Weapons of Mass Distraction: The Operation Hush Rush Saga

From the Savvy Political Tactics of This Dude

Awhile back, the conservative American Spectator published an article called "The Hugo Chavez Democrats" outlining how redistribution of wealth and federal laws such as The Fairness Doctrine were going to lead America into a new dark age. Fortunately, the Fairness Doctrine as it was originally conceived is D.O.A. for the time-being, but the White House is orchestrating a political attack on a pundit to distract the public from serious problems the country is facing.

The list of woes for America is lengthy: the stock market is in the crapper, investors are more skeptical of financing U.S. Treasury bonds, Afghanistan-Pakistan is in need of a completely revamped strategy (see yesterday's Cricket attacks for how dangerous this country is becoming), and people like Octopussy are still mooching off the public dole.

Certainly, no one is saying that Obama walked into an easy presidency, but he has chosen to mask the shortcomings in the first month-and-a-half by blaming everything on a loudmouth political commentator. No one elected Rush Limbaugh to anything, and he is, indeed, a loudmouth...uh, he's on talk radio, so how the hell else would he act? The Democrat strategy involves convincing America that conservatives are backwoods morons, but it also has to convince Americans that they are pathetic enough to require perpetual financial assistance from the government (thereby securing a lifelong voting pattern). Attacking Rush Limbaugh is political gold, because it simultaneously demonizes the conservative opposition while seeking to attract buy-in from a bloc of voters the Dems have traditionally struggled with (primarily blue-collar/middle class angry males like yours truly). Politico has the details on the White House strategy:

With President George W. Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney out of the White House and Tom DeLay gone from Congress, the left had been suddenly absent an unpopular right-wing figure.

Few Americans know who the congressional Republican leaders are. Even Sarah Palin is now four time zones away from Washington.

Enter Limbaugh.

It’s something of a back to the future tactic for Democrats: painting the GOP as the party of the angry white male. But unlike Newt Gingrich or other prominent Republicans, Limbaugh doesn’t have to mind his tongue.

And the liberal political apparatus is at battle stations taking note of his every comment.

These type of tactics are nothing new, but they usually aren't reserved for an organization like the goddamn White House (which enforces law through the barrel of a gun rather than lefty protesters clucking about in the streets). One of Obama's "inner circle" strategists wrote this scathing critique of Rush Limbaugh in today's WaPo. Private citizens have the right to free speech whether they are criticizing the president or hypothesizing bizarre LaRoucheian conspiracies about the British controlling our banks. End of discussion. This intimidation from the highest levels of government puts us on the slippery slope of neglecting the First Amendment, and it's not difficult to foresee the imprisonment of media figures like what happens in other countries. Sometimes it's hard to believe this is still America.