The funny thing is that you act like conservatives are ten times less informed than liberals. If you asked the average liberal what Obama would change his opinions would be about as informed as a preschooler. I am not talking about the liberal crack heads. I am talking about the average Obama supporter that voted for Obama because A-They liked his style or B- They were voting for Obama to prevent smoeone else. If i was too say all liberals are stupid I would consider myself an idiot. If I was to hear a person say all conservatives are stupid than I would say they are an idiot. There is radical examples of nut heads on both sides but claiming everyone who listens to Rush is an idiot is just dumb. Rush isn't a person who spews nonsense. He is a conservative entertainer and if your a conservative than you love him and if your a liberal you hate him. Just because you hate him though doesn't mean you have to lose your mind and have a hissy fit when it comes to talking about the people who listen to him. Seriously read what you said about the listeners one more time. It sounds like a 5 year old hissy fit. Get over yourself.
McCain paid lip service to the republican base. What was he supposed to do, insult them? Would that have made Powell happy? Would Powell then have supported McCain? Wasn't McCain far closer to Powell's positions than Obama? Yet Powell supported Obama and did it in a way designed to inflict maximum damage on his supposed friend McCain. But we are supposed to heed his advice about how to help the republican party? Rush supported Bush and McCain, the latter grudgingly. Clearly these were lesser of evil indorsements. He made it quite clear that he didn't like or trust McCain. Maybe he could have retained his intellectual purity by abstaining, but he has always said that he is more about practical politics than ideological purity. That is why he is so against thrid party dreamers. The bottom line of this whole debate is who should the republican party pay attention to, Rush or Powell. Without Rush, they would never have won congress or the presidency. He supported the party's nominee, even when he disagreed with him on issues. Powell by contrast opposed the party's nominee, even though he agreed with him.
McCain did more than pay lip service. A lot of mainstream Republicans were turned off by McCain's choice of Palin, including some in this forum who said so at the time. The fact that all you saw was a MILF has blinded you to that. As far as Rush goes, he's far less a conservative than he is a Republican. He will support the Republican candidate no matter who that is, come hell or high water. Being a diehard conservative shows character, being a diehard Republican shows a lack of character, given all the criminal activity the GOP has been involved in. Rush is what he always has been, a water carrier for the GOP, and to hear him occasionally whine about it invites nothing but contempt and derision. Did Rush give even a glance at the truly conservative third parties this year? Of course not, because for Rush and perhaps all of you ET righties, it's not really about principles, it's about winning at all costs.
OK I'll revise it so you can understand but I think you already do. Most people who listen to Rush and Hannity are politically brainwashed, yes they may be smart in their job and competent in other areas. But politically they are a dumbass, not all mind you but most. That is what happens when you put bullshit in your brain 3 or 4 hours a day everyday, and that is what happens to the majority of those Rush ditto heads and Hannity man lovers. Go have a talk about politics and the nation with a ditto head, I have recently, they are nuts. I talked to an old man the other day who was worried about Obama being an muslim, funny shit, god he is stupid, he also thinks Bush was the right man at the right time, a true ditto head and Hannity worshiper. Another otherwise competent man was worried about the democrat recession much of it caused by Obama winning the election, another dumbass. You can find these idiots everywhere where I live. Again so you can understand when I say dumbass or idiot I am only referring to their political thoughts, they may be a smart fireman or cop or doctor. Oh and you may be one of them if you think Rush doesn't spew nonsense, that's all it is, he puts in enough facts to fool the fools but for the most part it is fiction. And like any good fiction writer he puts in enough facts to make the story believable. By the way I never compared Rushbo's to liberals.
As a social liberal, fiscal conservative, I have been listening to Rush since 1989. He is a smart man, and he knows that this is a two party system. It would be silly to look at a third party.
One of his Great grifts is that he knows exactly what kind of red meat that it is that his audience wants.
There's nothing in my copy of the Constitution about a two-party system. George Washington warned against party entanglements but of course he wasn't listened to. And one of the two major parties can be replaced, just as the Republicans replaced the Whigs. If the Dems and the GOP keep dissing key elements of their base, I predict one of them will be replaced before many more election cycles.
Rush has taken heat before from his listeners over third parties. A lot of them loved Perot, but it turned out Rush was right to steer clear of him. Looking at the broader issue, I agree with you that if the major parties continue on their current paths, conditions may improve for a third party. In particular, the republicans have an obvious problem with their base. Their leaders are seriously outof step with the base. Listening to someone like Colin Powell will put them further out of step. Bush has pretty much destroyed whatever claim to principle the party had. The combination of big spending, amnesty and bailouts is toxic to many voters. A viable third party needs more than a high profile candidate with a big checkbook. Ideally, you would have a situation where a considerable number of congressmen and governors came together to form a third party.
When I think of conservatives I think of William F. Buckley. To me rush is a republican opportunist. I stopped listening to him when he became too much of a neo con. He was much better when he was anti clinton. I have no idea what he is saying now, but is he really a conservative in the old sense of the word. pro liberty, anti govt, anti tax sense.. It seems to me real conservatives actually wish to conserve. They are probably even environmentalists. (not environmental whack jobs but ones who understand pollutions has costs). Hannity sometimes gets it right but he has no depth, when he is faced with a well informed liberal he frequently gets smoked and starts screaming and insulting. where are the true conservatives - pro liberty, small govt, pro rugged people.
The penalty for desertion in time of war is death, in every country on the planet. That would include Rush, Cheney, Rove, and Gingrich. As for their apologists on this thread, they will go to the Hell they so richly deserve.