Tearing Their Own Playhouse Down
So, the GOP have spent years cultivating their pack of rabid attack dogs. No smear by Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Laura (faugh!) Ingraham, or any of the other AM radio screamers was ever considered a bridge too far. It all served the greater glory of the Republican cause and nothing was out of bounds.
Now, like any set of parents who raise a pathologically spoiled kid and find him turning into a violent, disrespectful teen, the Republicans are finding that their stable of trained hitmen and lady assassins are, like Frankenstein’s monster, running amok and bringing about the downfall of their creators. Yay!
Limbaugh and the rest of his get-John McCain brain trust — Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Michelle Malkin, and campus instigator Ann Coulter — have been tripping over themselves to get in front of a microphone (preferably a television one) to denounce the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee and to suggest that perhaps conservatives should even vote Democratic come November.
After years of watching Limbaugh and his various band of midnight riders within the Republican Noise Machine launch countless, hateful crusades against liberals and Democrats, it’s extraordinarily satisfying to watch the Republican Party leadership discover what it feels like when Limbaugh sets his venomous, factually challenged sights on their own front-runner.
I know, isn’t it delightful?
For progressives, the sprawling GOP brawl is what blogger TRex would call a schadenfreude sundae.
Hee! He gave me a shout-out. Swoon. (Check’s in the mail, Eric!)
What could be more enjoyable than watching McCain get bogged down in the far-right swamp?
Um, actually watching Rush Limbaugh get eaten alive by piranha?
Answer: Watching a handful of right-wing pundits come to the belated conclusion that Limbaugh is a dunce. Or, as one Weekly Standard blogger put it last week, the Limbaugh-led response to McCain was “unhinged — and at times spectacularly disgraceful.” And Dinesh D’Souza concluded, that, yes, Limbaugh is an “egomaniac” who “has grown accustomed to conservative bigwigs worshiping at the Shrine of Rush.” (Truth is, Limbaugh’s not that well liked among Republicans.)
But I thought Limbaugh was the Voice of the GOP’s id, the yammering, bloviating spokesmodel for the overheated, hypertensive, misogynist, homophobic, race-hating assholes of America’s Heartland, i.e., the party base. Now, apparently, various Limbaugh-friendly members of the Republican old guard are trying to reason with the big baby, even as he dials his tantrum up a notch and begins to dig in his diaper for more poo to fling.
Meanwhile, it really was rather sad to watch former Sen. Bob Dole last week write a letter to Limbaugh trying to reason with the talk-show host about whether candidate McCain was sufficiently conservative. Or when McCain himself suggested that the talk show hosts simply “calm down.” Or when Bud McFarlane, former national security adviser to President Reagan, took to the pages of The Wall Street Journal over the weekend to urge Rush and his angry pack to “be rational.”
Rational? Where have these Republicans been for the last decade? The Noise Machine doesn’t do rational. Was Limbaugh being “rational” when he toasted photos of the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib as “good old American pornography”? Was Malkin being rational last year when she attempted to Swift Boat a traumatically injured 12-year-old boy? Was Coulter being rational … well, ever?
Ha haaaa haaaa haaaa!! “Rational”. These idiots wouldn’t know rational if it bit them in the face.
The best part? The whole crusade has been a colossal flop. On the eve of the Super Tuesday primary, lots of cogs in the Republican Noise Machine demanded that their readers and listeners embrace Mitt Romney.
Yay! Tweetying their own outcomes. What a year for that we’re having! And it’s not even Valentine’s Day.
I don’t think progressives could have choreographed a better media meltdown if we tried.
I know. It kind of makes me feel all warm and melty inside, like I’m full of fondue.
Hurrah!
77 Responses to “Tearing Their Own Playhouse Down”
By Betsy on Feb 13, 2008 12:06 am |
1?
By Petrocelli on Feb 13, 2008 12:06 am |
(R)evenge is sweeeeet !!!
By Betsy on Feb 13, 2008 12:07 am |
nice link to you T!
By TRex on Feb 13, 2008 12:08 am |
Heading home, gang. See you in a bit.
By Betsy on Feb 13, 2008 12:08 am |
Petrocelli said
aren’t you supposed to be against that sort of thing?
By Petrocelli on Feb 13, 2008 12:10 am |
Betsy said
Which one, revenge or sweets ?!! *g*
By LoudounLib on Feb 13, 2008 12:13 am |
Great post, T (and I know you’re on the road already, hope you see my kudos later
)
It’s fun to see this sort of circular firing squad amongst the Repug rabble!
By Betsy on Feb 13, 2008 12:20 am |
Cassie appears to have spent her entire afternoon blogging. 3 posts
http://frecklescassie.wordpress.com/
By aliasofwestgate on Feb 13, 2008 12:22 am |
Oh this is very interesting indeed. *grin* About time too. I’ve only been hearing them tear up everyone but themselves for most all of my 30 years of life.
Now? I get myself to bed because i’ve gotta be up at 6am and figure out exactly when to leave so i can make it through morning traffic and Lake Michigan’s latest delivery of snow and ice on the road to make it to the test center. Pharm Tech Boards, here i come! 8am test and they need me there by 7.30am..bleagh. I HATE the government ’standards’ sometimes.
By Betsy on Feb 13, 2008 12:22 am |
And I have dozens of stories and posts up, and a new IM feature at my place: Reality Based News Feed
By newdealfarmgrrrlll on Feb 13, 2008 12:22 am |
“What could be more enjoyable than watching McCain get bogged down in the far-right swamp?
Um, actually watching Rush Limbaugh get eaten alive by piranha?”
the one part of the post i’d have to quibble with. Piranha get a bad rap. I’d hate to have them get sick from that toxic lump of rancid fat. Ndfg is trying hard to be sweeter these days, so, lets smear ol Limballs with honey! Then tie him to a fire-ant mound. Those are some illegal aliens i’d like to see him encounter. Heh. I’d pay to see that bit of reality TV.
By Betsy on Feb 13, 2008 12:23 am |
Sleep well Alias. And best of luck on the tests.
By LoudounLib on Feb 13, 2008 12:23 am |
Hey alias, best of luck tomorrow with those boards! We’ll be pulling for you.
By Betsy on Feb 13, 2008 12:23 am |
ndfg, remind me to not get on your bad side.
By newdealfarmgrrrlll on Feb 13, 2008 12:24 am |
OH, Alias! I’m glad you showed up so i could wish you well on your exams. Best of luck! But it’s not luck, it’s hard work, at which Virgos excel *g* Drive safely, keep us posted.
By newdealfarmgrrrlll on Feb 13, 2008 12:25 am |
Betsy said
As long as you don’t vote Rethug, you’ll be safe *g*
By Persiflage on Feb 13, 2008 12:25 am |
It’s not often in life that you see someone doing something, think ‘this is going to come back and bite them on the beehind’, and then actually see it happen. I thought it when the Repubs decided to coopt the fundies to the cause. I should have thought it when Rush’s feral spewage was being applauded and approved by Repubs but I’m not that far-sighted. I couldn’t be happier to see it.
By LoudounLib on Feb 13, 2008 12:28 am |
Hi Persi, ain’t it great?
By Persiflage on Feb 13, 2008 12:30 am |
Alias, it’s the 13th here and I’ve been sending positive exam thoughts for a while. If they don’t run into bad weather, they should be waiting for you when you get up.
By Betsy on Feb 13, 2008 12:30 am |
OK. finished the first treatment with the new machine. 40 min on back and 40 min on hip/leg. Can’t tell yet if it will work, but it sure does take a while!
Here’s the link to the new machine
By Betsy on Feb 13, 2008 12:34 am |
persi, i am just listening to the speech your PM made about the aborigines. WOW!
By Persiflage on Feb 13, 2008 12:37 am |
LoudounLib said
That it is, LL. That’s the problem with useful idiots, the more you encourage them, the more idiotic and less useful they get. I wonder if Ann Coulter is sulking at home, stung by the lack of an invitation by CPAC.
By newdealfarmgrrrlll on Feb 13, 2008 12:37 am |
well, time for bed, gotta be at on-site work at 7:00 am
I slept so much today, hope i can fall asleep ok.
oh, persi, my Sam says thanks for the tip re “Two Hands,” she is going find it for our little film fest.
Anthrax did show up, read thru the posts by Mister Leonard Pierce over at Sadly, No! He bravely attended the WHOLE sorry mess. Scary, but funny. It’s well worth going back thru the archives, the link i provided is to the last post of the series.
By Betsy on Feb 13, 2008 12:38 am |
night ndfg.
By LoudounLib on Feb 13, 2008 12:38 am |
Persi, heh — AC probably had that awful black dress just ready to go for CPAC, too…
By LoudounLib on Feb 13, 2008 12:39 am |
ndfg, hope you get some rest — and feel better!
By Persiflage on Feb 13, 2008 12:43 am |
Betsy said
I dragged myself out of bed at 6.30 so I could watch it. On Monday I got an urgent appeal from Get Up (sorta like an Aussie Move On), asking for funds so that members of the Stolen Generation from remote North Western Australia could travel to Canberra for the apology. Today I got this from them,
—————-
Your donation has meant a real difference to some people who have suffered decades of unimaginable pain and anguish. If you could have seen their faces today, your heart would have truly warmed.
We were blown away by the overwhelming response to our ask - Australians like you opened their hearts so wide that we raised in excess of the amount needed for travel expenses to get Stolen Generation members to Canberra. That means we’re now able to send some elders back by plane - saving them an arduous two or three day bus journey.
The extra money we raised will go towards our continued campaign throughout the year and beyond to make Australia want we want it - reconciled and equal. We’ll use any extra funds raised to make sorry the first step - continuing in our fight to close the health gap, fostering young Indigenous leaders, and campaigning for improvements in the living standards and for the protection of the rights of Indigenous Australians.
By LoudounLib on Feb 13, 2008 12:43 am |
I need to climb down the ladder too; all of a sudden I’m very tired. Good night friends, and see you all tomorrow…
By Betsy on Feb 13, 2008 12:44 am |
ice cream fondue
http://moxy.santoki.com/Images/fondue.jpg
By Betsy on Feb 13, 2008 12:45 am |
night LL.
Persi, you might enjoy this blog and radio show: http://12thharmonic.net/
By Redshift on Feb 13, 2008 12:46 am |
Whew! Sorry for the drive-by in the last thread. I got four hours sleep last night before getting up to work my polling place for Obama for thirteen hours, the last four in freezing rain half the time.
It was a good time nonetheless. Judging from the number of people who asked which entrance they should go to, there were a lot of voters who were either new or had moved into the precinct (I suspect most were new.)
I should get to sleep soon. I may in fact already be asleep. Can you tell I’m a little punchy?
By Betsy on Feb 13, 2008 12:49 am |
good for you redshift!
By TRex on Feb 13, 2008 12:51 am |
Redshift said
OMG!!
Soooooo exciting.
By skippy on Feb 13, 2008 12:54 am |
as you noted, trex, the best part of it all is how utterly irrelevant the hardly-ever-right wing noise machine is turning out to be. maybe it will prove once and for all that nobody takes them seriously, and thus nobody will give them the time of day.
By TRex on Feb 13, 2008 1:00 am |
skippy said
They still seem to garner a shockingly large number of listeners, something I have never been able to figure out. It makes me look at the people around me with deep suspicion and a sense of betrayal from time to time.
By Persiflage on Feb 13, 2008 1:01 am |
skippy said
I’ll be happy when the only thing people have to say about Limbaugh is “Rush Who?” or, my personal take, ‘What the fuck sort of first name is Rush?’
By Betsy on Feb 13, 2008 1:03 am |
TRex said
Many of the stations lose money. They’re well funded from the same guys that fund the think tanks.
By petedownunder on Feb 13, 2008 1:04 am |
OT - Wynn conceded in MD 04. Donna Edwards won big.
Still OT: The Sorry Speech in Oz was long overdue and I thought well done. No reason the odious John Howard (former PM and Bush BFF) could not have done that 10 years ago except he is and was a racist pig.
By TRex on Feb 13, 2008 1:05 am |
OT - Wynn conceded in MD 04. Donna Edwards won big.
w00t!!1!!1!
By Sharonlee on Feb 13, 2008 1:05 am |
I have never appreciated the “humor” of Rush. He started in radio in Kansas City and I quit listening to that station.
T, you’ve had a busy evening. Since I left work at 5:30 you have added four posts. It’s great for reading and commenting but don’t burn yourself out.
By Betsy on Feb 13, 2008 1:07 am |
yay for Donna Edwards!
T, did you see the fondue I posted for you?
By Sharonlee on Feb 13, 2008 1:08 am |
All the treats (brownies, fondue and popcorn) look great. I will just take small portions to add to my reward meal tomorrow.
Alias, good thoughts for you as you take your tests.
By TRex on Feb 13, 2008 1:15 am |
T, you’ve had a busy evening. Since I left work at 5:30 you have added four posts. It’s great for reading and commenting but don’t burn yourself out.
*BZZZZZZT*
Blink, blink.
*BZZZZZZT!!!*
I’m sorry, I can’t hear you over the roaring in my ears. WHAT?!
By punaise on Feb 13, 2008 1:18 am |
Rush is just up to his old tricks, being rash ‘n all.
By punaise on Feb 13, 2008 1:18 am |
TRex said
that is such excellent news.
By Persiflage on Feb 13, 2008 1:20 am |
petedownunder said
At least Howard didn’t turn up, and nobody missed him. It was a great speech. Nelson’s speech, in trying to satisfy both the troglodytes and the more compassionate people in the Party, sounded alternatively OK and pissy. Of course, it was only last week when Nelson was asking “aren’t there more important things for Parliament to do with its time?” It’s hard to credit him with any sincerity.
By TRex on Feb 13, 2008 1:22 am |
It’s hard to credit him with any sincerity.
Now, see, I swear I kind of heard that in a portion of his speech, which is why I’ve been reluctant to comment on the issue until now. It’s awesome that Australia is owning up to its legacy (would that our country could nail that one down), but there was something in his voice that bugged me.
By Betsy on Feb 13, 2008 1:24 am |
sleep well my friends. the magic bed is pulling me towards sleep.
By Sharonlee on Feb 13, 2008 1:25 am |
Betsy said
Hope the magic machine works with the magic bed to bring much relief, Betsy.
By punaise on Feb 13, 2008 1:25 am |
dagnabbit, I hate to revisit past quips, but I missed a golden opportunity the other day when TRex commented about wearing his Burberry raincoat, flapping in the driving wind and rain (the coat, that is).
I ventured that this might lead to a dinosaur standing over a sidewalk air grate, a la Marylin.
the obvious follow-up would have been something invoking “Crashing the Grates”
By TRex on Feb 13, 2008 1:26 am |
Hope the magic machine works with the magic bed to bring much relief, Betsy.
Hear, hear!
By TRex on Feb 13, 2008 1:28 am |
the obvious follow-up would have been something invoking “Crashing the Grates”
‘Kos of what?
My coat isn’t orange.
By punaise on Feb 13, 2008 1:29 am |
TRex said
it better not be a technicolor dream coat either, buster
By petedownunder on Feb 13, 2008 1:31 am |
Trex - A few days ago the TV news folks here were interviewing returning MPs outside the Pariament and one of them, a Liberal (Aussie Rethug) spoke of the Aborigines with such a sneering expression you’d think he was a sheriff in Alabama in 1968. Racism is just below the surface here, and out in the countryside (the bush) it is above the surface.
I was in a small country town north west of Perth (a long ways NW about 1500 miles) and there was a large Aboriginal population. They were the saddest looking folks I ever saw and treated with pure contempt by the whites. I was in Mississippi in the 60’s and it felt the same, except even the blacks in MS seemed more hopeful.
By Betsy on Feb 13, 2008 1:34 am |
thank you my friends
zzzzzzzzzzz
By Sharonlee on Feb 13, 2008 1:37 am |
I just realized that while I did not grow up with these people spewing their right-wing nonsense, there is a whole generation of people who have known nothing else. Perhaps it is time to return radio to dramas, music and fantasy. Grew up with “Let’s Pretend” on Saturday mornings. Every once in a while one of my sisters and I will break into the sponsoring cream of wheat song.
By Persiflage on Feb 13, 2008 1:38 am |
TRex said
I think Prime Minister Rudd is sincere. I was talking about Brendan Nelson, the opposition leader, who used the occasion to basically defend the actions of the Government he used to be a member of. Most of the Aboriginal people in the public gallery turned their backs to him.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, the blond one whose round face and glasses make him look a bit like a South Park character who got lost, promised that this apology would be one of the first acts of his Government and it has been. He’s a bit of a media tart, he can hear a camera whirring from a mile away but this apology is important to the Labor Party.
By punaise on Feb 13, 2008 1:41 am |
Berkeley City Council really stepped in it this time (again?!).
punaise said
no kidding. a misguided way to protest the war, throwing red meat to the right wingers. it undermines the notion that you can be against the war while supprting the troops.
on the plus side, freshman Punaisette cut fourth period to join in the anti-war protests across the street from Berkeley High. An introduction to civic involvement…
By TRex on Feb 13, 2008 1:41 am |
I think Prime Minister Rudd is sincere.
I take it back then. I’m just poisoned against political speech right now I think.
By Persiflage on Feb 13, 2008 1:45 am |
petedownunder said
I finally figured out why Wilson Tuckey keeps getting elected to Parliament. It’s not that his constituents don’t realise that he’s a racist buffoon. They do, they’d just rather he hung out in Canberra because then they don’t have to see him.
By Sharonlee on Feb 13, 2008 1:46 am |
TRex–”I’m just poisoned against political speech right now I think.”
We’d better find an antidote then. The season is hardly started.
By Persiflage on Feb 13, 2008 1:46 am |
TRex said
Given what you’ve been exposed to, I don’t blame you.
By Sharonlee on Feb 13, 2008 1:49 am |
I’m calling it a night. We have missed the serious snow and ice this week; however, the cold temperatures and chill factors remain.
Good night, all.
By TRex on Feb 13, 2008 1:51 am |
Sharonlee said
Night, hon.
I think that’s my cue as well. I hear some leftover spaghetti and meatballs from my mom’s house calling me.
Good night!
By Persiflage on Feb 13, 2008 1:53 am |
Night Sharonlee, night TRex, I’m going to do some chores. See you next time.
By may on Feb 13, 2008 2:27 am |
OT
exxon is being put through the wringer
Conyers is being inundated with impeach cheny calls
and
apparently,your prez and j.kerry(those 2 lovable skull&bones pirates)are related to vlad tepes.the connection goes back 34 generations to prince vlad 111.
that is vlad dracula.
it’s in the blood!!!.
By MR Bill on Feb 13, 2008 5:23 am |
Ah good morning. Light rain leaving the area, 45, some wind in Blue Ridge GA.
I just hope the liars of the Noise machine will pay for their perfidy. And I keep thinking one day we’ll find out just how much their attacks were coordinated by the Republican party. And if Obama makes it to the Oval Office, we will see a frenzy of racist rightist ugliness that is unheard of.
It will take dismantling of the media oligopoly to end their reign of lies and bile.
By anangryoldbroad on Feb 13, 2008 5:49 am |
Of course these evil nitwits aren’t popular with their side NOW,but they have been in the past. The fact that Rush and all who came after actually HAVE a market is what messes up my day.
I’d like to be hopeful and happy and suggest people are just sick of them, because they’re ugly and mean and their mommies dress ‘em funny. But…
Sadly,I think the popularity is slipping because their team isn’t winning. While I find the implosion rather delicious, I still find myself incredibly sad that so many of my fellow neighbors(and ALL of my birth family.I haven’t spoken to my parents or siblings in YEARS over this disgusting and divisive brand of politics/religion)and Americans still believe in this madness.
It doesn’t help that I live in one of the reddest places in Georgia,home of the Spite Caucus(meaning,they vote against their own best interests to piss off liberals and fuck with brown people). The place that gave the nation Newt and Ralph Fucking Reed,gag. I’ve grown rather cynical and distrustful from being burned so many times.
By MR Bill on Feb 13, 2008 6:15 am |
Angryoldbroad, where are you?
I’m in Fannin County, which has been Republican since that ole War (’the late Unpleasantness”).
It’s a place where they wave the Rebel flag (indeed the local football team is the Rebels) despite it having been a hot bed of Unionionism and active opposition to the Confederacy..
The right smear machine has got some good folks convinced Obama is a Muslim, and Hillary a murderess and lesbian. It convinced otherwise sane folks that the current occupant of the White House was ‘a Texas Cowboy’. My folks are fundamentalists, but Dad finally was able before the 2004 election, to tell me (and he had to go outside so Mom wouldn’t hear him) that Bush was a fraud and liar.
The only way I can make sense of the Spite Caucus is as a form of identity politics, that ‘decent white Christian folks don’t vote Democratic’. I’m surrounded by elderly people in bad houses and trailers with Bush/Cheney stickers on their ratty cars. At least part of the blame is the churches.
AT least Ralph Reed went down in flames in the election.
By anangryoldbroad on Feb 13, 2008 6:37 am |
I live in Snobb(Cobb) County Mr Bill. Too much money and not enough brains here. More churches than bookstores and libraries,and lots of Mitt and Huckabee supporters. The Dems here are USELESS,very sexist,covertly racist,and not all that liberal or friendly. I tried working for the party for awhile,but it was too fucking demeaning for my tastes. I won’t eat a shit sandwich,shut up and smile about it. The Greens here are funded by conservatives,they could give a damn about women’s issues,conservation,etc.
One of the more baffling things I’ve seen around here is a Toyota Prius hybrid plastered with W/Cheney stickers and GOP bumperstickers. It’s a strange place to live.
By MR Bill on Feb 13, 2008 6:52 am |
Yeah, I have trouble with the local Democrats too. And that seems to be the mode for most Democratic politicians in GA.
I mean, Mark Taylor?
By anangryoldbroad on Feb 13, 2008 8:12 am |
LOL Mr Bill,seriously,Mark Taylor,who had his slogan”Vote for Mark Taylor,The Big Guy” as his selling point. Well that and making sure the Hope Scholarship wasn’t cut. Yawn.
This state is fucked,we’re WAY behind the rest of the country in everything that counts. From education(don’t get me started),the environment,to no plan for the drought(while allowing unfettered development,real smart),to refusing to offer incentives to own more fuel efficient vehicles,to the corruption and idiotic legislative choices,GA is a hotbed of dipshits and nitwits.
By madmommy on Feb 13, 2008 8:26 am |
Morning all! Great post T, as usual.
Karma, isn’t it the sweetest? Especially when those on the wrong side of it for so long get to actually watch it come around and slap the deserving recipients.
Alias-great good luck on your boards today-looking forward to hearing you report your excellent score.
Betsy-fighting the insurance, eh? You probably know this already but they pretty much automatically deny everything the first time around. Raise hell, provide documentation and raise more hell and hopefully they’ll cough up, the bastards!
Very windy, rainy and cold today. The kiddos want to know when they can wear shorts to school again. Probably before the end of the month, but not this week. Off to work, see ya’ll later!
By newdealfarmgrrrlll on Feb 13, 2008 8:32 am |
good morning, folks. As angry as i get with the racist, backwards idiots up in my neck of the woods, i read what you endure and realize it could be worse.
Cloudy, 12 above in Minneapolis, 2-4 inches of snow possible by tomorrow. The heat wave is darn welcome after 13 below last week.
As the bumper sticker says, “I Owe, I Owe, It’s off to Work I Go.” See you all later.
By msmolly on Feb 13, 2008 10:09 am |
aliasofwestgate said
Alias, early to bed last night so I missed the chance to wish you the best on the boards. Hope you do well, and waiting for an update on how they went (I’m assuming you don’t get final results immediately).
By msmolly on Feb 13, 2008 11:07 am |
Betsy said
This is fascinating, Betsy. Sure hope it brings you some relief!
By zxevil160 on Mar 13, 2008 10:32 am |
SaMVDS U cool ))