Rush Limbaugh's apology doesn't change anything

[Gups]

As an outsider following American politics pretty closesly for 30 years or so, there does seem to have been a change in the right in the last few years.

The relogious right were always vocal and important but they never seemed to have quite the stanglehold on the right that they do now.

It's a great shame. Some hugely important and inventive policies have come out of the US right over the decades. It seems to me to be intellectually moribund at present. I hope it is a temporary phenomenen but read Speesh and others jumping to the defence of scum like Limbaugh makes me doubt it.

[derspiess]

Rush Limbaugh is not the Religious Right, ya goofs. 

[Berkut]

Rush Limbaugh is not the Religious Right, ya goofs. 

Of course not, but his listeners overlap pretty immensely, and he certainly panders to them. Without them, this entire contraception thing is a non-issue. Limbaugh is certainly no religious nut, but he is a nutjob radical right asshole, and that makes him a rather close ally of the religious right, and vice versa.

[Gups]

Rush Limbaugh is not the Religious Right, ya goofs.

Which issues does Rush part company with the Religious Right on (serious question - I've never heard his show)?

[derspiess]

Rush Limbaugh is not the Religious Right, ya goofs. 

Of course not, but his listeners overlap pretty immensely, and he certainly panders to them. Without them, this entire contraception thing is a non-issue. Limbaugh is certainly no religious nut, but he is a nutjob radical right asshole, and that makes him a rather close ally of the religious right, and vice versa.

I don't think you have to be a Religious Right nutjob to disagree with the notion that Catholic institutions should be required by federal law (or executive fiat or whatever) to provide free contraception to students or employees.

[derspiess]

Which issues does Rush part company with the Religious Right on (serious question - I've never heard his show)?

Can't think of any off the top of my head.  I can say his sense of humor and thought process are pretty distinguishable from your typical RR'er.

He's socially conservative-- bash him for that if you want, but he's not really part of the Religious Reich that keeps Berkut up at night.

[Admiral Yi]

Gups:

I've never heard him talk the Jesus talk on his show.  He's the right wing equivalent of MSNBC--his raison d'etre is to bash Democrats.  If some cultural conservative issues happen to come up while doing so, so be it, but that's not his main schtick.

[Gups]

So he takes his position on issues like this one on the basis that his enemies'' enemy is his friend rather than as a matter of principle?

[PDH]

I am not sure principle is part of his being.

[The Minsky Moment]

So he takes his position on issues like this one on the basis that his enemies'' enemy is his friend rather than as a matter of principle?

You are overthinking this.  He is an entertainer with a radio show.  The political angle is just the schtick is uses to pull in an audience.

[DontSayBanana]

I don't think you have to be a Religious Right nutjob to disagree with the notion that Catholic institutions should be required by federal law (or executive fiat or whatever) to provide free contraception to students or employees.

Geez, everybody's just hearing what they want to hear out of this one.  Not free contraception, healthcare packages that include coverage of contraception.  Big, neon difference there.

And that's the kicker.  Employees.  To their students?  I don't have a problem with them restricting availability to their students.  By definition, a Catholic school is instilling their dogma in their students.  Don't like it?  Withdraw the student and send them to a protestant school, or even (gasp) public school.  But as an employer, they're not some special class that gets to make up their own rules for dealing with employees that may or may not share their religious beliefs.  They've got to follow the same rules that everyone else does.

[Jacob]

So in summary: Mr. Limbaugh doesn't talk much about Jesus, but on actual policy he happens to agree with the religious right 19 out of 20 times?

... or are there any issues where he's at odds with the religious right?

[Jacob]

I don't think you have to be a Religious Right nutjob to disagree with the notion that Catholic institutions should be required by federal law (or executive fiat or whatever) to provide free contraception to students or employees.

Yeah, you pretty much do.

[Gups]

So he takes his position on issues like this one on the basis that his enemies'' enemy is his friend rather than as a matter of principle?

You are overthinking this.  He is an entertainer with a radio show.  The political angle is just the schtick is uses to pull in an audience.

Like I said, I've never heard him speak. I only read news reports or comments about him. From these he seems to be failry influential.

[katmai]

More so 20 years ago, ever since the drug problems and previous nonsensical rants like this have destroyed his cred.