A close friend of mine, and an Obama supporter, asked me today what I thought about Rush Limbaugh’s latest act: openly rooting for our President to fail. To use my friend’s words, he called it un-American, un-patriotic, illogical, selfish, and indefensible. He went on to elaborate on how Rush clearly has left the O’Reilly/Hannity group and now belongs in the same class as bookies, drug dealers, and suicide cult leaders. Clearly my friend was a bit worked up. But does he have a point? Personally, I’ve always felt that Limbaugh belonged in the Ann Coulter/Michael Moore/Bill Maher group - where entertainment and commentary intersect. (Glenn Beck is the first bridge between that group and the O’Reilly’s of the world.)
But is it un-American to hope for Obama’s new ideas to fail? Most of us, myself included, cannot afford to think that way. But let’s say you’re wealthy enough to debate it on theoretical grounds, and you believe that Obama’s 1-trillion-spent in the first 30 days threatens capitalism. We all know where this is going: once the economy recovers, taxes will be going up and there will likely be a continued weakening of the dollar. It seems that Obama has chosen to try to cure our short term problems by exacerbating our long-term problems. And I think we all know that if the economy bounces back in a huge way in the next few years, that it’s unlikely Obama will be cutting back on gov’t spending or regulation. Our gov’t has proven in the past that its footprint only grows. We’re moving towards the European model, one that’s been proven to be less successful. And when we do recover, many will credit Obama’s tax-and-spend policy-making, reminiscent of the FDR days. I can’t afford to root against our country’s economic success any more than the left wingers could afford to root against our effort in Iraq during the Bush years. Is it possible to hope we can succeed in spite of Obama’s approach, rather than because of it?
Last 3 posts by Casey
- Score one for the YES side - April 21st, 2009
- Rooting for Failure? - March 3rd, 2009
- Feathering the Failure Nest - February 26th, 2009
The thing I don’t get is why it’s so “unAmerican” and wrong to bash the blessed Obama, yet virtually socially unacceptable to NOT bash Bush. Such a freaking double standard. Drives me insane.
I don’t want the US economy to go into a depression. However, I am not proud to admit that when I saw the Dow go below 7000, I felt some sense of happiness/relief/satisfaction. Why? It said to me that Wall Street can see through the “economic magic” being pushed by the White House. Very little of what has come out of Washington is stimulus in any form. They also see the mounting debt and recognize the danger it puts the country in. Have you heard any of the commentary on Obama’s call to buy stocks yesterday? They think its laughable.
So although I do not wish the country to fail, I do not want Obama’s laws to pass/succeed. I’m not sure if that sides me with Rush or not. I can’t help but see a comparison to the stance taken by Democrats on the Iraq war… they wanted it to fail so their criticism would be justified, but they didn’t really want to lose the war…
This also goes to the issue of double-speak in Washington, especially on the issue of bi-partisanship (although nothing could be farther from the intent of a two-party system). If both parties vote for a bill, that subsequently has negative consequences, they both are guilty. But if one party votes against a bill, and its passage has negative consequences, then they are the heroes. You could argue that Rush isn’t trying to ride the line of guilt by association, he is totally distancing himself from what many Americans think is horrible economic policy.
So agree with what Rush is doing or not, I understand it…
Where does my good friend Lou Dobbs fit in the entertainment vs informative spectrum? Hold on for a second - I need to call in and respond to one of his unbiased poll questions - OK, done. This one was “Do you think Obama’s unthoughtout, economic stifling, business ruining stimulus plan will get the economy moving?”
You know what I really see as an issue with Rush, Hannity, and so many of the Republican mouthpieces??? Although I generally support the republican position, I rarely agree with them. I think they are just as corrupt as the politicians they criticize. And it worries me when they get this much media attention because it would appear now that Rush is the voice of the modern day republican… and despite his $30M-or-so a year contract… he’s not.
I am going to agree with Rush. I totally think it’s possible to cheer that Obama’s policies fail and still be 100% patriotic. Something Rush said during his speech to CPAC was that Obama is a temporary steward of the United States. I take this to mean that we have to put our country’s best interests before our president’s interests. If our president is implementing policies that are dangerous for the long-term outlook of our country, long after he’s done being the president/steward, then we have voice that concern.
If the country succeeds under Obama, it won’t be because of his policies, but that’s what everyone, the media, historians, teachers, etc will attribute it to. Then when all these problems inevitably return bigger next time, they’ll turn to the amazing Obama policies of the 2000’s for guidance and make the problems even worse.
Rush is entertaining, but he is also consistently right. Apparently he’s brilliant too, at least that’s what he says.
I am going to agree with your friend. I hope Obama is right. I don’t have a vested interest in any ideology and no one should really. If he does succeed, then maybe we were all wrong. What I am worried about is that I know he will not succeed. His policies and ideology are flawed. I have no doubt. What I hope happens, is that credit will be given where credit is due. In politics, any good outcome is attributable to whoever is in power unfortunately rather than trying to figure out what really happened. Since there are so many moving variables, no one can really point to “proof” their policies worked or didn’t. Further, when do you measure the results? Sometimes these things take decades to completely come to fruition. Anyway, I hope things get better bottom line. All I can do in the meantime is prepare myself for the future based on what I believe will be the consequences of Mr Obama’s policies. I think the stock market is doing the same. Hence we hit a 12 year low.
I just saw the most recent office episode and one of Michael’s quote was perfect for this post.
David, the CFO: Michael, what do you want me to do now?
Michael: Well, David, I will be honest with you. I do want the credit, without any of the blame.
Too funny!