Take the Limbaugh challenge

I'm a conservative and a Republican, and I'm unabashedly unashamed of Rush Limbaugh. I agree with him 90% of the time. As for the 10% of the time I don't agree with him, I still appreciate him for his sincerity.

Rush Limbaugh says what he believes, straight up and without reservation (unless perhaps a dutiful regard for the four Cardinal virtues* constitutes a "reservation").

How many politicians or other celebrities do that? Heck, how many of us who blog regularly - or semi-regularly, as has been the case with me of late - do that?

And so I join Andrew Klaven in challenging my friends - the liberals, the conservatives, and the fence-straddling moderates - to take the Limbaugh Challenge:

I listen to Limbaugh every chance I get, and I have never heard the man utter a single racist, hateful or stupid word. Do I always agree with him? Of course not. I'm a conservative; I think for myself. But Limbaugh, by turns insightful, satiric, raucously funny and wise, is one of the best voices talking about first principles and policy in the country today.

Therefore, I am throwing down my gauntlet at your quivering liberal feet. I hereby issue my challenge -- the Limbaugh Challenge: Listen to the show. Not for five minutes but for several hours: an hour a day for several days. Consider what he has to say -- the real policy material under the jokes and teasing bluster. Do what your intellectual keepers do not want you to do and keep an open mind. Ask yourself: What's he getting at? Why does he say the things he says? Why do so many people of goodwill -- like that nice Mr. Klavan -- agree with him?

The mainstream media (a.k.a. the Matrix) don't want you to listen to Limbaugh because they're afraid he'll wake you up and set you free of their worldview. You don't want to listen to him because you're afraid of the same thing.

Don't believe me? Well, then, gird your loins. Gather your courage. Accept the Limbaugh Challenge. See what happens.

I dare you.

* The four Cardinal virtues, according to Christian tradition, are prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude.

Why the President uses a teleprompter

Jake Tapper:

The first appearance by a sitting president on "The Tonight Show" may well end up being the last.

President Obama, in his taping with Jay Leno Thursday afternoon, attempted to yuk it up with the funnyman, and ended up insulting the disabled.

Towards the end of his approximately 40-minute appearance, the president talked about how he's gotten better at bowling and has been practicing in the White House bowling alley.

He bowled a 129, the president said.

"That's very good, Mr. President," Leno said sarcastically.

It's "like the Special Olympics or something," the president said.

When asked about the remark, the White House said the president did not intend to offend.

"The president made an off-hand remark making fun of his own bowling that was in no way intended to disparage the Special Olympics," White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton said. "He thinks the Special Olympics is a wonderful program that gives an opportunity for people with disabilities from around the world."

Facing tough questions about the performance of his Treasury Secretary, $165 million in bonuses for AIG officials and anticipating a fight over his $3.55 trillion budget, the president has not had a particularly good week, and it's unlikely this will help matters.

Barack Obama's teleprompter has a blog

An anonymous blogger has a little light-hearted fun.

Bill Clinton shows his ignorance

The former President should take a refresher course in basic human biology before speaking publicly about embryonic stem cell research. Sadly, I'm afraid his ignorance is shared by many Americans, including our representatives in Congress.

Alexander Hamilton, Modern America's Founding Father

That's the title of this excellent essay by Myron Magnet in the current edition of City Journal.

The Tired War on Rush Limbaugh

Jonah Goldberg:

Here we go again. Rush Limbaugh is public enemy No. 1.

Liberal bloggers and media chin-strokers are aghast at Limbaugh’s statement that he hopes Barack Obama fails.

Well, given what Obama wants to do, I hope he fails too. Of course I want the financial crisis to end — who doesn’t? But Obama’s agenda is much more audacious. Pretty much every major news outlet in the country has said as a matter of objective analysis that Obama wants to repeal the legacy of Ronald Reagan and remake the country as a European welfare state. And yet people are shocked that conservatives, Limbaugh included, want Obama to fail in this effort?

Wonder if they taste like chicken?

Doubtful.

Hillary the realist

Some would say (and I would agree) that Secretary of State Clinton's diplomatic overture towards Syria is overdue. And as if to reassure potential critics, Clinton also made it clear that she has no illusions about the challenge of dealing with Bashar Assad:

(New York Times) But in a region where even small steps take years to negotiate, officials sought to tamp down expectations of rapid progress. “It is a worthwhile effort to go and begin preliminary conversations,” Mrs. Clinton said, noting Syria’s wide influence in the region, as well as its troubled history with the United States. Yet, she cautioned, “we have no way to predict what the future of our relations with Syria might be.” ...

“We don’t engage in discussions for the sake of having conversations,” Mrs. Clinton said, after a meeting with the Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni. “There has to be a purpose to them; there has to be some benefit accruing to the United States and our allies."

Obama's message to the Russians: Let's make a deal

I hope that this effort succeeds:

(New York Times) WASHINGTON — President Obama sent a secret letter to Russia’s president last month suggesting that he would back off deploying a new missile defense system in Eastern Europe if Moscow would help stop Iran from developing long-range weapons, American officials said Monday.

The letter to President Dmitri A. Medvedev was hand-delivered in Moscow by top administration officials three weeks ago. It said the United States would not need to proceed with the interceptor system, which has been vehemently opposed by Russia since it was proposed by the Bush administration, if Iran halted any efforts to build nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles.

Russian cooperation is essential if the U.S. and its allies are to reach a diplomatic solution that averts a potentially disastrous confrontation with a nuclear-capable Iran. In this game of strategic chicken, the U.S. is betting that the Russians are no more enthusiastic about the prospect of Iranian nukes than we are, but that they view the deployment of NATO missile defenses in Eastern Europe as the greater long-term threat.

The Bush administration's full throttle efforts to deploy missile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic have provided President Obama and his national security team with a strong hand to play. So far, it looks like they're playing it wisely.

Update here.