So the Republicans have had enough of the black shirted, bellicose CPAC speaker, and self declared leader of the GOP, Rush Limbaugh; or at least the one's who consider themselves moderates and blamed the White House (on) Sunday (Talk shows) for orchestrating the conflict."
Speaking for the moderate 'voice' of the GOP, House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said on CBS's "Face the Nation" with a new found concern for fixing problems he had a hand in creating: "This was a distraction created by the White House to divert people's attention from the spending binge they've been on the last six weeks."
Yeah, right, spending binge; I wonder how many 'fiscal conservatives' remember Mr. Boehner's over dramatized behavior when he shed tears in the well of the House accusing Democrats of not spending enough to keep the 'necessary war in Iraqi terrorism alive' when Democrats had balked a few years ago regarding throwing good money after the Republican's failed invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Then there's the genius of political hatchet jobs and political bomb thrower extraordinaire, Newt Gingrich, who appeared on "Meet the Press," the NBC public affairs show who declared of Limbaugh; he is "not the leader of the Republican party," and then went on to scold President Obama for allowing his administration to 'focus on "small things." Well Gingrich should know about focusing on small things because if I remember correctly the former member of Congress once declared women should not be allowed in foxholes as combat soldiers for something i believe having to do with sanitary napkins or for some other similar lamebraied reasoning.
Gingrich choose his appearance on "Meet the Press" to once again demonstrate his myopic partisan vision when he one of his 'insightful' political observations: "The president promised to focus on large things not small things," Gingrich said. "He promised to bring us together, not divide us. And I'm assuming here that he is not responsible for the Limbaugh game, I'm assuming it's Emanuel."
Interestingly, none of the Republicans who appeared on the Sunday talk circuit could find any fault with Limbaugh's role in the controversies he has created, including his malicious remarks about Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who is bravely fighting brain cancer "won't live to see its passage, telling his audience that: "Before it's all over, it'll be called the Ted Kennedy memorial health care bill."
Despite the GOP smokescreen that it's really the White House; and in particular Obama and Emmanuel who are demonizing Limbaugh by using him for "target practice for more than a week, with no letup in sight."
But what really irks the GOP is that the targeting of Limbaugh and making him the face of the Republican Party is working.
"By the poll numbers, crowning Mr. Limbaugh, the bombastic radio host, as king of the Republican Party has worked as well as any election maneuver that Rahm Emanuel employed in helping Democrats win back majority status as chairman of their House campaign committee," John Harwood explains.
What Emmanuel and his fellow Democratic operatives have succeeded in doing has been to establish the GOP as "the party of no."
Of course the other critique the Republican moderates are rolling out has to do with the fact that the demonizing of Limbaugh will chase moderates away from supporting Obama's agenda. The only thing wrong with this cockamamie critique is that moderate Republicans benefit when Obama's agenda succeeds; because for the most part moderate Republicans hail from Obama -won blue states.
Listen if you will to the convoluted logic Senator Olympia J. Snowne, from Obama-won blue state; Maine, when Snowe is forced to is forced to feign her complaint that: “It doesn’t help, frankly,” said Senator Olympia J. Snowe, a moderate Republican from Maine who serves as a fulcrum in contentious debates on Capitol Hill. “It sidetracks all the major issues they’re facing.”
"One such issue is Mr. Obama’s budget. Ms. Snowe opposes it, even though she cast a crucial vote enabling passage of the Obama stimulus package last month.
"And to achieve the consensus necessary for action on energy, health care, Social Security and Medicaid, Mr. Obama will need not only Ms. Snowe but also a broader group of Republican backers" so says John Harwood "— most of whom share more views with Mr. Limbaugh than Ms. Snowe ever will.
What Ms Snowne fails to include in her critique of the Democrats Anti-Limbaugh strategy are moments when Ms. Snowne benefited tremendously when President Obama signed the Lillian Ledbetter legislation into law which increased Senator Snowe's popularity in Maine.
"Ms. Snowe has never been a Limbaugh-style Republican," Harwood explains. "She favors abortion rights and rejects conservatives’ view that refundable tax credits for low-income earners represents socialist wealth redistribution. She has spoken out on the need for her party to shift toward the political center after two consecutive election routs.
“We’ve gotten the signal — the sledgehammer signal,” she said. Yet she insists Mr. Obama gains little by stomping on that internal Republican divide.
Suddenly there are Republicans who seek to fix the many wrongs they were responsible in the first place; and they are so committed to fixing those mistakes that they are willing to attack Obama for his exposing the unseemly underside of GOP ideologues who drove the party and hence the nation into the quandary and crisis it finds itself in today. One only need ask: Where was Snowne when Bush and talking heads such as Limbaugh were driving America into unprecedented levels of debt and using noxious rhetoric to fuel their designs?
"Not only do other potential Republican partners represent many Limbaugh fans, but Ms. Snowe herself has strong reservations about Mr. Obama’s budget.
Harwood contends that Snowe "... supports his plan to end President George W. Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy, a move that other Republicans attack as a tax increase.
"But, (Snowe) said of the budget, “I question whether there’s a strong foundation for true deficit reduction,” adding, “It definitely needs to be reworked.”
Harwood explains that there are two sides to the Obama attack on Limbaugh: "... Mr. Emanuel — a former Clinton White House aide and House member from Illinois — pointed to last week’s health care meeting as evidence that Mr. Obama was continuing to reach out to Republicans even as his aides were throwing darts. The participants included Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, a Finance Committee member who is personally close to Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, the ailing champion of health care reform.
"Despite his reservations about White House strategy, Mr. Breaux," according to Harwood, "says Mr. Obama may yet achieve much of what he seeks, notwithstanding the rising political din.
"White House aides argue," in Mr. Harwood's estimation, "that Congress can complete action on a health care overhaul this year. Mr. Breaux considers that unrealistic, but he predicts passage in 2010 so long as Mr. Obama sustains his approach of “spreading the hurt” among different parts of the industry. (In his current role as a lobbyist, Mr. Breaux represents health care companies keenly interested in pain management.)
'Mr. Hatch, Senator Robert F. Bennett of Utah,
and Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa'
" in Mr. Harwood's estimation, "all represent important potential allies. Even asSenator John McCain of Arizona
rips “earmarks” in a spending bill Mr. Obama supports, Mr. McCain may provide crucial support on a “cap and trade” program to limit carbon dioxide emissions.
"Ms. Snowe, too, remains optimistic that the national atmosphere of crisis can break the recent pattern of “miniaturized” debates in Congress.
“I think we’re moving closer, in spite of the outward political rhetoric,” she said. “I have more hope than maybe I should have. We’ve got to leave the radio commentators to be radio commentators. Let’s do our jobs.”
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