From http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/200903 ... tico/19596



More to the story, but it's very interesting. Limbaugh is highly unpopular with anyone that's not to the far Right. Yet he still somehow manages to have a serious amount of influence with the Republican party. I genuinely don't get it. Why would Republicans lend so much credence to someone whose views are obviously not in line with the majority of Americans?

The fact that Michael Steele had to call Limbaugh and apologize after lambasting him is must mind-boggling. The Chairman of the RNC has to apologize to a talk show host for saying honest, truthful things about him? Holy shit. Talk about eating crow.

If the Republicans don't want to look completely out of touch with the rest of America, they're going to have to find a way to distance themselves from Limbaugh and his rhetoric.

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Limbaugh used to crow on is program in the late 90's and early part of this decade that his listeners numbered in the multi-millions a day. He quoted a number that at the time was verifiable that was higher than any other program, in history, for daily audience count.

I'm betting his numbers still clock to the 10-15 million plus a day.

For the most unpopular of people, he sure has a HELL of a lot of Listeners in his audience.

His audience strength of numbers DEMANDS respect in his industry and in politics. Whether you or I agree with his opinions or not. He speaks. and about 1/10 of all America hears it, instantly. No other news based or politics based program now or in history can say the same thing.

Note: I used to agree with a lot of what he said. But then I'm still more conservative than anything else. Dunno if I agree with him these days as I haven't really listened in about 5 years. Like him or hate him. you cant deny the power of his voice or the strength of his listeners whether they like him or not either.

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"People sometimes say that ideas cannot be stamped out by force. The Albigensian Crusade proves them wrong. Ideas can be stamped out by the elimination of everyone who holds the ideas." - Quote :"Middle Ages" by Morris Bishop.

Between 2005 and 2006, Rush Limbaugh went from having 20 million listeners a week to 13.5 million. The number now is probably significantly lower. More entertaining is the fact that a significant portion of Limbaugh's listeners are liberals, who are essentially listening to either know what the "other team" is saying, or to just mock Rush.

So while he might be getting 12 million listeners a week or so, many of them don't really give a shit about his views. Not to mention that the number is padded by people who might tune in for a few minutes at most, or who listened to one particular topic. It includes everyone who listened in at any point, for any length of time during the week.

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Remember the Howard Stern lesson. People who hate you tend to listen/watch your show for longer periods of time than do people who agree with you.

I think it is funny that the Democrat party is focusing on a RADIO PERSONALITY as the epicenter of all that is evil.

I will admit that he is better organized than the Republican party but still, he is just a radio guy. How much power does he have? Gov. Palin has more actual power than Rush Limbaugh

Still, you can look at and compare polls and you'll find that there's still a large percentage of Americans(not the majority by any means, but large) that stand by Rush on many of the issues, even the way he presents his views on them. It's not as if he represents no one at all. The right-wing of the party and ideology that Rush represents is still a fairly large force to be reckoned with. With him, I wouldn't be too surprised if there was a fairly large chunk of those millions that actually do agree with him. Majority probably disagree with him on a good bit, though, granted.

It's a good tactic, really. What's sad is that it's actually working for them. It's the very fact that you outlined that's hilarious - he has no tangible authority, but he's being stuck front and center as the main bad guy. That works to the Democratic party's advantage.

I think the whole point is just that - he's not an elected officlal, yet he's had multiple Republicans over the past week or two try to distance themselves from his rhetoric and then end up publically backtracking (Steele, Jindal, etc.). Each time someone new makes a show of kissing the ring, it just gives him more authority as the de facto party head (especially when the head of the RNC is one of the ones scrambling to appease).

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Hope is the new black.

Bearne wins.

Does she? I don't see people having to kiss her ass publicly like the RNC Chairman did. Limbaugh, for whatever reasons, has a ton of influence in the Republican Party. Which is hilarious, because he's a fucking whacko.

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I think Bearne reads too much Andrew Sullivan

Rush is an idiot. The Obama administration now has this weeks version of the evil corporate CEO's. They must be thanking their lucky stars, because they can now demonize and focus attention away from anything they do that might remotely be controversial.

His numbers go up when a Democrat is in the White House. I actually think he hopes a Democrat will win so he will be able to be on the attack.

Rush Limbaugh and Hannity represent both the best and worst of the Republican party.

They represent the best in that they support fiscal conservatism.

However, they also are cheap entertainment who drag the party down.

I feel like I should have a lot to write - I used to be an avid listener. As I grew up a little and actually challenged what they were spouting, you see how ridiculously paper-thin most of their positions are.

I think this has shown Linbaugh as he truly is. He is not a true conservative or he wouldn't have allowed himself to be used to destroy the party he claims to be a part of. He has nurtured this story because he is a power-hungry egotist whose advertisers are undoubtedly ecstatic at all the free publicity.

Many kudos to Begala, Carville & Emanuel for their masterful use of this mess. The best political move the Democrats have made in a decade.

I'm enjoying the conspiracy theories.

I think Carville summed it up when he said that Rush started the entire "conspiracy" himself by uttering the words "I hope Obama fails". People tend not to take it too lightly when you suggest that you hope the President of the United States fails.

Rush Limbaugh is a fucking retarded piece of shit. He's not relevant unless he says something ridiculous and he knows it. He was probably high on xanax again. Fuckhead.

That didn't take long.

Lol, well, painkiller references where painkiller references are due.

Florida's newest congressman, Alan Grayson (D-Orlando), probably has the best quote on the matter:Gotta love voters who elect someone who doesn't hide his intent.

You have to be a little crazy to 1) Live in Orlando; and 2) Want to represent the people that live in Orlando.

Hah hah! That's awesome. I'd vote for him just for saying that.

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He is unpopular with me and I am politically middle of the road. I think he is the modern day Archie Bunker and that he gets far too much credit and air time for the hypocrite shit he spews.

The character of Archie Bunker was created/played to debunk the garbage coming out of his mouth. To be polite, I struggle to believe that of Limbaugh.

I'm currently working to decide between offers of admission at schools in Orlando and in the ATL. I didn't realize Orlandians were all crazy.

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Hope is the new black.

Obviously you're gonna wanna consider the source.

Nah, I just want Jox to be paranoid that I might be stalking him starting in the fall. I don't have offers quite yet from ATL schools, but I'm shortlisted at two of them, and expect an offer from at least one. I do have an offer in Orlando, though.

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Hope is the new black.

What school/program in Orlando, Bearne?

Stay away from Clayton County in ATL, they lost their accreditation. It's a trap! to quote Admiral Akbar..

If you were looking for a good town, I'd rate ATL much higher than Orlando. Lots to do here, and people are generally pretty nice. Mind if I ask which part of town you'd be working in?

Ph.D. in Accounting. I've been accepted to Central Florida, and at this point I am shortlisted at Emory and Georgia State, with radio silence from the remaining four schools.

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Hope is the new black.

I don't know what kind of lifestyle you'd like to live, but I'd imagine ATL fits it better than Orlando. Based on your posts.. Orlando is a pretty conservative, straight-laced city with not a whole lot happening. ATL has something for everyone, and the areas both schools are in have a lot going on. Have you visited both cities yet?

If I get into either of the ATL schools, I'll be heading there. If I do, I'm strongly considering living somewhere around Decatur and using a combination of MARTA, ZipCar, and university shuttles to get around. I highly doubt I can afford Midtown on a doctoral student budget.

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Hope is the new black.

I'm work within walking distance of GA State. We could grab a bit to eat for lunch if you could stand my aura of pure evil that trails me.

Good luck. I love ATL, you just need to live in the right part of town.

I'm always up for lunch.

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Hope is the new black.

Joxur, I'm sad You've never offered to have lunch with me!

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

I'm game - I keep forgetting. Do you work downtown? Send me a pm.

What's the right part of town? Or, perhaps most importantly, since I'll be on a very tight doctoral student budget, what are the wrong parts of town?

The suggestions I've gotten, considering price, proximity to 'stuff,' public transit access & general safety is, for Emory, Druid Hills, Decatur, and East Atlanta. For GSU (specifically using MARTA), I've been told Decatur, Edgewood for the East/West lines and Sandy Springs, North Springs, Chamblee, Doraville.

I like Midtown, but it seems to be pretty pricey. From what I've seen Decatur seems like it has a good combination of a nice walkable downtown area and proximity to public transit. Not sure of its affordability, though.

I own a car now, but it is a 2001 with about 85,000 miles, and I won't really be able to afford a car loan while in school. So I want to be able to commute via subway and/or school shuttles and reserve the car for shopping, weekend trips, etc., to keep it running longer.

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Hope is the new black.

little five points, cabbagetown, decatur, east atlanta will be your primary points of interest as a student at either emory or gsu.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

Decatur is awesome. Nor urban, it's a bit removed. You could get to campus from MARTA living there, but you'd have to drive to grocery store and anywhere else, really. To be honest, Atlanta is a driving city unless you live in Midtown, and even then......

GA Tech is downtown, you could look at finding a roommate, too.

Little Five Points is a fun place to visit on Friday's, not sure I'd wanna live there myself. But, it's definitely eclectic if that's your thing.

You should really look hard at apartments in midtown if you go to state. It is definitely more expensive but if you can find something, it's got everything you'd want and it's actually rather pretty if you pick a good spot, near piedmont park especially.

one bedrooms in decent buildings near piedmont park ran at least $1200/mo when I last checked, granted it's been a few years.

L5P you can find a decent 1br for like $650, even if the building looks a little shady, you'll have a good landlord.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

update: been accepted into Georgia State.

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Hope is the new black.

Congrats man. Let me know if you need me to pick up anything and mail it to you.

Awesome! Sorry you're not headed to Florida, but glad you got in where you want.

I'm very sorry. Georgia fucking sucks.

Wait until you watch the local news and half of it is about race. "City Council divided down racial lines!" "Racial epithet used at grocery store!" "Black mayor says white people don't understand!" Gods, it was sickening.

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Yeah, the South is still pretty shitty even today. If there is one thing I know for sure, it's that I'd never live in the South, especially not Georgia of all places.

Good luck and congratulations though.

Yeah, the local politics are totally on racial lines. Atl is no exception.

But i did enjoy the mayor comment. I think it was a CA mayor who came up with this picture.

And the people of the South are so very glad that you won't be living here either.

Heh, just be careful if you make a southern joke around a southener. They take that shit as personally as Canadians do about their country. It's serious business, and you'll be called a biased hater long before you're able to spit out "just kidding".

I'd rather live in a progressive liberal city that fits my lifestyle rather than some place where racism and prejudice is still prevalent. Shrug. Whatever the fuck floats your boat, right?

Atlanta has the third largest gay community in the US behind San Francisco and Boston.

No it's not.

Apparently Joxur fails at statistics, among other things. Atlanta has the 3rd largest portion of the population that is gay, not the "largest gay community".

Yeah, I saw the same results he did when I Googled it. However, it's laughable (and proves my point about Wikipedia, etc) that he thinks Atlanta has a bigger gay population than NYC, LA, San Fran, etc. 3rd largest, my ass you fucking retarded motherfucker.

How does his failure at interpretation prove your point about anything?

Because people take whatever they find as truth, and it's not always appropriate, or true, in all contexts. (Or any.)

I applied to three schools in Atlanta on purpose. I really liked the city when I visited last summer.

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Hope is the new black.

There's a certain amount of irony that Joxur took that tidbit of info at face value(Atlanta obviously has a bigger gay population than NYC!), and also happens to be the guy who posts anything negative he can get his hands on about Obama.

It's more a failure of common sense than of interpretation. It might be interpretive if Joxur had no concept of the population disparity between the two cities, which would also make Joxur a bigger douchebag than all previous estimates.

Ahh yes, you both are right..

The fact that it's more likely you'll run into a gay person in Atlanta than almost any other city, including NYC, means that Atlanta is a shithole, intolerant of people who are different from the stereotypical southerner. I'm pretty sure Iran has more gay people than Atlanta, too..

Oh, and it also has one of the largest black middle class populations in the country.

But yeah, Atlanta is such an intolerant place. Carry on!

Oh, and I almost forgot. It's one of the best places to be single, too. Maybe you guys could come over and meet some women without hair on their chests. Worth a road trip, at least.

I never said anything about hating gays. I said there are still deep racial biases and prejudices, which if you admitted, you'd be seen for the fucking sack of shit lame ass you truly are. You stepped it up, bud, and in this case, you were wrong. Eat your crow, I bet you're hungry.