When the Left is Right and the Right is Wrong

Now I really am flabbergasted. To see that a liberal Democrat better understands the issue of the Left/White House/Democrats/mass media attacking a private citizen than many on my own side of the political aisle? Sad.

Here’s Camile Paglia (via HotAir Headlines) with spot-on analysis of the situation:

Case in point: The orchestrated attack on radio host Rush Limbaugh, which has made the White House look like an oafish bunch of drunken frat boys. I returned from carnival in Brazil (more on that shortly) to find the Limbaugh affair in full flower. Has the administration gone mad? This entire fracas was set off by the president himself, who lowered his office by targeting a private citizen by name. Limbaugh had every right to counterattack, which he did with gusto. Why have so many Democrats abandoned the hallowed principle of free speech? Limbaugh, like our own liberal culture hero Lenny Bruce, is a professional commentator who can be as rude and crude as he wants.

Yes, I cringe when Rush plays his “Barack the Magic Negro” satire or when he gratuitously racializes the debate over Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, who is a constant subject of withering scrutiny for quite different reasons on sports shows here in Philadelphia. On the other hand, I totally agree with Rush about “feminazis,” whose amoral tactics and myopic worldview I as a dissident feminist had to battle for decades. As a student of radio and a longtime listener of Rush’s show, I have gotten a wealth of pleasure and insight from him over the years. To attack Rush Limbaugh is to attack his audience — and to intensify the loyalty of his fan base.

Exactly. And to fail to defend Rush on an unfair smear and attack is to fail to defend his audience (the vast majority of whom are conservatives) and most times, conservatism in general. There is nothing that Rush has stated that for which he is being smeared that doesn’t represent any logical, unbrainwashed person’s opinion about the socialist, communist Barack Obama: we all want him – in his efforts to transform America through socialist and communist policies – to FAIL. For self-proclaimed conservative or GOP-voting bloggers to not be able to defend that sentiment against the smears and attacks of the Left is simply baffling.

There are lots of great comments at the HotAir link, but this one drove me to leave my own comment of frustration:

Paglia makes sense regarding Rush because she actually listens to his program. Unlike everyone else offering their “advice” and “opinion” on Rush’s meaning, motive, whatever. To think that a liberal Democrat understands the situation better than members of the Grand Old Party Ace and other authors at Ace of Spades HQ, Patterico and AllahPundit.

conservative pilgrim on March 11, 2009 at 10:15 AM

You’re spot-on. I bet if you took a poll of all the wussified geniuses who don’t have the balls to man up and defend our side against smears and attacks by the Left, Administration, Democrats and mass media, you would find the majority of them don’t even listen to Rush Limbaugh. And that most of those who are defending Rush against smears and attacks have actually listened to his show.

Those who are giving into the Left’s smears and attacks and arguing the issue based on the premise of the Left are hypocrites. They spend their time on their blogs criticizing the mass media and politicians for not knowing about the subjects of their reporting or not reading the laws on which they vote, yet here they pontificate and criticize and bash Rush Limbaugh (and his listeners and supporters) without having listened to his show. Brilliant hypocrisy.

Michael in MI on March 11, 2009 at 10:32 AM