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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > March > 04 > Entry
Paul Leonard: Rush, Olbermann— they’re comics
When I was in the Legislature, we had two polar opposites on the House Judiciary Committee.
Rep. Harry Lehman was a liberal from Shaker Heights. Literally, at the other end of the table was Rep. William Batchelder, a conservative from Medina (who, incidentally, is back in the Legislature today). They were in different political parties, but they had a special respect for each other and a professional approach to legislating.
I was in my 20s, sitting at the middle of the table, getting a college education in intelligent liberal and conservative politics. They both made it nearly impossible to choose who was right and who was wrong in a good debate. And when they were together on the issue, you knew they were right. Those were the good ole days.
Longing for some of the same in today’s politics, I try to catch a little of Rush on the radio in the afternoon, and then I watch a little of Keith Olbermann at night on MSNBC. A little is enough.
It just isn’t the same. This isn’t old-fashioned, respectful, political discussion and debate. At best, this is entertainment. Even comedy.
Jonah Goldberg gives Rush a “right on” to Rush’s confession that he “hopes Obama fails.” Rush repeated his wish at the Conservative Political Action Committee gathering in Washington to the roaring cheers from the right-wingers in attendance.
What a joke!
It’s one thing to say that a certain philosophy or legislative proposal should fail; it’s quite another to hope that the president goes down. Rush may have back-peddled a bit, but that’s exactly what he’s thinking.
Limbaugh and Olbermann both get a bit too personal. Rush is just plain mean-spirited.
As Goldberg notes, it isn’t the liberal press and media who are critical of Limbaugh’s veiled attempt to fill a leadership void in the Republican Party. Respected conservative writers and commentators are also taking him to task for his “take no prisoners approach” to modern Republican politics.
Barry Goldwater, the real father of conservatism in American politics, must be rolling-over in his grave. Had John Kennedy lived until 1964, Goldwater and Kennedy had talked about traveling around the country in the same airplane, exposing voters to both philosophies and points of view in a series of Lincoln-Douglas like debates.
Usually, it’s the modern coalition party known as Democrats who are divided from within. It’s quite a sight to see Limbaugh, RNC Chair Michael Steele, and people like Ann Coulter and Elizabeth Hasselbeck (I have to admit that no one has accused Hasselbeck of The View fame of being a political heavyweight) debating the future of the Republican Party.
Democrats should just relax and remember that old axiom — never interrupt your enemies in the midst of self- destruction. Or, when you see Republicans forming a circle-shaped firing squad, hand them the ammunition.
Come to think of it, I might not like the tone of a live Limbaugh-Olbermann debate, but I’d sure pay to see it. That’s probably as close to Sumo wrestling as I will get.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Post your comment | Categories: Guest Columns, National Politics
Comments
By George
March 5, 2009 2:07 PM | Link to this
Kieth Olberman is not a comic. He is a dork. Rush Limbaugh is bombastic and perhaps a bit incendiary…if you are an overly sensitive type. The difference is that Rush is a self made man with no college degree who tells the truth with a little bit of sarcasm to make his substantive points interesting. Kieth Olberman makes a living off of picking apart his victims meaningless rhetorical mistakes and by quoting them out of context. He is a small, insecure man…like the bully on the bus back in Jr high. Kieth Olberman likes to brag about his ivy league education at Cornell. Unfortunately he did not graduate from THAT Cornell. He went to the Cornell Ariculture University. That pretty much says it all. Comparing the two men is an insult to Rush Limbaugh and, I suspect, was the writer’s intention all along.By Raoul
March 5, 2009 4:59 PM | Link to this
Don’t hold your breath waiting for Keith Olberman to debate anybody. He evidently thinks there is no reason for anyone to question his brilliance. He was unlikable reading baseball scores at ESPN, and even more so as the latest talking head, which appears 3 times larger than everybody else on TV. Olberman is a classic east coast snobby elitist, who thinks Ohio is flyover country. He is way more mean spirited than Rush; after all one of his segments is the “worst person in the world” and it usually includes Rush and Bill O’Reilly and every other conservative that Keith hates. He is a loser and nobody watches him. I think he must have received a beat down from some conservative jock or something growing up, and is acting out his childish impulse to get even.By Dan
March 6, 2009 8:16 PM | Link to this
I don’t understand why the liberal media keeps obsessing about the Rush Limbaugh statement. There were 4 columnists featured in the March 6 opinion page of the Dayton Daily News, with 3 of them tearing Limbaugh apart. If Gallup polls show that Limbaugh detractors outnumber his supporters by almost 2-to-1, why are the liberals ascribing Limbaugh such power? It appears the liberal media seeks to stigmatize and discredit Limbaugh and his listeners. By labeling Limbaugh as a cancer that must be removed, there will be an effort to shut down all conservative programming; Mike Scinto’s recent firing is just the beginning. When the government and other liberal propaganda organizations remove all voices of dissent, what kind of democracy will we have? No more a democracy, we will become a Democratic Party dictatorship.By Gerald Desch
March 7, 2009 11:45 AM | Link to this
I agree with Paul Leonard. We need to get back to governing the country, and away from this silly destructive ‘them versus us’ contest. I note from the comments already offered here that all most people want to do is rip apart someone from the other side. What happened to constructive critizisms of policies and ideas? I recall when President-elect Obama nominated Rahm Emanuel his Chief of Staff (before inaguration), Rush Limbaugh called both men nothing but Chicago thugs. What use is this? Anyone so intectually bankrupt to make such a statement is not worth listening to. When are people going to realize such people are only doing this to make money. The amazing thing is that anyone wants to take them serious and support them. By the way, whatever happened to Civics (government) courses in high school. Such education has all but disappeared. Our kids are growing up thinking such radio/TV/internet drivel is how we run the country. Lord help us, maybe it is!By Ernie
March 9, 2009 2:15 PM | Link to this
Rush is an acquired taste—-Rush is a threat.The Dems know it..you can’t dispute his logic. He is not always right but his insights have more clarity than any of the others.Many of Obama’s people have no light. No illuminating qualities nothing that defines them other than just the same old political thing.Just like Bush besides how long can the DEMS blame the country’s problems on Bush? Rush is not the problem he is the symptom of what this country has lost…where is the light? Not in Washington DC.By CreekRes
March 10, 2009 2:00 PM | Link to this
Paul, your thoughts on this are interesting; in light of your previous role as Dayton Mayor, I’m curious what you think of the current “leadership.” Can you put partisianship aside and be brutally honest or will you hide behind the party and stay mum?By HREdux
March 11, 2009 10:26 AM | Link to this
No mystery around the appeal of Limbaugh. He embodies the values to which all American conservatives aspire: be obese and be lauded for it; dally though multiple marriages to a variety of bimbos; participate in illegal drug activity while avoiding penalty; embody patriotism by praising war, war heroes, and military service while taking a deferment because of an ingrown hair; make millions while never turning a productive dollar; be like any thug, contribute all heat and no light to society; pontificate from a multimillion dollar mansion to millions of ignorant Joe Six Packs while never actually associating with him; demonstrate early self-made independence as a nomadic mock jock (until he got to the brink of disinheritance from his multi-millionaire family because he wouldn’t — couldn’t? — get a real job). Periodically these uneducated, immature, inexperienced, and otherwise unemployable mouths gather their ignorant bunch of haters and line them up against someone else (Jews, Hindus, Moslems, Christians, liberals, etc.). All I ever needed to know about Limbaugh was the time I heard him bad mouth 13-year-old Chelsea Clinton because of her hair. That’s another conservative American value to believe in.By Les
March 11, 2009 6:15 PM | Link to this
If Rush was just ignored, would he go away? It appears to me that the attention he is getting is only feeding is overblown ego. Or could it be that he is hitting a nerve? I agree with Mr. Leonard. We need civility to be restored to politics - on both sides of the political table. Is there someone out there that can truly restore civility? The jury is still out on the President, but it takes more than the president. It has to start with the Speaker of the House, the Senate Majority Leader and then work its way through Congress. I have yet to see this happen in a concrete manner. All talk - no action Congress.By Mike
March 17, 2009 1:58 PM | Link to this
We all need to pay a little more attention and quit relying on the media’s sound clips. He said he wanted Obama to fail “IF HIS AGENDA IS FAR LEFT…” This is the same thing James Carville said about Bush on 9/11/01 (the day of the attack). The Republicans will get there act together and start acting conservative again but it appears we will be going through a lot of pain until then. A lot of promises have been broken and those need to be weeded out and replaced with true conservatives.By CreekRes
March 31, 2009 9:12 PM | Link to this
April 15, 2009 6-8 pm Dayton Courthouse Square: Dayton Ohio Tea Party!!! Be there and be heard!!