Rush Limbaugh: De Man, De Myth, De Facto

As the Republican party searches high and low for a definitive leader, the polarizing force that is Rush Limbaugh appears to have taken it upon himself to lead conservatives through the wilderness. The highlight of this ascension has been his keynote address at CPAC, the annual official conservative convention. The 90-minute speech included scathing remarks toward President Obama and misquoting the Constitution.

Not surprisingly, this de facto coronation of Limbaugh has rubbed some high-ranking conservatives the wrong way. The most notable of these has been recently elected RNC chairman Michael Steele:

"No he's not. I'm the de facto leader of the Republican party," Steele said.

The RNC chief went on to call Limbaugh a mere "entertainer" whose show is "incendiary" and "ugly."

Limbaugh fired back:

"So I am an entertainer and I have 20 million listeners because of my great song and dance routine," Limbaugh said. "Michael Steele, you are head of the Republican National Committee. You are not head of the Republican party. Tens of millions of conservatives and Republicans have nothing to do with the Republican National Committee...and when you call them asking for money, they hang up on you."

"I'm not in charge of the Republican Party, and I don't want to be," he said. "I would be embarrassed to say that I'm in charge of the Republican Party in a sad-sack state that it's in. If I were chairman of the Republican Party, given the state that it's in, I would quit."

Steele has since apologized to Limbaugh thusly:

"My intent was not to go after Rush - I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh...I was maybe a little bit inarticulate... There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership. I went back at that tape and I realized words that I said weren’t what I was thinking..."

Other prominent Republicans who have denounced then apologized to Rush have prompted the creation of a site straight out of Mad Libs: imsorryrush.com.

Limbaugh, as expected, has taken everything in stride, but is not necessarily doing anything to convince people he doesn't want to be a figurehead for the conservative cause.

Case in point, this challenge from his show today:

"I am offering President Obama to come on this program -- without staffers, without a teleprompter, without note cards -- to debate me on the issues."

Oy...

While there will be many dissenters to the claim that Limbaugh is a journalist, let's just say he is for the sake of this argument. Sure, he may have a journalistic right to voice his opinion of dissent towards the presidency, but is he out of line to challenge Obama to such a duel? What are his motives? Does he want to cement himself as THE conservative voice for America and serve his party, or does he want boffo ratings? Would proper motives make this supposed debate more journalistically sound?

Above all: Is it a practicing journalist's proper place to find himself at such an elevated place within the political system?

Maybe Rush has been watching a little too much Frost/Nixon...