Reply #12: Limbaugh and his ilk work the refs; it's time we worked 'em back

[gratuitous]

Phil Gingrey (see this week's Top 10 Conservative Idiots) made the mistake of dissing Rush, and wound up looking like Henry II. Republicans don't cross Rush, and neither do the popular media. In fact, remember Katie Couric's very first guest on the Evening News? None other than Rush Limbaugh, who apparently doesn't have quite enough air time three hours a day, five days a week to get everything said that he wants to say. The popular media are more than accommodating to let him come on and "work the refs," that is to say, frame the issues and put forth his demented arguments.

Putting Rush up front as the porcine face and rage-filled voice of the Republican party is an effective way to work the refs the other way. The Republicans don't dare disown Rush, who will pout and pule, pick up his ball and go home. Rush appeals to a smaller and smaller segment of the public each year, and tying him securely around the Republicans' necks is a sure way to consign them to oblivion.

Let's see if the Republicans once again take the path of least resistance in their headlong dash to perdition, or if they actually grow a spine and cut Mr. Limbaugh loose. The party of Lincoln is now the party of Limbaugh. Let the Republicans explain why they're distinguishable from a man that some people say is a junky pedophile.