ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist®.com: Putin Punishes Georgia</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style2 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; } .style3 { height: 69px; } .MsoNormal {} h1 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style4 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> <table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr height="79"> <td width="133" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" height="79" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="79"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="624" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style3"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#8226; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#8226; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#8226; <a href="teflon.html"> THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#8226; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> REACTIONS</a> &#8226; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td width="133" height="2">&nbsp;</td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <p class="style2">White House&#39;s &quot;Rush&quot; Trap</p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curtis</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b><a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> (310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright March 5, 2009<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="style4">&nbsp;P</span>resident Barack Obama stepped out of line urging Republicans to stop listening the conservative talk show legend Rush Limbaugh, an apparent attempt to encourage more bipartisanship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> You can t just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done, Barack told Congressional Republicans Jan. 23, opening up a can of worms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>With so much riding on his recovery plan and new budget to fix the economy, the president could ill-afford a food fight with a private U.S. citizen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Limbaugh has every right to his views or, for that matter, to lead conservatives or Republicans that like his ideas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Little did Obama know that his gaffe would set official White House communication strategy, adopted by his Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Rahm raised Limbaugh Sunday, March 1 on CBS  Face The Nation with Bob Schieffer, crossing a dangerous line </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <![endif]>Someone needs to rein in Barack s pugnacious chief of staff, now threatening to turn Obama s ambitious agenda on its head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Limbaugh was the wrong one to antagonize. Former Clinton political operatives James Carville and Paul Begala think it&#39;s amusing to attach the GOP to Rush, especially exploiting the rift between newly minted RNC Chairman Michael Steele, who told CNN s D.L. Hughley March 2 that Limbaugh was just an  ugly and  incendiary entertainer, anointing himself not Rush the head of the Party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Steele fell into Hughley s trap when he noted that Rush Limbaugh seems to speak for the Party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Steele took so much flack he was forced to recant March 4, apologizing profusely to Rush.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Rahm insisted on  Face the Nation, that Rush was the spiritual force behind the Republican Party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Barack s remarks and now Emanuel s have backfired, giving Rush more clout than ever.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Rahm s comments on  Face The Nation are part of a carefully honed strategy to paint the GOP as right wing extremists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Rush is  the voice and the intellectual force behind the Republican Party, Emanuel told Schieffer, believing it helped the president s cause.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>No one alive today better articulates Reagan s brand of conservatism than Rush Limbaugh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>If the GOP has lost its way, Rush puts the Party back on track.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Rahm s comments capitalize on polls showing Rush a polarizing figure, certainly among Democrats, independents and crossover Republicans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whether he s polarizing or not, he s the most powerful voice of American conservatism on the public airwaves. Criticizing Rush is doomed to backfire because he s capable of galvanizing opposition to Barack s policies, expecially his $787 billion recovery plan and $3.55 trillion budget, key to the Democratic agenda.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Whether of not it s OK for Democratic operatives outside the White House choose to use Limbaugh, Emanuel shouldn t cross the line attacking a private citizen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Associating Rush with the GOP won t affect Party loyalists who didn t vote for Obama on Nov. 4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>With Barack taking heat for his new budget, Rahm thought it would<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>marginalize Republicans, drive more voters from the Party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whatever the polls say, picking on Limbaugh makes bipartisanship less likely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Watching the president s chief of staff use Rush in a calculated strategy to discredit the Republican Party doesn t make the best use of White House time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>With so much at stake, using Rush politically highlights the lack of sincerity behind the White House s effort to deal with more serious domestic and foreign challenges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Even operatives outside the White House should seriously reconsider their  Rushbo strategy.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>When political operative Karl Rove worked his magic at the White House, Democrats railed against his Machiavellian tactics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While Barack s chief strategist remains behind the curtain, his chief of staff seems way to involved in political gamesmanship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Barack s appeal across the political spectrum involved his above-the-fray approach, promising a new kind of politics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Voters were overdosed with Rove s subterfuge, manipulating public opinion to support the president s political agenda.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Rahm s coordinated efforts with Carville, Begala and nonprofit liberal groups like Americans United for Change crossed the line for a chief of staff, whose activities should confined to running the White House and selling the president s agenda.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Participating in Operation  Rushbo, where Democratic operatives seek to join Limbaugh at the hip with the GOP, is counterproductive.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>President Obama should put the kibosh on Operation  Rushbo before it upends his administration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He s gotten off on the wrong foot, needs to reverse course and call off the dogs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Rahm needs to stop playing political operative and get back to the inglorious job of running the White House.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Picking on Rush or making him part of the White House communication strategy has already backfired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Gleeful Democratic political operatives have no clue what happens when you awaken a slumbering giant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Barack needs to show he s in control of his White House by reining-in Rahm and Gibbs and telling the euphoric group of not-so-covert operatives to back off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Political agendas are best advanced winning friends, as someone once said, not picking wasteful battles that can only backfire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>There s no reason to help Rush and conservatives figure out what s next for the GOP.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analysing spin in national and global news.&nbsp; He&#39;s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of <a href="books.html"><i>Dodging</i> <i>The Bullet</i> </a>and <i> <a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a>.</i></p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td width="133" height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="133" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Home</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> || <a href="articlesindex.html">Articles</a> || <a href="books.html">Books</a> || <a href="teflon.html">The Teflon Report</a> || <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> Reactions</a> || <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">About Discobolos</a></strong></font> <div align="left"> <p><font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">This site designed, developed and hosted by the experts at</font><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"> <a href="http://www.cmeonline.net" target="_blank"><img height="30" width="138" src="images/cmelogoANIM.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></a></font></p> </div> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">©1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"> Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>