Rush seems to have struck a nerve

From The Politico:

Rush Limbaugh may command a large following, but his caustic comments Monday about the GOP’s congressional leadership have at least one Republican House member defending his colleagues and offering an unusually candid critique of the talk radio powerhouse and his fellow commentators.

Responding to President Obama’s recommendation to Republican congressional leaders last week that they not follow Limbaugh’s lead, the conservative talkmeister said on his show that Obama is “obviously more frightened of me than he is Mitch McConnell. He's more frightened of me, than he is of, say, John Boehner, which doesn't say much about our party."

Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Ga., did not take kindly to this assessment in an interview with Politico Tuesday.

“I think that our leadership, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, are taking the right approach,” Gingrey said. “I mean, it’s easy if you’re Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh or even sometimes Newt Gingrich to stand back and throw bricks. You don’t have to try to do what’s best for your people and your party. You know you’re just on these talk shows and you’re living well and plus you stir up a bit of controversy and gin the base and that sort of that thing. But when it comes to true leadership, not that these people couldn’t be or wouldn’t be good leaders, they’re not in that position of John Boehner or Mitch McConnell."

Asked to respond to Gingrey, Limbaugh, in an email to Politico, wrote: “I'm sure he is doing his best but it does not appear to be good enough. He may not have noticed that the number of Republican colleagues he has in the House has dwindled. And they will dwindle more if he and his friends don't show more leadership and effectiveness in battling the most left-wing agenda in modern history. And they won't continue to lose because of me, but because of their relationship with the grassroots, which is hurting. Conservatives want leadership from those who claim to represent them. And we'll know it when we see it.”

The back and forth comes as some on the right speak more openly about what they perceive as the lack of leadership in the Republican Party. Unapologetic conservatives, like Limbaugh would prefer to see elected Republicans confront the new president. But many GOP officials, daunted by the new president’s approval rating and what they believe is fatigue on the part of voters over partisan fighting, are loath to openly criticize Obama.

Rush is entirely correct. The average conservative voter wants to see genuine conservatism from our elected Republicans. That is, after all, what we sent these clowns to Washington for.

What we are getting instead is cringing timidity from scared little men who seem more determined to listen to their Democrat opponents, and the liberal media (sorry, redundant) than their own constituents.

The problem is that the GOP House members and Senators are forgetting history. They need to remember that in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 and the beginning of the war George W Bush had an approval rating near 70% and how Charles Schumer circulated a memo among his fellow Democrats warning them that if they didn't start working NOW to drive these numbers down that Democrats wouldn't stand a chance of retaking the legislature or the White House.

Republicans need to realize how seriously Democrats took Schumer's advice and how well their efforts to demonize the president worked.

The GOP also needs to remember the history of the Clinton's first term and how he passed tax increases against united Republican opposition. By standing together in opposition the Republican party drew a clear distinction between themselves and the Democrats and in the midterm elections made massive gains, seizing control of both houses of congress.

Right now the Obama administration is attempting to ram the largest spending program in the history of the world through congress. Very little about this "stimulus program" will actually stimulate the economy. Most of it is make-work projects and pork intended to help liberal politicians buy votes and pay off loyal constituents.

The truth is that Obama's plan will siphon massive amounts of capital out of the private economy where it could be put to productive use and pour it down a giant rat hole. And worse the massive debt created by this boondoggle will continue to suck resources out of the private economy for generations to come.

Obama knows this.

The Democrat leadership in the House and Senate know this.

Why else is Obama so desperate to get Republicans to co-sign his plan when he has the numbers in both chambers to get the legislation passed without one Republcan vote?

Obama knows that his plan won't do what he claims it will. He needs the GOP to accept partial responsibility for the coming disaster in order to give himself and his party cover when the absolutely inevatible and eaisly predictable blowup happens.

Republicans might not knwo their history but Obama and the Democrats do. They know that after the crash of 1929 that Hoover and then FDR did exactly what they are trying to do with the result that a recession turned into a depression.

So why, you might ask, are Obama and the Democrats so determined to ram this spending bill through congress when they know that it will only make things worse?

The answer is to be found in history. Look at how Roosevelt was able to use the public's fear and desperation over the Great Depression to grow the federal government.

That is the lesson that the Democrats learned from history and if the GOP doesn't learn it as well the nation will be doomed to repeat that history.