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Promoting the Phonies: Arnold and Rush

A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY
by Margie Burns

"Arnold Schwarzenegger . . . was anointed the de facto nominee by California GOP bosses in a smoke-free backroom. How much did Schwarzenegger's campaign team know about his egregious sexual behavior? . . . Did leaders of the California Republican Party look the other way in their desperation to win back the governorship?" (LA Times, October 3, 2003)

These apt words come from California Republican K. B. Forbes, former communications director for GOP candidates Pat Buchanan and William Simon.

The obvious parallel for the relationship between the California GOP and Arnold Schwarzenegger is that of ESPN and Rush Limbaugh. Why did ESPN provide Limbaugh yet another forum to do the inevitable?

The glib answer "ratings" leaves out part of the question, namely what created those ratings expectations in the first place. Any Limbaugh fans who started watching "Sunday NFL Countdown" because of Limbaugh did so to hear archetypal Rush, not to be converted from dittoheads into football experts.

In other words, Limbaugh’s appeal as a commentator for ABC’s suits was the suspense of Rush-isms as they’re affectionately called -– basically the appeal of wrecks at an auto race. He was brought on for those who don’t go to hockey to see the game, or who don’t listen to the interminable pre-game shows (reasonably enough) until someone says something offensive.

According to the handiest football expert around (my son), Limbaugh’s comments about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb were particularly dumb in terms of football. McNabb with three Pro Bowls and two NFC championships in his career already, is good at what he does.

So Limbaugh’s comments proceeded from (1) his ignorance of football, (2) his prejudices, and (3) his astute pandering to some couch-potato fantasy of undeserved promotion, all of which could have been foreseen, and probably was. Hiring Limbaugh as a commentator and then being surprised when he says something embarrassing is like going to a bar and being shocked when all that alcohol is served.

Where are those cynical futures-market games, where you can bet on the probability and predict the date of a projected event, when we really need them? Some of us could have cleaned up. ESPN, ABC Television, and Disney knew that Limbaugh had a history of making objectionable remarks, nicely known as "controversial," when they hired him, and must have known that the only thing that stood between him and some frightful gaffe on ESPN was time. Mr. Limbaugh debuted as football commentator on September 7; he then made several blunders for three weeks while asserting that various individuals and teams are overrated or treated too kindly by the media (Jets quarterback Vinny Testaverde, coach Bill Parcells, and the Packers, Dolphins, Rams, and Eagles); and then shot himself in the foot on September 28.

Twenty-one days: score.

Speaking of predicting, a correspondent emailed me back in June that Limbaugh was spending thousands per week to buy the prescription drug OxyContin. My source got his information from members of Limbaugh’s household staff whom he knew. One cannot go public with secondhand tips, but the item has now been confirmed, unsurprisingly, in the National Enquirer and the New York Daily News.

Given the inherent transmissibility of in-house gossip, undoubtedly quite a few people in the West Palm Beach area, from which Limbaugh often broadcasts, had the same information. Too bad ABC’s top executives did not. Of course, a network’s top executives would not need counterespionage-level detective work in hiring if they just adhered to standards of dignity and sense.

But this seems to be the golden age of over-promoted phonies. Nobody in his right mind thinks Arnold Schwarzenegger is actually going to balance California’s budget -- or, probably, even refrain from groping more women (the White House did not work miracles on Clinton’s behavior) –- any more than anyone expects Rush Limbaugh to play football, or even to have deep-depth expertise on the topic. And like Rush, Schwarzenegger is a macho, tough-guy non-warrior. He is Vietnam age, but during Vietnam, he was engaged in European and US bodybuilding.

For those concerned, Limbaugh has spoken against OxyContin abuse: [LINK]. It seems, however, that his public remarks fell short of accountability for his own actions in said context.

Another parallel with Schwarzenegger.

A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY

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Margie Burns can be reached at margie.burns@verizon.net.