In a review of the last 20 years of American media personalities no one stands out as being more politically influential then Rush Limbaugh. Mr. Limbaugh daily takes on the rage of the disgruntled white American male, and through an odd vicarious exchange, channels that rage where Rush and his white male listeners believe it deservedly belongs……at the feet of progressives and Democrats.
My father, now deceased, used to listen to the AM radio personality when he first started. My father usually voted Democratic because Democrats were for the working man and unions, but he was an extremely conservative Democratic voter. He gave Limbaugh a listen. At first, my father seemed to agree with the radio talk show host on many issues. A couple years later he quit listening altogether.
My dad was consistent. What he disliked more than anything else were people, white or black, young or old, male or female, who did not maintain a sense of humility and instead chose to opportunistically self-promote. My father was for the underdog. In his view, underdogs didn't self-promote. Whenever he listened to someone mouth off on radio or teevee or in church, he consistently evaluated that person based on whether they were promoting themselves or whether they were promoting a concept, a principle, an idea.
Initially, my dad was fooled a bit when listening to the new radio talk show host, Rush Limbaugh. Rush talked the talk of the common American white male. Rush seemed to be speaking honestly and openly about problems America was facing. Thanks to the absence of video on the AM radio format, Limbaugh couldn't be watched for nuance or sincerity. It took awhile for my father to grasp the fact that Rush Limbaugh was, in fact, only another opportunistic blowhard whose loyalties could only be found in Rush Limbaugh.
I relate this now in light of Rush Limbaugh's current radio campaign, Operation Chaos. Rush has convinced many of his listeners, almost all conservative Republicans, to cross over during this primary election season…..register as Democrats…..and vote for Hillary. Just within Cuyahoga County alone, 16,000 Republicans answered the Limbaugh call to arms. 16,000 Republican voters crossed over for the sole purpose of disrupting the Democratic Party's primary election. 16,000 conservatives who, if a gun was pointed at their heads, would never vote for a Democrat in a general election, did what their radio guru told them to do and voted for Hillary.
Here's the talk show host reporting on the progress of his own campaign to disrupt the election process…
So, Operation Chaos is exceeding all objectives. It's now gotten to the point that the Drive-By Media is having debates about it and what to do to stop it, and how to counter it, which is only going to increase the effectiveness of Operation Chaos. Link
What we find here is a radio talk show personality conspiring with his listeners to undermine America's electoral process. A self-promoter apparently now parlaying that electoral disruption into a media echo chamber of negativity against Barack Obama. Limbaugh, rightly, understands that Obama is the only candidate who can actually threaten the status quo. A status quo that has helped Rush amass a fortune.
If Rush succeeds with his Operation Chaos project, he will be undoubtedly regarded as the ultimate political force in the nation. Gleeful conservative followers of the radio show host will gratefully congratulate the King of AM radio if Hillary becomes the Democratic nominee. These same folks will be even more gleeful if Hillary is somehow defeated by John McCain in November.
Make no mistake. Operation Chaos is for the sake of Rush Limbaugh….not for the sake of the nation. Opportunistic people like Rush exploit their adherents for their own self-aggrandizement. Limbaugh's being the center of attention and possibly increasing his audience through four years of Clinton retreading, vulcanized daily on his radio program, is one self-promotional objective of Operation Chaos. If a McCain presidency is the outcome of Operation Chaos…the narrative will be Rush the Kingmaker. Rush, the Saviour of a lost and damned political party.
To Limbaugh, the bitterness and antipathy he creates within the minds of the majority of Americans over Operation Chaos is irrelevent. Rush doesn't care about what Americans think. Rush cares about Rush. In this way of thinking, Limbaugh is very similar to the current vice president who answers when reminded that over 60% of Americans want the Iraq occupation ended…."So?"
The potential for hundreds of thousands or millions of brand new, never-before-politically-engaged American voters would seem to be a good thing for democracy in America. Positive for the country. If Obama is the Democratic candidate, this American voter potential will be realized. The country will be better off because of it. But Rush Limbaugh won't be. His credibility and significance would be diminished. Thus….Operation Chaos. A program of organized and conspiratorial cheating, not a program to strengthen America and make us a better people, but a program to further divide and embitter an already cynical population ……all for the sake of one self-aggrandizing AM talk radio host.
If Operation Chaos is successful and Obama is knocked out of the race, Limbaugh and his conspiratorial cheaters will declare "victory". An invigorated population seeking genuine change in political direction, of course, will "lose". A country already in decline on many fronts will decline even further not able to stop the inertia of misguided and wrong-headed establishment leadership. The same misguided and wrong-headed status quo establishment Rush Limbaugh has built his personal kingdom upon.
If Operation Chaos is eventually successful it will unquestioningly prove that organized conspiracies of cheating and gaming the American electoral system is the only way forward.
How all that represents the promise of a "more perfect union", of a Constitutionally organized representative democracy based on equality and fairness for all…..is way beyond my pay grade to explain.
