Rush Owww
by digby
Mike Stark is just brilliant. He thoroughly flummoxed Limbaugh today, in just the right way. This is just a piece of the conversation. You really have to listen to the whole thing.
STARK: Why is Reagan a hero to conservatives? RUSH: “Why is Reagan a hero to conservatives?” I don’t think you… Given what you’ve said, and I’m not trying to avoid the question, I don’t think you’d ever understand it. STARK: Well, he’s a tax raiser, an amnesty giver, a cut-and-runner, and he negotiated with terrorists. Why is he a hero to conservatives? I don’t think you understand it. RUSH: No, I do. Most assuredly I do. I just don’t think that you would understand it. Where did you get this silly notion that Reagan raised taxes on Social Security? What websites do you read? Where did you pick that up? STARK: Look up the Greenspan Commission. It’s not too hard to find. I mean, it’s a matter of history. RUSH: Where did you get it? I mean, you’re asking me questions. I’m just reversing one on you here. STARK: I’m sorry. It’s just general knowledge. It’s something I’ve known for a long time. I can’t remember where I got it from. RUSH: You can’t remember? You’ve never heard of a website called Media Matters which highlighted it yesterday? STARK: (static) Oh, no. I know Media Matters very well but that’s not where I got it. RUSH: Oh, not where you got it. It’s an amazing coincidence. STARK: (static) I mean, I’m a liberal. Of course I know Media Matters. RUSH: Amazing coincidence out there. STARK: They’re a fantastic website. But why are you dodging the question? I want to know why a tax-raising, amnesty-giving, cut-and-running, negotiating-with-terrorists guy is a hero to the conservative movement. RUSH: Well, because you understand Reagan in a way that is flawed. You – Your call is actually kinda interesting because you represent the impossibility of “bridging the gap.” Somebody like you just has to be defeated. There’s no crossing the aisle and finding common ground with you. You’re free to be who you are, don’t misunderstand. I’m not trying to insulting. I’m just saying, you are unreachable. You don’t want to be reached. T his picture of Reagan, you’ve just described somebody you should love, and you hate him! You just described somebody you should absolutely love, all these things. He’s an anti-conservative, as you say, but you don’t love him. You’re having trouble understanding why he’s viewed as heroic to a lot of people. I could talk to you about anti-communism. I could. You want to talk about amnesty? Yeah, that was Simpson-Mazzoli, and that was one-and-a-half, two million illegals; and he was told, “Okay, if we’re gonna do this, this is it, then. We’re gonna secure the borders and that’s it.” It’s the same thing with every tax increase he signed. It was also accompanied by promises to cut spending, and it never happened. Reagan’s not perfect. Nobody is. But I think the proof of Reagan is the fact that when your guys get in trouble, who do they seek to associate themselves with? Remember, Obama and these people are all about getting votes.
He sounds almost as addled as Beck.
This is how you talk about Reagan — you turn him into a liberal. The wingnuts don’t know what to do about it and liberals get credit for the things he did that we like.
.