Michael Steele: de facto leader of the GOP

Rush Limbaugh is big and fat, but he is not an idiot. Earlier this week Michael Steele, playing into Rahm Emanuel's pitch of Rush as the new head of the GOP, declared the man a simple "entertainer."


Naturally, De Jure Leader Steele turned around the next day and apologized to Defacto Leader Rush.

Steele was right to criticize Rush's bombast, but for the wrong reasons. Rush will do whatever he thinks will best brighten the spotlight he's dragged behind him for the past 20 years. He'd claim he's defending "conservatism," but the reality is that he's pandering for the biggest share of the radio audience.

From the NY Times Sunday Magazine cover story on Rush from last summer, the most revealing of quotes into his personality (emphasis mine):

Limbaugh can afford to live the way he wants. When we met he was on the verge of signing a new eight-year contract with his syndicator, Premiere Radio Networks. He estimated that it would bring in about $38 million a year. To sweeten the deal, he said he was also getting a nine-figure signing bonus. (A representative from Premiere would not confirm the deal.) “Do you know what bought me all this?” he asked, waving his hand in the general direction of his prosperity. “Not my political ideas. Conservatism didn’t buy this house. First and foremost I’m a businessman. My first goal is to attract the largest possible audience so I can charge confiscatory ad rates. I happen to have great entertainment skills, but that enables me to sell airtime.”

So Rush doesn't give a shit about the GOP or conservatism. It's just an act to get the most ignorant neocon wannabes (well, maybe not the MOST ignorant -- they listen to Michael Savage) to tune in everyday and listen to ads. Listening to the EIB network, it's almost impossible to tell the difference between content and commercial as Rush directly pitches half the shit anyway. And it all seems to be made in Missouri.