RNC Chairman Steele Disses Limbaugh (merged)

[Dan T.]

Michael Steele, new RNC chairman, dismisses Rush Limbaugh as merely an "entertainer" whose radio program is "incendiary" and "ugly".

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20090302/pl_politico/19498

The Republican Party needs to move away from divisive elements such as Limbaugh and Hannity if they want to regain stature. This might be part of that process.

I'm sure Limbaugh will take the insult with a grain of salt.

[Dictator]

At least someone in the GOP has balls.

For the Record. Steele is right.

Edit: BOTH sides need to move away from this partisian hackery. Politicians are being attacked not on policy, but on whatever their party affiliation is. Quite frankly, I'm sick of it. Both of the two major parties can go **** themselves. They do not have the best interest of this Country at heart. They are only for self preservation.

[Cooked Crack]

How long before Steele calls up Rush to apologize on air?

[Special K]

And this is why I have liked Steele for years; the guy does not mince words.

For the record, I think he is right. Rush's show is incendiary.

[Tulane Skins Fan]

The quote from Steele did not sound nearly as dismissive as the title and article suggest. :2cents:

[TimmySmith]

Steele overstepped his bounds here. Limbaugh is entertainment. Steele should have addressed it as such and moved on.

[ACW]

Hopefully he has the balls to not grovel like Gingrey did.

[Midnight Judges]

But the new RNC chairman’s extraordinary comments won’t sit well with the millions of conservative listeners Limbaugh draws each week, and Steele aides scrambled to limit the damage Monday morning by trying to change the subject.

“Rahm Emanuel and the Democrats know they lose an argument with the Republican Party on substance so they are building straw men to attack and distract,” said RNC spokesman Alex Conant.

“The feud between radio host Rush Limbaugh and Rahm Emanuel makes great political theater, but it is a sideshow to the important work going on in Washington. RNC Chairman Michael Steele and elected Republicans are focused on fighting for reform and winning elections. The Democrats’ problem is that the American people are growing skeptical of the massive government spending being pushed by Congressional leaders like Nancy Pelosi.”

huh? WTF does that have to do with anything?

It's pretty clear who's boss in the conservative movement.

[mjah]

Steele overstepped his bounds here. Limbaugh is entertainment. Steele should have addressed it as such and moved on.

From reading Steele's quote, that's pretty much all he did.

And he's correct. Credit where credit is due.

Of course, random Internet people have no such constraints. Go us!

I get the impression that Limbaugh doesn't particularly want to be thought of as the ideological head of the GOP. It hampers his ability to pretend that he isn't a blustery political hack.

Not that his listeners will care, and it's only more money in Rush's pocket in the near term. But after years of sitting his fat ass back and lobbing cheap political hatchets at everyone in sight, he uniquely knows just how easy it is to suffer the piled-on vitriol of oversubscribed fools who take their political cues from some buffoon on the radio. The last thing he wants is to be blamed for the continued developmental retardation of the GOP. He knows his place in the machine, and it isn't the Big Cheese's desk. His act doesn't work from there.

So this albatross may be too much for even the king of all radio windbags to accept in return for power. Hey, maybe his broadcast response will provide a bit of insight on an issue, for once.

For the record: Yes, some other political entertainers are worse.

[Tulane Skins Fan]

From reading Steele's quote, that's pretty much all he did.

And he's correct. Credit where credit is due.

Of course, random Internet people have no such constraints. Go us!

I get the impression that Limbaugh doesn't particularly want to be thought of as the ideological head of the GOP. It hampers his ability to pretend that he isn't a blustery political hack.

Not that his listeners will care, and it's only more money in Rush's pocket in the near term. But after years of sitting his fat ass back and lobbing cheap political hatchets at everyone in sight, he uniquely knows just how easy it is to suffer the piled-on vitriol of oversubscribed fools who take their political cues from some buffoon on the radio. The last thing he wants is to be blamed for the continued developmental retardation of the GOP. He knows his place in the machine, and it isn't the Big Cheese's desk. His act doesn't work from there.

So this albatross may be too much for even the king of all radio windbags to accept in return for power. Hey, maybe his broadcast response will provide a bit of insight on an issue, for once.

For the record: Yes, some other political entertainers are worse.

Hmm... I don't listen to Limbaugh, but I get the impression he does consider himself the head of a conservative movement, and that calling him "entertainment" is what really upsets him. Maybe he doesn't know what he wants?

[PeterMP]

Good for him.

[TMK9973]

I love when people don't read the links

Steele overstepped his bounds here. Limbaugh is entertainment. Steele should have addressed it as such and moved on.

From the article...

“Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer,” Steele said. “Rush Limbaugh, his whole thing is entertainment. Yes it’s incendiary, yes it’s ugly.”

[TimmySmith]

I love when people don't read the links

From the article...

“Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer,” Steele said. “Rush Limbaugh, his whole thing is entertainment. Yes it’s incendiary, yes it’s ugly.”

I did read ,brother. Perhaps you can re-read my post. STOP talking at "entertainment". "Incendiary" and "Ugly" is what is getting him in trouble.

[mjah]

Hmm... I don't listen to Limbaugh, but I get the impression he does consider himself the head of a conservative movement, and that calling him "entertainment" is what really upsets him. Maybe he doesn't know what he wants?

I have no doubt that he's happy to lead a so-called "movement." (Skipping the joke potential there)

Being the presumed leader of a party, on the other hand -- especially when it's just because the party seems to have no good leaders -- is something altogether different.

Parties get inextricably tied to things, and the blame cycle can take as little as a few days to occur. But short of disasters on the scale of the "neo-con" agenda, movements are much harder to tie down. And they take longer to face blame, too. That's infinitely more palatable for a guy who has no personal knowledge or use for the concept of mea culpa.

[Duckus]

Rahm Emanuel – Point. Set. Match. Well played sir.

For about two weeks now it appeared as if the Dems were attempting to push Rush to be the face of the party. This is an extremely different strategy from years past. In the past, they just tried to ignore him and pray for the best.

Now they have done a 180 and are attempting equate Rush = conservatism and even him as the face of the party. They see him as a wedge. They want him to be seen as the crazy alternative who “wants Obama to fail” at all costs. This will cause a rift in the conservative party – with moderates completely turned off.

Then this week Rahm Emanuel on CBS’s Face the Nation said “He is the voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican Party." Which was kind of the pinnacle of this strategy.

Steele played right into the apparent trap set by Emmanuel with his comments against Rush.

Now the question will be – will Rush take the bait as well or will he be smart enough to stay silent.

[EersSkins05]

To this day I have no idea why Rush Limbaugh is even remotely newsworthy. He's the conservative equivalent of Al Sharpton. He's done and said so many detestable things at this point that you would think people would just tune him out. Yet there he is with followers at every turn.

I just don't get it.

[ECU-ALUM]

Now the question will be – will Rush take the bait as well or will he be smart enough to stay silent.

Rush...stay silent? :hysterical: That's a good one.

[81artmonk]

The Republican Party needs to move away from divisive elements such as Limbaugh and Hannity if they want to regain stature. This might be part of that process.

I'm sure Limbaugh will take the insult with a grain of salt.

The problem with the republican party is that they have gone away from ideals that Rush and other conservatives have put forth.

Thier idea of the new republican party is one that sides with the democrats and appears weak and pushovers

[Prosperity]

Rahm Emanuel – Point. Set. Match. Well played sir. .

excellent points sir

Rush Limbaugh in his vanity and hubris did his best to play himself up (as he always does). The core of the republican party loves Rush on a deep emotional level, but the brains of the Republican party understand that Rush as the face of the party will lead to backlash by the moderates and independents (as well as the entire left). Now the competent members of the GOP will have to either side with Rush and form a reactionary party with no hope of success or go against Rush and face his wrath... and Rush the ****ty vain person that he is will NOT back from the spotlight.

Brilliant job by the left political strategists

[Midnight Judges]

The problem with the republican party is that they have gone away from ideals that Rush and other conservatives have put forth.

This is exactly right. All you guys have to do is listen to Rush Limbaugh and it will be allllllll good. Seriously.

[Larry]

To this day I have no idea why Rush Limbaugh is even remotely newsworthy. He's the conservative equivalent of Al Sharpton. He's done and said so many detestable things at this point that you would think people would just tune him out. Yet there he is with followers at every turn.

I just don't get it.

The problem with the republican party is that they have gone away from ideals that Rush and other conservatives have put forth.

Thier idea of the new republican party is one that sides with the democrats and appears weak and pushovers

Now do you get it?

[Duckus]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/02/steele-takes-on-rush-limb_n_171135.html

On his radio show today, Limbaugh fired back, calling the RNC and Michael Steele "so-called Republicans" and saying that they "need a little leadership."

"So I am an entertainer and I have 20 million listeners because of my great song and dance routine," Limbaugh said. "Michael Steele, you are head of the Republican National Committee. You are not head of the Republican party. Tens of millions of conservatives and Republicans have nothing to do with the Republican National Committee...and when you call them asking for money, they hang up on you."

"I hope that changes," Limbaugh continued. "It's time, Mr. Steele, for you to go behind the scenes and start doing the work that you were elected to do instead of being some talking-head media star."

[Prosperity]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/02/steele-takes-on-rush-limb_n_171135.html

On his radio show today, Limbaugh fired back, calling the RNC and Michael Steele "so-called Republicans" and saying that they "need a little leadership."

"So I am an entertainer and I have 20 million listeners because of my great song and dance routine," Limbaugh said. "Michael Steele, you are head of the Republican National Committee. You are not head of the Republican party. Tens of millions of conservatives and Republicans have nothing to do with the Republican National Committee...and when you call them asking for money, they hang up on you."

"I hope that changes," Limbaugh continued. "It's time, Mr. Steele, for you to go behind the scenes and start doing the work that you were elected to do instead of being some talking-head media star."

divide and conquer, nice

[Larry]

Rush Limbaugh calling the head of the RNC a "talking-head media star".

[Buford T. Justice]

I applaud Steele for attempting to distance himself from divisive talk radio. However fighting among themselves probably won't help their cause. As for these talk show guys, wouldn't it make more sense to be on the side of justice instead of always trying to blame a particular group of people? I listen to conservative talk radio often and it's very annoying how they blame everything on democrats/liberals. Even when Bush and the GOP were in government, it was the liberals who were ruining things. There's corruption, scandal and ineptitude on both sides and it would be so much more entertaining if talk radio could expose both parties.