printWe want to give credit where it’s due. Rush Limbaugh at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. was charismatic, well spoken (he even corrects his mistakes mid-sentence, which points to a welcome fastidiousness about the language), passionate, and sincere.
As opposed to most pundits, Limbaugh doesn’t require lengthy de-Nazification efforts; he needs only a few weeks at the feet of Congressman Ron Paul.
I optimized the time Limbaugh talked by both listening and mopping the wooden floors. Here are some of the problems I have with Limbaugh’s impassioned CPAC speech. Feel free to add to them:
• I didn’t hear a word about the reliable role of Republicans as engines of government growth. And Bush, in particular. Bush set the scene for Barack. Bush began what BHO is completing. Stimulus, bailouts, a house for every Hispanic—these are programs Bush developed, or signed on to, as I and other libertarians have documented. For an account of the Republican’s “inglorious tradition” of growing government, I recommend “Republicans and Big Government,” by my pal Jim Ostrowski.
• Rush failed to religiously pair the need for tax cuts with a ruthless slashing of government. Bush grew government while, at the same time, cutting taxes. Deficit spending, however, is financed by borrowing or inflating the money supply. The latter is the most vicious and insidious of taxes. (Read why.) Until conservatives get beyond piss-easy populism and stretch their minds to learn some REAL economics, beyond the “tax cut” mantra, there is no hope for them. Rush mentioned von Hayek; why not read his work on the business cycle?
• When it comes to his view of human nature, Rush is a big egalitarian. What do I mean? As an impediment to individual achievement, he cited the disabling and crippling role of the welfare state. Fair enough. However, that is not a qualitatively different argument than the one advanced by left-liberals.
In the nature-nurture debate, liberals reduce man’s plight to adverse social conditions: Crime, they say, is because of poverty, patriarchy, powerlessness (I’ve lots count of the “P”s). Rush is merely rendering his deterministic complement to that of the liberals: they say too little intervention; he says too much of it. The conservative truth is that people differ in potential. Live with it! Phenotype or genotype: our genes encode both the way we look and, to a large degree, how well we can think. Once again, Rush’s view of human nature doesn’t depart significantly from the view his liberal foes hold.
Egalitarianism is the enemy of liberty. As I’ve said, just as most of us can’t aspire to Heidi Klum’s countenance, no amount of freedom will imbue us all with an equal standard of living, which is a function, to a large extent, of out abilities.
A conservative view of nature is one that acknowledges the kind if differences that make the reality of poverty and other evils inescapable. Capitalism may amplify differences in wealth as it allows the able to fully express their abilities. But it also reduces levels of poverty. The poor are richer under capitalism because employment and opportunity are optimized.
• Not a word did Limbaugh say about the Warfare State, which is every bit as corrupt and corrupting as the welfare state. We spend over a trillion annually on empire. What kind of a nation neglects its own borders while defending borders not its own? A nation of cowards. There is a war on the border with Mexico. It’s spilling over. Where is the brave military? This is quintessential neo-conservatism as I defined it on January 16, 2004 (mentioned here by Larry Auster): “Inviting an invasion by foreigners and instigating one against them are two sides of the same neoconservative coin.” Rush did not denounce this borderless, expansionist agenda.
• I have news for Rush: contrary to his assertion, freedom is not the natural condition of the human heart. That’s liberal/neoconservative claptrap. All people want freedom for themselves, that much is true. But not everyone is willing to let his adversaries enjoy their freedoms. I wish Republicans would try thinking beyond clichés–the kind that led to their invasion of Iraq.
Update: Speaking of Larry Auster, this is what the traditionalist commentator writes under the heading, “This is our leader?”:
Rush Limbaugh is addressing the C-PAC conference. Am I supposed to care? Am I supposed to see this loud-mouth as the leader of conservatives against Obama’s attempted socialist takeover of America? Where was El Slowbo for the last eight years? I’ll tell you where he was. He was, with all the energy and devotion of which he is capable, carrying George W. Bush’s water while Bush advanced such proposals as the “American Dream Down Payment Plan,” which landed us in our current situation.
Update II (March 2): Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, trashed Rush Limbaugh. Steele called the Talker an entertainer, and his show incendiary, ugly entertainment.
Ann Coulter has expressed her disappointment. The Conservative Queen Bee also spoke favorably about Steele being good on TV. I guess she meant eye candy, because she immediately launched, on the Glenn Beck Show, into a paean to the babes of the Republican Party. (Here is the story of one such brassy babe.)
In any event, I say let Limbaugh and Steele have at it. I’ve listened to Steele; he’s utterly eager to pacify, placate and attract the ethnic vote. This is a black John McCain. The Republicans have a deficit in principles, not diversity. Yet Steele keeps carping about the need to “appeal” to those voracious minorities. With what? More stolen stuff?
Yes, stealing Steele is among the cadre of Republicans (a Rovian) calling for a more upbeat and diverse GOP, when in fact that GOP has gone all out for minorities (to no avail) and stuck it to the base.
I hope the two men smart for some time to come, and that more chasms open up like gashes in the GOP. Out of chaos maybe some order will come, by which I mean an articulation of a rightist, ordered liberty. Let the rightist faction break away, recapture the base and then the Party.
Rush Limbaugh has strayed too far from small-r republican principles too many times before. Us Paulians should force him to sacrifice a little.
Rush Limbaugh is an ignorant gasbag.
He completely overlooked my dystopian hometown of Washington, D.C. while visiting CPAC.
D.C. is a cesspool because of its racial makeup.
This isn’t a “racist” statement.
It simply acknowledges the reality of human differences.
Even Michelle Obama voted not to send her daughters to a D.C. public school. Instead she elected to send her girls to the elitist, inegalitarian and obscenely expensive Sidwell Friends School.
One don’t “conservatives” such as Rush ask themselves why the First Family has declined D.C. public schools?
He can’t and won’t because he’s a sycophantic, ignorant gasbag who does not understand human nature. His beliefs are those of an egalitarian. That’s why I’ve never listened to him, nor any of the other “conservative” talk show hosts.
On the drug war alone he’s such a hypocrite that anything he says needs to be ignored. As the intellectual leader of the GOP his support of Bush was the death knell of the country. It used to be said that the Democrats wanted to go off the cliff at 65 MPH and that Republicans only wanted to drive off the cliff at 35MPH. Then came Jorge who mashed won on the Statist accelerator. Until the day one of these semi-fine men step forward and say, “George Bush was an evil man who doesn’t represent me or my party”, there can be no trust of their intent. We’re all criminals now thanks to Jorge… with the exception of illegals who can do what they want. Men like Rush and Hannity held down American Freedom while Bush drove a stake through our hearts.
“The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.”
Ayn Rand
I think maybe you’re mistaken about Rush carrying Bush’s water the past 8 years. I listen somewhat regularly and seem to recall that he was critical of “No Child Left Behind”, the rampant spending & deficits, and much more. Sure, he was careful because, at the very least, he was “our guy” – well, okay… he was a little better than the alternative.
Hey, Rush. In case you are reading this, I suggest you read Murray N. Rothbard’s The Mystery of Banking. Liberals are not the root of evil, thieving bankers are and have been since before 1694.
The “New Deal” resulted from the economic catastrophe caused by the government backed banking cartel. Get a clue, Rush, thieving socialism resulted from government backed thieving bankers.
Take on the bankers, Rush, and I might start listening to you again.
Rush is a partisan.
Unlike Dr. Paul he has no principles.
That was another excellent column. I always enjoy your skill with language even if I have to look up words. Also appreciated are the links that illuminate your references. Thanks.
The Blowhard Buffoon can shoot (liberal) fish in a barrel with half his wits tied behind his back, but he’s never been able to identify true principles.
But someone planted a thought-virus. I only hear snippets, but I know I heard a reference to Atlas Shrugged, and to some Austrian economists on his show. That means he can read, and if he ever actually finished Atlas Shrugged, the contradictions in his own thought processes will continually nag at him. I think it has been working — there has been a gradual shift away from reflexive party-line cheerleading. Whether he ever actually comes all the way out into the light remains to be seen.
When Rush first came on the air in Detroit, it was right after Mark Scott — a fire-breathing objectivist warrior. Rush couldn’t hold a candle to him, and looked bad in comparison. Mark Scott passed away not too long ago, and he is sorely missed. [Yes, i used to be a guest on his show.–IM]
Ilana, I wish I could hear a recording of those shows!
Mark was a rare man.
[He could get quite abrupt, but he was quite a character. I used to go on once weekly.]
The Republicans are as craven as the Democrats on affirmative action. Examples are: Clearance Thomas, Cheerleader Sarah Palin, Spokesman Bobby Jindal, Michael Steele, and the numerous minorities who show up on stage every 4 years at the TV-infomercials known as conventions. Although the party gets 5% of the black vote and 25% of the Hispanic vote, any black or Hispanic with Republican leanings gets hoisted into prime time to prove that the Republican party has “appeal” to minorities. Well, bully for the G.O.P. since it is easier to do this than to actually come up with a coherent philosophy of government. P.S.: there were a lot of “babes” at the CPAC “conservative” Conference (some dressed very skanky indeed) but I am too old to do anything other than sightsee!
I have to agree with Mr. Pauli. Depending on “conservative” minorities is a dangerous gamble. If hundreds of thousands of Indians decide they want to come to the U.S., will Mr. Jindal turn them away? Will Mr. Steele face up to proven racial differences? Can we trust a Hispanic Republican to end all 3rd world immigration, legal or illegal? Perhaps these people are valuable, but I don’t think they can be trusted to defend this nation as a concrete nation invented from nothing by a specific culture, rather than simply as an idea that can apply to all people everywhere.
As I’ve said elsewhere, the Republican Party exists to be a vehicle of conservatism. If it ceases to be such a vehicle, it deserves to be crushed. What is important is the people and the nation, in that order, not some party that may or may not speak for us.
I listen to Rightist Blowhard Radio 10 minutes/month to get the drift – but I wrote a song (sorry – more than 200 words) as an Ode to Limbaugh et al:
Let A Liberal In Your Life
(or Ode To Talk Radio – to be sung to “Let a Woman in Your Life” )
I’m an ordinary man,
who desires nothing more than just an ordinary chance, to live exactly as he likes, and do precisely what he wants…
An average man am I, of no eccentric whim, Who likes to live his life, free of strife, doing whatever he thinks is best for him,
Well… just an ordinary man…
BUT, let a liberal in your life
and a lesbo steals your wife
she’ll castrate you at once
you’ll be sounding like a dunce,
with politically correct babbling in foreign tongues
Let a liberal control facts,
you’ll be paying higher tax,
they will make your life a bore,
you’ll be listening to Al Gore,
and although you cannot stand it
the liberals will command it until you fall asleep and snore
You want to see a game of football
or go shooting with a gun
Instead you’ll march for gay adoption
Which is their idea of fun
Let a liberal run the show
And they’ll steal all your dough
They will want their wedding bands
Only on same sex hands
I would rather clean latrines
Than to see the gay Marines
And to ever let a liberal in my life
I’m a very gentle man,
even-tempered and good-natured whom you never hear complain,
Who has the milk of human kindness by the quart in every vein,
A patient man am I, down to my fingertips,
The sort who never could, never would,
let an insulting remark escape his lips. A very gentle man.
But let a liberal run your school
And PC will be the rule
They will fill the school with commies
Teaching “Heather Has Two Mommies”
And insist that every Christian is a fool
You would like to go and worship
They will tell you that’s a crime
They won’t let you read the Bible
You’ll be reading porno slime
Let the liberals get their way
You’ll regret it every day
I’d put up with nuclear fission
Than the news on television
And to ever let the liberals get their way
I’m a patriotic man
who loves the mountains the praries and the sea and loves everyone here in the land of the brave and free
A pious man am I, who likes to meditate
contemplate, appreciate
just why America is so great.
Just a patriotic man.
But let the liberals run us all
And the county takes the fall
And the guy who’s called Osama
Will be dancing with your Mamma
And you’ll be cross dressing at the gay rights ball
The blacks and the latinos
Will take away your high paying jobs
While you get indoctrinated
With the other white male slobs
Let the liberals in your life
Let the liberals in your life!
Let the liberals in your life!!
I shall never let the liberals in my life
[Fabulous.]
“Egalitarianism is the enemy of liberty. As I’ve said, just as most of us can’t aspire to Heidi Klum’s countenance, no amount of freedom will imbue us all with an equal standard of living, which is a function, to a large extent, of out abilities.”
Back when the poor sorry s.o.b. could still write, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. wrote a marvelous short story entitled “Harrison Bergeron.”
In the near future, the cabinet-level office of “Handicapper-General” mandates the athletically gifted wear weights and restraints, the highly intelligent wear hearing-aid-type devices that emit piercing noises at random to distract trains of thought, and the overly beautiful must wear masks.
When written, this seemed delightfully absurd. Now it only seems exaggerated.
BTW, Vonnegut also wrote a story of a future wherein children could sue their parents for childhood trauma…