Tue Oct 04, 2011 at 11:14 PM PT: Just realized that I should have emphasized that the end of this video is the important bit. Rush NEVER loses his cool the way he did with the caller that immediately followed me. Part of his appeal is that he's not like the "rest of them". He'll insult liberals, but you won't see throbbing veins and spittle flying. He's never out of control.
At least not until today. And today, he took it out on a ditto-head.
If you watch the video closely, you can see that he and his producer are messaging back and forth toward the end of my call. When Rush is informed that it's me - again - the slow boil begins. And oon enough it boils over when the next caller repeatedly mentions Bo Snerdley - Limbaugh's incompetent screener - that I had just duped... again.
With a well-timed pregnant pause, he can send Republicans scurrying. An exasperated sigh can kill national legislation in its tracks. As long as Republicans control the House, he has veto power over the national agenda.
And he's losing sleep at night because my merry band of pranksters are confounding him at every turn.
Look... When you've derailed a Republican President's Supreme Court nominee (Harriet Myers)... When you've set the Republican agenda for the entirety of the Obama presidency (make him fail: Obstruct, obstruct, obstruct)... When you routinely have Congressman (not to mention the Chairman of the Republican National Committee) call your program to personally apologize for asserting that you are not the head of the Republican Party... When you walk away from drug trafficking charges that mere mortals get sentenced to life for... When the media pretends not to notice when you personally broadcast a "satirical piece" calling Barack Obama a "spade" and his wife a "hoe" - the day after Imus is fired for similarly charged racial comments...
Well... when Rush Limbaugh's comfy little gig is regularly disrupted by a few bloggers with telephones, it shouldn't come as a surprise to see him get a little frustrated at his impotence when it comes to controlling the situation. (And yeah, his other impotence probably hurts a bit too...)
But when you see it play out in real time... When you see it affecting his work... Well, it's a thing of beauty.
Here it is. And remember, we're just getting started.
1,000 tiny cuts: Rush Limbaugh Edition
A coordinated campaign of liberal callers infiltrating Limbaugh's show, circumventing the screener, and peppering the host with a wide range of questions that Rush cannot possibly answer adequately (honestly, anyway), seems to be getting under his skin.
Today, Limbaugh was tearing into Dick Durbin because the Senator gave a floor speech that suggested Bank of America account holders should close their accounts and bank with some other institution that would not be so quick to nickle and dime them. (BoA just announced that they'd begin charging debit card users a $5 monthly fee).
The nut of Limbaugh's argument was that a United States Senator has no business interfering in the private sector like that. It's just not the role of elected officials, Rush says.
So I called and pretended to be Kevin from Clifton Park, NY. I told Snerdley that Rush can't have it both ways. If he's going to condemn Durbin for interfering in private sector markets, then he should equally condemn Republicans for interfering with the market services Planned Parenthood provides. Snerdley liked it and put me on hold.
While on hold, I started thinking of other times that Republicans attacked market actors. Like the Dixie Chicks. The New York Times... And then I remembered reading an old story about how Limbaugh came to be carried by the Armed Forces Radio network: Republican Congressman pressured the Pentagon's brass until they caved.
So I waited about an hour, and finally Rush got to my call. This is what I said, but you should really watch the video to get the full context of why this call is so revealing:
Me: "Hey Rush, you've talked about how Durbin... It's just not his place as a Senator to get involved. But I've heard Republicans get involved in telling women where they can get health care with Planned Parenthood, they said don't buy Dixie Chicks records, they've railed against the New York Times and I know of at least one impotent, pill-popping propagandist on the radio that got his start on the Armed Forces talk radio at the behest of Republican interference. So please don't tell us that it's not the place of a politician to talk out...talk out... speak out about issues that are important to millions and millions of people."
Rush: "I don't know what politician told people not to buy the Dixie Chicks records. What are you talking about? Planned Parenthood? You know... you... again... identify yourself and the way you think as another obstacle all the rest of us face for our freedom... you're just a glittering jewel of colossal ignorance... you're an arrogant snob... and arrogant, full-fledged snob and you don't know 10% of what you think you know... because you've been ill-informed, misinformed by a faulty education system or whatever it is. But, people like you... you're part of the pack we're gonna hafta run over... you're just part of the pack we're gonna look at and smile in the rear-view mirror in 2012. Take care Kevin, have a great day."
Rush's response to me could be considered humorous, but it's important to keep watching the video. Rush just absolutely empties both barrels into the next caller.
He's clearly agitated.
Good.