It’s pathetic to see conservative politicians repeatedly bowing and scraping and apologizing after offering criticism of the Great Leader Rush Limbaugh, but for a true measure of Rush’s influence look at what happens after Cato’s Jerry Taylor offers some criticism of Limbaugh at the Corner. All hell breaks loose. Katherine Jean-Lopez attacks Taylor. Mark Steyn rebuts that she “should have been harder on Jerry Taylor’s post.” Taylor defends himself then K-Lo fires back expressing shock that anyone would dare accuse a talk radio host of at times deploying invalid arguments* while Rich Lowry agrees that Rush is wrong about stuff but insists that he should be immune from criticism anyway. K-Lo, back for more, gushes that Rush has a large audience so everyone had better get in line.
Conor Friedersdorf has a good response on the merits, but I just find the whole thing kind of mind-boggling. Rush’s defenders understand, I hope, that painting Rush as the all-powerful lord of conservatism before whom all else must submit was, in its origins, a political strategy devised by their enemies, right? So why are they jumping so quickly to prove that the argument is dead-on?
* I, for one, will be happy to grant that invalid arguments for correct positions occur on progressive radio, on progressive TV shows, and even on progressive blogs. It’s a common feature of the universe, and especially of arguments that are also supposed to be mass entertainment.
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