Unlikely: Kossacks Seek to Bring Limbaugh Down, by Bringin' Teh Funnay

But, see, you're not funny.

...It is clear that Limbaugh is going to give Obama the "Clinton treatment" for the next 8 years, and worse, the GOP will in lockstep follow this same agenda and play the role of obstructionist to the core. It is clear that Obama counter-attacking Limbaugh, while helpful for his "base", will have no meaningful effect on this. It is clear that Democratic Party members counter-attacking Limbaugh, while evidence of "a pulse", will have no meaningful effect on this.

But one thing will: Humor/satire

Recall that the one time when Limbaugh faced a little dip in his popularity, and the Democrats unexpectedly averted losing more seats in 1996, and 1998, came after Al Franken's book "Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot" had gained significant public attention.

...So, the only way to take Rush Limbaugh down, is to "Tina Fey" him, or "Al Franken" him, relentlessly to the point where he becomes universally just a huge punch line so big, that even the GOP cannot be seen with him, or hold him up anymore as a figure of any credibility.

...The key here though, is that the satire has to be mainstream enough to reach a lot of people and go well beyond simply preaching to the choir. The "Tina Fey-Palin" dynamic provides the model for how political destiny can be dramatically altered, and how to fight back against the next bamboozling by the GOP.

Your Ideas?

I've said this ad nauseum before so I'll just say it as a naked assertion now: Liberals can't do this because an essential element of humor -- including attack comedy -- is self-deprecation, and liberals are nearly congenitally incapable of any sort of self-deprecation. They stew in their own earnest righteousness and pious perfection.

What about all those liberal comedy writers and Jon Stewart, etc.? Well, mostly, those people are capable of self-deprecation, or at least a pantomime of it. (Stewart, for example, is so obviously over-impressed by himself that his feigning of self-deprecation is transparently counterfeit, and yet, crucially, he's still able to at least mouth the words that he's just an idiot.)

Further, even professional liberal comedy writers usually fall flat when they attempt to write political humor -- because they're just not capable of taking themselves and their beliefs less than 100% seriously.

95% of liberals are incapable of the ego deflation necessary for humor, and I'd expand that to 99.9% of internet liberals.

Limbaugh, on the other hand, is constantly self-deprecating. The ability to attack oneself softens one's humor so that attacking others seems like fair play.

But liberals can't do this, by and large, They've joined the movement (unknown to themselves; they are largely incapable of self-examination, either) precisely for the ego elevation of thinking incredibly well of themselves; they're not going to give that sweet, sweet affirmation up just to land a joke.

From the sidebar, thanks to Dave in Texas, via EddieBear.

posted by Ace at 05:23 PM

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