Limbaugh Gets Lambasted By Frum

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.

David Frum goes all ironical

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In his op-ed piece in the Washington Post today, David Frum demonstrates a textbook case of projection.  His too little too late concerns about a possible Democratic Congress’ handling of Republican screwups like the financial meltdown and resulting bailout, checks and balances, and changing the rules to game the system are laughable, and frankly pitiful.

Frum begins with an understandable lament about how poorly the McCain campaign has been run, and the dubious nod to Palin as VP, and notes how no matter what they threw at Barack Obama, nothing stuck.  But (insert sad face here), the poll numbers are so depressing, we’d have to go back to the Watergate era to find worse. But there are worse consequences than losing the presidency…

McCain’s awful campaign is having awful consequences down the ballot. I spoke a little while ago to a senior Republican House member. “There is not a safe Republican seat in the country,” he warned. “I don’t mean that we’re going to lose all of them. But we could lose any of them.”

Senators in trouble are Sununu of New Hampshire, Smith in Oregon, Coleman in Minnesota, Collins in Maine, Warner in Virginia, Chambliss in Georgia, and Dole in North Carolina.  The RNC is pouring all it’s money into the presidential run (and Gov Palin’s fancy new duds), neglecting the Senatorial races, and is reducing or pulling it’s ads completely state by state.  Wow, that sucks, huh?

Frum almost had me feeling sorry for the poor Republicans, but then Frum has the unmitigated gall to write this about the impending Democratic Congress:

[T]he federal government is now acquiring a huge ownership stake in the nation’s financial system. It will be immensely tempting to officeholders in Washington to use that stake for political ends — to reward friends and punish enemies. One-party government, of course, will intensify those temptations. And as the federal government succumbs, officeholders will become more and more comfortable holding that stake.

Honesty vs Hateful Rhetoric

Some GOP leaders and conservative columnists are expressing frustration with John McCain’s campaign. Is there chaos within the Republican Party? Rachel Maddow is joined by former Bush speech writer and author of “An End to Evil: How to Win the War on Terror,” David Frum. However, the interview turns sour as David Frum asserts that Rachel Maddow’s jokey tone is equivalent to the hateful rhetoric coming from McCain/Palin’s campaign rallies. Rachel stands her ground and makes Frum visibly nervous and uncomfortable.

David Frum is saying that both sides are at fault.  Instead of admitting that what we are witnessing at the GOP rallies is nothing short of people out of control, expressing violence, and racism.   Frum, if he had any real character and intregity, should have admonished what Palin has stirred up these rallies – and put the culpability where it belongs, which is ultimately on McCain.