Eugene Robinson: Rush Limbaugh instills fear in GOP candidates

[babylonsister]

Last edited Mon Mar 5, 2012, 10:31 PM - Edit history (1)

Rush Limbaugh instills fear in GOP candidates
By Eugene Robinson, Monday, March 5, 7:55 PM


How’s this for political cowardice? Right-wing bloviator Rush Limbaugh launches a vile attack, full of sexual insults and smarmy innuendo, against a young woman whose only offense was to speak her mind. Asked to comment, the leading Republican presidential candidates — who bray constantly about “courage” and “leadership” — run from the bully and hide.

snip//

So let’s get this straight: These guys want us to believe they’re ready to face down Vladimir Putin, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Kim Jong Eun, the Taliban and what’s left of al-Qaeda. Yet they’re so scared of a talk-radio buffoon that they ignore or excuse an eruption of venom that some of Limbaugh’s advertisers — nine, at last count, have said they would no longer sponsor the show — find inexcusable.

I would have thought that crass political calculation might lead the would-be GOP nominees to the correct position on Limbaugh’s rhetorical depravity. Women constitute a majority of voters. If they merely lean toward the Democrats this fall, as they usually do, Republicans still have a mathematical chance to win the presidency by racking up a big majority among men. But if the GOP is perceived to endorse Limbaugh’s hateful rhetoric about “feminazis” and his stance of male grievance, female voters could turn what looked like a winnable election for Republicans into a debacle.

But Romney, Santorum and Gingrich are so frightened of being labeled insufficiently conservative — in this context, meaning “not nice enough to Rush” — that when given the opportunity to show some backbone, they go all wobbly.

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/rush-limbaugh-too-fearsome-for-gop-candidates-to-cross/2012/03/05/gIQAb5JZtR_story.html?hpid=z5

[muntrv]

1. In short, if the republickers can't stand up to Limpballs, how can they stand up to Iran?

[babylonsister]

5. They're all cowards and every talking head seems to be pointing that out tonight! :) nt

[spooky3]

2. Shouldn't men be equally outraged, Gene?

[DirkGently]

3. +++ This needs to be said more often

[BumRushDaShow]

4. This is why Shrub and Darth

always talked a good game about "getting Bin Laden" and other such nonsense but they were always cowards.