This post will reamin pinned at the top of the page for a while. Please scroll down if you’ve already read it.
Let’s keep an eye on the right wing noise machine. They’re in charge.
by digby
 |
| Holiday fundraiser soother: a baby polar bear |
I’m not sure if Donald Trump actually believes that a majority of Americans are his base or if he thinks they are so powerful that they can overcome the fact that a majority can defeat him in 2020. (You couldn’t blame him for thinking the latter since that’s how he won in 2016.) But either way, it’s clear that he is terrified of making them angry.
This is not the way it usually works. Every once in a while the right-wing propaganda machine will break from the GOP president and it often works for both parties by showing a little independence for the partisan media and gives the president some breathing room to compromise. It was all kabuki but each party would keep its place in the fever swamp and could pretend they had their separate power centers. That’s not true in this case. While the conservative evangelicals will believe anything the president says, it’s obvious that the right wing media has clout and they aren’t afraid to use it.
I wrote this morning about Ann Coulter upsetting him so much with her criticism of his lack of progress on building the wall that he unfollowed her on twitter. (A big deal for him since he only follows 47 people.) Today we find out that he is calling around to lick a few important boots to ensure that the real heavy hitters stay on his team.
Here’s Rush:
“The president got word to me 20 minutes ago that if it comes back to him without money, if whatever happens in the House and Senate comes back to him with no allocation of $5 billion for the wall than he’s going to veto it,” Limbaugh told his listeners on his radio show just moments after Trump met with members of Congress on Thursday.
Limbaugh spent most of his program on Wednesday and Thursday urging the president to shut down the government over the wall funding issue, despite Democrats refusal to include extra funding for border security.
“Veto this thing and then head down to Mar-a-Lago,” Limbaugh said, referring to Trump’s vacation plans. “I will meet you on the first tee wherever you want to play golf, whenever, and this will end up being resolved in your favor.”
This is not the first time that a president has called Rush, of course. Trump himself called in to congratulate him on the 30 year anniversary of his Reign of Radio Hate. Recall this one from a few years back:
RUSH: What are…? (interruption) Interrupting for what?
THE PRESIDENT: Hello!
RUSH: Oh, jeez. The president?
THE PRESIDENT: Rush Limbaugh?
RUSH: Yes, sir, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: President George W. Bush calling to congratulate you on 20 years of important and excellent broadcasting.
RUSH: Well, thank you, sir. You’ve stunned me! (laughing) I’m shocked. But thank you so much.
THE PRESIDENT: That’s hard to do.
RUSH: (laughing) I know, it is.
THE PRESIDENT: I’m here with a room full of admirers. There are two others that would like to speak to you and congratulate you, people who consider you friends and really appreciate the contribution you’ve made.
RUSH: Thank you, sir, very much. Put ’em on.
THE PRESIDENT: How you doing? This is my swan song? If this is all you got for me, I’m moving on.
RUSH: (laughing) No! The show’s yours; take as much time as you want.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I’m just calling along with President 41 and the former governor of Florida. We’re fixing to have lunch here, and I said, “Listen, we ought to call our pal and let him know that we care,” for you. So this is as much as anything, a nice verbal letter to a guy we really care for.
RUSH: Well, thank you, sir, very much. I’m overwhelmed. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this and how much you’ve surprised me.
Click the link for the whole conversation, but be sure you have a barf bag handy.
You’ll note that back then it was Rush doing the bootlicking, not the other way around.
Trump is making it clear now that he’s planning to outsource his legislative strategy to Rush Limbaugh and the Freedom Caucus. I hope the Democrats are paying attention. Happy talk about compromise and bipartisanship is totally off the menu and they’d better be prepared.
As you can see from the above link from 10 years ago, I’ve been writing about this right-wing noise machine and the toxic movement over which it has undue influence for a long time on this blog. I suspect we all may have thought it would have to have run its course by now but the truth is that it’s more powerful than its ever been. It has a president completely in its thrall.
I’ve spent years following this phenomenon, going all the way back to the beginning when Rush was named an honorary member of the class of 1994 Gingrich revolutionaries. And he’s not the only one, of course. They have a strong, well-funded wingnut network that maintains a huge audience of cultists. I think it behooves us to take them seriously, especially now.
I’ll keep writing about the merger of this sophisticated GOP propaganda operation with the Trump cult over the next year as we live through this unprecedented political moment. It’s vastly important that we try to keep a clear head and a rational perspective, no matter how hard it is to do so. And we can’t put our heads in the sand, no matter how much we may want to.
I hope you will continue to stop by here from time to time for a little analysis, entertainment, humor, and just plain relief that you haven’t gone crazy — yes it is as outrageous as it seems. We’re here to document it for you seven days a week.
If you’ve already thrown a few bucks into the Hullabaloo holiday stocking to keep this blog afloat for another year I truly appreciate the support. If you haven’t and you’ve a mind to, you can find the donate buttons and the snail mail address below.
And I wish all of you Very Happy Hollandaise!
cheers — digby
Digby’s Hullabaloo
2801 Ocean Park Blvd.
Box 157
Santa Monica, Ca 90405
.