The Lunatic Is On The Air

Syd Barrett was the founder; lead singer and lyricist of the seminal British rock group Pink Floyd. According to Pink Floyd mythology, Syd Barrett took a hit of LSD, went on a psychedelic trip and never returned to sanity.

Syd Barrett’s abuse of LSD affected his ability to perform. He acted unpredictably and erratically on stage, once playing one note throughout an entire performance. During another concert, he detuned his guitar to the delight of the audience. Sometimes, he stood on stage in a catatonic state. During a video recording of the Pat Boone Show, he refused to lip sync the song “See Emily Play.”

Currently, another man who uses a microphone for a living is exhibiting erratic behavior. He also had a drug problem. The drug abuse may have affected his ability to think lucidly.

He is not an artist. He talks for a living. From the liberal political spectrum, he spews nonsense.

In October 2003, Rush Limbaugh admitted to his listeners on his widely syndicated talk show that he was addicted to the pain killer medication Oxycontin. Sadly, Rush Limbaugh went on an opiate induced trip and lost his sanity.

In January 2009, he was asked to produce a 400-word essay to an American publication indicating his hopes for President Obama. He offered a four-word reply. “I hope he fails.”[i]

According to his drug induced brain-damaged mind, Rush Limbaugh wants President Obama to fail because “liberalism is the problem. Liberalism is what’s gotten us dangerously close to the precipice here. Why do I want more of it?”[ii]

Rush Limbaugh’s mind was damaged due to abusing Oxicontin. He is unable to comprehend reality.

President George Bush was president for eight years. The Republican Party controlled the executive, legislative and judicial branches of American government for six of those eight years.

The Republicans had a firm grasp of the presidency from 1968 to 2008. But liberalism was the problem according to Mr. Limbaugh.

Liberalism ignored the August 2001 Presidential Daily Brief titled “Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States,” Osama Bin Laden and the terrorist network Al Qaeda prior to September 11, 2001.

Liberalism launched a preemptive war against Iraq based on the false assumption Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.

Liberalism deregulated the bank and finance industries, which led to the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Maybe Mr. Limbaugh is having a withdrawal-induced flashback to 1965 when President Lyndon Johnson initiated the Great Society programs. Conservatives loathe the Great Society programs as much as they loathe the New Deal.

It is not just Rush Limbaugh rooting against President Obama that makes me question his sanity. It’s Mr. Limbaugh’s solution that concerns me.

“I am a guy on the radio and I am not, by any means, an official leader of the Republican Party,” Mr. Limbaugh said during a January 2009 broadcast. “I‘m a conservative. The official leaders of the Republican Party are fighting over who their ultimate leader is going to be—hint, hint, it‘s Sarah Palin.”[iii]

Rush Limbaugh wants President Obama to fail. He wants current Alaska Governor and former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin to lead the Republican Party to victory in 2012.

Mr. Limbaugh believes Governor Palin can solve the problems unresolved by President Obama.

Imagine if a man stood on a soapbox on any street corner of any American city and said he hoped President Obama fails. Furthermore, he argues Sarah Palin is the only person who is capable of leading the United States through these difficult times.

The speaker would be dismissed. Pedestrians would assume the speaker was crazy or high on drugs. Rush Limbaugh lost his mind because he abused Oxycontin. “What a waste it is to lose one’s mind,” to quote former Vice President Dan Quayle.

Rush Limbaugh is a millionaire because he broadcasts his opinions. He is white. He is conservative. He is rich, but the Republican Party is making a mistake taking directions from his opinions.

Does the Republican Party really want to take advice from a former junkie?

The Republican Party will not survive if they continue to listen to Rush Limbaugh and his ilk. The GOP cannot sustain itself as a party that caters only to southern whites who are against abortion, against civil rights, and against gun control.

Although it would be ironic if the Republican Party became extinct. Conservatives do not believe in evolution. Republicans would become a Darwinian casualty, facing extinction because they were unable to adapt to a changing political environment.

[i] “Limbaugh: I Hope Obama Fails,” The Rush Limbaugh Show, 1/16/09.
[ii] “Limbaugh: I Hope Obama Fails,” The Rush Limbaugh Show, 1/16/09.
[iii] Countdown with Keith Olbermann, 1/30/09.