For reporting that is an embarrassment to the profession
of journalism, and for being beholden to corporate paymasters rather than
the citizens of America.
If you look at the fancy economic statistics over the last 40 years, the
economic gains under Democratic presidents far outweigh the gains (and losses)
under Republican presidents. And the outgoing White House "resider" has
the worst record since Herbert Hoover, hands down.
This statistics apply in the real world. In bizarro right-wing radio world,
the real statistics don't compute. Nothing, of course, is ever the fault
of a Republican president. No media figure truly gets this more than Rush
Limbaugh.
Two months from today, Barack Obama becomes the 44th president of the United
States. And he won't be in control of anything until then. But in Limbaugh's
world, we are already in an "Obama recession."
From the November
6 program:
"The Obama recession is in full swing, ladies and gentlemen. Stocks
are dying, which is a precursor of things to come. This is an Obama recession.
Might turn into a depression. He hasn't done anything yet but his ideas
are killing the economy. His ideas are killing Wall Street."
In this passage, Limbaugh admits Obama hasn't been able to do anything yet.
But wait, his ideas are the problem? Such as giving those making under $250,000
a tax break? Such as investing in this country? Such as putting in regulation
for banks and insurance companies so we don't have to bail them out?
We've seen this approach before. When George W. Bush came into office in
2001, no matter what he did, everything was the "fault" of Bill
Clinton. When Bush had virtually neutral job growth in his first four years,
whose fault was that? Bill Clinton, of course.
Unlike Limbaugh's dittoheads, Rush has benefited greatly from the Bush economic
approach: give those who already have a lot of money and give them more.
And the dittoheads pay the price.
Of course, those in Rush's tax bracket also gained wealth in the rocking
Clinton economy of the 1990s. True, some of the dittoheads didn't gain as
much as Limbaugh, but they were a lot better off in that decade.
But this is all part of the big right-wing plan to take advantage of the
legitimate anxiety felt by those who were abandoned economically under Bush,
and who are seriously worried about what will come next.
Limbaugh, who is so rich that he literally could use money as toilet paper,
doesn't have to worry about where his next meal will come from, whether he
will have
to
choose
between medicine and rent (especially if it's OxyContin), and whether he
will have savings when he is old.
But this is more than right-wing hate against a Democratic Party president.
This is playing on the fears of those who have economically suffered and
scaring them further. "Might turn into a depression." Gee Rush,
can't you wait until January 20 to find out?
If Limbaugh were really concerned for his listeners and their economic plight,
he would use his 3-hour radio show to blast Bush, Treasury Secretary Henry
Paulson, Phil Gramm, the banks and insurance companies, and of course, Wall
Street.
But this isn't all about economic justice or fairness or even reestablishing
America as the "land of opportunity." This is all about the right-wing
media, truth be damned, spewing blinding, irrational hate against a president-elect
simply because he belongs to the "wrong party." For once again
using the airwaves to misguide and misinform, we gladly give Rush Limbaugh
our Media PUTZ of the Week.
Rush Limbaugh previously won the Media PUTZ of
the week on June
26, 2008,
May
22, 2008, and August
9, 2007.
|
