So his take is that problems with moral character can be set aside for great political causes. Ah, Rush... where have you been all my life? Which is to say, 8 years ago.
"Why have I been working for feeble minded crooks? Because otherwise they might lose!"
I no longer am going to have to carry the water for people who I don't think deserve having their water carried.
Shorter Rush: Someone just took the President's cock out of my mouth!
Shorter Rush: "It's Everybody's Fault But Mine"
Wait, that's unfair, I know there's blood in the water but let's not go crazy--Rush's post makes perfect sense. It's the most honest thing I recall him ever saying.
I've "carried water" for candidates I didn't think deserved having their water carried, and for precisely the same reason: because I thought the other side was worse. I've supported candidates who absolutely disgusted me in some ways. Haven't we all?
The only surprising thing here is that Rush is apparantly a human being after all.
OT: Did you guys know that GFR has a blog? I don't know why I find that weird, but I do. Strangely, no NBA or Wire posts that I can see.
The Garance. Fair warning: she comes off as...different, somehow, than she came across (initially) at TAPPED. Not worse, but different. And, as CHANGEBAD, that's discomfiting. She writes well, though (apparently) only intermittently.
6: I've certainly supported candidates only because I thought the other guy was worse. I'm not sure I've ever made my living by lying to a millions of people about this. Are you sure it's not a relevant difference?
11- is it? I'm not sure why. Well, I guess the lying.
Right, Number of people is just to get at the magnitude of what Rush is confessing to; it would also be bad if I was supporting a candidate who I thought objectively sucked but was better than his opponent but only lying to a friend or a couple of friends about this.
An obvious follow up question it's different to hand out campaign literature for a candidate whom you think sucks. To hand out campaign literature which makes a claim (or claims) you don't think are true?
An obvious follow up question is whether it's different
She writes well, though (apparently) only intermittently.
What? Next you'll be telling me that without an editor, Ygelsias can't spell.
Good for her for getting a blog. I hope she stretches out a bit. Her FAQ about her name makes it sound like she's a lot more interesting than much of what she wrote at TAPPED would indicate.
6: The difference may lie in what "carrying water" actually involves, and not just in terms of the numbers.
I'm sure many people can recall having carried water for, say, John Kerry simply because the other guy was worse. I'm not sure I can recall many of those people finding occasion to make fun of the cripple in order to lighten their burden.
Good for her for getting a blog. I hope she stretches out a bit. Her FAQ about her name makes it sound like she's a lot more interesting than much of what she wrote at TAPPED would indicate.
I thought she was pretty excellent at TAPPED. And I did note at least one Yglesias-like grammatical error on first page entries. (I often wonder what happens to w-lfs-n when he visits Yglesias's site.)
So did the hottest of pundits quit, get fired, take a book break, or what?
We had a German-Italian supervisor at one of my jobs and her nickname was "The Axis Power".
Interesting post on the Ford-miscegenation ad. She thinks it was partially aimed at women: if you want to vote for Ford, it's because you're a skanky ho like the bare-shouldered blonde. I wouldn't have thought of it, but it could be.
4: Shorter Rush: Someone just took the President's cock out of my mouth!
Arg! Even on Unfogged, the most wicked cocksucker site in the world, we're still stigmatizing fellatio! As a card carrying member of the WCCTDF* (we're working on a better name), I must object.
*Wizard Cocksucker Campaign to Destigmatize Fellatio
16- Right, yeah, that's of course awful, and I get your point. I think my point was that it's a bit refreshing to hear Rush say "that was all complete bullshit, of course I didn't really believe it, I was just trying to help win elections". Even though he obviously says things that are beyond the pale, it's easier for me to accept this as a motive than that he actually believes those things.
RE19
That is an interesting post. The ad also had a black women saying "he is attractive. Isn't that good enough?" which fits with the theory.
Blowing Rush Limbaugh should retain its stigma, thanks.
Of course I meant "blowing George Bush," not that what I wrote was false.
Both being blown by Rush Limbaugh and blowing President Bush might be relevant to 20. I don't see how 23 is.
Perhaps I need a refresher course in that nice-sounding Grice fellow Emerson was talking about earlier today.
I thought she was pretty excellent at TAPPED.
I had no complaints, mind you. I just think having one's own blog offers the opportunity to write more and different kinds of things than one might otherwise. And it would be interesting to see her do that.
18: Can we not?
19: It is an interesting post. When I read it, I thought, "That's wrong." But I'm coming around. Weird data point that I'm embarrassed to know but which mildly supports the theory: at one point, it was bad business for porn stars to do interracial porn because it depressed their appeal in the South. (I can't swear that's right, because I can't recall where or when I read it . Jena Jameson interview, maybe?)
I just think having one's own blog offers the opportunity to write more and different kinds of things than one might otherwise. And it would be interesting to see her do that.
I agree. I thought her TAPPED posts were good, but they were long and pretty formal and journalist-y, probably because it was an official blog of a serious magazine and she felt she had to stay in serious-journalist mode (or something like that). This new blog seems bloggier and more informal.
21: Fair enough.
19: It's an interesting post, but this seems wrong: The ad’s message was as much about women’s fears of being seen as sexually loose as about any concern with interacial sex.
Surely it's precisely the perceived skeeviness of interracial sex that would give sufficient punch to a play on the fears of slatternliness. I find it hard to believe that this would have found purchase against a white candidate.
30: That's more or less what I wanted to say, but couldn't, for some reason. I think the effectiveness of that part of the ad might depend on the hidden notion that if you're slutty enough to go for a black guy, you really are a slut. OTOH, the woman was made up to seem false and not very attractive, so do normal women identify with her?
OTOH, the woman was made up to seem false and not very attractive, so do normal women identify with her?
The point was to make "normal" [read: white, middle class] women distance themselves from her - and her choices - by making them feel that they were "better" than some skanky slag who'll do anyone [read: black stud who hangs out with the immoral Playboy crowd]. Had she been beautiful and classy, the message would have been to identify with her, mimic her choices. It's the Jerry Springer effect: make the audience feel superior by showing the least attractive examples of humanity on stage, after which they can be manipulated at will.
I don't doubt that there was a strong sexual innuendo in that ad, but I do think it was inextricably entwined with basic racism. If you elect this man, he will ravage your virgin daughters and impregnate them with his darkie genes.
The lady didn't look all that skanky to me.
33: Which proves you're a total slut.
In my circles skanks have to either show serious signs of being serious tweakers, or else be 70 lbs. overweight. We have standards. Words have meanings.
it's a bit refreshing to hear Rush say "that was all complete bullshit, of course I didn't really believe it, I was just trying to help win elections".
Which, of course, he didn't. That's the best part. It's even possible, I suppose, that the whole Fox controversy pissed off enough people to push McCaskill over the edge. Anyway, that's the story I'm telling my Republican acquaintances--some of whom do listen to Rush--for the next two years: "You know, if Rush had shut his yap, maybe you could've kept the Senate."