From: nate@psygate.psych.indiana.edu (Nathan Engle)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
Subject: Re: Those Wacky Conservatives!
Date: 9 Nov 92 16:43:36 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Psych Department, Indiana University

htuttle@nyx.cs.du.edu (Harry Tuttle) writes:
>OK, I admit that my last post was inflammatory, but I was still 
>basking in the glow of a beautiful Clinton landslide victory.  I suppose
>I let my emotions get the better of me.

>Nevertheless, I do feel that Mr. Limbaugh's days are numbered.  This kind
>of arch-conservative vitriol that he is spewing cannot have any staying
>power.  The hate and divisiveness that he encourages (along with other
>notable Republicans, such as David Duke and the two Pats, Buchanan and
>Robertson) will not last.

    Once again, wishful thinking. I can only wonder what you think is going 
to reduce hate and divisiveness when liberals like yourself go around 
heaving defiance into the faces of conservatives. Do you really think that 
telling people that their ideology is dead will cause them to love everyone?
It's guaranteed to make them dislike you personally, so on that count you've 
already lost.

[snip]

>To all of the faithful Limbaugh fans out there (and yes, I have heard his
>show many times), how can you defend his positions?

    I don't defend his positions. I like his adoption of those positions 
primarily because they are, at times, intellectually indefensible (I'm 
thinking in particular of his stand on Creationism vs. Evolution).

>  I am a registered 
>Republican, but I am offended that my party is leaning so far to the 
>right.  Now that the Democrats are gravitating back to the center, I am
>ready to jump ship.

    Please, by all means, do so. What a lot of people fail to realize is 
that political parties are made of people, and you as a person can influence 
the direction your party takes. If conservative Americans formed a larger 
part of the membership of the Democratic Party then I'm confident that the 
leaders of the party will eventually get the message.

>  What is the point of calling women "feminazis"?
>Or belittling Democrats like Ted Kennedy and Mario Cuomo?

    Entertainment value only.

>  Come on, guys,
>let's look at the hypocrisy of it all.  What makes Rush better than these
>people?

    He's got a funnier radio show.

[snip]

>The problem with staunch conservatism is that it is a morally 
>indefensible position.

    Oh cripes, here we go again...

>Well, feel free to tell me what a leftist nut I am.

    Ok, you're a leftist nut.

>  Call me crazy, but
>I just believe in the Declaration of Independence when it says that
>ALL are created equal (even women, minorities, homosexuals and tax-and-
>spend liberals).  

    I don't recall the part where the Declaration of Independence refers 
to women or homosexuals. Maybe I should read between the lines and assume 
that's what it really meant the way you have, but on the whole I'd prefer 
to base my arguments on what's written in black and white. If the 
Declaration of Independence doesn't explicitly refer to women or homosexuals 
then I think that we just have to look a little farther to justify our 
belief in their rights.

>Oh, and by the way, if any of you out there can explain something to
>me, I'll be happy.  Rush has said many times (most recently in a USA
>Today interview) that the popularity of his show increases by 430+ 
>listeners a second.  How is that possible?

    It isn't. It's an intentional parody of a claim made by the late Mitch 
Snyder concerning the rate of increase in the numbers of the homeless. 
Rush's point is that we accept ridiculous figures from homeless advocates 
almost without question, but that similar claims made by him are targeted 
as incorrect and used as examples of how inaccurate Rush is.

>I sure hope
>that Rush isn't lying in order to make people think that he is more
>popular than he actually is...

    And I sure hope that you listen closely and get the full gist of Rush's 
statements before you try to refute them. In this case I fear that you have 
not only failed, but you've also fallen into a trap Rush has set in order 
to make liberals look like hypocrits.

--
Nathan Engle                        Software Juggler
Psychology Department               Indiana University
nate@psygate.psych.indiana.edu      nengle@copper.ucs.indiana.edu
Newsgroups: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh