Limbaugh does Hitler/Mussolini impersonation…

(Copyright 2009)

While I am having some qualms about the Barack Obama administration’s policies and tremendous debt laid upon tremendous debt it is proposing and even now creating, I hate to imagine a nation led by the likes of Rush Limbaugh.

I usually don’t use his real name. But we need to recognize him and despite his buffoonism not write him off. It would be like, perhaps, those who wrote off Adolf Hitler in his early stages (Limbaugh has been at it 20 years by his own admission).

Limbaugh delivered a one and a half hour diatribe Saturday in front of a group of hard line Republican conservatives filled with mock and ridicule against the educated, the liberals (he says he did not go to college), employing the devices of demagoguery along the way.

He did some fist bumps to mock the Obamas (I got it) and he thumped his own chest and while I think he just saw that latter gesture as part of his normal buffoonish shtick, I could not help think that he looked like the famous fascist Benito Mussolini ( II Duce), complete with silly grin, on the balcony exhorting the crowds in Rome. He sweated profusely, as did Adolph Hitler, who mesmerized millions in Germany, appealing to their fears, nationalism, and the base instincts of the human psyche.

I would not feel comfortable if President Obama thumped his chest and mocked his opponents (well, except in the lightest manner), no matter what his message was. Guess I like a little more decorum in a leader.

And anyone who likes Limbaugh has already quit reading, I suppose, and it is too bad. I actually think the conservatives of the Republican Party have a fairly articulate spokesman in Limbaugh when he doesn’t get sidetracked in his demagogic showmanship that has made him millions as a radio talk show host who takes calls from frustrated sycophants who lovingly refer to themselves as “ditto heads”. They are proud to admit they do not analyze issues and do not have independent thought – they just say “ditto” (he would say liberals do the same, but I prefer liberals or moderates or even conservatives who are capable of doing critical analyses – that usually comes with formal education).

Limbaugh could sum up his attitude on government in a couple of sentences (but that would not make a radio show).

He wants every man, woman, and child to be on his or her own with no help from government and supposedly no hindrance from government (although right wingers usually like laws proscribing certain social behaviors – even though Limbaugh has had his own run ins with the law over his own prescription drug abuse). At the same time, he supports government helping businesses and anyone who can amass capital. I think that pretty well sums up his attitude.

Of course all people must pay taxes (even lower – lower than what? Republican taxes). But it would not be right for anyone but the true capitalists to get advantage from government.

It galls me when the likes of Limbaugh claim to support our military policies, but when their own lives were on the line saw fit to avoid military service. Limbaugh did that, then mocked John Kerry during his speech for his Vietnam vet status. Of course Kerry was vulnerable on that one, having played it both ways – throwing his medals out and proclaiming: “I’m a Vietnam Vet Against the War”/ then when running for president: “I am a proud war veteran”. But I think Limbaugh out to be more circumspect when dealing with someone who actually went to war (Al Gore, one he loves to lampoon), as opposed to folks like himself who only exhort others to.

I will say this: there is as never before in my lifetime the most clear distinction between Republicans (to the extent they support Limbaugh conservatism, Bush anomaly excepted) and Democrats (who have in desperation gone to something that resembles, may not be, state socialism – remember, even George W. Bush was panicked into government intervention into the economy).

Is there a civilized voice of moderation out there?

P.s.

If it seems unfair or uncalled for that I would equate Rush Limbaugh with Mussolini and Hitler, I now recall that in his remarks he joked that his body guard was Joseph Stalin, adding that the Obama fans would see Stalin and would not dare criticize him, implying that Obama supporters support Stalin and communism (no one but some baby boomers and older even know what that is all about). And to those who have ever tried to understand political science, I always am fascinated that while you have communism at the extreme left and fascism at the far right, there is no difference historically how those two types of governments act. They both use extreme authoritarianism with state control of the economy and the lives of individuals. Both types of government proclaim the interests of the “state” over the individual.