HAYMAKER FROM THE RIGHT

By Edwin Cooney

The inevitable political blow invariably came from the Right’s mightiest right hand, Rush Hudson Limbaugh III. President Barack Hussein Obama was Righteous Rush’s target.

The occasion was Mr. Limbaugh’s hour-long speech on Saturday, February 28th at the close of CPAC, the Conservative bash which is held in the nation’s capital each February. The major topic of the conference was the new Obama administration and the danger it poses to capitalism and invariably to our freedom.

The topic could hardly have been otherwise, since no rational American could expect Conservatives to wish a “Democrat” president well. To do so would be downright unpatriotic. As Mr. Limbaugh said, rooting for a president is like rooting for the Pittsburgh Steelers or against the Arizona Cardinals. No kidding -- he really used that analogy!

Conservative America’s most famous citizen framed his Obama bash in a rather fascinating way. Since it’s far too early to analyze the results of the president’s deeds, Mr. Limbaugh first declared everything Conservative America has done to be a glowing success. Yet, the new president is considered a failure by what he’s likely to do before the results are even known. After all, he suggested, America became the leader of the world because the preamble of the United States Constitution grants the right of every citizen to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. Wrong document, Rush: “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” was the promise of the Declaration of Independence, not that of the Constitution. Accuracy must, of course, always surrender to Rush Limbaugh’s sense of the dramatic.

Even more to the point, recent disruptions on Wall Street aren’t in the least the fault of traditional American enterprise; everything is always the fault of government. Never mind what’s written in scripture. Men, especially enterprising profit seekers, are never greedy—unlike liberal welfare queens and labor unions. Of course, it’s a crime to suggest that corporate America is populated with “sinners” who need regulating. Corporations always have the best interests of the people at heart...even if they have historically refused to make working conditions sufficiently safe, to pay workers a decent living wage or have been guilty of marketing cheap or harmful products. They never favor their investments over their workers or customers.

Speaking of people, Rational Rush reiterated the notion that Liberals are “deranged.” Labeling the political opposition “deranged,” stupid or mentally ill isn’t a new strategy. Millions of Soviet citizens have wound up in Siberia or worse after having been so labeled.

Additionally, during his speech, Mr. Limbaugh passionately reminded Conservatives what Conservatism is about. A true Conservative makes no distinction between rich or poor, black or white, male or female. Conservatives only see people as individuals. Unlike Liberals, Mr. Limbaugh pontificated, Conservatives don’t see groups. They simply want individuals to become all they’re capable of becoming. It’s the Democrat Party which historically bears the burden of racism. He’s right, of course: the Democratic Party is the political cradle of American racism. However, what’s equally true is that the South is Republican today in large part because the new Conservative GOP inherited the Dixeycrats, the twentieth century Jim Crow South’s mouthpiece, after President Lyndon Johnson abandoned them in exchange for civil and voting rights legislation during the mid1960s.

Love for the Constitution, a vital touchstone of traditional Conservatism, was another passionate principle reiterated by the Right’s hulking huckster. However, even this love is a bit confusing. The Second Amendment, which guarantees the right to bear arms, is sacred, but the Sixteenth Amendment empowering Congress “to lay and collect taxes from whatever income source derived” is interpreted by Mr. Limbaugh as merely a “Liberal conspiracy” to steal from the rich. It matters not that this amendment was passed at a time when most northeastern, midwestern and western states had GOP legislatures or that Republican William Howard Taft was in the White House.

There were, however, a couple of golden moments in Mr. Limbaugh’s address. He asserted that President Obama is a man of extraordinary gifts, actually going so far as to quell the booing when he mentioned our president’s name. He also made the point that Conservatives shouldn’t be expected to leave their principles at home during the Obama administration. Fair enough. However, principle becomes mere helpless and whimpering temperamental obstinacy when it blinds itself to human needs.

As for the Right’s first mighty haymaker, it possessed some force but it was poorly aimed. In fact, it affected the Republican Party far more than it did the president. For it was GOP National Chairman Michael Steele who found it necessary to apologize to the Right’s mighty Rush for his reaction to the speech, not President Obama.

As for the future, the Angry Right will continue to lash out at President Obama and America’s search for stability, commonality and unity. In time, believe it or not, America will once again need Conservatism’s leadership—but not, it’s my guess, for a very long time.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,

EDWIN COONEY