Gibbs: Squabbling with Rush may, perhaps, be “counterproductive”
posted at 3:40 pm on March 4, 2009 by Allahpundit
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I can’t find a transcript of the presser so I don’t know if anyone asked the obvious follow-up: How can he claim it’s “counterproductive” when Politico’s reporting that they’ve had a deliberate strategy to provoke Limbaugh in place since last year? The whole point, supposedly, is that Rush-baiting is very productive indeed. Anyone? Tapper? Bueller?
As for why he’s suddenly climbing down, credit Drudge with a screaming banner about “enemies lists” and some grumbling in the media about pettiness and hypocrisy. Michael Scherer at Time:
If you believed what Obama said during the campaign, then Carville is dead wrong. Republicans in Congress are not the only losers. The American people also lose. At a time of unprecedented threats to the United States, a time of financial collapse, bank failures and record layoffs, at a time when the credit crisis has not been solved, and the stock market is in free fall, at a time of stagnating wars, rising terrorism in Pakistan and growing nuclear potential in Iran, the White House has done the easy thing. It has asked the American people to focus their attention not on solving the problems, but on a big-mouthed entertainer in Florida. This may be smart politics. But it is also the same petty strategy that John McCain employed during the presidential campaign, the one that our new president promised to rise above.
And Jay Cost at RCP:
I understand why Democrats in Congress, the media, and the DNC are doing this. Frankly, that doesn’t bother me at all. That’s the way political games are played, and GOP politicos have certainly done their fair share of this over the years to deserve all that they get. But I am deeply disappointed that the President himself is playing this game – not just because he is the President and this kind of nonsense should be beneath him. It’s also because he is the President in part because he promised he wouldn’t do this stuff! And yet, we’ve seen this kind of immature nonsense quite a bit from an administration that has only been in place for a month.
Per Cost, read this painful Dana Milbank piece to see what’s fallen through the cracks while they’ve been busy with Rush. “Immature” indeed.
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Yep! And I’ll just note that it would also be “counterproductive” for me to get into a golf match against Tiger Woods.
drunyan8315 on March 4, 2009 at 5:10 PM
Demanding logic of the lefties? How cruel. LOL
ddrintn on March 4, 2009 at 5:10 PM
Liberal logic, it’s a lot of fun.
neuquenguy on March 4, 2009 at 5:11 PM
I believe the reversal is pegged on the immediate response from just about everyone.
Bambi’s team are minute by minute trackers and only act accordingly. Unless it’s the daily, bothersome stock market, of course.
Odie1941 on March 4, 2009 at 5:12 PM
Ah, yes, everything that doesn’t advance the socialist agenda is a ‘distraction,’ but this one originated at your beloved leader’s own mouth. Dude, get a life.
TinMan13 on March 4, 2009 at 5:13 PM
I wonder how it feels to be the watchdog spokesman for a clueless community organizer.
Somehow, I don’t remember Tony Snow as ever being such a nasty little shit
TexasJew on March 4, 2009 at 5:13 PM
It’s funny to see the utterly powerless GOP even further marginalized. The portrayal of the whole lot of you as a bunch of rabid, backward, unemployed AM radio listeners is brilliant. Beneath contempt and debate.
You’ll see.
capitulus on March 4, 2009 at 5:15 PM
Is there an echo in here?
baldilocks on March 4, 2009 at 5:16 PM
Why so sad? Did you guys win?
baldilocks on March 4, 2009 at 5:17 PM
It’s not so bad, at least we still have your attention.
neuquenguy on March 4, 2009 at 5:17 PM
“I’ll get you, my pretty…”
And other empty threats.
uncivilized on March 4, 2009 at 5:18 PM
Spoken with the grace and confidence of the born winner.
Jim Treacher on March 4, 2009 at 5:18 PM
Oh, please, let that be the reasoning for weaseling out of Rush’s proposed debate.
Snowed In on March 4, 2009 at 5:18 PM
;-)
baldilocks on March 4, 2009 at 5:18 PM
Gosh, I do hope capitulus is not operating any heavy machinery
runner on March 4, 2009 at 5:18 PM
No, America won. Mission accomplished!
capitulus on March 4, 2009 at 5:19 PM
Is that what passes for a riposte in your rhetorical paradigm? 4th grade teacher out for the day and the substitute let you use the computer?
TinMan13 on March 4, 2009 at 5:19 PM
There. Fixed it.
uncivilized on March 4, 2009 at 5:19 PM
Wow, the Limbaugh Letter readers are pulling out the big words. Time to show the libruls that they’ve got learnin’ too.
capitulus on March 4, 2009 at 5:21 PM
Half, last I looked. Half. Hardly a resounding victory, as your side liked to tell it. Yup, I can’t believe your half of the country was stupid enough to vote ‘O.’
TinMan13 on March 4, 2009 at 5:21 PM
I am looking forward to capitulus coming up with some new material
runner on March 4, 2009 at 5:22 PM
It’s laughable, but not in the way you think. Obama would never, ever do that…because he would have to talk about something other than how corpulent and drug-addled Rush is.
ddrintn on March 4, 2009 at 5:22 PM
Too bad that this seems to describe your dear leader’s voting demographic. Nice try. Most of us listen to radio at work.
Unlike the Obama voters that can’t work and breathe at the same time, we can multitask.
HornetSting on March 4, 2009 at 5:23 PM
Spellcheck not working for ya?
TinMan13 on March 4, 2009 at 5:23 PM
365-173. Your ‘half’ doesn’t count. Go turn on your AM radios.
capitulus on March 4, 2009 at 5:24 PM
You actually think he’s going to look up those words?
Here ya go, cappy: You’re not very good at this.
Jim Treacher on March 4, 2009 at 5:24 PM
new , opposite of old
runner on March 4, 2009 at 5:25 PM
Oooh. A real live brownshirt!
ddrintn on March 4, 2009 at 5:25 PM
Then you should be happy. But here you are wishing bad things on those with whom you disagree. That makes me think that you don’t have any experience at winning. Or…
That you didn’t/don’t want America to win.
See, born-winners act as if they deserve to win and are magnanimous. You’re simply…angry–as if you’ve lost.
baldilocks on March 4, 2009 at 5:25 PM
The comedy thickens. Try googling the vote totals, braintrust, and remember history – Your side didn’t like counting the electoral college totals, junior.
TinMan13 on March 4, 2009 at 5:26 PM
Then why are you here?
baldilocks on March 4, 2009 at 5:27 PM
There are data available covering how relatively well-informed Limbaugh listeners are compared to the MSM devotee/O-bot crowd. Look it up.
ddrintn on March 4, 2009 at 5:28 PM
365-173. Indiana, North Carolina, Virginia. Go google the Whig party, old timer.
capitulus on March 4, 2009 at 5:28 PM
Because they’re scared. They know their ideas are shit and can only rely on ridicule.
ddrintn on March 4, 2009 at 5:29 PM
You have to admit it’s pretty funny the first time you hear it.
neuquenguy on March 4, 2009 at 5:29 PM
They know nothing else but ad hominem attack (’get in their faces’) and they feel as if they’ve lost because they aren’t able to wow others as they have been wowed, on emotion and feewingz.
TinMan13 on March 4, 2009 at 5:29 PM
I hate to break it to you, but electoral votes don’t carry over from one election to the next.
ddrintn on March 4, 2009 at 5:30 PM
“Losers cannot behave like winners even when they win.”
–baldilocks
baldilocks on March 4, 2009 at 5:30 PM
Maye another liberal troll kicked out of KOs and HuffPost for being too boring?
neuquenguy on March 4, 2009 at 5:31 PM
Well, they’re always uptight as long as there’s an opposition. That’s how the Gulag came about.
ddrintn on March 4, 2009 at 5:32 PM
No, here’s what’s “funny”…every one of you liberal clowns, for the entire campaign, kept telling the rest of us that this was the “hope and change” that America needed. Then, after the first few weeks, and the first few dozen stupid decisions on your Dear Leader’s part, your tune changed to “Give him a chance”. Now, with the roof crashing around everyone’s ears, the best you can come up with is schoolyard taunts??? The silence is deafening.
Oh, and by the way – I have a job, a college education, my family does very well, thank you, and I haven’t listened to Rush on AM radio in years. Get with the program, there, stick.
uncivilized on March 4, 2009 at 5:32 PM
That’s all you got? Please tell me your 4th grade education graced you with more than that. Really. Inane, thy name is capitulus. Or are you hanging around trying not to capitulate?
TinMan13 on March 4, 2009 at 5:32 PM
Obama…the new Tricky Dicky! People are going to tire of these childish tactics real soon.
scalleywag on March 4, 2009 at 5:45 PM
Then why are you so threatened by an unattractive fat man with an additiction to prescription drugs?
patriette on March 4, 2009 at 5:48 PM
er, that would be addiction.
patriette on March 4, 2009 at 5:49 PM
If the conservative movement is as dead and irelivant now as the left wing trolls and sock puppets would have us belive then why do they to continue to screech and carry on like its a mortal threat to the socialist state they are trying to create?
Dreadnought223 on March 4, 2009 at 5:51 PM
So now the libtards are only counting the electoral vote? Thats funny, seeing how they only cared about the popular vote in 2000.
Congrats capitulus, your side beat an old geezer who half the Republican base didn’t even like. Real stunning victory there. We probably also suffered from not having a Southerner on the ticket.
Speedwagon82 on March 4, 2009 at 5:55 PM
“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!”
Snowed In on March 4, 2009 at 5:55 PM
Alaskans are like displaced southerners in some ways….maybe a lost tribe…anyway nice summary….I gave 2 grand or so to help thump Chicago Jesus on behalf of a politician I loathe…..
“good luck in 2012 libs”
sven10077 on March 4, 2009 at 5:58 PM
It is plainly obvious why Obama is namedropping Limbaugh: Rush is viewed unfavorably by a large percentage of the people who actually decide elections, the independents/moderates.
On a related note, I have seen many claims here that the problem with the GOP is that it has abandoned its conservative roots by running McCain in 2008 (amongst other things). According to many, it is this lack of authentic conservatism that plagues the party and only the return to those principles will usher in a new era of Republican rule.
This Obama/Limbaugh feud indicates that Obama does not fear such a rightward shift for the GOP and in fact welcomes it because he knows how badly it will marginalize the GOP amongst independent voters. Voting patterns and demographics are a science, and based on the last election it is pretty obvious that Obama had enough education in this area to whip both the Clinton machine and the GOP. He knows this is another winning fight to pick.
maleman on March 4, 2009 at 6:11 PM
Then why is his lackey backing down?
Jim Treacher on March 4, 2009 at 6:13 PM
I’m convinced that Leftism is just symptom of ADD.
baldilocks on March 4, 2009 at 6:19 PM
I don’t see any backing down here, and I doubt I will. Want to bet that both Obama and Rush keep hammering this nail?
maleman on March 4, 2009 at 6:30 PM
while obama caves in to IRAN
WHILE OBAMA GIVES RUSSIA A FREE HAND to again overrun europe
While islamic terrorists are being released (so they can re-aarm) what is obama the gag messia worried about?
why a talk show host..
Talk about obama being an empty suit..
obama is worried about what the islamic terrorists think not what is good for our nation
he is a moron..
jcila on March 4, 2009 at 6:34 PM
Do you know what “counterproductive” means?
Jim Treacher on March 4, 2009 at 6:40 PM
Yes I do. Do you know what “strategy” means? The strategy here is to make it appear that Obama is trying his hardest to rescue the economy while Rush and the Republicans “hope he fails”. The elevated visibility gains Rush a larger audience and more sponsors, and that is the counterproductive aspect of the strategy Gibbs was referring to. Of course, the Democrats could care less if Rush sees a small temporary spike in his personal fortune or career if they can make the GOP and Rush appear to be obstructionist sore losers who are happy to let the economy tank. For the small price of propping up Rush, they get to knock down whats left of the GOP. This a trade both Rush and Obama are happy to make and thus you will not see any abatement in this behavior.
maleman on March 4, 2009 at 6:53 PM
I know that retreating is one.
Jim Treacher on March 4, 2009 at 6:54 PM
Some of the Obama mystique seems to be wearing thin.
The UK and the rest of the world better be worrying. Economically as the USA goes, so goes the world.
docdave on March 4, 2009 at 6:54 PM
are you aware what “failure means”?
Every time Chicago Jesus goes on about “why we need to subsidize green energy” the market tanks…..
you cannot tell the investor that the feds will be the arbiter of market decisions and expect confidence….add in the Ogabe “eat the rich” rhetoric and he is succeeding in making nationalization easier if it passes the smell test of the electorate…
sven10077 on March 4, 2009 at 6:55 PM
FIFY,
malemanbutt boy.ladyingray on March 4, 2009 at 6:59 PM
Yawn. Creative pun. Maybe if you spent more time reading and less time projecting gay fantasies, you’ll see the part where I agreed that Rush would not back down. Why would he? This feud is ratings gold. Likewise, forcing Republicans to align with Rush is political gold for Obama. When it’s a win-win, neither side has much incentive to quit. I swear, for a political site it is mind-boggling that you can’t understand this.
maleman on March 4, 2009 at 7:16 PM
Boy, the progs sure are desperate to deconstruct and rationalize this issue into how it benefits Duh 1.
It’s very simple really. It doesn’t benefit Odrama. It makes him look petty and unserious.
Rae on March 4, 2009 at 8:00 PM
Watching you gobble up the balls of shit that roll out of Oslime-a’s mouth is hilariously entertaining. Have a breath mint. You stink.
csdeven on March 4, 2009 at 8:23 PM
Oh honey…this isn’t politcal gold for The Precendent, which is why he is backing down….”nonproductive” IS backing down….keep watching…
ladyingray on March 4, 2009 at 9:17 PM
“Obstructionist”? The Republicans can’t stop a thing. Obama is the one letting the economy tank. The Dow has lost, what, 3,000 points since his election? It’s his market now.
ddrintn on March 4, 2009 at 10:03 PM
Yeah, just more Amateur Hour crap.
ddrintn on March 4, 2009 at 10:04 PM
Gibbs is a toad.
Definitely creepier even than effeminate Scott McClennan.
And does Gibbs have a brain. Can he do anything but repeat lines he has memorized.
notagool on March 4, 2009 at 10:09 PM
I thought Obama wanted the world to like us?
hmm..Oh, he wants our enemies to like us and our allies to dislike us. What an arrogant jerk Obama is.
becki51758 on March 5, 2009 at 7:08 AM
Worst Press Sec evahhhhhhhhh…
He makes Groege “Steffie” Step-Tool of ABC look fantastic!
A perfect 10 for the worst President evahhhhhhhhhhhhh…
Mark Garnett on March 5, 2009 at 9:14 AM
Instead of talking about Rush Limbaugh, the media should be investigating James Cone and black liberation theology. But the O Admin has got everyone’s eye on the distracting puppet show…While they destroy the “white oppressors” and their enablers.
In the context of:
“Barack knows what it like to live in a country that is run by rich white people…” and the present almost conscious destruction of their wealth in the past few weeks,this video will make much more sense.
See what you think.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/toolbar/#topic=Politics&url=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.eyeblast.tv%252FPublic%252FVideo.aspx%253FrsrcID%253D2036
“God damn America…US of KKK!!!” Indeed. And if it seems senseless, envy always is.
rishika on March 5, 2009 at 9:21 AM
Rush merely has to present his birth certificate. Mr. President, your response? Umm…uh…teachable…uh…moment…I…um…won…Mayor of Wasilly…
BHO Jonestown on March 5, 2009 at 9:44 AM
Capitulus,,/?????? What did America win”. Do you want us to switch to the FM and listen to the “Hymn of the Soviet Union”?,,What is wrong with the AM talk shows? Another question do you think God is a hick too? If the BO’s are all so powerful why is he concerned with the opposition party. Stalin also marginalized all of his opposition as well. He marginalized it to nothing.
garydt on March 5, 2009 at 10:27 AM
The resemblance is more than physical – the intellect seems to be a mirror image, as well.
http://stewiesplayground.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/peter-griffin-family-guy.png
PJ Emeritus on March 5, 2009 at 11:45 AM
Obumbling shouldn’t have made it personal. You never saw ‘W’ single out any media or political pundit and give them that kind of power. It looks like it’s backfired.
DanaSmiles on March 5, 2009 at 2:59 PM
PJ Emeritus on March 5, 2009 at 11:45 AM
:)
DanaSmiles on March 5, 2009 at 3:00 PM
From Dana Milbank
“And I’m sure he won’t dispute me — in front of me, anyway.”
Diplomatic?
This line works only if the two have a great friendship and have desplayed the great relationship in public. The public handling of the visit showed no great friendship on the part of Obama
This comment was either stupid or intimidating, or both
Setting the poor British sucker up in a public venue, giving him the cold treatment and then making a bizarre joke
that can be understood in certain context as a threat is so bad I cannot comprehend the motive
For now, I am guessing Obama is out of his depth. The alternative assumption is too unpleasant to contemplate
Obama is making an ugly habit of singling out citizens and then denouncing them as individuals. He is behaving more like Chavez than Lincoln.
entagor on March 5, 2009 at 4:17 PM
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