Rick santorum badmouths rush... almost

Rick Santorum tiptoed up to talk radio, the crazed bull elephant raging in the middle of the otherwise sparse sitting room that is the Republican party.

Wandering the country (and chat shows) as a dethroned Prince of the Religious Right, he timidly suggested Monday that maybe, kinda-sorta, GOP policy-makers should take the message-making back from talk hosts like Rush and Sean Hannity.

Santorum's name is widely known as a sexual neologism Dan Savage thought up to celebrate the ex-senator's vibrant homophobia. The uber-Christian is believed to be trying to restart his political career so rudely interrupted in 2006 by Pennsylvania voters who kicked him out of his Senate seat after serial scandals and criminal self-righteousness.

He might even be running for president in 2012. (Please, dear God: Santorum/Palin!).

(We use the words "tip-toed" and "timidly." Santorum is treading treacherous waters. Conservative politicians have had their gonads crushed and been forced on-air to show their sorry, submissive backsides to Rush for daring speak up against cerebral flatulances he's delivered in their name and in the name of their party).

Santorum is not complaining, mind you. God forbid. “I think talk radio has done a great job,"  he said. Hannity and Rush are great patriots, Americans, leaders and allies. "I’m not being critical..." 

"... [P]art of talk radio is entertainment and hyperbole — you know, keeping an audience and while, you know, it serves a very important and useful purpose, you know we also need policymakers to go out there and be a little less shrill and a bit more pointed as to the criticisms and the antidotes to the problems that confront America,” Santorum reporters in .  “And that combination is something that we just need to be a little better at.”

In response to a follow-up question, Santorum said he listens to both Rush and Sean.

 “I think they both make a tremendous contribution to the national debate and I think they’d both tell you they’re in the entertainment business and part of what they do is, you know, say things in a way that can attract people to listen to them and they have a different role than policymakers. I don’t think they would argue that. I think they play a vitally important role and, in fact, I don’t know where the conservative movement would be right now but for the talk radio and conservative websites and blogs that have really tried to hold things and tried to rebuild things, so they have played a vitally important role during this time, as sort of leading the opposition and now it’s time for the opposition. Now it’s time for Republican leaders to stand up and some are doing so, but not in great numbers, and being more specific about the criticisms and offering alternatives. I mean, it’s not Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity’s job to be proposing alternatives to health care reform. I mean, their job is to be analysts of what’s going on out there right now…to analyze and comment on those alternatives…but they’re not a policy factory, so I wouldn’t expect them or even, you know, desire them to be policy people.  They’re commentators and they do a very good job at it…but for them, we’d have ObamaCare passed in August.”

Will this sanity take hold? We'll all be listening to hear how Rush takes it tomorrow. We doubt Rush will relinquish anything to such a self-righteous schmendrik as Santorum while in the midst of a power-battle with Glenn Beck.

But some day, if the conservative movement's only reality-based institution is to regain relevance and power, it must distance itself from the hambone broadcasters. They won't like that.

Comments

[Duffman]

Rush, Sean, Santorum, etc. et al can't get us out of Afghanistan now but our POTUS and Congress CAN!
Please DemProgs...convince your leaders to ACT NOW and get us out so we don't continue to take these innocent precious lives.
What happened to the pre-election promises...in Denmark?...trying to get the Olympics...not communicating timely with our Generals in Afghan...WTF is going on. This would NOT have happened under Mrs Clinton.
May be you'all will persuade John Edwards to run again in '12, and team up with Pelosi...now THAT would be a 'ticket to ride'...Haha

[Duffman]

Okay! I can take a hint.

[joanie]

Distance themselves? They'll never do it.

And it will be Palin/Santorum if she's to be on the ticket again.

It's all ego, ego, ego on the right.

[ryder]

Joannie, please, its ego ego ego with all these clowns. Let them all rot.

[Tod]

Thank God there are no egos on the left.

[Radio is Dead]

Buyer's Remorse?

More dead in Iraq (where are the protesters)

Increase troops in Afghanistan (where are the protesters)

Unemployment at 10%

Economy in the tank with no end in sight

Debt greater than all previous administrrtions combined

Chavez, Ghadafi, Admedjian smiling and laughing

Where's Obama...making a sales pitch for the fucking Olympics!!!!

[Duffman]

Where's John Edwards when we need him!...Oh...never mind.

[Duffman]

Where's Mrs Clinton when you need her.

[Garrett]

Hood: Who does the graphics on the pictures you present? Are they being done in Photoshop, or some other program?

[Radio is Dead]

When the Olympics are awarded to Rio watch how the Dems and Keith Olberman cry about the IOC is "rascist"!

[M.Steele]

Radio is Dead;

Oh come now, I have not seen the IOC carrying pictures of Obama with a bone in his nose. And I do not remember IOC officials circulating raciest e-mail. So I wonder where such an extraordinarily intelligent person like you come up with an idea like that?

I am sure Rio would be delighted if they won the bid. I have no doubt that if he is successful and America wins the bid you cons will……well keep circulating those e-mails.

[Duffman]

May be Mr Santorum can lend his Spriritual guidance accumen to Those Possibly In Need in the not too distant future.

[chucks]

******** Watch Hank **********

***** Tonite Channel 4 *****

***** 8:00 PM *****

[M.Steele]

Whoa, before Santorum the Sanctimonious finds his way to the general he will have to plough the primary field. He will have to share the stage with Thoughtless Sarah and the Hucklebuck. And do not count out the Sore loser Pawlenty or the Newt. All of which have a strong following manly from the social conservatives. If just two of these possible candidates jump into the race it will split the vote.

[sparky]

No, chucks, Im watching the PBS special on The National Parks, America's Best Idea.

[chucks]

I love our National Parks. Took a day trip up to Mt Rainier a couple of weeks ago. Had a great time.
The Hank thing was because the 11 yr old neighbor kid has the part of Kelsey Grammer's son. We are just supportive of a great little kid.

[Radio is Dead]

As I said above...the Olympics will be awarded to Rio and everyone will cry...poor Obama...poor Messiah...that rascist IOC!

[Grand Oligarh]

Nah, haven't seen it yet. I think the poster that responded to you the first time got I right. BTW you’re the only one crying race here. Projecting?

[AuthenticAndrew]

The election of a black president is causing a wacky schizophrenia in conservatives. They're becomingly openly racist after fifty years of relative civility. They're accusing others of being racist. They're letting out this idea that only white people are actually American with Glenn Beck's talk of "white culture" which none of them dare define but all believe to exist as such.

In the same way that Monson unleashes a misogynistic slant in his criticism of Gregoire, conservatives treat Obama, who soundly defeated McCain as if he's an illegitimate president, a Manchurian candidate, or a Kenyan in the White House. Someone whispers these sentiments in the shadows and Red America collectively nods in agreement and has a cathartic moment.

I don't think conservatives are bad people, they're just very frightened, particularly of people who don't look like their mothers and fathers.

[sparky]

Michelle Bachman Turner Overdrive was at the mic yesterday, telling her followers how schools are going to set up medical clinics that would offer abortions. And she repeated it several times in her speech, pretending to read something official off a sheet of wrinkly paper. I swear these people meet for a beer after work and divvy up fresh lists of lies every night.

[Grand Oligarh]

Yea see ray dee oh, we see right through you and your kind.

[Drew]

As usual radio, your forecast was all wrong- when Rio got the award, everybody from Drudge to Rush to Hannity was spouting the same exact talking points, about how this was a great victory for America that we lost. What is it that you cons just love to see people stay unemployed? How is that good for America, unless you don't care what the collateral damage is, as long as you take a democrat down?

[chimchim]

Think about this. The leaders of the right make fun of America and Chicago at their own peril. As they make Chicago out as a laughing stock the Democrats will get a leg up in the junior senate seat in Chi town.

[Real Conservative]

Will you clowns get it right? They are using Beck against us. I shake my head and wonder if you dullards were born in a permanent cranium in anus position.

[Radio is Dead]

The Olympics are a sham...the only one to make a profit was Atlanta but the IOC regretted that choice because the event was a wall to wall Coca Cola advertisement.

[KS]

I figured that Rio might get the Olympics in 2016, because they deserved it more and South America had never hosted them before.

Yes, I was hoping that the Chicago team would lose - in order to bring humility back at the POTUS, since he needed to be knocked down a rung to mere "mortality". Hint: I would not play the race card here, but am almost expecting some pinhead leftist to do just that.

From an economic standpoint it was also good the we lost, because Calgary had just finished payback of their debt from 21 years ago and we don't need more debt.

[Duffman]

Mayor Daly and City of Chicago need to focus on doing something about the needless youth killing taking place in that city; it's good that they are not hosting the Olympics...which (except to the 'honest' competition) is a farce and a typical 'follow-the-money' fiasco.

[KS]

Yes, Chicago needs to start the monumental process of cleaning up their own backyard before they again consider hosting an Olympics, which has become a financial drain - very inefficiently run. It's a silver lining that Chicago fell short.

Just waiting to hear from the Lib Progs in unison that this failure was Bush's fault.

[Duffman]

Hahaha...good one KS, ain't that the truth.
They have a lot to deal with...Edwards, POTUS failure at Olympics draw, Letterman...and on and on and on...it's not a good day to be a liberal-progressive demoscrat. They've had their provervial 'nuts crushed'...as is said by the litany of aliases herein.

[KS]

"It's all ego, ego, ego on the right."

And then we have the POTUS, who went to Copenhagen with the Chicago contingent and came back with their heads between their legs, but nevertheless when they returned, one on-line publication's headlines read:

"THE EGO HAS LANDED"

So true...

[Puget Sound]

I am very happy for Rio to get the Olympics. It is their chance to have center stage by bringing the international spotlight upon them.

Good for them.

And yes, 'The Ego Has Landed' was a nice headline.

[AuthenticAndrew]

Conservatives Revel In America's Olympic Defeat

and it was only a short time ago that conservatives accused liberals of "hating America first." Now the shoe is on the other foot.

[Puget Sound]

AA
I'll be honest with you. The days of looking at the Olympics as 'America vs the Commies' have long been over for me. Yes, back in the day I loved it when USA beat the Russians or East Germans, etc.
I got over that the minute the Wall came down and Glastnot came into being.

Today, I see the Olympics as a chance to watch the worlds best athletes on the world stage. No more, no less. I don't even watch the NBC version if I can help it and usually go for Canadian TV in lieu of the American channel. I get sooooo damn tired of our networks being so USA-centric. It gets boring.

Plus, the USA has hosted the Olympics a number of times and it isn't as big a deal for us to host 'em again.

Let Rio have its day in the sun. Pres Obama tried his best to get the Games in Chicago and it didn't work out.
We'll survive.

AA, you've been curiously silent on that Earth First act of terrorism. I guess just biding your time to 'rub it in' after shooting off your mouth. Too bad the facts haven't kept pace.

[AuthenticAndrew]

let the FBI do their thing

[Puget Sound]

ah, but you didn't wait for the FBI did you. instead you ran your pie-hole and announced to any and all that you had solved the crime. those awful conservative homeowners had done it you told all of us. and then you were so sure of yourself you promised to rub it in.
hmm, that's a far cry from 'waiting for the FBI to solve it' pardoner.

[Coiler]

We know Tim Mc Veigh wasn't a liberal. The right wing noise machine was feeding a lot of impressionable youth back then.

[AuthenticAndrew]

that's like saying bookies should wait until after the super bowl to make the odds; this would defeat the purpose.

it's not over until it's over.

[M.Steele]

Puget Sound;
Do you hate our President so much that you would wish dreadful consequences on our people? That is the height of hatred of our country. Any respect you have garnered has been lost by your inane comment.

[joanie]

Can't believe no one is talking about the Brook's article on Beck:

"...But this is not merely a story of weakness. It is a story of resilience. For no matter how often their hollowness is exposed, the jocks still reweave the myth of their own power. They still ride the airwaves claiming to speak for millions. They still confuse listeners with voters. And they are aided in this endeavor by their enablers. They are enabled by cynical Democrats, who love to claim that Rush Limbaugh controls the G.O.P. They are enabled by lazy pundits who find it easier to argue with showmen than with people whose opinions are based on knowledge. They are enabled by the slightly educated snobs who believe that Glenn Beck really is the voice of Middle America.

So the myth returns. Just months after the election and the humiliation, everyone is again convinced that Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity and the rest possess real power. And the saddest thing is that even Republican politicians come to believe it. They mistake media for reality. They pre-emptively surrender to armies that don’t exist.

They pay more attention to Rush’s imaginary millions than to the real voters down the street. The Republican Party is unpopular because it’s more interested in pleasing Rush’s ghosts than actual people. The party is leaderless right now because nobody has the guts to step outside the rigid parameters enforced by the radio jocks and create a new party identity. The party is losing because it has adopted a radio entertainer’s niche-building strategy, while abandoning the politician’s coalition-building strategy.

The rise of Beck, Hannity, Bill O’Reilly and the rest has correlated almost perfectly with the decline of the G.O.P. But it’s not because the talk jocks have real power. It’s because they have illusory power, because Republicans hear the media mythology and fall for it every time...."

All our clueless little rightwingers on ths blog: enjoy your little niche as it gets smaller and smaller and smaller. On the left, we're smiling like never before.

[joanie]

Sorry. I should have posted on "beck, beck and more beck..."

[Drew]

Hey, Joanie, post it there as well. Your post has some very important points. Too bad these charter-school cons can't read- can you find the time to go back and find an article with more pictures for them? Maybe fewer poly-syllabic words would help them too.

[Puget Sound]

Puget Sound;
Do you hate our President so much that you would wish dreadful consequences on our people? That is the height of hatred of our country. Any respect you have garnered has been lost by your inane comment.

Posted by: M.Steele | October 03, 2009 at 09:59 PM

still mad about the gov gregoire dealie,eh?

[Puget Sound]

ignoring inconvenient truths, painting with a broad brush, etc. i'll bet you got a liberal version of 'rush is right' hat somewhere...
too funny.

the amazing thing is that you don't see the same stuff going on with Randi, Olberman, Malloy, to name a few.

try this sometime. listen with a critical ear to someone you disagree with like Savage or Beck and someone you agree with like Malloy or Randi on the radio. you'll note a similarity of style. the us vs them, the broad brush, the seizing on a current event to make a ridiculous claim (such as blackwater starting the fires in southern california).

in terms of 'taking back the blog' it's always been blam's blog. we are all just guests as he pays the freight. sometimes when we overstep our bounds we get uninvited.

i wish all of you the best.

[M.Steele]

As far as the governor argument, you are using the Duffman tactic “I win because I will not acknowledge you are right” is small ball. And you hide under the skirt of censorship rather than answer to your anti American sentiment. You are over exposed Putz and are now dummying down your posts.

[KS]

Meanwhile, you are continuing to say nothing of substance in your posts.

[Duffman]

M.Steele, why are you lying?

[M.Steele]

Oh gosh, speaking of small balls.

[sparky]

Hah!

[Puget Sound]

c'mon M Steele,
elevate the discussion.

[M.Steele]

Really Putz? Your anti American rhetoric is asinine and your response was to “play gotcha”. I answer your questions whether you agree with them or not, why not answer mine?

Do you hate our President so much that you would wish dreadful consequences on our people? That is the height of hatred of our country. Any respect you have garnered has been lost by your inane comment.

--------------------------------------------------

Posted by: M.Steele | October 03, 2009 at 09:59 PM

And please put away your sock puppets.