Friday 29 May 2009

But... What? Seriously, What?

Another update for the "Watch the GOP go Motherfucking Crazy" file. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Rush Limbaugh:
If ever a civil rights movement was needed in America, it is for the Republican Party. If ever we needed to start marching for freedom and Constitutional rights, it's for the Republican Party. The Republican Party is today's oppressed minority. It knows how to behave as one. It shuts up. It doesn't cross bridges, it doesn't run into the Bull Connors of the Democrat Party. It is afraid of the firehouses and the dogs, it's compliant. The Republican Party today has become totally complacent. They are an oppressed minority, they know their position, they know their place. They go to the back of the bus, they don't use the right restroom and the right drinking fountain, and they shut up. I don't think this way, I don't think of myself as an oppressed minority. Or as a member of an oppressed minority. And I hope I never do think of myself as one.
A number of immediate points spring to mind:

1) How is accusing a Supreme Court nominee of being racist "shut[ting] up"? Or continuing to threaten to filibuster bills with majority support, for that matter? Or arguing carbon dioxide can't be harmful because we breathe it out? People might not be listening, but that's very different to the GOP not talking.
2) Who exactly are the Bull Connors of the "Democrat" Party, and why didn't I hear about it when they turned riot hoses and dogs on Republicans?
3) How great must your problem with cognitive dissonance become when you suggest your political party requires a civil rights movement, whilst ignoring the fact that your party opposed the civil rights movement?
4) On a similar note, is there any clearer indication of Limbaugh's total absence critical faculties than the fact he cannot distinguish between a white person complying to a defeated mindset and a black person complying to actual fucking laws?
5) Does Limbaugh actually have any idea what the word "complacent" means? It's not often that the word is combined with "afraid", "compliant", and "oppressed".

Let's not forget that high-profile Republicans who question the world according to Limbaugh (despite his obvious problems with history, analogy, and also adjectives) are forced to publicly apologise. Were he not so powerful, he would just be one more small-minded, vicious clown for right-thinking people to ignore. That's not where we are, though. As I've said before, the GOP can recover from their current position, but it can't happen without some fairly major rebelling against the current "leadership".

h/t to Hilzoy.

(Edited for clarity)

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