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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsLimbaugh And The Right-Wing Nervous Breakdown
It turns out that even in cases of emergency, the GOP Noise Machine has no off switch.
Republicans learned that painful lesson as the Rush Limbaugh "slut" fiasco made headlines for days on end. With the Voice of the Republican Party engulfed in one of the most damaging (and self-inflicted) controversies of his career, and with parts of the GOP Noise Machine scrambling to actually defend Limbaugh, as well as to echo his misogynist taunts, it's been the larger conservative movement that has been absorbing the worst blows.
For a Republican Party already suffering from a yawning gender gap, Limbaugh's hijacking of the news cycle last week must have been unwelcome news. But this is what happens when Republicans sponsor an irresponsible media Noise Machine that's designed to offend and attack and is designed to dehumanize its political enemies. This is what happens when the wheels fall off in spectacular fashion, like Limbaugh spending three days smearing, by name, a Georgetown University Law School student as greedy nymphomaniac having so much sex "it's amazing she can still walk."
It's no secret Republican leaders live in fear of Limbaugh and over the years have found it almost impossible to publicly criticize even his most outlandish and hateful statements. Those few who did stop forward were often forced to then quickly reversed course and apologize to Limbaugh. Just like Republicans have had to bow down to kingmakers at Fox News and embrace their lowest common denominator programming.
The truth is the conservative movement in America has become a media-based one, delegating an absurd amount of influence to bloggers, cable channels and talk show hosts. In turn, that movement suffered a collective collapse last week. Incapable of self-reflection, player after player, including those at Fox News, rushed forward to condemn the law student and/or to insist the AM talker had done nothing wrong by, A) insulting the young woman, B) mocking her parents C) demanding she post videos of herself having sex online, and D) suggesting she was using condoms when she was in elementary school.
Republicans learned that painful lesson as the Rush Limbaugh "slut" fiasco made headlines for days on end. With the Voice of the Republican Party engulfed in one of the most damaging (and self-inflicted) controversies of his career, and with parts of the GOP Noise Machine scrambling to actually defend Limbaugh, as well as to echo his misogynist taunts, it's been the larger conservative movement that has been absorbing the worst blows.
For a Republican Party already suffering from a yawning gender gap, Limbaugh's hijacking of the news cycle last week must have been unwelcome news. But this is what happens when Republicans sponsor an irresponsible media Noise Machine that's designed to offend and attack and is designed to dehumanize its political enemies. This is what happens when the wheels fall off in spectacular fashion, like Limbaugh spending three days smearing, by name, a Georgetown University Law School student as greedy nymphomaniac having so much sex "it's amazing she can still walk."
It's no secret Republican leaders live in fear of Limbaugh and over the years have found it almost impossible to publicly criticize even his most outlandish and hateful statements. Those few who did stop forward were often forced to then quickly reversed course and apologize to Limbaugh. Just like Republicans have had to bow down to kingmakers at Fox News and embrace their lowest common denominator programming.
The truth is the conservative movement in America has become a media-based one, delegating an absurd amount of influence to bloggers, cable channels and talk show hosts. In turn, that movement suffered a collective collapse last week. Incapable of self-reflection, player after player, including those at Fox News, rushed forward to condemn the law student and/or to insist the AM talker had done nothing wrong by, A) insulting the young woman, B) mocking her parents C) demanding she post videos of herself having sex online, and D) suggesting she was using condoms when she was in elementary school.
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201203050003
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Limbaugh And The Right-Wing Nervous Breakdown (Original Post)
SunsetDreams
Mar 2012
OP
CrispyQ
(36,470 posts)1. "That's so weird! It's exactly how I always pictured them!!"
They truly could not have picked a more perfect person to represent their vileness.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)2. Spot on. Thanks. n/t
part man all 86
(367 posts)3. what will gop do next?
with their forked brains and forked tongues, their options are: 1) keep saying the same lies over and over again.
2) keep quite and let it blow over.
3) go into full extinction mode using whatever is necessary to win and i mean whatever it takes, words, protests, guns and ammo, stealing votes, passing laws that hamper citizens, and intimidation. watch your backs and keep safe.
stubtoe
(1,862 posts)4. Maybe we should keep him on air -?
Until November... he's doing some heavy lifting for our side
LiberalEsto
(22,845 posts)5. I always thought he was
the ass of the Republican Party.
Hairy warts and all.
Proud Liberal Dem
(24,412 posts)6. What really gets me about this
is that Rush has been spewing this garbage (and worse) for, what about 2 decades now? Hell, he VOLUNTEERED to be a torture apologist when Abu Gharib first came to light! Well, better late than never.......