Rush Limbaugh and the Demise of the Republican Party
It seems to me that the Republican Party, at least on outer appearance (which is really all that the public cares about), has become more and more conservative after the ascendancy of Barack Obama and his implementation of programs that apparently scream government overreach. This type of reaction by the Republicans seems to have been solidified by the angry outbursts of Rush Limbaugh and his endorsement by Dick Cheney, who said that Limbaugh would be preferable to Colin Powell as the leader of the Republican Party.
Limbaugh is widely regarded as an angry, racist, jingoistic, and all-around idiot who takes joy in lambasting anything that he personally disagrees with in order to boost his radio show’s ratings and keep similarly-ignorant people angry. As a prominent talk show host, Limbaugh keeps a continual assault upon any foreign values that are not conservative mainstream American values, while failing to realize that culture and society only evolve through the assimilation of such extraneous factors.
The main fault with Limbaugh’s spouting is not what he says, for I believe that he can hold whatever personal beliefs he so desires, but rather on his impact on the Republican Party. The Republican Party is truly a respectable institution, just like the Democratic Party, and represents a coherent self of ideals. However, Limbaugh portrays the Republican Party as extremely conservative, and in doing so pushes many moderates away; this weakens the Republican Party and thus the ideals it stands for. Limbaugh, rather than helping the cause, is killing it.