By MARC McDONALD
Scan any right-wing blog these days and it's hard not to notice that something is missing.
Namely, the word "Republican."
As he so often does these days, Rush Limbaugh sets the trends in the right-wing noise chamber. If you've listened to Limbaugh's radio show lately, you'll notice that he has rarely mentioned the word "Republican" since November. Indeed, he goes out of his way every 30 seconds to mention that he's actually a "conservative."
It's quite a change of pace from four years ago, when the Republicans were riding high in the heady early days of the (then still popular) Iraq War. Back then, George W. Bush's approval rating was sky-high. The Iraq War initially appeared as though it might be a cake-walk, after all. Most Americans were still confident that the WMDs would be found (for that matter, most Americans still believed Saddam was behind 9/11).
Back in those days, Rush and his Ditto-Head followers embraced the word "Republican" and wore it as a badge of honor.
But that's no longer the case these days, especially in the aftermath of the Republicans' disastrous showing in the November elections.
Like Rush, the right-wing blogosphere has recently quietly tiptoed away from the word "Republican." A casual scan of popular right-wing Web sites and blogs today reveals few or no mentions of the word "Republican" over the past month.
The following right-wing sites (none of which I will dignify by linking to) have few, if any, mentions of the word "Republican" on their main pages (or any of their recent articles): Limbaugh's own site, The Drudge Report, Flopping Aces, Little Green Footballs, and Captain's Quarters. Note that the latter two sites have archives dating back several years. Click on any month pre-dating November 2006, and you'll find the word "Republican" in abundance.
Clearly, the word "Republican" is tainted these days---even to the point where fanatical, Bush-worshipping, Kool-Aid-drinking right-wingers have begun to avoid the word like the plague.
One might ask: why are today's right-wingers avoiding labeling themselves as Republicans?
Is it because today's Republican Party has been hijacked by extremists? No.
Is it because today's Republicans have done untold damage to the U.S., from lying our nation into war to embracing torture as official state policy to shredding our nation's Constitution to making America the most feared and hated nation on the planet? Is it because the recent Republican-led Congress was the most evil, corrupt Congress in American history?
Uh, no.
Actually, the right-wingers have no problem with any of the above, chillingly enough.
No, they decided to tiptoe away from calling themselves Republicans simply because they know goddamn well that the word "Republican" is heavily tainted these days. It's electoral poison.
Today, America is a mess. Our relationship with the rest of the world is in tatters. Given the appalling human rights record of the Bush White House, America no longer has any moral authority to lecture other nations.
And the American voters know damn well who is to blame for the decline and fall of America as a respected nation: the Republicans.
As they try to rehabilitate their devastated Republican Party, right-wingers no doubt will continue to embrace the "conservative" label. But no matter what they call themselves, they can't hide the fact that the GOP and their beloved leader Bush did untold damage to America from 2000 to 2006. I'd suspect it'll take the majority of American voters many years before they trust the Republicans again.
Update: This is interesting: two of the right-wing blogs that I noticed had no mentions of the word "Republican" on their main pages on March 31 (Captain's Quarters and Flopping Aces) must have gotten wind of my article. Both blogs posted new content today smothered with numerous mentions of the word "Republican." Maybe the right-wing blogs will rediscover the word "Republican" again for a few days in an attempt to try to show everyone that they're not really afraid of this tainted label....but mark my words, it won't last.
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Because they know what's next. Congressional hearings in the next two years with Democrats asking them, "Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Republican Party?"
Wonderful post, Marc and great catch. Not to mention the appropriate day for such a post.
Yeah - I wrote a post a while back about something similar. Namely, how on Republican/Conservative Dominated blogs and news sites, almost by 7 to 1 odds the posts were about Democrats. There are a lot of weird changes they are doing.
I do hope, though, that you're not actually listening to Rush Limbaugh. Right?
My mother and father-in-law have always been proud Republicans. But I noticed that recently they have been refering to themselves as "Independents". At the time I thought it unusual, so I called them on it - and they told me that they would probably not vote for Bush again! I had to laugh at that one - nice and safe for them to commit to that one, huh.
How quickly things change, eh? As early as last year there was plenty of talk about how the Repubs were now a permanent majority and the Americans had embraced them as the leaders forever. And only a few years ago, there was serious (if aborted) talk about amending the Constitution so that Dubya could run for a third term.
Good riddence to that nonsense, I say.
I have noticed that the identifier "libertarian" has also become increasingly popular, even though there are probably few true libertarians in this bunch.
We need to stop blaming the awful mess we're in on Republicans, and start blaming Conservatives instead. After all, that is where the blame belongs!
There are plenty of conservative Democrats who are just as responsible for the war and the huge load of debt as is Bush himself.
The Inquisition, the World Wars, everywhere - throughout history, CONSERVATIVES have been the bad guys.
As someone from the UK I would make the following observation:
In 2000, Bush was not voted in with a majority and literally stole the election.
However, in 2004 he WAS voted in with a majority.
It's easy to blame "Conservatives" or "Republicans" or whatever you may call them. Fact of the matter is, it was YOU who voted him a second term. Deal with it!
Every time the terms " republican " or " conservative " are used they should be uttered with contempt . Treat them as the vile pejoratives they so justly deserve to be . When either word is spoken it should be used with the same distaste as if you've just stepped in something . When someone says they're a conservative or a republican I usually look at them like they passed gas .
"I'd suspect it'll take the majority of American voters many years before they trust the Republicans again."
I disagree that this will happen. The faith of the voters will be renewed in short order. I have little faith in the American public's ability to distinguish between fruit and poison.
JP, nice ta see you elsewhere - you've become part of my daily reading.
Chris Matthews said last week one night that "Americans don't WANT all these investigations!" Ever hear the expression, "whistling past the graveyard"?
Marc, great piece, and let me just say that you're a braver man than me to have done the research for it - I couldn't have checked out all those rightie sites. I have a bit of stomach trouble, dontcha know...
Keep up the good work, both of you - as slow and imperceptible as it sometimes is, we're making progress.
Rich Miles
http://logicalnegativism.blogspot.com
(Good to see you, Rich Miles!
This was a great post - thanks for writing it.
I have been noticing the trend lately myself, and veritably dripping contempt from both words whenever they must be uttered aloud.
A libertarian is just a republican that wants to smoke pot and get laid.
joe,
Sad...and true. You have every right to be angry. Breaks my heart. Thanks for a perspective from across the pond.
I love it! As the saying goes "If it walks like a duck, and it talks like a duck.... To keep them pinned down, we now call them Republican-conservatives, so we stick them with both labels they'd have to abandon, then when they adopt a new name, tack that one on, so Republican conservative libertatrians would be their next name and so on-.
What a CROCK
To Joe. I am surprised that in spite of overwhelming evidence that the 2004 election was as crooked as the 2000 you still feel Bush got the popular vote. While we are stuck with Bush for a couple of years what are you doing about his lap dog,Tony Blair?
To Joe,
I didn't vote for the TWERP the first time, and I sure as heck didn't the second time either. He was given the first election by the Supreme Court and an Al Gore that didn't stick to his guns and force a complete recount in Florida. They stole the second election by county flipping in Florida and by having a suspicious terrorist threqt in the courthouse in Ohio where the votes were being counted and all the observers and watchdogs were forced to leave. Only after the fix was in, that the observers were allowed back in.
No Bush didn't win either election. He and his corporate sponsors put him in the offoce both times.
It's just part of the talking points. Republicans, both in politics and in media, generally just say what they're told to say how they're told to say it. If King Bush and his cronies start saying they're Republicans again, then all the right-wing pundits will follow. I don't think it has as much to do with political maneuvering as it does with focus group testing and brainwashed bushies.
I hope they continue to use the word "conservative" ... since I now say freely that "conservatism" is a failed policy.
I felt that there must be some embarrassment in the GOP but for few of the reasons you say. I think the biggest disapointment for conservatives is the run away spending and corruption.
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