Rush Limbaugh Says He Hopes Obama Fails

Imagine if a prominent Democrat would have said this about Bush during such a precarious time in the Nation.  It would have been fodder for the right wing pundits for years.

I certainly hope we are slowly reaching a point in American history where blowhard bullies and shit stirrers like Limbaugh find themselves being tuned out more and more by people who actually want to be a part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

Just this past August, George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush and Jeb Bush all called in to Rush’s show to congratulate him on 20 years of being on the radio.

Oil prices were at their highest, the country was in the midst of a recession, Wall Street and the banks were crumbling, the War in Iraq and Afghanistan were still raging with no end in sight.  All a result of choices Bush had made during his last eight years in office.  Did Rush use the opportunity to take Bush to task?  Not likely.

Here’s a sample of how the conversation went:

RUSH: Have you heard what Senator Obama wants to do? He wants another stimulus check of a thousand dollars to every American paid for by the oil companies.

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. Well, what we ought to be doing is encouraging oil companies to find oil, and that’s the best way to take the pressure off the gasoline prices. We’re on a very strong push to get the Congress to allow for there to be offshore drilling, and most Americans understand now that an increase in oil, particularly here in America, will help take pressure off of price. And I tell people I’d rather, you know, be buying American oil instead of sending our money overseas.

RUSH: You know, Mr. President, it’s amazing. In 2004 during your campaign, Senator Kerry was constantly criticizing you for not “jawboning” with the Saudis enough to bring the price of oil down. Now, four years later, they’re doing everything they can to keep the price from coming down. They apparently want it to remain high.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, they may want to, but the American people want to see some relief. It would be like a massive tax cut when the gasoline prices decline. So we’re in times of economic uncertainty and the more money people have in their pockets the quicker we’ll be able to recover, in my judgment. You asked how I’m doing. My spirits are high; I’m going to finish strong. I love my family and I’m spending two days here with mother and dad before I head overseas.

Somehow he managed to insult Obama and Kerry all while slobbering over how brilliant Bush’s run in office had been.

Amazing.  But there is no reasoning with mean-spirited bullies like Limbaugh.  They huff and puff just to hear themselves speak.  There is no sense of introspection.  To them they are right, end of story.  There are no other sides.

The only way to get rid of people with that frame of mind is to tune them out.  Arguing with people like that just boosts their egos as if they are definding some noble thought or ideal, when in fact they are just towing the line.

Innocence Lost: Media Conglomerates and the American Public

When I wrote this article asking people to boycott Clear Channel some people responded by telling me that this wasn’t an issue of free speech at all, that it was a private company doing what they wanted and there was nothing wrong with that.

If only it were that simple. Unfortunately big business and politics has become so convoluted and incestuous that it’s impossible to tell them apart. It’s the reason why we need to work so hard to get big business lobbies out of politics.

Pulling Howard Stern off of the air wasn’t a move to “clean up the airwaves” it was a move to “clean up the airwaves of people who are outspoken against George W. Bush”. Is it a coincidence this happened right before the big battle for the Presidency begins? Could it possibly be a coincidence that it happened after Stern began getting vocal about the need to get Bush out of office? Or is it more likely that the head of Clear Channel has close ties to the Bush family and has been on the receiving end of many a legislation that has allowed them to garner even more power and wealth?

Lowery Mays, the head of Clear Channel, and his entire family, and the company itself have donated hudreds of thousands of dollars to George W Bush and the Republican party. Or is it more likely “that the content of Stern’s crude show hadn’t suddenly changed, but his stance on Bush had, gave the theory more heft. That, plus his being pulled off the air in key electoral swing states such as Florida and Pennsylvania”. Which makes more sense?

The argument that Clear Channel is a business and that it wouldn’t chance losing money for political gain is the lamest argument yet. Clear Channel stands to make more money by “making friends” in the Republican party than Howard Stern could ever make them.

This is why it’s not a private issue. This is why we need to speak out. When the government does so many favors for big business that big business changes its rules when it comes to dealing with them and vice versa, they are no longer a privately held company, they are a government controlled company that is no different than any other dictatorship in the world. The people with power and wealth in dictatorships don’t stay in power or not speak out because they are scared to do so, they don’t speak out because it is profitable not to do so. Just as it is not the leaders who go hungry, it is not the heads of corporations that can’t afford to see a doctor, they both live in their palaces (tell me the difference between a palace and a mansion) while the citizens starve, die from preventable diseases and live their life in working poverty.

Don’t try and tell me this is an issue of a privately owned company. That couldn’t be farther from the truth.