaugh effect", if it exists at all, may come to bear more so in Republican primaries. But, even Limbaugh's impact on Republican primaries is questionable given Limbaugh's outspoken opposition to McCain in this last Republican presidential primary season. So whatever "Limbaugh effect" there is it didn't seem to have much or any impact during the last election cycle.
But, besides Limbaugh's supposed power, what is intriguing is that no one in the GOP feels confidant enough in their position within the party to stand up to Limbaugh. And Limbaugh can do and say what he wishes without repercussions because he is essentially accountable to no one. He doesn't have to do interviews with other media. He doesn't have to run for any election. All he has to do is spout the same largely divisive, angry mantra he's been offering up for the last 15+ years and his acolytes, the self proclaimed "dittoheads" (that's what fans of Limbaugh call themselves because they blindly say 'ditto' to anything and everything he says) will eat it all up. If a GOP'er or anyone else wants to engage Limbaugh it has to be on his own show by his rules with his drones listening and agreeing with Limbaugh.
Steele, Gingrey and the rest of the GOP seem to believe that they're accountable to Limbaugh. But, it's not a two way street. Not only is Limbaugh not accountable to the GOP but he's accountable to no one at all, save his devoted radio listeners (more on them below).
Apparently no one in the GOP has the guts to stand up to Rush Limbaugh or stand by their stated opinion. Why? In conservative districts and states Limbaugh is presumed to be able to sway votes to and away from candidates. If Limbaugh is so powerful and is the leader of the Republican party what happened in the past election cycle? Where was the "Limbaugh effect" when Republican senators and representatives were losing to Democrats? Why didn't Limbaugh rally the electorate to defeat Obama? Granted, the "Limbaugh effect", if it exists at all, may come to bear more so in Republican primaries. But, even Limbaugh's impact on Republican primaries is questionable given Limbaugh's outspoken opposition to McCain in this last Republican presidential primary season. So whatever "Limbaugh effect" there is it didn't seem to have much or any impact during the last election cycle.
But, besides Limbaugh's supposed power, what is intriguing is that no one in the GOP feels confidant enough in their position within the party to stand up to Limbaugh. And Limbaugh can do and say what he wishes without repercussions because he is essentially accountable to no one. He doesn't have to do interviews with other media. He doesn't have to run for any election. All he has to do is spout the same largely divisive, angry mantra he's been offering up for the last 15+ years and his acolytes, the self proclaimed "dittoheads" (that's what fans of Limbaugh call themselves because they blindly say 'ditto' to anything and everything he says) will eat it all up. If a GOP'er or anyone else wants to engage Limbaugh it has to be on his own show by his rules with his drones listening and agreeing with Limbaugh.
If Limbaugh is so powerful and popular wouldn't a certain conservative cable news network be jumping at the chance to sign him up? Remember, Limbaugh did have a syndicated tv show early on during the Clinton years. Maybe FOX isn't rushing to sign up Limbaugh because he is too angry, too divisive, too over the top even for them. My thoughts are that Limbaugh has an appeal to a very narrow part of the electorate - one estimate is that 21 million people listen per week to Limbaugh and about 5 million at any one time. That is a large number of listeners but compare it to the approximately 130 million people that voted in the last presidential election. The GOP, especially now, cannot afford to lose anyone much less Limbaugh's devoted "dittohead" drones that apparently will do anything Limbaugh commands. So you have Republicans having to apologize to Limbaugh for stating their opinion about him so that the GOP won't lose any more of its dwindling voter base.
The fact is that Limbaugh's comments are many times "ugly and incendiary" and he is an "entertainer". And Limbaugh knows it. Limbaugh would not have listeners if he didn't make some ugly and incendiary comments. As for him being an entertainer, he does get paid for speaking on the radio doesn't he? What if Limbaugh were to run for public office? Then, the "Limbaugh effect" would truly be measured. He could bring those 21 million weekly listeners to the polls to vote for him.
If Limbaugh wants to attempt to cross over and run for public office that would be:
a) fascinating and
b) a train wreck.
Why? Because then Limbaugh would be accountable for all his inane comments. He'd have to do interviews with the media. His contradictory and inflammatory positions and comments over the years would be held out for all to see. His past would be brought up. Plus, those 21 million weekly listeners/potential voters are spread out all over the nation, they're not in one state or one voting district. But, do I seriously believe Limbaugh would ever run for any office? Of course he wouldn't run for anything. He likes it just the way it is, being accountable to no one except his drones that agree with everything he says.
Side note: What would be interesting would be a GOP candidate that would espouse anti-Limbaugh views, one that would openly disagree with Limbaugh, a candidate that would essentially use Limbaugh as a straw man. I would guess that if there are that many Limbaugh listening drones there are at least that many, if not far more, moderate Republicans and independents who are looking for an amicable, conservative candidate. Criticizing Limbaugh would equal free press. Remember, McCain won his party's nomination despite Limbaugh's outspoken opposition to his candidacy.
Side side note: By the way, speaking of someone with the guts to take on Limbaugh:
Monday, March 2, 2009
WTF Is "Watchmen"?
Funny sketch about the upcoming "Watchmen" movie from the folks at LandlineTV. I'm not sure if it'll be quite as funny for someone that is not a comic book geek:
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Lest We Forget the Past Internet "Stars"
Or, alternate title, Numa Numa Guy vs. Chocolate Rain Guy vs. Star Wars Kid vs. Afro Ninja vs. Tron Guy vs. Leave Britney Alone Guy vs. Laughing Baby vs. Dramatic Turn Gopher vs. Sneezing Panda
I saw a "South Park" episode that reminded me of past internet/YouTube stars. Here are the ones featured in the "South Park" episode:Numa Numa Guy
Not to be out done, I give you Chocolate Rain Guy:
Able to slice both in half if he had a real light saber is Star Wars Kid:
But ready to fight Star Wars kid is Afro Ninja:
Standing in a corner watching all this is Tron Guy:
Crying because of all of it is Leave Britney Alone Guy:
Finding all this humorous is Laughing Baby:
Turning around to check all this out is Dramatic Turn Gopher:
While the Sneezing Panda sneezed
Obama vs. Jindal
Or, alternate title, Jindal used Katrina in an analogy to demonstrate what?!?!
Next here's the GOP response from Jindal:
I didn't watch these until today by the way.
Obama vs. Jindal, Obama easily wins, at least when it comes to speaking.
Obama gave the usual type of speech, the "things are bad but we're America and we'll figure this out" speech. He mixed in some optimism with the gloom and doom that's been coming from him, his administration and the news in general. But remember, Obama wants to keep expectations low. And expectations should be low because of the mess we're in. He cannot just flip a switch and bring back a mid 90's type of economy. Also, Obama wants to do a lot and that's going to cost a lot. I'm not quite sure where the money is going to come from but, since when have presidents worried about that? I digress. His speech was good, not great, but good.
As for Governor Jindal, where do I start? First, let me get this straight, Jindal is the "rising star" of the GOP? Wow. I'd hate to hear from the GOP's lesser "stars".
Second, and others have pointed this out (like Jon Stewart, I saw his show before watching Jindal's speech, I get it now), but is this how he speaks all the time? It was like he was talking to a classroom of first graders, as if he was talking down to me because I couldn't possibly wrap my head around such weighty issues.
Third and lastly, he used Katrina in an analogy in the exact opposite way as I would have thought a politician would. Apparently, what Jindal learned from Katrina is that the government (local, state and national by the way) did a bad job in helping people out after the hurricane and Katrina victims would have been better served had the government done nothing. Therefore, in this economic crisis, according to Jindal, the government should do nothing and just cut taxes again.
I took a different lesson away from Katrina when it comes to government intervention. The lesson I took away from Katrina regarding government intervention is that the government shouldn't:
1) do nothing and wait until the problem is a crisis then,
2) do something, do it clumsily and hurt more than helps.
The government in the last decade has become so laissez faire that there was no meaningful monitoring or regulation of Wall Street like there was no meaningful monitoring and maintenance of the levees prior to Katrina. Like the people shouting from rooftops about lack of maintenance of the levees before Katrina, those shouting about the lack of regulation of Wall Street before this recession found no one in government willing to listen until it was too late. The last two years the government cut taxes, and that was too little, too late like the government response after Katrina was too little, too late (and by the way is still too little). Brilliant. The GOP advocates lesser government including less regulation and less spending. Of course that's worked great recently, unless of course you're worried about the recession or levees breaking.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
LYLE THE INTERN ON LETTERMAN
Lyle's Most Recent Appearance
Lyle the Intern always cracks me up.
Fyi, Lyle the Intern is played by Jimmi Simpson. Besides seeing him on Letterman I've seen him in "It's Always Sunny in Philadephia" and in a recent episode of "House".
There have been many appearances in between but here is what I believe is Lyle's first appearance on Letterman:
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
WOMAN FREAKS OUT AFTER MISSING HER FLIGHT
I don't see what the big deal is. This is usually how I react when I miss a flight:
By the way she was put on a later flight to LA at no extra charge.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
"Strangling" a Dead Horse
* "Your economic stimulus bill will strangle the economy." This is borrowed, in part, from Sen. Jim Demint of South Carolina who said on the floor of the Senate that Pres. Obama's stimulus bill, "will not rescue our economy, it will strangle it." Apparently Sen. Demint seems to think that the economy is breathing A-OK right now. Out of touch much?
GOP, Obama, Political Cartoon, President, Republican
JOAQUIN PHOENIX ON LETTERMAN, IS IT AN ACT OR TRAGIC?
Night and day. If he's not attempting to pull off a Kaufman then, he's not in a good place. Regardless, it's made me interested in his album and if and when his debut album comes out I'll more than likely download it on itunes. So if this is all an elaborate self promotion stunt, and I sincerely think it is, it's working, at least on me. Furthermore, if he is pulling a Kaufman, and again I sincerely hope that's all this is, kudos and brilliant.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
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