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Fab over flab: The Limbaugh romance may not last the night (4 March 2009)

And what about poor Michael Steele? He told Politico's Mike Allen that he'd been "inarticulate" and that he hadn't said what he really thought about Limbaugh. Do you need help remembering what Limbaugh said that was "ugly," Michael? How about the Chelsea Clinton "jokes," back when she was 13? What about visibly mocking Michael J. Fox for his Parkinson's tremors and insisting Fox was exaggerating his disease for political gain? Remember when Limbaugh complained, "We are being told that we have to hope [Obama] succeeds, that we have to bend over, grab the ankles, bend over forward, backward, whichever, because his father was black, because this is the first black president." Is that "ugly" enough for you, Michael? Maybe you want to rethink your apology? Sadly, I doubt it. (Joan Walsh, March 4, 2009)

Joan, My own thoughts are that people always squirm before they finally capitulate and become part of a movement. Troopers beginning basic training not really wanting to be "[but-]bent[t] over forward, backward, whichever," to suit someone else's whims, either, but soon enough are eager-enough front-liners, pleased to have direction and target for their need to rape and kill.

I've thought Limbaugh would storehouse the Republican future, only to direct it onto Obama once Obama has lead the nation more fully into Afghan war and aggressive assault. But, you know, Limbaugh has a sensitive side -- your characterization of him as a bully is fair, but it is also true that he picks up on people's sensitivities, and you can even sense in him a need to suppress an instinct to reach out and care. Sounds crazy -- but I've seen it, I've felt it, and I wasn't surprised to hear he was a long-time Mac user: it tells you something, it really does. My guess is most Republicans have felt it too, and since they are intrinsically PC--i.e., those who fear warmth, affect, too much personality and friendliness, and who associate sensitivity too readily with feminine surrender and infantilization -- they will soon enough cast off their hold on Limbaugh's massive "girdle" and BY THEMSELVES invest/manifest in Obama's more evidently "gird[ed] [. . .] loins" (Joe Biden).

Link: Delay: Limbaugh's a GOP "role model" (Salon)

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