Joan Walsh: Limbaugh's 'A Secret Democrat' - He's Leading GOP 'Off a Cliff' With Contraception Issue
Salon editor Joan Walsh said Friday that conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh is "a secret Democrat."
Speaking with MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Hardball about the debate over who should pay for contraceptives, Walsh said of Limbaugh, "He is leading [the Republican] party off a cliff on this issue" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
JOAN WALSH, SALON: You know, interestingly, we have this big debate about what Catholics thought, and Catholics were divided, etc., but when the dust settled, Chris, you know who was really, the only people who were really opposed to this ultimately, or the people who were most opposed are born again Evangelical Christians. So, again, this is a Christian Right issue. It’s an issue that they try to use to gin up the culture war.
You know, Rush Limbaugh says they’re going to win the culture war. I think he’s a secret Democrat. I think he’s a closet Democrat.
CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: What do you mean, a mole? Yeah.
WALSH: Because he’s leading, he is leading Michael Steele’s party off a cliff on this issue. All the polls show that, and Michael, you know, Michael has the integrity to admit that. This is not something Republicans should want to be talking about because Americans don’t want to talk about it. We settled it a long time ago.
Yes, what Republicans need to do this election is listen to people like Joan Walsh rather than Rush Limbaugh.
That'll certainly lead us to victory.
All those opposed say "Nay."
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Comments
Let Me the First to Say, "NAY!"
Submitted by BuffNBone on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 6:49pm.
Exposing the left's continual hypocrisy and Divide & Conquer strategy is a good thing.
Keep it up Rush!
Joanie is about as bright...
Submitted by KyWriter on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 7:12pm.
...as a 25 watt, eco-friendly bulb. And she is filled with a noxious gas.
First of all more people are
Submitted by okie-pastor on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 7:46pm.
First of all more people are opposed to the HHS mandate than are for it.
Secondly, and more importantly, it wouldn't matter if a majority of people were for the government forcing church institutions to contradict their principles, they are principles that we will keep even unto death. I would like to see any government official force me to follow this mandate. I WILL NOT. If you would like to come to Oklahoma and try to... I welcome your efforts!
This is an AFFRONT to religion. plain and simple. It has nothing to do with contraception, it has everything to do with the government complaining about separation of church and state when it comes to a manger scene in the town square but forgetting about it when it comes to forcing the church to do what the state deems worthy.
okie-pastor ---
Submitted by matthewdean on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 7:56pm.
LIKE !
MD
Envisioning Joan Walsh is my preferred contraception method.
Submitted by SickofLibs on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 8:08pm.
Never fails.
Rush
Submitted by HudsonRiverGirl on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 8:13pm.
So it would seem. Frankly I am fine with the Church dealing with the issue with their former hero, BHO. They gave their imprimatur to Obama-care and now they've been stabbed in the back.
Rush is all about pimping Santorum despite his protestations of not endorsing anyone. He has callers on the air to bash Romney while he gets a tingle up his leg for Santorum.
No one is forced to take birth control pills or get an abortion.
I am much more concerned about the lawlessness of Holder and his cohorts in the Justice Dept. Innocent lives have been taken as a direct result of Holder's Fast and Furious gun walking.
HudsonRiverGirl, WOW...rea
Submitted by Liberallies on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 10:47pm.
HudsonRiverGirl,
WOW...really?
You said, "No one is forced to take birth control pills or get an abortion"
1) You are so wrong. There have been judges who have forced teenage girls to have an abortion because wanted her parents wanted to do so.
2) People are being forced to buy the birth control pills and abortions for someone else regardless of whether you agree with these being moral or immoral.
No doubt like so many Leftists, you see nothing wrong with being forced to buy a product or a service which you consider immoral. Sad.
What is it with so many of you Mitt Romney supporters? You are as immoral as President Obama and most of his supporters.
And The Roman Catholic Church supported Obamacare? I am part of the Roman Catholic Church, so are my 7 brothers and sisters. My countless cousins, my parents, my wife, countless of friends none of us, who are The Roman Catholic Church supported Obamacare. So, unsure why you are claiming that the Roman Catholic Church supported Obamacare.
AND equally important, you are a fool to believe that this type of mandate only affects the Roman Catholic Church. But as I suspect, you dislike the Church and your dislike of the Church trumps your want to defend all Catholics and non-Catholics from this terrible and immoral mandate.
Rush Limbaugh: Chairman of the RNC
Submitted by Galvanic on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 9:27pm.
Matthews and company love to hold Lmbaugh up as the leader of the GOP, even though he himself has never claimed to be spokesman for the party. In fact, he's often very critical of the party; he was no fan of Bush-43.
But the Alinsky game requires that you identify the leader and then demonize him, so they chose Limbaugh because he has a daily show and he's outspoken.
Playing her role in the scheme to change the subject, Walsh thinks she's given most Catholics an "out" on Obama's contraceptive mandate by claiming that this "contraception issue" is really about evangelical Christians.
But that won't dissuade the RCC from thaking the matter to federal court as a First Amendment issue.
Thank you Mother Joan.
Submitted by drsamherman on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 10:37pm.
Patron Saint of Error, Falsehood and Deceit.
The woman would deny anything was wet right as a river flooded past her nose.
Shades of Schiavo? I usually don't comment on the looniness on
Submitted by Rush Fan on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 10:44pm.
MESSNBC, but I'm curious what does Terri Schiavo have to do with the discussion?
The left is desperatley
Submitted by Free Thinker on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 11:07pm.
The left is desperatley trying to make thIs a debate about contraception and not the first amendment. Nice try Joan.
and another was Matthews!
Submitted by michiganruth on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 11:17pm.
and another person besides "right-wing crazies" who disagreed with Obama was this very same Chris Matthews! talk about hypocrisy...or maybe short-term memory loss.
Rush the kingmaker
Submitted by FranklySpeaking on Sat, 02/18/2012 - 12:54am.
I will fault the conservative media WHEN Obama wins a second term. If they were really interested in ousting Obama, they would have coalesced behind Romney who they knew had the best chance to beat Obama. Instead they are looking for that perfect conservative candidate that THEY WILL select for us. Is it any surprise that voters aren't backing Romney if Rush, Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham, NRO, American Thinker, Weekly Standard, American Spectator, Breitbart, National Journal...and others are attacking him 24/7? Mark Levin even questioned Romney's character, which I find terribly offensive and unforgivable. Attacks like Levin made should be reserved for the true enemies, not one of our own.
Rush is trying to be a kingmaker by swaying conservatives to his "preferred" candidate Santorum under the guise of "true conservatism." Baloney. Santorum is not a conservative...he sponsored or cosponsored 51 spending bills and not one spending cut in his entire career in congress. The reality is that the conservative media hates whoever happens to be the "establishment" because they WANT TO BE the establishment.
If Obama wins, it will be because the conservative media have weakened the republican brand. The mainstream media could take lessons in destroying a frontrunner from the conservative media.
If Obama wins, it will be because the ---
Submitted by matthewdean on Sat, 02/18/2012 - 2:35am.
GOP weakened the 'republican brand'; not the conservative media.
MD
This.
Submitted by ontheright on Sat, 02/18/2012 - 11:59am.
This.
What are you smoking?
Submitted by humanzee on Sat, 02/18/2012 - 7:47pm.
What are you smoking? Even if Santorum cosponsored 51 spending bills, nothing is as bad as Romneycare or Romney's past endorsement of gay marriage and abortions. What kind of spending cuts is Romney really known for? He's known for Romneycare!!!
It's the difference between punching someone 51 times and actually committing murder.
Romneycare and Romney's support for the social liberal agenda is the equivalent of conservatism getting stabbed in the back, gutted, and then pile driven onto solid concrete then lathered in pitch and set ablaze.
Romney can't win without winning conservatives. Can't build something without a foundation... Romney has none. He doesn't even try to seriously ingratiate himself to conservatives.
Romney would be the house built on sand that gets swept away when the tide or flood rolls in.
Cheap Date
Submitted by HardRightTurn on Sat, 02/18/2012 - 1:09am.
Now we get to see who the real women are. Can their vote be bought for sex on demand?
To more fully comprehend the Left, one must read “Leftism As Psychopathy” by John Ray, M.A., Ph.D. Caution, it might scare you a little bit.
http://jonjayray.tripod.com/psycho.html
The left has tried virtually everything to ruin Rush's...
Submitted by jawebster1 on Sat, 02/18/2012 - 5:57am.
career and so far they have failed miserably.
I must admit though, their latest gambit of calling Rush a "secret Democrat" may work.
On second thought, never mind. Calling Rush a secret Democrat would be the same as calling Obama a secret Republican and who is going to believe that!
I guess when you are desperate, as in the case of Ms. Walsh, you'll try anything, no matter how stupid and idiotic.
the contraception issue
Submitted by spepper on Sat, 02/18/2012 - 7:26am.
Is what they want you to believe it's all about. It ISN'T. Rush knows this, along with a lot of other authentic patriots. It is about GOVERNMENT TYRANNY-- the "contraception mandate" is only a symptom of the MUCH GREATER ISSUE here.
Stay focused, patriots.
Nay.
Submitted by The Vet on Sat, 02/18/2012 - 7:54am.
From the WSJ ---
The Real Trouble With the Birth-Control Mandate
Critics are missing the main point. There are good reasons that your car-insurance company doesn't add $100 to your premium and then cover oil changes
Religous Freedom and Obama
Submitted by Steve Cakouros on Sat, 02/18/2012 - 3:28pm.
The greatest contribution America has made to the cause of liberty is its doctrine of the separation of church and state which is found in the first amendment to the Constitution.
Simply stated, this doctrine means that the federal government cannot use my religious convictions as grounds for receiving favorable treatment, nor can those religious convictions be the reason why the government is allowed to censor me. It is not religion but practice that counts. You can as Jefferson said, believe what you want, as long as you do not pick someone’s pocket.
James Madison did not word the first amendment but his experiences in the Virginia legislature led him to believe that a state not free of the church can promote tyranny. Clerics are not above that kind of thing.
Madison was of the opinion that dabbling in religion would lead the government off course forcing it to deal with subjects it was not equipped to handle. The business of the government, he believed, was governing, roads, military, taxes etc. Can you imagine the federal government—with people in it like Nancy Pelosi--trying to settle matters dealing with the soul? The idea is ludicrous.
According to article six, paragraph three of the Constitution, the federal government cannot determine my eligibility for an elected office on the basis of my religious beliefs. There can be no religious litmus test. [Note: What is true of the federal government in this respect is not true of all the states.] Article six paragraph three limits the government but it does not limit voters from accepting or rejecting a particular candidate. Voters can do as they please. They are free to accept or reject a candidate on the grounds of his religious convictions or lack thereof which is why they could from a religous as well as a Constitutional motive give Obama the boot this November.
Enter Rick Santorum Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul.
These men are committed to religions that do not meet with my approval. I am an ordained Evangelical Presbyterian and could not with a clear conscience defend a lot of what they believe. Still and all I could if they were conservative enough vote for one of them because I am certain that they would not tamper with the first amendment which is sacred.
Enter Barak Obama a petty dictator to whom nothing is sacred, not life, sexuality, the family, or the Constitution. Obama would, if he could, force the Catholic Church to supply and pay for contraception services it deems immoral. [The nerve of this man is enough to keep me up at nights.]
We have in Obama the kind of person not anticipated by Madison. He was concerned about the kind of government that would force its religion on to its constituents. Obama’s kind of government wants to force irreligion down our throats.
The Insurance industry is regulated. Obama is not. He is a loose canon. So, what next? Obama will try to tell preachers that they cannot denounce the homosexual lifestyle. That I assure you is coming.
That's who conservatives need to listen to
Submitted by Quasi-socialist on Sat, 02/18/2012 - 7:21pm.
Salon magazine. So many conservative props over the years. It almost never bows and scrapes to Obama.
So let me get this straight
Submitted by Quasi-socialist on Sat, 02/18/2012 - 7:24pm.
the "head of the Republican party" is now a "secret Democrat"??!!
Liberals depend on a lack of paying attention.