There seems to be a growing consensus, amongst intellectual conservatives, that listening to an “overweight blabbermouth” is a “bad thing if Limbaugh is spokesman of the conservative movement.” This sentiment was expressed, by their growing concern, from several conservative panelists who gathered at AEI to discuss the future of the Republican Party. Their focus was the anti-intellectualism of today’s conservative movement. A retired foreign service officer was asking “do we have to take our marching orders” from Limbaugh?
Case in point, Limbaugh on his May 14th radio broadcast said that David Frum and others like him want to “give Obama credit when he does the right thing,” he went on to further state, “That’s the pseudo-intellectual conservative view. The truth is he’s incompetent.” What David Frum is taking issue with is this part of his commentary:
He is every bit the radical leftist he’s always been. This isn’t changing his mind about anything. What is happening, if anything, is that the import of his job, you know, he’s got a very fine line to walk. I was just talking about this. His base loves anything that inflames anti-American opinion. During the campaign he inflamed anti-American opinion. As a senator he voted to inflame anti-American opinion. In his early days as president he ran around the world apologizing, inflaming and encouraging anti-American opinion.
But now, I’m telling you, somebody got to him, because, look, he followed his instincts. His instincts were to release the pictures. His instincts were to let terrorists go in the United States on the street. Somebody somewhere said, “Wait a minute, for your own self-preservation, you can’t release these pictures. You’re in the Senate, you’re on the presidential campaign talking about how all this torture has ruined our image. Well, you’re America now, pal. If you release the pictures, it’s going to hurt you politically.” Don’t mistake a political calculation — Karl Rove said the other night that this bunch spends two hours a night in the White House going over the day’s polling results, to figure out what to do and where to be and what language to put on the teleprompter for The Messiah to repeat, two hours a night. So what has happened here, somebody said it’s going to harm you. Remember, everything’s about him. These pictures are gonna harm you. You want to harm America, you’re taking care of that domestically. If you want to harm America, just keep doing your domestic policy and save your butt with these pictures. And don’t release these prisoners. The Germans wouldn’t take ‘em, the French, Spain. No, to answer your question, he’s not learning the truth. He’s having to set himself aside in one area, and it’s gotta be painful. I’m sure Michelle is giving him grief up there in the residence like you can’t believe.
