Salon: Rush Limbaugh was right
posted at 8:43 am on July 15, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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Four words most Salon readers never expected to see, but Gary Kamiya writes them in response to the Left’s reaction to the New Yorker satirical cover that has the Barack Obama campaign seeing red. Kamiya blames Bush — no, really! — and misses the effect of the political-correctness movement and the resultant intellectual rigor mortis on the Left. Apart from that, he diagnoses the problem fairly well, and blasts the Left for making themselves into a pusillanimous caricature:
It’s official: The Bush era has made liberals so terrified of right-wing smears it has caused them to completely lose their sense of humor.
Much as I hate to repeat one of Rush Limbaugh’s flat, stale and unprofitable applause lines, that’s the only conclusion I can draw after witnessing the left-wing blogosphere’s bizarre reaction to the New Yorker cover depicting Barack Obama in the Oval Office as a dishdasha-clad Muslim terrorist, exchanging a “terrorist fist jab” with Michelle Obama, who is dressed like a latter-day Angela Davis with huge ‘fro, combat boots, assault rifle and bandolier of bullets — while Osama bin Laden looks approvingly on from a picture frame and an American flag burns merrily in the presidential fireplace. To judge from the reaction of much of the left, you’d think that New Yorker editor David Remnick had morphed into some kind of hideous hybrid of Roger Ailes and Roland Barthes and was waging an insidious Semiotic War against Obama. ….
Vast swaths of the left have apparently been so traumatized by the Big Lie techniques employed by the Bush administration, its media lickspittles like Fox News, and the right-wing attack machine, that they have come to regard all images or texts that contain negative stereotypes as too politically dangerous to run. If you satirically depict Obama as an Islamist terrorist, in this view, you are only reinforcing and giving broader currency to right-wing smears.
Oh, where to start with this? I guess we can start with unprofitable as the jumping-off point. Perhaps it escaped Kamiya’s notice, but Rush Limbaugh just signed a contract that pays him more money than A-Rod — in fact, twice as much. Of course, Rush has a better batting average, as well as the taste not to sleep with Madonna.
Next, the idea that the Left became intellectual cowards because of the big meanies in the opposition rediscovers the irony Kamiya claims was lost after 9/11. He castigates the “left-wing commentariat” as “cowering”, but then puts the blame on Fox News and the Bush administration. Even if we accept the hyperbolic accusations of a “right-wing attack machine” (an accusation handily refuted by Kamiya’s own piece in Salon), that wouldn’t cause cowardice as much as reveal it. It doesn’t take courage to speak out when no one opposes you, Gary.
Afterwards, however, Kamiya gets most of the rest correct. The New Yorker cartoon was obviously satire, but it didn’t work very well. Satire usually gets placed in some sort of context; the New Yorker didn’t bother to do that. Its article wasn’t on smear campaigns but instead was a lengthy, straightforward profile of Obama. Under those circumstances, the cartoon would have been better placed inside the magazine with a sidebar on rumor-mongering in the campaign.
But it was very obviously a satire, and not a support for the rumor-mongering, despite the hysterical reaction Kamiya notes on the Left. As he says, if every satirical image winds up as somehow supporting what it satirizes, then editorial cartooning is dead, and satire in general is on life support. Most of us on the Right knew immediately that this was meant as a slam on conservatives, not on Obama (and an unfair one at that, seeing as how the dishdasha and the Muslim issue came from Hillary Clinton’s campaign and not Republicans, a fact Kamiya neglects to mention). We didn’t freak out when it appeared, although we had a lot of fun with the reaction from the Left.
So, yes, Rush Limbaugh was right about the Left’s lack of humor, but that began a long time ago, when political correctness began eating away at free speech on college campuses and normal human interaction. As with the intellectual cowardice, this episode doesn’t so much create it as reveal it.
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Its the NEW YORKER! This would be like claiming Human Events was trying to smear Ronald Reagan. Ridiculous. Liberalism really is a mental disorder.
D0WNT0WN on July 15, 2008 at 8:52 AM
Brilliantly written piece Ed… Keep this up, and the talking point a few years from now will no longer be “Rove, you magnificent bastard” but rather “Morrissey, you magnificent bastard”.
Rush has made a fortune on the theory that when the truth gets in the way of pure bullshit, it’s entertaining when delivered properly. Your delivery continues to improve Ed. Keep on!
Keemo on July 15, 2008 at 8:56 AM
Obama kicked off his political career in this mans home, (see photo) it’s only a ’smear’ when it is completely made up. He’s good friends with mr. “Guilty as hell. Free as a bird. America is a great country,” - birds of a feather flock together.
wise_man on July 15, 2008 at 8:57 AM
Its even simpler than that. As Rush has said repeatedly - “You can’t talk about anything because EVERYTHING is off limits.”
singlemalt_18 on July 15, 2008 at 8:57 AM
But it was very obviously a satire, and not a support for the rumor-mongering, despite the hysterical reaction Kamiya notes on the Left.
It shows us what they really think, and they seem to approve of it. Just like when the Lefty papers had cartoons of Condi as a ‘house mammy’.
Tony737 on July 15, 2008 at 8:58 AM
My brother points out that practically no one reads The New Yorker any more. The days of Harold Ross, James Thurber, and E.B. White are long gone.
Unfortunately, he says, the cover is obscured on the newsstands by a marketing page.
MrLynn on July 15, 2008 at 8:58 AM
A sense of humor requires both intelligence and the ability to laugh at oneself.
Both qualities are seriously lacking on the left, where intellectual poseurs abound, along with people who take themselves and their latest trendy cause WAY too seriously.
NoDonkey on July 15, 2008 at 8:59 AM
As an aside, anyone catch Hannity last night? The consensus among the guests (including Morris and Huckabee) was that the New Yorker cover was objectionable because, to people who didn’t get the joke, the cover reinforced the stereotype that Obama is a Muslim. I guess I can understand that point, but the left’s reaction to the cover has been predictably hilarious. Obama has such a glass jaw. He can’t even take gentle ribbing from his own side!
Outlander on July 15, 2008 at 9:01 AM
This removes all doubt how BHO reacts to anything negative, no matter how trivial it might be. How can he even hint that he has the demeanor to be president when he whines constantly about the trivial things that upsets him. Leader of the Free World? Yeah…..right!
volsense on July 15, 2008 at 9:02 AM
Rove you magnificent bastard, i read your book.
custer on July 15, 2008 at 9:04 AM
I don’t know. I think the cover was a mistake (assuming the New Yorker is in the tank for Obama).
It’s like Dean’s “yeargh!” scream or Kerry’s “voted for it before I voted against it.” They weren’t all that earth-shakingly memorable as individual events, but they solidified for people what they were already thinking about those two guys.
The Obama cover does a similar thing. I caught myself thinking, “yes…yes, just so.”
S. Weasel on July 15, 2008 at 9:04 AM
I have no idea what Kamiya is complaining about. The New Yorker blasphemed the Messiah and the faithful rightly pilloried them for the transgression. That is, quite obviously, as it should be. Come January, He won’t have to tolerate such impious behavior.
DamnCat on July 15, 2008 at 9:05 AM
Exactly.
Double Standard: What About the Rolling Stone Caricature Of John McCain?
wise_man on July 15, 2008 at 9:06 AM
But don’t you see, Ed? Obama is so noble, so perfect, so majestic, there’s just nothing comical about him. Not a thing. Capital “H” He is not mockable, therefore, to do so in any capacity would be blasphemy.
Even the comics agree.
To whit:
Or this:
The MSM needs to protect its own. By extension, that includes the mainstream entertainment media of Hollywood and New York. Ergo, Obama is not to be touched.
No candidate has ever been handled with the kid gloves by the MSM(s) like Obama has which, come to think of it, might be appropriate considering that’s about the level of political/professional life experience Obama possesses.
AnonymousDrivel on July 15, 2008 at 9:08 AM
Nice play on George S. :)
Limerick on July 15, 2008 at 9:08 AM
Lickspittles? Who even uses these terms? This is nuts.
SoulGlo on July 15, 2008 at 9:09 AM
The only people who have poked fun at Obama have been the Saturday Night live gang. Their “3 a.m.” skit where Pres. Obama calls Hillary because he hasn’t a clue at what to do in a crisis was priceless.
Also the skits on the debates where the media threw Obama whiffleball questions and “Petreaus’” testimony before Obama and the committee.
Wethal on July 15, 2008 at 9:14 AM
AnonymousDrivel on July 15, 2008 at 9:08 AM
AD, where have you been? Nice to hear from once again! Now, all we need is for the Swabby to get his butt over here, and it will be like old times.
Keemo on July 15, 2008 at 9:17 AM
When his 20-year-long Black Liberation theology pastor says “No no no! not God Bless America, God Damn America!!“, and when his wife says “For the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country” and when his campaign kick-off buddy, unrepentent terrorist Bill Ayers is shown in a photo trampling on a U.S. flag, and when Obama is ready to meet with the jihadist crazies of Iran “with no preconditions“, where’s the satire, exactly ?
The joke is on the Left.
And, as usual, they ain’t laughin’.
profitsbeard on July 15, 2008 at 9:20 AM
What do you expect the guy to do, admit his side is mentally deranged and that they are everything they claim to hate? That they project their most despicable characteristics onto the Right? That they fear images like this because they themselves feel it’s too close to the truth and will cause others to see it too? Of coarse he going to do what all fascists thugs do, blame it on the scapegoats, the enemy, the Right.
TheBigOldDog on July 15, 2008 at 9:22 AM
As usual, you get it.
TheBigOldDog on July 15, 2008 at 9:23 AM
BigOldDog-
;^)
profitsbeard on July 15, 2008 at 9:25 AM
Well…
Yesterday evening I watched no less than Bill O’Reilly turn up his nose at this cartoon and discuss the bad taste of it. Then later Jay Leno showed it to his audience. A few brave souls laughed when it was first displayed, but most held their reactions, waiting for a cue from Leno as to whether it was permissible to laugh. When he made a fact to show that it was not, there was a smattering of groans.
And so there you have it. I don’t recall one single commentator on the national scene–not even here in the little corner of Hot Air–having the guts to stand up and state the obvious:
IT WAS FUNNY!
My wife is pretty typical of most folks. She’s not terribly political and views my political junkiness as mostly harmless and probably marginally better than being a crackhead or being addicted to Internet porn. She saw that and just thought it was hilarious.
And it was.
The tut-tutting by our media betters about this all around is also I promise you only marking them all as that much more out of touch. All of them. Hopefully at least Ann Coulter will weigh in with a bellylaugh.
Typhoon on July 15, 2008 at 9:26 AM
Made a face, that is to say.
Typhoon on July 15, 2008 at 9:27 AM
Satire is only funny when it contains a grain of truth.
.
.
Great lines, BTW.
Think_b4_speaking on July 15, 2008 at 9:29 AM
Reactionary leftists have a humorectomy at age 13, sort of a bris for idiots:
“Today I am an asshat!”!
N. O'Brain on July 15, 2008 at 9:30 AM
They are freaking out because it hit a nerve plain and simple. It’s no different than Dukakis in the tank or Kerry windsurfing. And, in each case, the wound was self-inflicted because it’s impossible to hide the truth 7/24/365. Sooner or later it slips out.
TheBigOldDog on July 15, 2008 at 9:31 AM
Wethal, about SNL:
Yes, a notable exception to be sure. I heard about it and it sounds like the crew did a good job. Hopefully more will be forthcoming, but it could well be that the skits were OK’d because Hillary! was still in the race with a significant following backing her. Considering she’s a Senator from New York, the show had some interest in seeing their local talent succeed. After taking shots at the Clinton’s for so long, it would have been pretty curious for them to lampoon Hillary! alone. That wouldn’t pass the smell test among the Liberal audience which was still split between the two candidates.
So you’re observation was correct but the critique by SNL was probably less noble than we might suspect. Let’s see if they criticize Obama between now and November and to what degree compared to Bush, Cheney, McCain, etc.
Hey, Keemo, bud. I’ve been over at Ace’s place chugging Valu-Rite and slaying hobos. Between that and sockpuppeting his abode, I only have time to read Ed’s posts w/o commenting. That’s probably best for everyone involved.
I hope you and Swabjockey haven’t broken too many things while I’ve been away. Things look in order so far, but I know Ed’ll need to keep his eyes on you guys.
AnonymousDrivel on July 15, 2008 at 9:33 AM
The New Yorker should have realized that any cartoon involving anything Muslim (real or imagined) is no longer permitted in the MSM.
Infidoll on July 15, 2008 at 9:42 AM
I’ve said it many, many times before…
They eat their own.
Lefties have no loyalties, just agendas.
madmonkphotog on July 15, 2008 at 9:42 AM
Anonymous Drivel, I don’t know if it’s still available on-line in You Tube, but the SNL skit of “Hillary” responding to Obama’s announcement of his candidacy was also priceless. Amy Pohlen got Hillary’s mannerisms dead on - and she started out with the fake frozen smile, and gracious tone, and then slowly lost it until she was screeching about how she’d wanted to be president all her life, and had worked so hard….
It was funny, not too vicious and had an element of truth to it. Good satire.
Wethal on July 15, 2008 at 9:46 AM
Actually, I *didn’t* think it was funny. It should’ve been, but for me it wasn’t. And I think the *reason* it didn’t give belly laughs, is - the critique, if there is any, hurts Obama more than conservatives, because he’s even more vulnerable to such kinds of criticism than conservatives are (for any kind of ostensible “overplaying their hand” with respect to Obama criticism).
If the cartoon were construed as criticism of Obama instead of implied criticism of conservatives, I concede it might be a tad unfair and tendentious, but the nucleus of uncertainty about Obama that it “pokes fun at” remains unaddressed by him, unassuaged, a year+ after we all got to know him, and only a few months before a national presidential election.
And I fear such sensitivity is going to persist until he takes on the issues raised *publicly* and head-on instead of brushing them aside. In a way, the criticism of him is like an opportunistic infection or disease that he has not inoculated himself against, and refuses to go near, and we’re all holding our breath to see if he’ll live once a really virulent strain of it gets near him. This cartoon is a mild strain, but it telegraphs the general outline of the disease.
And what makes me uneasy about it is, the critique doesn’t have to be made by Americans; it could just as easily be made by the outside world, in loud voices or in whispers, after he is elected president. Just imagine that for a moment… My unease is that of someone who feels he may have to defend the turd in the future, against outsiders, and is afraid he might not be able to do it.
RD on July 15, 2008 at 9:54 AM
True, except when he attacks McCain. On those occasions, he “usually” contradicts himself and/or throws logic out the window.
I think he has some personal beef w/ J-Mac that he’s not letting us know bout.
jgapinoy on July 15, 2008 at 9:55 AM
Exactly. The “stale, flat and unprofitable” line was of course from Hamlet and a vain attempt at intellectual heft. (Only reason I recognized it is I watched Mel Gibson say it about 20 times :) ). Is he even paying attention to what he’s saying? No, just more reason to bash Bush while shouting “See how open minded I am?! See see see?!”
inviolet on July 15, 2008 at 9:55 AM
I think it’s not so much that the left doesn’t have a sense of humor, it’s that when it comes to things both social and political, the left has absolutely no sense of irony. Remember the reaction to Reagan’s “We start bombing in five minutes” remark? It was as if the denizens of Georgetown, San Francisco and the Upper West Side of New York all got the vapors at the exact same time and maintained them through the fall of the Soviet Union (the same folks also went nuts a decade earlier when National Lampoon published the Ted Kennedy-Volkswagon ad, and most of that mag’s people came from Harvard and were pretty liberal themselves).
To the left, there are just some things that are too gosh-darned important to make fun of, and Barack Obama currently is No. 1 on their list of sacred cows. So even a drawing that is targeted at Obama’s opponents is attacked, because they’re so protective of the Messiah that they can’t grasp any attempt at being subtle, even when the cartoon is about as subtle as the latest Miley Cyrus cellphone picture.
jon1979 on July 15, 2008 at 9:56 AM
I think the “unprofitable” thing was a “code word.” You know, kind of “I know this is nonsense but I have to say it or my Liberal friends will denounce me!”
PC isn’t just about what you can’t say - it’s as much about what you must say or be “excluded” from the clique.
Merovign on July 15, 2008 at 9:59 AM
Interesting! Good catch. The blatantness of the liberal media bias in this election cycle is beyond the pale. The comics won’t even paint a caricature of Obama for fear of damaging his candidacy? What have these guys done with McCain?
By the way, our friends at the DailyKos are trying to come up with similar “false” stereotypes of McCain that the New Yorker can parody — http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/7/15/11441/3137/641/551584. Very, very vicious stuff, people. I hope McCain is ready to take this viciousness head-on once the MSM starts picking up DailyKos talking points.
Outlander on July 15, 2008 at 10:04 AM
Actually when he attacks McAmnesty he does so from a true conservative viewpoint and he does so because McAmnesty is being a dick! Of course if you wish to keep drinking the Republican koolaide that the leaders have been dispensing for the last 10 years, fine but the rest of us conservatives have had our fill and are going to speak out about it!
sabbott on July 15, 2008 at 10:06 AM
The Left certainly has a sense of humor. It’s more of a situation where only they think it’s funny. When someone tries to overlay that sense of humor to laugh at themselves on the Left, there is the rub. The Left has become so distorted with its own sense of twisted righteousness, that they can clearly see the rioting of Muslims over the drop of a hat as totally understandable.
The Left has gone so off the charts that their own humor has reached an all time low in terms of hatred towards authority, honor, respect and patriotism. In this warped perspective, applying the same method of humor on themselves is a war cry and an attack from imaginary foes.
Hening on July 15, 2008 at 10:06 AM
It occurs to me that Obama and his followers treat his visage more like a Mohammed caricature than as a Christ like figure. If his depiction is used in a manner ‘offensive to the religion’ then the ‘Obama Street’ flies into a rage. Next we’ll see an Obama Rage Boy shouting into cameras about the latest satirical cartoon blasphemies and maybe a riot will ensue.
JonPrichard on July 15, 2008 at 10:09 AM
Whoever Gary Kamiya is - yet another in Salon’s panoply of leftist nothings - he gets exactly one thing right in his piece. Rush is right.
Given the breadth and depth of the other things he got wrong, one can only ascribe his main point to the old adage “even a blind pig finds a cob now and then”.
Jaibones on July 15, 2008 at 10:10 AM
Rush is usually right, about most things, especially McAMNESTY.
tarpon on July 15, 2008 at 10:16 AM
I’d classify the New Yorker gaffe as a botched joke, in the genre of John F. Kerry’s 2006 delightful blunder:
The distinguishing features of this genre of gaffe include (1) smug superiority as the motivating force; (2) over-reliance on nuance to get the message across; (3) self-immolation as the unintended outcome.
Anyway, I admire the attempted spin, that the right wing caused democrat party cowardice. Oh, would that we had that much power over them! Sorry libs, your wounds, like John Kerry’s in Cambodia or wherever the hell he was, are self-inflicted!
jeff_from_mpls on July 15, 2008 at 10:19 AM
But this cartoon is going to be the equivalent of Kerry in bunny suit or wind-surfing, ‘Dark Helmet’ Dukakis in tank, photos.
IT WILL STICK!
That is why the left was in a panic mode.
Sir Napsalot on July 15, 2008 at 10:20 AM
I notice very few MDSers willing to comment in the thread where McCain disses the La Raza activist & says to a hostile crowd that border security will be his highest priority.
jgapinoy on July 15, 2008 at 10:21 AM
A similar thing can be said about the lefts reaction to Phil Gramms statement that we have turned into a nation of whiners.
The statement really hit a nerve with them and sent them squealing like whiners of the worst kind.
Further proving Gramms point.
roninacreage on July 15, 2008 at 10:22 AM
Or do they know in their horrified black and shriveled little bush hating hearts that the picture represents reality.
dogsoldier on July 15, 2008 at 10:23 AM
I thought it was funny. :)
To me, if its OK to draw our current administration and John McCain in an unflattering light, than its Ok to draw the Obama’s the same way.
Obama needs to toughen up or he wont make it until the election. Its politics..everyone is fair game.
becki51758 on July 15, 2008 at 10:23 AM
dogsoldier on July 15, 2008 at 10:23 AM
That is what their reactions say to me. It hits too close to home maybe?
becki51758 on July 15, 2008 at 10:25 AM
It will make a nice poster to hold outside my polling place on election day.
roninacreage on July 15, 2008 at 10:25 AM
Ooops, sorry.
TheBigOldDog on July 15, 2008 at 9:31 AM
BigOldDog beat me to it. Damn!
If Obama became POTUS, it means ‘political’ cartoonists better find other foreign dignitaries to make fun of in the next few years? Not just the messiah himself, all of his associates are going to be off-limits.
Otherwise, you are a racist, sexist, bigots, etc. etc. etc.
Sir Napsalot on July 15, 2008 at 10:31 AM
Umm, just who is it that is wallowing in negative stereotypes Gary? Can you help us out with that one?
pabarge on July 15, 2008 at 10:36 AM
Daah, we say in jest what we mean in earnest.
Welcome to the world lefties, the right has and continues to be under constant and unfair attack, have a little of your own medicine.
Speakup on July 15, 2008 at 10:38 AM
I overheard some liberals at the office talking about the cover. It’s like they are in mourning or something. Absolutely no sense of humor. They both felt it had to have had a caption like ‘the politics of fear’ or something like that to buffer the obvious ripple effect it is having. The consensus is that The New Yorker was way out of line.
Urban Infidel on July 15, 2008 at 10:38 AM
I don’t like to give the New Yorker good advice, unless it’s too late for them to use it, but they could’ve made their purpose much clearer, and avoided all this, by putting that image inside a dream bubble (of their favorite “far right” enemy.) Instead, they just got a lot of people to say, “yes, that’s exactly what I’m worried about.”
RBMN on July 15, 2008 at 10:41 AM
The Michelle as Angela Davis pose is scary to the left, considering Obama’s association with other terrorists from that era, and the impact that could have on the vote from the “undecideds”.
exhelodrvr on July 15, 2008 at 10:55 AM
It doesn’t matter that ‘nobody reads The New Yorker anymore’.
The fact is, my local news (which had been pimping Obams for ages) brought it up yesterday. The station covers the tri-state (PA, NJ, and DE) area based in Philadelphia. I couldn’t believe the good luck (or bad judgement on the TV producer’s side). They hope to rile up their base, but like I said, IT will backfire on them. Cause people will remember.
Now, do the majority middle want change enough to overcome all that?
Sir Napsalot on July 15, 2008 at 10:55 AM
JonPrichard on July 15, 2008 at 10:09 AM
“Obama Street” = priceless
Infidoll on July 15, 2008 at 10:57 AM
This post has some real steam and attitude to it, nice one!
saus on July 15, 2008 at 11:02 AM
Was that a racist comment?
If refering to a beaurocratic dead end as a black hole is racist, then surely, so is the above.
MarkTheGreat on July 15, 2008 at 11:11 AM
Limbaugh’s beef with McCain probably has much to do with McCain-Feingold aka the Incumbent Protection Act.
The Left gets unhinged by angry Michelle’s portrayal as militant crackpot because they can see the harsh truth in it made obvious by her (not) proud of her country gaffe.
viking01 on July 15, 2008 at 11:16 AM
Missed in all the hubbub is this: The New Yorker is in business to sell magazines. Sales are down, as is ad rev, industry wide. The cover art, satirical or not, has garnerned huge response and most likely a large jump in sales of the magazine. Ergo; mission accomplised. Mercenary? Sure. Money making? You betcha!
DrW on July 15, 2008 at 11:22 AM
The looney left is up in arms because one of their own, the New York Times, leaked their dirty little secret. The louder the clamor, the closer to the truth things usually are, and they howling over this one.
Bubba Redneck on July 15, 2008 at 11:24 AM
Wow, there are some great comments here!
I love how the leftys are still blaming Bush for absolutely everything. This quote is hilarious because I don’t think the libs ever had a sense of humor.
This is something I’ve noticed about liberal writers, I think their English Literature 101 classes made a huge impression on them.
4shoes on July 15, 2008 at 11:42 AM
There’s a whole lot of McCain to be pissed about, despite his conservative values.
It’s my opinion that the majority of the criticisms of McCain is based on people who have a one issue mentality with illegal immigration or other emotional reasons. Such as the people who are so upset that their candidate they voted for in the primaries - a real conservative that should have won - lost to McCain. And now they need to punish McCain and hope that Obama wins to their candidate can have another chance in 4 years. When you look at McCain logically, and understand that this is a choice between him and Obama, then there really shouldn’t be any question.
wise_man on July 15, 2008 at 11:43 AM
Usage of arcane or obsolete words like “lickspittle” are predictable with Leftist writers given a template with which to package the DNC talking points.
Another of Limbaugh’s great successes is his use of what he calls the “audio montage” of quotes where everyone from James Carville, to Bill Schneider, to Chrissy Matthews to Dan Rather can be heard on the same topic on the same day using parroted code words like “gravitas” or “roils” or “mean-spirited” to pimp their scripted Leftist agendas. Screeds by Liberal sock puppets like Kamiya are no exception.
viking01 on July 15, 2008 at 11:53 AM
Didn’t Rush just sign a deal worth half a BILLION dollars?
Who teaches Liberals how to write?
EJDolbow on July 15, 2008 at 12:10 PM
Now the progressive liberals are Swift Boating themselves (and blaming Republicans). Hillary tarted this by attacking Obama with the justification that the Republicans will do it later. What a mind reader. The problem is she is wrong (like all liberals). The racist hate all comes from the left, whether it is aimed at conservatives, republicans, OR democrats.
jerseyman on July 15, 2008 at 12:25 PM
All the hubub over a cartoon! Is the
artistcartoonist a Dane, by any chance?Stoo Pid on July 15, 2008 at 12:54 PM
I wish Rush an extremely long and successful career. He is so well worth the millions that he makes.
God Bless you Rush.
wise_man on July 15, 2008 at 12:58 PM
Rush Limbaugh’s flat, stale and unprofitable applause lines
If only I could be so unprofitable!
I R A Darth Aggie on July 15, 2008 at 12:58 PM
The New Yorker covers are stand-alones… they don’t
“go” with anything.
Isn’t the standard on libel that it has to be believable? It’s telling that the left considers this so offensive. Their candidate is a blank slate. They know it and they’re worried about it.
Spolitics on July 15, 2008 at 1:16 PM
Tell that to The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. All the right-wing has is Half Hour News Hour. Seriously.
Nonfactor on July 15, 2008 at 1:16 PM
What bothers me the most about this story is that the left believes that this is the image that people who are against Obama have of him - hence the satire. I would not be surprised if this is a calculated move by the Obama camp to smear all people who disagree with him as having extreme distortions of him.
perlten on July 15, 2008 at 1:19 PM
“Even if we accept the hyperbolic accusations of a “right-wing attack machine” (an accusation handily refuted by Kamiya’s own piece in Salon), that wouldn’t cause cowardice as much as reveal it.”
Virtually every liberal/Dem exercise in self-examination inevitably arrives at one of three comforting conclusions:
Our bad behavior is a necessary defense against Republican ruthlessness.
Even at our indefensible worst, we’re not as slimy as Republicans.
When all else fails, we’re still smart and they’re still stupid. We only lose because they’re dishonest.
Merovign:
I think the “unprofitable” thing was a “code word.” You know, kind of “I know this is nonsense but I have to say it or my Liberal friends will denounce me!”
Just so! Ditto for disclaiming any conceivable heresy on Iraq with a hat tip to “the worst foreign policy decision evah.” Because liberals actually fear the viciousness of the liberal ad hominem attack machine even more than they fear Republicans.
JM Hanes on July 15, 2008 at 1:57 PM
I have the impression that that sort of talk is just punctuation for the loony left, obligatory markers that identify you as a member of the tribe while conveying little in the way of concrete content. To analyze it is to take it seriously, which it hardly deserves.
Splunge on July 15, 2008 at 4:04 PM
Maybe the Left needs “Change”.
Egfrow on July 15, 2008 at 4:14 PM
I think this is all very shrewd of the Obamamites. His only “qualification” for President is his victim status. That is the primary reason he has any support at all. As long as he can portray himself as fighting against the forces of American insensitivity he will maintain the solid support of a large part of the American electorate. I would expect that his campaign has a team scouring the print media, the airwaves and the internet looking for good opportunities to be publicly offended.
jl on July 15, 2008 at 5:07 PM
The Left doth protest too much. The problem with the parody cartoon of Obama is that it cuts too close to the fashionable anti-Americanism lying just under the surface of the smooth and well-spoken Obama, right under where his flag pin should be. Epictetus said that the best way to deal with slander is to live your life such that nobody would believe it. Obama’s problem with such a radical anti-American characterization is that he has a lifetime of far left positions and cozy relationships with rabid America-haters that gives it the ring of truth.
Tantor on July 15, 2008 at 7:43 PM
They missed a picture of Chavez, one of Galloway, the hammer, sickel and serape…otherwise it’s a
thousandmillion words picture.I bought five copies of the mag. yesterday, in Hollywood, symbolically. It’ll make great gifts to a chosen few.
~ ~ B. Obama
Sin palabras…con sueños…
Entelechy on July 16, 2008 at 2:10 AM
AnonymousDrivel on July 15, 2008 at 9:33 AM
Don’t stay away too long now AD; got a few to slay here also.
Cheers :)
Keemo on July 16, 2008 at 7:58 AM