Rush Might Not Vote For President - What about the Fairness Doctrine?
Rush might not vote for president.
CALLER: But, Rush, there’s enough of us… We all have problems with the fact that none of them are true conservatives, but isn’t something better than nothing?
RUSH: Well, let me try and explain it to you this way. If one such as myself happens to believe that there’s not too much of a substantive difference between Mrs. Clinton and a couple of the Republican potential nominees — and if I believe that either the Republican or Democrat nominee is going to cause great damage and harm to the country — I would just as soon it happen on the watch of a Democrat.
CALLER: Well, that certainly helps. That makes me feel a little better.
RUSH: Look, that statement I made is based on substantive analysis. It was a knee-jerk, and I didn’t just throw it out there to be picked up. I knew it would be, but that’s not why I threw it out there, and I’ll tell you, Dee, it’s rooted in the fact that — I’m blue in the face here — I’m a conservative first and a, quote, unquote, Republican second — and party unity, at the expense of conservative principles and values to me is not advancing things.
CALLER: Well, in the case of Rudy Giuliani… I know you’re not going to back anybody. I’m not really quite sure who I’m going to back, who I’m going to vote for, but at least he said he would appoint conservative judges. And fiscally he’s good. Crime he’s good. I mean, you know, if you really have to weigh it all, to me, that’s where it is right now.
RUSH: I have weighed it all. I didn’t say that there are no Republicans that I would vote for. Did you assume I meant that?
CALLER: Yes, I did.
RUSH: Oh, no, no, no. No. Just a couple, maybe one. (sigh) It’s not all of them by any stretch of the imagination.
Having listened to Rush for nearly a decade now I think I have a good feeling as to who he’s talking about - Senator McCain. I know I won’t vote for the man. I wouldn’t vote for Governor Huckabee either. Assuredly, they are both fine men who have a number of accomplishments to point to. Unfortunately, they aren’t conservatives.
The only problem with this tactic is that it means we are opening ourselves up to possibly another two-term Clinton presidency. Senator Hillary Clinton, being decidedly more statist/socialist/communist than her husband will try much harder to push through far-reaching social programs that will collapse our economy. Universal health care, destruction of the military, illiberal trade policies, an ever-increasing nanny state, and, unfortunately for Rush and every other conservative on radio, the Fairness Doctrine.
If a liberal gets the presidency they will, without a doubt, push through the Fairness Doctrine. They will probably have both the House and the Senate and will not have much of a problem getting some type of anti-1st Amendment legislation passed into law. This would be a no-brainer for Hillary (or Obama) because one of the biggest roadblocks to President Bill Clinton’s term in office was talk radio. The man said so himself on a number of occasions that he hated talk radio; he even accused talk radio hosts of encouraging those behind the Oklahoma City bombing.
Of course a lot has changed since those wild days when talk radio was the only form of media that wasn’t dominated by liberals. Still, re-implementing the Fairness Doctrine would be a major blow to the conservative movement because radio is still the medium most used by conservatives today. Rush, Hannity, Hewitt, Ingraham, Prager, and every other conservative’s voice would be silenced.
Unfortunately the same thing could happen if McCain or Huckabee were elected president. McCain hates talk radio because he’s not a CONSERVATIVE and would gladly sell them out so he could get his legislation passed. Likewise, Huckabee holds no allegiance to talk radio and probably doesn’t understand its significance or, if he does, doesn’t like it (like McCain).
So what should we do? Should we elect a democrat liberal or a republican liberal? The answer is - neither. We need to make our voices heard in the primaries so we can stave off a Carter-like presidency. Thompson, my choice, is out. That means we are left with Romney (second choice) and Giuliani (third choice). A lot is going to be settled shortly with Super Tuesday just around the corner. Do we want to have 4-8 years of liberal leadership or do we want to restore conservatism to the top office?
If Romney or Giuliani don’t get the republican nomination we might as well turn off our radios because the government will be turning them off for us soon after the election. BigT
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Amazing that in the total absence of data you’d assume that Gov. Huckabee is for the [un]Fairness Doctrine.
Of course, given the elite Eastern talk radio “jihad” against him, such an assumption apparently seems logical.
But to attack Huck without any facts whatsoever is wholly irresponsible.
BTW, Romney is no “true conservative” He’s a focus-group driven wonk that flip-flops for political gain.
Romney is the latest darling of the MSM because he polls as the weakest candidate against the Democrats. They know that Romney plays into virtually every elite, country-club, big business, establishment stereotype the media pushes about Republicans.
Many Heartlanders will assume that given the collapse of Rudy’s Florida strategy, the clubby New York-Boston-Washington Ivy League golf & cocktail circuit (to which all network types and most talk radio pundits apparently aspire) has settled on Romney because he’s from that discrete and insular social strata. The Ivy League snobs simply can’t risk someone in power who didn’t matriculate at a selective Eastern college or who hasn’t genuflected to the REAL powers on Wall Street and Madison Avenue.
Comment by Speedzzter — January 25, 2008 @ 8:42 am
It’s amazing how ignorant people become when they limit their knowledge of current events to the bilge Rush and his clones spill out over the airwaves. While I agree McCain would probably be supportive of the Fairness Doctrine, I can’t make a blanket statement like that — my only “proof” is McCain-Finegold, a different animal.
What of Huckabee? Why would he be inclined to support the suppression of free speech? I’m sure the author has bought into the media myth that he’s just some hayseed hick Baptist Preacher who wants a pulpit in the Rose Garden. Here are some interesting facts about Huckabee the author may not have caught in his exhaustive research:
1. Huckabee served 10 1/2 years as Governor of Arkansas where he brought the state out of the Third World mire left behind by Clinton and Jim Guy Tucker. Schools from 49th in the nation to 8th, rebuilt infarastructure, cut taxes 94 times (and raised them 5 times) with a net per-year tax increase that was less that Mitt’s tax increases, er, fees. Oh, and an $800 million surplus.
2. Huckabee served 1 1/2 years as lieutenant governor. One of few Republicans to do that since Reconstruction. He won re-election in a largely DemoKKKrat state, earning 48% of the African-American vote. Also unheard of for a Southern Republican.
3. You already know this… He was a Baptist Preacher serving in two pastorates.
4. This is the reason he would oppose the Fairness Doctrine:
a. He was a media owner
b. He was a CONSERVATIVE TALK SHOW HOST — albeit, probably not as good as El rushbo
c. He owned Christian media — which would be crushed by the Fairness Doctrine
I won’t pass judgment on the author — I can’t tell you how many times I posted something without having anything but my impressions and my opinion to back it up. However, before making fantastic claims that a Christian media owner and talk show host would enact the Fairness Doctrine and crush his own industry because of a snit over Limbaugh, check some facts. Speaking of snits, all this started because some guy posing as a Huckabee staffer in Washington called Rush an “entertainer”. Turns out, Huckabee didn’t even have staff in Washington — it was all a hoax and Rush has probably known that for several weeks now.
Comment by Quiverdaddy — January 25, 2008 @ 4:11 pm