Is Limbaugh the Leader of the Republican Party?

Somebody should get the message to Michael Steele that he may be the chairman of the Republican National Committee, but his identification as the leader of the GOP is titular at best.

The self appointed Generalissimo of the movement conservatives; the grass roots fanatics who steer the party, is none-other than the self righteous one himself, the ideologue and talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

It was Limbaugh, the great proclaimer himself, who four days before Barack Obama was inaugurated to the presidency of the United States declared that he hoped that Obama "fails."

Sitting in a bunker below his estate in Florida, Limbaugh has been issuing his marching orders to Republicans who are only too eager to comply with the radio talk show celebrity's every pronouncement for years.

But why are so many members of the media as well as numerous political commentators making this distinction regarding Limbaugh's extraordinary power over the Republicans now?

Nothing makes the point of Limbaugh's godfather-like powers than what recently occurred to Phil Gingery, a Republican Congressman from Georgia who had the audacity to complain while standing at the House podium that Limbaugh should "back off" from making so many unbridled criticisms and that it's easy to "stand back and throw stones."

The very next day, Gingery was genuflecting before Limbaugh, showering apologizes to Limbaugh for (Gingery) "putting my foot in my mouth."

That's mafioso-type power on display for the whole nation to observe. That's the kind of power that makes Rush the leader of the most active segment of the GOP.

As James Carville observes in the video footage seen above; the Republican's real ruler is Rush Limbaugh. Carville thinks it's rather odd that a radio talk show host should lead a party and he's got a very good point; aren't politicians supposed to lead political parties?

Carville accurately explains in the video of the Republican's submission to Limbaugh that: "They've submitted to him in the Congress. They quake at mighty Rush, and he's the one that's setting the Republican agenda. They don't care what Michael Steele says."

The Republicans have decided on a strategy that lets Michael Steele hold the scepter of power on his throne as the 'elected' chair of the RNC while Rush stands behind the curtain and pulls the strings of power.

Oddly enough, the Republicans are conducting the affairs of their party just like the Russians run their country; with Dmitry Medvedev, the titular leader who attends to official events as the 'officially elected president while Vladimir Putin stands in the shadows and controls the country.

Interesting how many similarities the Republican party shares with the Russians, both before and after the fall of communism. But that's a topic for another time.

Rush's latest pronouncement was recently addressed by Carville in a recent commentary and concerns Limbaugh's crazy scheme that since in the election of 2008: the Democrats got 54% of the vote while the Republicans got 46%; that should mean that the stimulus package deserves to be divided along ideological lines and allow the Democrats to submit 54% of the bill while the Republicans get to submit the remaining 46% of the bill.

In other words, Rush isn't just content with ruling the Republican party, he now feels he should have the extra-constitutional power to declare the rules of the U.S. Senate.

That's quite a coupe for a man who must undergo regular, court ordered drug testing for his previous conviction for using an illegally obtained controlled substance, Oxycontin. such is the state of the Republican Party since they lost the 2008 presidential election.