Lately there has been a debate going on in the media over who is the “de facto” leader of the Republican party. The two people in the running are Rush Limbaugh and Michael Steele, the newly elected chairman of the Republican National Committee. Talking heads and various other people in the know are spinning this back and forth and up and down, but I have yet to hear any of them ask the really pertinent question.
If Rush Limbaugh is even in the running, if this is enough of a contest to demand debate, if there is even the slightest possibility that he could be the guy . . . then doesn’t that tell us all we need to know about today’s Republican Party?
In the same way that John McCain tried to walk a tightrope during his campaign by kowtowing to the ignorance that often found its way to a microphone at his town hall meetings, the Republican power brokers have to allow Limbaugh to run amok because shedding the light of truth on his ridiculous ranting would cost them a huge chunk of their base. Michael Steele attempted it a few days ago, and today I saw the announcement that he is apologizing. The head of the Republican Party apologized to Rush Limbaugh for calling him an “entertainer” and his talk show “incendiary.” What’s next? Are the Republicans going to hold a press conference to announce that the earth is flat? The election made it clear that the Republicans are out of touch with reality. This latest Limbaugh flap screams it from the rooftops.
Politics makes strange bedfellows, and the Republicans have chosen intercourse with Rush Limbaugh (which is a picture that should make ANYONE a Democrat). I’m just afraid the baby they make out of that liaison will be a teeny-tiny, itsy-bitsy Republican Party.
Deb Moore 
I have a theory…the RNC is putting on right-wing theatre and Rush Limbaugh is starring in the lead role. The script reads something like this…parade the extremists in front of the people and the party. Let the harsh glare of the stage lights expose the far right for what it is so the RNC can move the party back in line with its platform and constituency.
Not to worry. The RNC has several understudies in the wings and a giant hook. Should be some decent theatre.