Being a Walking Stereotype

In The New Majority, the conservative columnist, Eric Frum, called Rush Limbaugh a "walking stereotype." He writes:

And for the leader of the Republicans? A man who is aggressive and bombastic, cutting and sarcastic, who dismisses the concerned citizens in network news focus groups as "losers." With his private plane and his cigars, his history of drug dependency and his personal bulk, not to mention his tangled marital history, Rush is a walking stereotype of self-indulgence – exactly the image that Barack Obama most wants to affix to our philosophy and our party. And we're cooperating! Those images of crowds of CPACers cheering Rush's every rancorous word – we'll be seeing them rebroadcast for a long time.

The funny thing about stereotypes is that there is often a grain of truth in them, although painted often times disproportionately. But the stereotype that is Limbaugh is true. The above is all true. I also wonder about the truth of the Republican leadership. There seems to be very few moderates these days.

The Republican Party does not need anyone else to affix an "ugly" image, in the words of Michael Steele before retraction, to its philosophy or party. Limbaugh is the prominent image and voice of the Republican Party. Steele most certainly is not.

Republican leaders bow at the feet of Limbaugh and retract their statements faster than a rubber band. Perhaps these leaders and conservative columnists as Frum see their obstructionist agenda being exposed by a loud mouth indulgent one.

Are the leaders of the Republican Party privately what Limbaugh is publicly? Self-indulgence in the pursuit of power and gluttony come in many forms, including obstructionism. In a post on the Huffington Post I asked, "Whom and What do They Love More?"