GOP must repudiate Limbaugh or be defined by him

[Emit]

GOP must repudiate Limbaugh or be defined by him
Monday
September 28th, 2009
By Menachem Z. Rosensaft

New York (JTA) — One stark difference between Democrats and Republicans is that Democrats appear to be far more willing to confront and publicly denounce bigots and extremists in their own fold. This has been highlighted by the GOP leadership’s failure to condemn Rush Limbaugh’s divisive, race-baiting diatribes.

~snip~

Most recently, Limbaugh not only listed “the similarities between the Democrat Party of today and the Nazi Party in Germany,” but compared President Obama to Adolf Hitler.

Here’s what Limbaugh told his nationwide audience: “Obama’s got a health care logo that’s right out of Adolf Hitler’s playbook”; “Obama is asking citizens to rat each other out like Hitler did”; the president “is sending out his brownshirts to head up opposition to genuine American citizens who want no part of what Barack Obama stands for and is trying to stuff down our throats”; and “Adolf Hitler, like Barack Obama, also ruled by dictate.”

...

Limbaugh has a long history of inciting the far-right grass-roots against any political figures who do not reflect his white, fundamentalist Christian, conservative, anti-minority, anti-pluralistic, anti-egalitarian view of the world.

~snip~

For Holocaust survivors and their families in particular, Limbaugh’s demagogic screeds have ominous overtones with which we are all too familiar.

One would have expected Republican Party leaders who purport to be in the tradition of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt to speak out against Limbaugh’s hate mongering. Instead, Colin Powell has been one of the very few prominent Republicans with the integrity to take on Limbaugh.

“The problem I have with the (Republican) party right now,” Powell told Larry King last month, is that when Limbaugh “says things that I consider to be completely outrageous, and I respond to it, I would like to see other members of the party do likewise. But they don’t.”

~snip~

As McCain, Romney, Giuliani and Cantor all acknowledge, Limbaugh wields a great deal of influence in both the Republican Party and the conservative movement. That makes him a dangerous, destructive cancer on both the Republican Party and the American body politic.

The GOP’s leaders now have to make a choice: They can either allow themselves and their party to be defined by Rush Limbaugh, or they must denounce and renounce him once and for all.

Menachem Z. Rosensaft is an adjunct professor of law at Cornell University and vice president of the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants.

http://www.jewishchronicle.org/article.php?article_id=11705

[GirlAfire]

1. Unfortunately...

...they will not reprimand any of these people because, to do so, would be to alienate the wackaloons on whom they depend for votes. And also that many Repug leaders agree with people like Beck/O'Reilly/Limbaugh plays another part in their complacency. Of course, there are a few, like Pete Wehner and David Frum, who have denounced these fear-mongering, race-baiting figures on occasion. But, for the most part, they are silent and will continue to be so because, hey, they've got to be re-elected.

[opihimoimoi]

2. TOO LATE...they be sucking on his teats for many years now....he goes back

to Newts Victorious Daze....he was made an honorary member of the US House.

They have melded/welded/copulated

[timtom]

8. You beat me to the punch!

"Too late!" would have been my subject with no text.

[Danascot]

17. In the immortal words of Charlie (Sheen) Harper

That ship has sailed.

[Skittles]

3. they are already defined by him

they are the party of ignorance, bigotry, hatred

[GirlAfire]

4. and...

...I have no reason to believe that will ever change.

[wroberts189]

7. +1 INDEED

[ginnyinWI]

5. Rush is no Christian.

He panders to them, yes, but I've never heard a word out of him about any personal faith. I used to listen to him in the 90s every day, unfortunately--until about 1994 that is. He may pretend to be just as God-fearing as his audience is, but his heart is black.

[EmilyAnne]

14. I agree. Same with Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and Ann Coulter.

Glenn Beck is not the right kind of Christian, but I guess at this point the religious right takes what they can get.

[wroberts189]

6. GOP? Is that that long dead insane political party? Their still around ..? nt

[metapunditedgy]

9. That was what the right said about radical Islam a few years back, right?

Repudiate or be associated.

[madamesilverspurs]

10. Gak. Back in the '90s limbaugh

came to Colorado. There was a picture of a bunch of his fans carrying signs that read "Rush is God!"; one guy even had that painted on his bare chest.

That summer we also had World Youth Day in Denver, and Bill Clinton also came to town.

We referred to it as "The Summer of the Pope, the Pres, and the prick."

[LaPera]

11. They wont do neither the repigs love pigman saying racist things hateful lies & distorting democrats

intentions, policies, ideas & agenda.

Limbaugh says what the republicans want said, and he will say any lie or racist thing to in order to get the racist hateful ditto-heads sheep fired up.

Pigman Limbaugh indirectly encourages their hateful acts by his disguised suggestions.... while at the same time the republicans can insist they had nothing to do with what Limbaugh instigates....

Limbaugh knows this very well and keeps spewing the hate & bullshit the republicans want said but can't do say it themselves and then simply claim the pigman is just using his right to freedom of speech...

The republicans, what a disgusting bunch of elitist, lying, greedy racist pile of pig shit!

[HawkerHurricane]

12. Backwords.

The GOP leadership co-opted Limbaugh back in February 1992. He's thier paid mouthpiece. They can't denounce him without denouncing themselves.

Limbaugh doesn't define the GOP. The GOP defines Limbaugh. When a GOPer denounces Limbaugh, he's made to apologize by the same GOP leadership that signs Limbaugh's checks, because to denounce Limbaugh is to denounce the party leadership.

Forgive me for Godwining, but... You didn't see Nazis denouncing Goebbels.

[NecklyTyler]

13. It is illustrative of the position of power the Republican party has

Not one active member in the structure of the Republican party can (or will) move into a position of leadership. The Republicans are so broken and disorganized an entertainer with a radio program is filling in for their leadership. It speaks volumes about what kind of leadership their individual candidates for office will demonstrate

[EmilyAnne]

15. No way in hell. They tried to distance themselves and were handed their asses within days.

Remember Michael Steele's sheepish little apology?

[KharmaTrain]

16. Rushpublicans...The New Battered Wives...

They just don't know it yet. Many "dittoheads" and wingnuts live in the delusion that they still are a "majority" and that somehow this is a "center/right" country (in their books means far right). The messages of 2006 and 2008 never set in and somehow they feel that they are poised for a big comeback in 2010. Many take the words of a rushbo or dreck as gospel and continue to marganalize themsleves and their inept party at the same time. They've gotten their heads handed to them many times in recent times...elections, the end of the "Raygun revolution" and now relevancy. But, again, most in that corrupt party don't see it nor want to.

[ginnyinWI]

19. the ones who finally give up and leave their party

probably feel so relieved--relieved of the shame they have been carrying. To breathe freely again and stop feeling like a creep--is priceless.

But it takes some of them a lot of courage--courage to admit their mistake and courage to stop being afraid.

[tjwash]

18. We need to start on a parliamentary system.

That way shithead fringe assholes would not take over a party with a small minority wagging the dog just because they have a bunch of money. But instead of the (like the UK) having representatives such as the social democrats, national liberals, money reform, and labour parties, we in the US would probably end up with the crazy marxist left, centrist, conservative asshole, and batshit insane conservanazi from hell party.

I think the last one would be a good dumping ground for the limbites...