White House: Rush Limbaugh fight ‘counterproductive’
Banks are on the brink, the stock market is in a torpor, and one of today’s hottest topics at the daily White House briefing was Rush Limbaugh, whom Democrats are trying to hang around the neck of the Republican party.
Robert Gibbs, press secretary for President Barack Obama, was asked if the White House had been complicit in the maneuver — and was not that hypocritical when considering Obama’s emphasis on getting past partisan sniping?
Here’s Gibb’s answer on C-Span:
Said Gibbs:
“It may be counterproductive, I’ll give you that. Look, are there days in which I just turn my television off? Yes. I wish I had a radio. Maybe I should just hook my iPod up. Look, there are days in which — yeah — you’re head throbs from listening to arguments that aren’t necessarily centered on delving into some important issue ….
“Look, it’s out there, we deal with it. I certainly criticize it. I even occasionally watch it. Whether that makes me hypocritical or not, I certainly believe that feeding it — I’ll plead guilty to counterproductivity.”
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15 comments Add your comment
Owl Gore
March 4th, 2009
3:30 pm
This is priceless. Gibby says that the efforts of Rham, Obama, Carville, the dwarf on ABC (STephanopskyhook), and Begala (the forehead) are being counterproductive to thier own agenda. Rahm speaks with the group listed, above, every morning and they all have been planning to attack Rush for months. (See the politico story, it ran today). I wonder if now, that they have admitted that picking a fight with Rush is counterproductive, will they will continue to plot and plan to take on a single Amercian citizens instead of trying to govern? On second thought, maybe they should spend some more time attacking Rush, the screaming guy on CNBC and Santelli of the same network. If they do maybe they will not have time to wreck the country and Obama will fail in the end. Less time for his changeyness and more time for picking fights. Maybe this is a good thing.
Cynthia Tucker McKinney
March 4th, 2009
3:36 pm
So why did they start it? Why not post a link to the Politico piece, Jim? Put the story in context. I dare you.
SickoftheTyranny
March 4th, 2009
4:12 pm
What else is he supposed to say? Rush is too dumb to know what he is doing by not shutting up and Democrats are just smart enough to let him continue doing it. Oh, well!
Kay
March 4th, 2009
6:38 pm
Why does the Obama administration even bring Rush up? It’s because he’s hitting a nerve. He’s exposing this president’s radical agenda. He’s doing what journalist used to do before they were sprinkled with Obama’s pixie dust. He’s president and he has a Democratic majority in Congress. No one’s stopping him from carrying out his assault on capitalism. If Rush is really hurting the Republican party, then why is Obama so bent on shutting him up?
Will Jones - Atlanta
March 4th, 2009
7:51 pm
Limbaugh is at the head of the modern caesaropapist Tory vanguard. Just as we took the recalcitrant to the Tory Oak in 1776, who were not wise enough to ship out to Halifax or points beyond the American Torch – the “Light from the West” which Our Founder realized “ignited a volcano under the thrones of Europe” – Limbaugh, as a proponent of papacy, “The monarchy of religion,” is as evil as they were then and Father Coughlin’s caesaropapist support for papal catspaw Hitler was, with thirty million listeners, before WWII.
America was a “liberal” whig experiment. It is called American Exceptionalism for good reason. No other society has ever been Covenanted on an idea: That The People is sovereign – E Pluribus Unum; and that Annuit Coeptis is approachable to all who wish, protected by The Constitution, without the permission of the homosexual Babylonian pedophile priesthood vaunted as “the rock-ribbed backbone of American moral values,” by an obvious pederast and pervert Rush Limbaugh. “By the fruit shall the tree be known,” and “a corrupt tree cannot bear good fruit.”
Limbaugh and his Nazi, racist, pederast, papist followers do not share that ideal. They wish to be part of the “pseudo-aristoi,” from whom we escaped to found America. They are Mammon-worshipping Sodomites and traitors with no love for the ideals and divine aspirations enshrined in Our Creed.
Their Roman Fifth Column fascist plutocracy has committed military, economic, and political treason against The Constitution and The People…and they must be brought to justice that Our Nation prosper once again, by G-d.
Obama is a constitutional scholar and a gentleman, and knows what the same faction did to Kennedy and King. It is only We, the People, who can win this fight. Rome must be extirpated in Our Land. History brooks no confusion: Live free, or die. The “engine for enslaving mankind” has no illusions about individual freedom…neither should an American Patriot.
theamericanfundament.blogspot.com
rich g
March 4th, 2009
10:50 pm
What an idiot!
concerned
March 4th, 2009
11:40 pm
Say, ‘Will Jones’ – do you write for the Onion?
Anna
March 5th, 2009
12:52 am
Will Jones, my thoughts almost exactly, only substitute the name Obama for Rush and Democrat for Republican.
Eskimo Power
March 5th, 2009
1:45 am
…and who’s the Tory oak?
Dan
March 5th, 2009
9:46 am
Before you post something about the Dems “getting back to governing,” consider that this basically blew up during and after the introduction of the budget. Considering how freaked out people are getting about the scale and scope of that budget, I’d say if anything that the Administration’s doing too much, rather than too little, governing at the moment.
Copyleft
March 5th, 2009
12:15 pm
Heheh… I’m enjoying this clever move. By defining Rush as the extremist “face” of the (failed) Republican Party, Obama is forcing the sane, moderate Republicans in Congress to choose which side they want to be associated with.
That should deliver some much-needed votes on some key legislation. Nobody wants to be associated with the lunatic rage and failure that Rush represents, which is growing less popular (and less tolerated) by real Americans every day.
WelfarefortheRich
March 5th, 2009
2:01 pm
The Pig
We lived for 8 long years under the Christian Communism “Yes the Big Double C’s” and the “Bushinator” with the head Rush Pobah. This Rightnuts followers of the Grand Pig PoBah follow the Christian Capitalism Communism which is the opposite of their socialism whines it involves stateless communes, capitalism exploits from the working class by extracting surplus value from the workers in the form of profits, and replacement of the bourgeoisie as the ruling class in order to establish a society with class or racial divisions. However what gets me with these Christian Capitalism Communism is that they are broke and destituted and cling to their swine for protection.
3/5/09 Thumbs down of the day - Robert Gibbs | GadgetGumbo
March 5th, 2009
6:19 pm
[...] by glynjeffries on Mar.05, 2009, under Thumbs Down of the Day Banks are on the brink, the stock market is in a torpor, and one of today’s hottest topics at the … [...]
Bert Masters
March 6th, 2009
6:36 am
Owl Gore: Did Emmanuel pick a fight with Limbaugh? I don’t believe so. I heard him say ” R. L. is the intellectual force behind the republican party.” This is not an attack. If it’s an insult to the republican party that would only be because Rush is a polarizing figure. But that piece of information is supplied only by the listener.
Emmanuel’s latest response: I was paying him a compliment. Rebuttal, anyone?
Maybe Obama and co. knew the effect the effect the remark would have. Maybe they’re guilty of being clever. Rush has nothing to lose by lashing out, because everyone already knows he’s a belligerent guy. But the Republicans are in more disarray than ever. Who’s fault? Not mine. I voted democratic. Not Obama’s; he won the election with a positive message.
What is Gibbs guilty of, being occasionally seduced by acrimonious ranting on the television? Plenty of people would sympathize.
c. lindbergh gore
March 7th, 2009
12:24 am
i think the real issue here is that the obama administration acknowledges the sad truth that millions of americans take a big fat buffoon like rush limbaugh seriously. i know realize how a fanatic like hitler got in power. it’s the cult of personality. rush is not only ignorant and influential, but he is wealthy also. nobody ever ever went broke underestimating the american people!