David Frum on Limbaugh
[Language warning. I can’t think of an effective way to say this without the profanity. — P]
David Frum, in the very same piece — only sentences apart, actually! — says this:
With his private plane and his cigars, his history of drug dependency and his personal bulk, not to mention his tangled marital history, Rush is a walking stereotype of self-indulgence – exactly the image that Barack Obama most wants to affix to our philosophy and our party. . . .
and this:
He plays an important role in our coalition, and of course he and his supporters have to be treated with respect.
Shorter David Frum: treat that fat drug-addled fuck with respect!
P.S. On the whole Steele-Rush kerfuffle, Allah says it well. I can’t improve on that, so just click the link.
Yeah, that’s a difficult circle to square. On the one hand, a truly brilliant political raconteur. On the other hand, a flawed person.
One thing going for him: he isn’t trying to run for office.
steve miller (4bda12) — 3/2/2009 @ 10:41 pmI know this is tough reading for you Patterico at this time of night, but Frum’s idea is split into three sentences.
“Rush is to the Republicanism of the 2000s what Jesse Jackson was to the Democratic party in the 1980s. He plays an important role in our coalition, and of course he and his supporters have to be treated with respect. But he cannot be allowed to be the public face of the enterprise – and we have to find ways of assuring the public that he is just one Republican voice among many, and very far from the most important.”
In context, the preceding remark about Limbaugh’s personal symbolism is perfectly consistent.
The Shorter David Frum is not what you wrote but rather “Rush, helpful as he was in the past, cannot lead the Republicans to victory against Obama, a fact that the latter realizes but the former does not.”
Cyrus Sanai (ada6da) — 3/2/2009 @ 11:00 pmI know this is tough reading for you Patterico at this time of night . . .
Cyrus, you deserve to be treated with respect. I hope you understand it’s perfectly consistent for me to tell you to f[vowel deleted]ck off.
Patterico (cc3b34) — 3/2/2009 @ 11:05 pmIf only Rush were just an elite-level tax cheat…
Patricia (419c68) — 3/2/2009 @ 11:25 pm“Rush is a walking stereotype of self-indulgence – exactly the image that Barack Obama most wants to affix to our philosophy and our party”
You mean a self-made, incredibly successful American entrepreneur who fought the establishment media to carve out his own media niche to become a multi-centimillionaire without a college education or government assistance? Is America a great country or what?
Frum falls into the Democrat laid trap of claiming Limbaugh is a spokesperson for the party rather than an influential commentator. Fuck him.
daleyrocks (5d22c0) — 3/3/2009 @ 12:15 amThe point isn’t just that Rush is personally misrepresentative of the best of conservatism, but that he embodies a conflict that turns swing voters off from Republicans.
Rush’s meandering, redundant speech at CPAC repeats ad nauseum that conservatives believe in individual freedom.
But, in fact, the Republican party hasn’t stood up for that principle at all when it comes to sexual preference, or religion in schools or popular culture or the news media or ethnic minority rights or, certainly, immigration.
Recall the hissy fit Limbaugh had when some pop singer accidentally-on-purpose flashed her tit at the Super Bowl? Remember that Rush has never, ever spoken up for gay rights. And don’t forget Rush has been foursquare against free speech rights when it comes to reporting news about the U.S. military or to gathering “secret” information subject to the vast executive privileges claimed by the Bush administration.
In a nutshell, Limbaugh tries to talk like he’s a libertarian, but everyone knows he’s just a libertine.
Swing voters read right between the lines of Rush’s claim to be in love with freedom. They know that he’s just buttering bread for country clubbers who want more wars, more cops and more prisons, but always less taxes.
Hax Vobiscum (4012df) — 3/3/2009 @ 1:24 amNow THAT is funny, considering the source.
Eric Blair (8d54e0) — 3/3/2009 @ 5:29 am“Rush’s meandering, redundant speech at CPAC repeats ad nauseum that conservatives believe in individual freedom.”
Rush has in the past said there wasn’t a right to privacy. And then ACLU came to his the defense of his right to privacy.
imdw (bb2239) — 3/3/2009 @ 5:37 amI love it when lefties argue against the Rush Limbaugh they read about from Media Matters.
Rob Crawford (04f50f) — 3/3/2009 @ 6:33 amRob – Honesty is not their strength.
JD (b527d1) — 3/3/2009 @ 6:49 amThe GOP establishment has failed and is the enemy. No candidate they approve will ever get my vote again.
gary gulrud (6c4143) — 3/3/2009 @ 7:02 amI actually expect Rush’s message to improve over the next couple years if it is ever going to. Talking head formats are way easier when your putative allies aren’t in charge. Which of course makes Air America’s failure all the more hilarious.
Soronel Haetir (a3f11b) — 3/3/2009 @ 7:23 amYou go, Rush! Give em hell.
Emperor7 (0c8c2c) — 3/3/2009 @ 7:24 am“Rush has in the past said there wasn’t a right to privacy. And then ACLU came to his the defense of his right to privacy.”
imdw – What are you talking about here? Care to provide some background or a citation. Are you talking about Rush’s fight to keep his medical records private?
daleyrocks (5d22c0) — 3/3/2009 @ 8:16 amIt is obvious that both Steele’s and Frum’s comments are based on the subconcious acceptance of the left’s talking points. This is another example of what happens when liberals get to define our terms and set our standards.
Have Blue (974cdf) — 3/3/2009 @ 8:20 amdaleyrocks – They take their idea of a right to privacy from Roe v. Wade, and then extrapolate that to everything. But, Republicans are not entitled to the same protections as everyone else. Look at what they did to Rush’s medical records. Or Steele’s tax returns, etc … etc … ad nauseum … etc …
JD (4fe80d) — 3/3/2009 @ 8:23 amJD – It was far worse than his tax return. Chuck Schumer’s goons fraudulently obtained his credit report. IIRC by using his personal information so it would appear he was asking for it himself. They engaged in ID theft.
Have Blue (974cdf) — 3/3/2009 @ 8:29 amHave Blue – Yet those kinds of “infractions” do not even rate a blip on the radar in the MSM.
JD (4fe80d) — 3/3/2009 @ 8:38 amWhat’s the old saw about not picking a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrell…
AD - RtR/OS (e4c8ef) — 3/3/2009 @ 8:56 amor someone who has a listnership of 20M every week.
More people hear Rush Limbaugh each week than probably read David Frum in a year.
#10 “The GOP establishment has failed and is the enemy. No candidate they approve will ever get my vote again.”
Trying to decide if this is sarcasm. If it isn’t, my guess is Gary has never voted Republican, if he is even old enough to vote.
PatAZ (9d1bb3) — 3/3/2009 @ 11:10 amGary is a concerned Christian voter, who always voted for the GOP, until…
Dmac (49b16c) — 3/3/2009 @ 11:19 am“Rush is to the Republicanism of the 2000s what Jesse Jackson was to the Democratic party in the 1980s.
That’s a more apt description of Frums own place in the party. The man is overdue to be escorted off the premises.
Subotai (704b76) — 3/3/2009 @ 2:28 pmRush has in the past said there wasn’t a right to privacy. And then ACLU came to his the defense of his right to privacy.
I thought I was reading Hacks at first. He’s prone to this sort of dishonesty.
Subotai (704b76) — 3/3/2009 @ 2:32 pmHow much does David Frum weigh? And how much money did David Frum raise for charity last year?
Self important prick.
ccoffer (a131b0) — 3/3/2009 @ 3:25 pmAmen. Frum has impressed me as a self-important prick ever since the Harriet Miers nomination, which he proudly predicted months before it happened, while keeping under wraps his view that the nomination would be a very bad idea (lest he actually succeed in dissuading Bush from making it, in which case Frum would have been a forgotten footnote in the debacle rather than emerging as the cheap hero who stopped it).
Xrlq (62cad4) — 3/3/2009 @ 6:41 pmFrum, Parker, Brooks, etc. are just a distraction to the cause of conservatism.
They over-analyzed conservatism. Conservatism is the heart of the ordinary, real American people.
Conservatism is the American people itself. It only exists in the sacred places of the Heartland.
Stop giving these people the undeserved time and value that they are getting from us.
LETS TALK ABOUT DRILLING, ABORTION, PORKOULOUS, BI GOVERNMENT, “BRITAIN OUT, RUSSIAN IN FOR OBOMOEBA…. AND LATER RUSSIA OUT TO JOIN IRAN IN DESTROYING AMERICA”, NEWSWEEK’S ISRAEL A PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY”… TSK TSK TSK
Steele had no idea that this Rahm+Establishment Media collusion is destroying Rush Limbaugh and the future GOP leaders. He is no use to the conservative movement. Sadly, Michael Steele is also a distraction now.
Priority No 1: LOOK FOR NEW RNC CHAIRMAN WITH A CLEAN BILL.
Rain (b1ce6e) — 3/4/2009 @ 2:44 amAh the GOP.
Can’t win with the wingnuts…
Can’t win without them.
Hax Vobiscum (4012df) — 3/4/2009 @ 3:48 amAh, scum.
Can’t think with brains…
Does his pathetic best without them.
mossberg500 (392f23) — 3/4/2009 @ 4:32 amSteele is in big trouble because, if you look at that video, he went far beyond criticizing Limbaugh. He was nodding his head yes when the interviewer compared the GOP convention to Nazis. Steele then seemed to agree that Republicans are racists but “I’m here now.”
He really blew it and that’s a shame because they can’t very well fire him now. He was elected. It looks as though he is not ready for this job and the party will have to work around him. For God’s sake, they’ve got to keep him off TV.
Little wonder he lost that Maryland Senate race, even to a hack like Cardin.
Limbaugh is fortunate in his enemies. David Frum is getting bitter.
Mike K (2cf494) — 3/4/2009 @ 6:23 am[…] repeats an offensive set of comments he made on his blog earlier this week — comments that I bashed as contradictory and unnecessarily insulting: With his private plane and his cigars, his history of […]
Hot Air » Blog Archive » David Frum Does Not Speak for Me Any More Than Rush Limbaugh Does (e2f069) — 3/8/2009 @ 12:02 pm