RSmitty, who I would call a sane Republican (if he still is officially a Republican), bemoans the lack of civilized discourse, and I share in the grief of its apparent demise. I call him an honest broker around here due to his track record of calling out both sides when he feels it necessary. And recently, he has taken umbrage at Jason’s recent comments lumping Dave Burris in with other perhaps more culpable right wing blowhards, like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Michelle Bachmann and Bill O’Reilly. While I and Jason perhaps do not agree with him in his criticism, we can at the very least respectfully disagree with him, because we know he is not just another irrational conservative agreeing with talk of armed revolution and the losing of rights due to the passage of economic stimulus.
When RSmitty criticizes you, I do admit to taking a step back and reevaluating my position. To me, that shows that civilized discourse can return, so long as we have sane Republicans and sane Democrats discussing the issues, and willing to question their own opinions without resorting to the tried and true insult that each one of us has at the ready. I long for more RSmittys. More sane Republicans. Indeed, if the Republican Party wants to return to power, it will have to be under sane and more reasoned leadership.
And that is why I found today’s Rush Limbaugh show most enlightening. For today, for the first time in recorded history, a Republican disagreed with Rush Limbaugh.
For those that wish to only read the transcript instead of listening to the vomit-inducing ducid tones of El Rushbo, then see below.
Sane Republicans must stand up and take back their party from the radicals. They must reject the thinly veiled, or overt, calls to violence. They must reject lies from their elected leadership, such as the reeducation camp lie, the losing freedoms lie, the Obama is a dictator lie, and so on and so on. President Obama has an agenda that can be opposed substantively by the Republicans without resort to outrageous talk of revolution and without conjuring up falsehoods to scare people. You can oppose universal healthcare on the merits. You can oppose stimulus spending on the merits. You can alternative energy on the merits. You can oppose the whole of the Obama agenda on the merits. Lies are not necessary. Fear mongering is not necessary. Calls to arms are not necessary.
But the problem for the insane Republicans is that, right now, their arguments on the merits result in them losing elections. It results in them losing the argument right now. Because the country is in no mood for Republican policy, and they elected a progressive President and a Democratic Congress as a result. American politics move in cycles. There are eras of history where one party’s ideology is rejected by the voters and where their policies are not favored. From 1980 to 2005 we had a Conservative era where Republican ideas dominated and Democrats could only get elected by being moderate. Prior to 1980, we had a Liberal era where the New Deal and Great Society programs emerged and where only moderate Republicans could be elected (i.e. Eisenhower and Nixon).
It happens.
Sometimes your party falls out of favor. And all you can do is diligently oppose the governing party’s plans on the merits and resign yourself to developing new ideas and policies, or wait until the governing party screws up and falls out of favor. And it is guaranteed to happen. In the future, I can guarantee that a Republican, or a conservative, will be elected President. The only question is when. Will be generations, or in 4 to 8 years? The more insane Republicans get, the longer it will be. Perhaps sane Republicans are getting that, and hopefully their voices drown out the fear mongers and provocateurs.
CALLER: Thanks Rush. Rush listen, I voted Republican and I really didn’t want to see Obama get in office. But you know Rush, you’re one reason to blame for this election, for the Republicans losing. First of all, you kept harping about voting for Hillary. The second big issue was the torture issue. I’m a veteran. We’re not supposed to be torturing these people. This is not Nazi Germany, Red China, North Korea. There’s other ways of interrogating people, and you just kept harping about, it’s okay, or it’s not really torture. And it was just more than waterboarding. Some of these prisoners will killed under torture.
And it was crazy for you to go on and on like Levin and Hannity and Hewitt. It’s like you’re all brainwashed. And my last comment is, no matter what Obama does, you will still criticize him because I believe you are brainwashed. You’re just — and I hate to say it — but I think you’re a brainwashed Nazi. Anyone who can believe in torture has got to be — there has got to be something wrong with them.
LIMBAUGH: You know —
CALLER: And I know Bush wanted to keep us safe and all of that but we’re not supposed to be torturing these people.
LIMBAUGH: Charles, if anybody is admitting that they are brainwashed it would be you.
CALLER: No, no, Rush. I don’t think so. You, Hannity, and Levin are all brainwashed —
LIMBAUGH: Charles, you said at the beginning of your phone call that you didn’t want Obama in there. But you voted for him because of me.
CALLER: I didn’t vote for him. I voted for McCain. I voted Republican.
…
CALLER: It didn’t work and what we have with you Hannity Levin and Hewitt is sour grapes. That’s all we have. And believe me, I’m not — I’m more to the right than I am to the left.LIMBAUGH: Oh, of course you are.
CALLER: I am.
LIMBAUGH: Of course you are. You wouldn’t be calling here with all of these sour grapes if you weren’t.
CALLER: Well I’m tired of listening to go on and on with this —
LIMBAUGH: I don’t know of anybody who died from torture.
CALLER: We’re not supposed to torture people. Do you remember World War II, the Nazis? The Nuremburg trials?
LIMBAUGH: Charles, Barack Obama —
CALLER: What’s the matter with you? You never even served in the military. I served in the Marine Corps and the Army.
LIMBAUGH: Charles, Barack Obama is president of the United States today because of stupid, ignorant people who think like you do. You pose – you and your ignorance are the most expensive commodity this country has. You think you know everything. You don’t know diddly squat. You call me a Nazi? You call me someone who supports torture and you want credibility on this program? You’re just plan embarrassing and ludicrous. But it doesn’t surprise me that you’re the kind of Republican that our last candidate attracted. Because you’re no Republican at all based on what the hell you just said right here.