I must admit that the past few months have been incredibly entertaining. Watching the likes of Rush Limbaugh and spineless Republicans get beat around like a pinata by the Democrats AND Republicans is simply priceless. But the most impressive aspect of this entire controversy is that Rush Limbaugh is NOT the actual leader of the Republican party, nor do the Democrats actually believe it is so.

It is during times like these, despite a long history of pansiness, that I believe the Democratic Party may still have a chance to lead. This entire made-up news story is simply a plot to make the GOP look more ridiculous than they already do, a difficult feat. In addition, it separates the ideologues from the actual intellectuals in the Republican party (and yes there ARE smart people who disagree with you).

Lets do the math: Right now there are over 10% more registered Democrats than Republicans. If a simple 30% of Republicans are labeled as “ideologues”, or people who enjoy the rantings of Limbaugh, Coulter, Robertson, etc., which is a conservative number in my opinion, then that 30% is either going to vote for someone else or more than likely just not vote at all. History shows that in situations like these, where an incoming party has the majority in both the presidency and congress, that the other party will make gains in the next election. Although this matters little in the House of Representatives (the Democrats have a huge lead), the Senate needs only 1 (assuming Franken finally is sworn in) more Democratic senator (60) to end debate whenever they want (an important job for Senator Menendez to accomplish). And as the past few weeks have shown, between the stimulus package and the omnibus bill, such power would be unimaginably helpful.

Although I was personally a bit frightened at first with the thought of the Democrats passing any legislation that they wanted through Congress, and I still am to an extent (moreso of Pelosi than Obama), I never imagined that the Republicans would use their only semblance of power to make sure that the government continues to do nothing. For only having one foot in the door, the Republicans are raising all kinds of hell for the Democrats, and you can largely thank Congressman Eric Cantor (the Minority Whip) for that. And due to the GOP and their ability to become even more hypocritical than I had ever thought possible, I now am more than happy to have the Democrats control both legislatures. Earmarks and overspending? I wish there was proof of the GOP unabashedly doing the same exact thing, but worse (not to mention that they’re supposed to be the party of small government)… Oh wait, There Is! In the end, if President Obama wants to pass any real bills on anything (let alone health care reform, the environment, or energy) it seems that he will need those extra senators to shut the GOP down.

As such, the Democrats need a long term plan to make gains come 2010 among moderates and independents, and this fake news story is just that. Personally I don’t think the Republicans have any leadership, at least not in one person. If I were to name the most powerful leaders, I would say: Cantor, Boehner, McConnell, Steele, McCain, Jindal, Crist, Romney and Gingrich. However, nobody currently is, nor would even want to be, the unitary leader of the dying Republican party, although it is important to note the importance Democrats have been placing on the young and intelligent Cantor. Its as if the Democrats are watching every move the GOP makes and cutting them down years before they had a chance - I’m astonished by their efficiency.

So why Limbaugh? Two reasons: First, because he’s ridiculous. “The only way to reduce the number of nuclear weapons is to use them.” Need I say more? Second, because the timing was perfect. This entire controversy would never have happened, or at least not have gotten any news coverage, had Rush not gone and told everyone that he thought the President should fail. But he did, and then Republicans who were stupid (ie: Steele, Gingrey, Sanford, and more) and wanted to sound moderate went on air and disagreed with him. And guess what happened after that? Limbaugh goes on his show and lambastes every one of them. Wonder what happens next? Those same Republicans who criticized Rush yesterday remember their desire not to become part of the 9% unemployment rate, so they suck it up and go out congressional intern style - with no spine (or shame for that matter).

Suddenly, as every major Republican and their mom is apologizing to the great Rush Limbaugh, the GOP look like a bunch of lemmings taking orders from a radio host. Could the Democrats be dealt an easier hand? Now every Democrat and their mom is praising Limbaugh, with false modesty of course, as the extreme, although smart and talented nonetheless, leader of the GOP. People like Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who say that Limbaugh is an “intellectual force” and leader of the GOP. Does he mean that? Absolutely not! Emanuel and President Obama could run laps around Limbaugh (both figuratively and non). However, the first part of this scheme is to paint the right picture, which is that the Democrats are moderate and sensible, while the Republicans are being lead by a fat, loud mouth hypocrite. How long will this stage last? As long as they can keep the major media coverage. Once the story gets old, the Democrats will then begin taking every ridiculous comment and act of hypocrisy that Rush has ever committed and put it in the limelight. Suddenly, not only is Limbaugh a fat, loud mouth hypocrite, but so is the entire Republican party!

The beauty of this entire scheme is that they’re on a positive feedback loop. As Limbaugh looks dumber, the GOP will continue to distance themselves from him, which will make Limbaugh call them out on the radio, which will make them apologize, which will make the GOP look dumber, and so on and so forth. The only way to for this to end is for either Limbaugh or the GOP to shut up and swallow their pride - which is unlikely.

The best lies are the ones that have a significant amount of truth to them. Although Rush Limbaugh is an important man (and I take great pain in writing that), he does not lead the GOP. The reason Republicans have been apologizing left and right is because Limbaugh has decent amount of fanatic supporters who, altogether, could create major controversy for any one member. And the Republicans just want to keep their jobs. Their mistake was criticizing Rush and making him a story in the first place. As the Republicans are a party with no leadership during an economic crisis for which they largely created, not to mention all the other dismal failures of the last 8 years, they should be welcoming the support of even the crazy Chinese woman who raised hell about missing her flight, let alone supporters of Rush Limbaugh. Every vote counts, and they can’t afford to lose any.

As I said earlier, I am truly impressed with the Democrats. Whoever started this idea, albeit it the Obama Administration, the DNC, or congressional democrats, is quite savvy. And for the first, and probably last, time I’ll ever say this, I hope you disregard my post….

CAUSE RUSH LIMBAUGH IS THE LEADER OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!