Why is Obama so fed up with Rush Limbaugh?

Look, Rush may have said he wanted Obama's policies to fail, but he didn't do anything nearly as damaging as Shaun Hannity did. Shaun Hannity spread lots of propaganda through Fox News during the election about claims that Obama was friends with terrorists although the claims have already been debunked. Many people even believed him! So why is Obama so fed up with Rush? Why not go after the others that dealt more damage?

Obama has had nothing but adoration from the media.

When I watched the inauguration I couldn't believe how they talked about him It was like he was the second coming of Jesus...No offense intended.

So Rush, the big blowhard, isn't bowing down and worshiping tat the alter of Obama.

Perhaps Obama doesn't handle criticism well.

Deep ideological differences. Rush Limbaugh is, to many people, a deeply terrible man who espouses divisionary and bigoted actions. I know people will disagree with that, but that is what many of us on the liberal spectrum think. Obama is probably just criticising him for that.

reply to post by Frankidealist35


I think the point here is that Rush is saying that he wants Obamas policies to fail.
Now if Obama's policies fail that would obviously be bad for America, so Limbaugh is indirectly stating that he wants harm to come to America just so he can be proven right and gloat about it.
People like Limbaugh and O'Reilly have for years accused the left of wanting Bush to fail in Iraq. They have gone on and on about how that would be unpatriotic almost to the point of treason.

Now Limbaugh is the one wanting Obama to fail in America, just so he can be proven right.

Does that answer your question?

He's upset with him because he has power and can make things difficult for him. Not only do millions of folks listen to him each day, but other talk radio hosts take their cue from him and therefore he has a multiplier effect. Whether or not you like him (I do), he is one of the most powerful people in America. The last thing Obama wants is thousands of folks around the country calling their congressperson and complaining why they are supporting a economic recovery bill includes new lawns, birth control and telescopes. Those issues will be used as campaign issues in two years and he knows it. Obama lost several house seats in 2010 this week and may well lose a Senate seat or two because of this bill. It won't work - or you won't be able to prove it worked and republicans are going to run against it. Limbaugh educates folks about these things and gets folks active.

Originally posted by MrVertigo
Now if Obama's policies fail that would obviously be bad for America....

That's actually your opinion. Just like Rush has his.

Originally posted by MrVertigo
Now Limbaugh is the one wanting Obama to fail in America, just so he can be proven right.

Limbaugh wants Obama's policies to fail because he thinks they will be bad for America.

reply to post by jerico65


So if everything Obama does fails miserably that will somehow be good for America?

And if everything Obama did worked out that would be bad for America?

I'm sorry but to me that just takes way too many leaps of logic to make any sense and I'm the kind of person that enjoys Lost...

A lot of people can't stand Rush. (me included) However, Obama is in a position where he should be displaying more patience. His lack of patience with Rush should be tempered. His lack of EXPERIENCE is showing.

reply to post by Frankidealist35


Why do you think Obama is "so fed up" with Limbaugh? He just said ONE thing about him and now there's an old fashioned feud! Rush has been ragging on Obama for 2 years now. All Obama did was say, "You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done,"... And it's true, I might add. Listening to Rush isn't going to get bipartisan action done. He's abhors everything Democrat.

So, why do you think Obama's fed up? That one comment?

Originally posted by dolphinfan
He's upset with him because he has power and can make things difficult for him. Not only do millions of folks listen to him each day, but other talk radio hosts take their cue from him and therefore he has a multiplier effect. Whether or not you like him (I do), he is one of the most powerful people in America. The last thing Obama wants is thousands of folks around the country calling their congressperson and complaining why they are supporting a economic recovery bill includes new lawns, birth control and telescopes. Those issues will be used as campaign issues in two years and he knows it. Obama lost several house seats in 2010 this week and may well lose a Senate seat or two because of this bill. It won't work - or you won't be able to prove it worked and republicans are going to run against it. Limbaugh educates folks about these things and gets folks active.

What a sad commentary on America and her citizens.

I am not saying that your comment is false. I am saying that if this is what America is using to make decisions about their future then we can all throw in the towel now.

Rush is an entertainer. The man is being paid enormous amounts of money to say what his owners want him to say. Rush is a tool of TPTB. TPTB would drop Rush like a hot potato and hang him out to dry the moment he said one that that went against their agenda or outside of their script. If Americans can’t see that then we are more lost and our future is dimmer than I ever imagined.

I am not knocking Rush. The man is getting paid and getting paid darn well.

I am knocking anybody that can’t see that and not only buy the trap that TPTB is putting down but willing sets it and puts their head into it.

Originally posted by MrVertigo
reply to post by jerico65

 

So if everything Obama does fails miserably that will somehow be good for America?

Yes...in Rush's opinion.

He disagrees with Obamas policies and thinks that if they are put in place, it will be bad for America.

So

He hopes he fails.

Like if you were running for President and said, "I'm going to add tons of bleach to our drinking water to make it clean."

I would hope you failed.

To sum up the issues
1) why Rush and not Hannity and others?
a) Rush is the leader, the mouthpiece, his message is the Anti-Obama
message. Rush wanted a divided America, great for business.
2) Rush got the message in my opinion and has lost support and respect from certain people that he doesn't want to lose. BUT what he has done recently is brilliant. He has used a negative towards him and has figured out a way to turn it.

Now...if Rush is sincere then he deserves credit, if he isn't then he at the very least can not be called dumb by any measure.

He proposed a bail out plan that would split the money according to the votes that went for Obama and the votes for McCain. Now, knowing Rush he has proposed a lose lose situation for Liberals and that was nothing less than brilliant and you Rushmaniacs should feel proud.
(find it on Drudge Report, it isn't long and you can judge for yourselves) I can't imagine some Right Winger hasn't started the thread all ready..
titled..."Rush, real bipartisan change we can believe".....oh, go ahead and do it if someone hasn't....get your blue stars and flags for starting another divisive hate polarizing thread.

The truth is that Rush is in the business of seeing Obama fail. Like many others, he pledges his alligence to money and not the United States. Admire him or deplore him but you can't say he isn't smart.

I don't think he's a prop of anyone. He's got more money than God and is not in the pocket of anyone - he does not need to be. I also think he is an entertainer in large part - but he also speaks to millions of Americans, as do many of the talk radio hosts in a way that their government simply does not want to or won't. American's don't want higher taxes, they want lower taxes. American's don't like illegal immigration. Americans want capitalism, not socialism, American's don't like foreign aid or the UN. I could go on and on. The fact is that for many folks in this country, they don't get their beliefs validated by anyone but talk radio. the MSM is in the tank for liberals and the statist oriented politicians and when folks hear Limbaugh, they hear a very successful gent telling them that they are not dolts.

They listen to him and they like him because he gives them what they can't get anywhere else in the country and that is some validation that their beliefs and concerns are real and when hearing the radio they learn that they are not alone.

We do not have a representative government in the US. Perhaps we never had one, but we've been moving farther and farther away from it in the 40+ years I've been alive.

The fact that millions of American's listen to Limbaugh and others who speak of current events should make folks happy. They listen because they care and are interested. If they could get the information somewhere else, perhaps they would, but they can't. If they could get some reasonably unbiased mass media, they might turn to that, but they can't. The government and the elites are the problem. Not Limbaugh

Originally posted by distortion9

Originally posted by MrVertigo
reply to post by jerico65

 

So if everything Obama does fails miserably that will somehow be good for America?

Yes...in Rush's opinion.

He disagrees with Obamas policies and thinks that if they are put in place, it will be bad for America.

So

He hopes he fails.

Like if you were running for President and said, "I'm going to add tons of bleach to our drinking water to make it clean."

I would hope you failed.

I think you are missing the point. In your example we would obviously not want the policies put into place, but assuming they were we would want the bleach to be good for us somehow.

I know your example is absurd but there is a fundamental difference:

Its' one thing to say: "I disagree with his policies, I think they will be bad for America and I hope they're never implemented."

It's quite another thing to say: "I know these policies will be implemented because he is president & controls both houses, and I hope these policies all fail to do what they were meant to do."

To give a concrete example: Many disagree with Obamas economic stimulus plan, but I think everyone would prefer the plan to actually work & have the economy salvaged, rather than to have it completely disintegrate.

Now maybe Rush Limbaugh just did a poor job of explaining what he meant in which case he should clarify his statements.
Or maybe he just wants to be proven right, even if it's bad for America.

[edit on 29-1-2009 by MrVertigo]

Rush is one of the few people with the courage to stand up for what is right at this time. That stimulus package the Obama administration has put together will be a disaster. The main reason it will fail is due to the fact that there are so many amendments in it for things that have absolutely nothing to do with the economy, yet, its being called an economic stimulus package. Rush does not want a divided America, he wants a prosperous one. He, myself, and many others are see clearly enough to recognize a failed policy when we see it. I wish some of you would just read about whats in that stimulus bill and see for yourself that it is a lot of wasted dollars on things that again, have no affects on the economy.

I think that its perhaps more subtle. I certainly hope that Obama is wildly successful. I want him to be the greatest president in the history of America. That is what I wish for every president and we all should. The problem is complex. While I hope that the economy rebounds and that the lives of Americans are made easier and less uncertain, I'm not interested in that outcome if it comes at the expense of turning the US into more of a socialist country than it already is. What Obama is doing, the real ramifications of it, will not be known for 20 years to come and a program that in the short term helps in real terms but in the long term cuts at the fabric of freedom that this country was built on is something we should all hope to fail.

This kind of engineering simply does not work and it never has. WWII got the US out of the depression, not the New Deal. All the New Deal did was delay our recovery and move the US down the road to socialism. The Great Society was the greatest failure of social policy in the history of the country and we are still dealing with the ramifications of that.

Policy has to be viewed in a larger, longer context and by that measure, if you feel that greater control of the economy by the state is a bad thing (I do), then despite the short-term benefits of what Obama is looking to accomplish and the measurable benefit they might have on Americans, it is being patriotic to hope that he fails to implement them or that the policys, upon implementation, fail.

Tough, but thats the way it is. You need to think 20-40 years down the road when considering policy of this magnitude.

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
reply to post by Frankidealist35

 

Why do you think Obama is "so fed up" with Limbaugh? He just said ONE thing about him and now there's an old fashioned feud!

Rush has been ragging on Obama for 2 years now. All Obama did was say, "You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done,"... And it's true, I might add. Listening to Rush isn't going to get bipartisan action done. He's abhors everything Democrat.

So, why do you think Obama's fed up? That one comment?

And yet the democrats have been openly speaking out against Rush for years, sometimes in the chambers of Congress.

But there is a difference in what Rush says and what Obama and whoever in government says.

People don't have to listen to Rush. They can turn off the radio. That will also decrease sponsor support.

People have to listen to the democrats (and republicans) as well as whoever is President. We have to pay taxes that support their policies whether we like it or not.

It is disturbing that any politician should feel the need to attack a private citizen who is speaking on an open forum. That is akin to a politician having to publicly attack what we post on ATS.

It really doesn't matter if the public citizen who criticizes government has one person listening or 20 million. The first amendment was written so a citizen can have freedom to point out what they feel is wrong in government and if he has 20 million in agreement, so be it.

Look, its cool to agree with Rush if it is what you believe....but
don't think for a minute that his interest is in our Country thriving.
...when I say he is in it for the money all that means is that money gives him validation in his mind. There is never enough for him because the more he has the more "right" he is...talk about a dude that feeds off of praise and acceptance to get his self worth met.

I would guess that he got beat up often as a kid. He will never be satisfied with anything and if he lost his followers he would go deep into a depression.

I am no stranger for being attacked by both the left and right because I give Rush credit when he is either right or showing his brilliance and of course attacked from the Right when I point out that he is a hate monger and is a modern day Tokyo Rose. He retards race relations. He keeps people ignorant too. I hate people that do that.

So love him if you want but understand who he is and whose interests he serves. Hate him if you want, but understand that he isn't stupid and sometimes hits a truism or points out a legitimate fundamental political philosophy that you may not subjectively like but it is a real value that many American's have. So if you hate him 100% you are ignorant and if you love him 100% you are a Klan member.

Personally, I can't stand Rush. Then again, I can't stand most all political pundits. Liberals or Conservatives alike. Obama's right, but he's right whether you're talking about Rush Limbaugh or Keith Olbermann. Nodding in agreement accomplishes nothing. This phenomena of "Ditto Heads", which Rush first espoused - but is prevalent everywhere these days is helping to kill America because it causes people to just stop thinking. Really... that's what a dittohead is... someone who doesn't have original or personal views.. they just parrot whatever they see their favorite talking heads blurt out. It's very difficult to see that line between merely agreeing with someone, and agreeing with someone because you have a track record of agreeing with them. It becomes easier to just let them think for you.

I don't even know how to describe how dangerous that is without using strong expletives.

Rush is the king of conservative radio. If they can silence Rush and make an example out of him, I believe they feel Hanity and the others will fade away.

I still find it a little confusing though. Rush bashes Obama and his policies quite a bit, but has anyone ever listened to Hanity's show on the radio?

For cryin out loud! The guy just goes on and on about what he doesn't like about Obama, never once giving the common decency and respect the office of the President deserves.

I find Rush a little arrogant at times and I don't 'ditto' everything he says, but at least he engages in some sort of intellectual thought.


Hanity though.....