Time's Klein: Limbaugh's the "boss" because no Republican elected official "willing to call him out on his lies"

Right wing talk radio has crossed over from discussing policy to outright advocacy and should be restricted as "in-kind" contributions to the republican party. Limbaugh gives the right too much free publicity for them to call him out.

It seems to me the right is pulling out all of the stops to influence policy through Fox, Limbaugh, et al and daring Obama or the administration to enforce limits on what's being done.

I realize this crosses a line for some folks but I cannot recall a time where a network and it's radio echo chamber have been so aligned in their message. The problem is that they mostly traffic in lies.

At least we see a white guy saying it's about race. Limbaugh should be censored like Savage.

We have a problem with our media. I'm not sure how that problem will be fixed, to be honest. There are those calling for a return to the days of McCarthy, of loyalty oaths and censorship and blacklists. I cannot in good conscience agree with this. Any law enacted can and will be used as a cudgel by the minority party when it once again regains power, and this is true of both parties.

It would be tempting to use the powers that President Bush granted himself, if I were in President Obama's shoes, and simply declare Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck enemy combatants. Then challenge Congress to see how fast those powers could be repealed. It would at least unite the Congress for one day, since most Democrats are and were opposed to this kind of power, and most Republicans will be horrified by those powers being used in this fashion. This is not a true solution to our current situation, however, but idle fantasy.

It will take all of us, working together, to overcome a very vocal, and willfully ignorant minority who happen to have a very big megaphone at this particular moment in history. How we succeed will say much about us as a country, especially to the rest of the world. Freedom of speech must be protected, as must the right to vocal dissent.

No one can call Rush out on it, because Limbaugh rarely appears in public. He's never on other shows, and when he /is/ interviewed, he's interviewed by Fox.

The fact he's built up a defense field about him speaks in volumes. If you don't poke your head out there door, there's no risk of having it shot off.

Klein has the guts to stand up to Limbaugh. Republicans don't, not that they want to, since Limbaugh does all their dirty work while allowing Republicans to pretend their hands are clean. Most Democrats fear Limbaugh too and the media still are too afraid to take him on. The media did a decent job for a change in pointing out some lies from the health care debate, but they never identified where the lies came from or who was spreading them.

It looks like Limbaugh will win on health care. He and his kind are the ones who are really running the country. They are doing it with lies and nobody with a big enough megaphone has the nerve to point that out and name names.

I don't understand why people are afraid of Limbaugh. I know, I know, when somebody goes go after him they have to genuflect, and pray for his forgiveness; and true, he does the Republican Party's dirty work. But so what.

If there were more people (Republicans, Democrats, whoever), willing to call him out, and keep the pressure on him, I garantee he would fold up like the slug he is. He would come across as angry first, then a victim, and then sweat and cry like the overgrown infant that he is. This is aman who can't take criticism. If the people who disgree with him were as relentless as he is, he would eventually fold.

Is he too big to fail? I don't think so.

And Rush Limbaugh was required listening at military installations in Iraq during the Cheney, oooops, Bush 43 administration. Too bad MediuaMatters didn'tplay the reactionof that austere groupofindividuals.Guessiwillhave towait tilllater tonightwhenIwatch the rerun.

I like the part he said about "the America they knew, which was always kind of a myth". So true.

limbaugh, working in tandem with the republican leadership, has been one of the main factors in blocking energy independence, because he insists it's your american right, and duty, to buy the biggest gas hog you can afford. the problem is not whether there is enough oil, there is, but the low hanging fruit is gone. the recent big find in the gulf of mexico comes with the complication that it lies in very deep water. a lot of the biggest discoveries of this decade around the world have been of oil that will require a high price to recover it.

Michael Steele tried calling Rushie out and got his balls snatched and later appologized to ol Rushie! So tell me who will be the next one to do it??? Answer: NO ONE!

Most of what the opposition is doing has everything, I repeat, everything to do with race. That's why democracy is taking a back seat. We had an election and the American people have spoken. Obama won the presidency but Republicans refused to accept this and they refused to honor and respect Obama's presidency. That is a fact. For starters the Republicans are voting no on everything because they have absolutely no intentions on helping or aiding this black president. Remember they want Obama to fail. Ask yourself why they want Obama to fail. It is not his policies, and those who think so, are not too bright. They want Obama to fail, because he is not one of us", Like Sarah Palin said (which was part of her campaign.
Do you know what that means, or are you too dumb to see that? One RACIST bastard, who wants Obama to fail, said the Healthcare Bill "will be Obama's waterloo". This idiot is more interested in Obama's failure then democracy and the well being of the American people. Conservatives and Republicans are stirring people up by dividing them with lies and misrepresentations. This foolishness has produced Birthers and Deathers who are not interested in policies, only the death of Obama. Hate is what the ridiculous indoctrination was about. Let me see you argue with that. I don't think you should unless you want to show us how stupid you are.
Conservatives protesters bring guns to a president town hall meeting and they are more interested in "getting their country back" I may give you more credit than you deserve, but I believe YOU know WHAT they mean BY "I want my country back". They never said anything like that when Clinton was in office and they never said anything like that when Bush was in office. Bush actually did take the country from the people.

Back to guns: What do guns have to do with healthcare discussion? Nothing!!!. This goes to show you Opposition are not interested in Healthcare, that's just an excuse to attack this president. This is how racist people operate.
If these fools (protesters) had good sense they would know Healthcare is good for all American citizens. How about the donut-head (Republican Joe Wilson) who called the president a liar during a House session? This racist bastard is party to a supremacy organization, it has been revealed. John McCain and Sarah Palin ran a racist campaign/election that set the tone for Racist boneheads like Sean Klannity, Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh who lies on a daily basis, and the Republican Party says nothing, even though it is hurting their Party. These talk show hosts are inciting people to put together lynch mobs so they can act on their hate. I don't expect you to acknowledge this, but those Tea Party rallies are nothing more than hate mobs. Just listen what they say and read their signs.
John McCain and Sarah Palin's supporters had signs that read "kill the n%$^er", "hang em high" at their rallies and neither devil said anything about it. I can go on and on about these hate-mongers. Those who don't think race has a lot to do with these crazy white people's behavior are either blind or playing dumb.
As long as they play dumb about racism, they can continue to say race as nothing to do with it. In the meantime nothing change and racist people can continue their hateful, evil trade.

I bet I can guess what the first hour of discussion on Limbaughs show will be tomorrow.

As I've been cruising other websites, reading comments along the way, catching my eye is the Stealth Racism. How long has it been that I've heard, "Calling a Spade a Spade" when commenting about BO, is one of them, confronting the Poster causes a "What're you talking about?" or "Well, you guys did it to us, so..." back at you.

Code words from our racist history are being worked back into the national conversation, one very visible entity says the words, everyone gasps, then its "Oh well guess it's OK to go there now"! You see, I thought we had gotton over that as a people, well knowing prejudice exists and its up to all to refrain and endeavor to overcome these prejudices through time. I just expected people to strive for a moral sense of decency!

Yeah, I know, I've been living in a Parallel Universe, right?

This loud and vocal group goes to the street...it's up to us to be there also, making our voices heard.

The_Cat says it well enough.

The Republican party has consistently used ignorance and stupidity to rally their base.

Republicans can't get over the notion that "Intelligent Design" is not science, and that they think it should be taught in school as science. It's a stupid position to take. It flies in the face of all scientific evidence. It is harmful to the future of our country to push mythical gibberish as science on our children.

Republicans continue to deny the fact that global warming is happening, and that it is anthropogenic (caused by humans). The evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of anthropogenic global warming, and is widely accepted by the scientific community.

Rush Limbaugh is one of the biggest liars on air today. He's a hack entertainer. It's debatable that he is even that.

He, like all Republicans count on the "average" American's lack of knowledge on the facts to win them over with scare tactics.

So, which one is he?

Ignorant - a person who doesn't know better.

Stupid - a person incapable of knowing better.

Liar - a person who knows better, but states otherwise.

He's a liar.

And, Republicans should disavow him, or continue to be known as the party of the stupid.