Bailout Watch 552: Boycott GM? Rush Limbaugh is Insane

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

Thanks to my free market-based, anti-bailout stance, some of TTAC’s Best and Brightest view me as an autoblogospherical arch-conservative. Which often leads to comparisons to or, at least, invocations of Rush Limbaugh. This despite the fact that I’ve pointed out that the liberal’s largest (in all senses of the word) bogeyman has been sucking on GM’s adver-teat for years, artfully slipping references to “wonderful GM products” and “this great American company” into his rants. Until, that is, Ralph Nader filed a complaint with the FCC. At which point Rush continued to accept GM payola for his personal imprimatur, only with a disclaimer. During this “transition,” I’ve highlighted Limbaugh’s (and Hannity’s) resulting philosophical discomfort (i.e., hypocrisy) on the Motown meltdown. Blame it on unions, congress, anyone but the people signing their paychecks. OK, so, the Detroit News reports that el-Rushbo is now calling for a GM boycott. Ish.

“Nobody wants to support an Obama company,” Rush Limbaugh told his audience Friday, citing a poll showing that 17 percent of Americans backed a boycott of GM . . .

The popular, controversial Limbaugh didn’t outright call for a boycott, but said he understood why people would want to avoid GM vehicles. “They don’t want to patronize Obama. They don’t want to do anything to make Obama’s policies work.”

A GM spokesman declined to comment Monday.

Oh, I would have LOVED to be on the other end of the phone when GM called Rush. “I’ve got three words for you Rush: driving while impaired.”

Meanwhile, the Limbaughian “wanting Obama to fail” meme refuses to die. A commentator recently e-mailed to accuse me of wanting Detroit to die so that President Obama would fail ’cause I’m a secret Republican. So anyone who’s anti-bailout is anti-Obama and, therefore, the enemy. Go figure.

Robert Farago
Robert Farago

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  • Pch101 Pch101 on Jun 10, 2009
    A hypocrite is one who advocates one thing, but does another. You see? Apparently, not everybody does, as we've just seen. Thanks for a great summary of what makes hypocrisy particularly odious. I don't think that the fans are going to want to hear it, but I suppose that comes with the territory.
  • U mad scientist U mad scientist on Jun 10, 2009
    If Rush wasn’t taken out of context, there’d be nothing to talk about. He’s a boogeyman to most liberals. Are there people who still deny his influence on the ring wing movement?
  • CaddyDaddy Start with a good vehicle (avoid anything FCA / European and most GM, they are all Junk). Buy from a private party which allows you to know the former owner. Have the vehicle checked out by a reputable mechanic. Go into the situation with the upper hand of the trade in value of the car. Have the ability to pay on the spot or at you bank immediately with cash or ability to draw on a loan. Millions of cars are out there, the one you are looking at is not a limited commodity. Dealers are a government protected monopoly that only add an unnecessary cost to those too intellectually lazy to do research for a good used car.
  • Redapple2 I gave up on Honda. My 09 Accord Vs my 03. The 09s- V 6 had a slight shudder when deactivating cylinders. And the 09 did not have the 03 's electro luminescent gages. And the 09 had the most uncomfortable seats. My brother bought his 3rd and last Honda CRV. Brutal seats after 25 minutes. NOW, We are forever Toyota, Lexus, Subaru people now despite HAVING ACCESS TO gm EMPLOYEE DISCOUNT. Despite having access to the gm employee discount. Man, that is a massive statement. Wow that s bad - Under no circumstances will I have that govna crap.
  • Redapple2 Front tag obscured. Rear tag - clear and sharp. Huh?
  • Redapple2 I can state what NOT to buy. HK. High theft. Insurance. Unrefined NVH. Rapidly degrading interiors. HK? No way !
  • Luke42 Serious answer:Now that I DD an EV, buying an EV to replace my wife’s Honda Civic is in the queue. My wife likes her Honda, she likes Apple CarPlay, and she can’t stand Elon Musk - so Tesla starts the competition with two demerit-points and Honda starts the competition with one merit-point.The Honda Prologue looked like a great candidate until Honda announced that the partnership with GM was a one-off thing and that their future EVs would be designed in-house.Now I’m more inclined toward the Blazer EV, the vehicle on which the Prologue is based. The Blazer EV and the Ultium platform won’t be orphaned by GM any time soon. But then I have to convince my wife she would like it better than her Honda Civic, and that’s a heavy lift because she doesn’t have any reason to be dissatisfied with her current car (I take care of all of the ICE-hassles for her).Since my wife’s Honda Civic is holding up well, since she likes the car, and since I take care of most of the drawbacks of drawbacks of ICE ownership for her, there’s no urgency to replace this vehicle.Honestly, if a paid-off Honda Civic is my wife’s automotive hill to die on, that’s a pretty good place to be - even though I personally have to continue dealing the hassles and expenses of ICE ownership on her behalf.My plan is simply to wait-and-see what Honda does next. Maybe they’ll introduce the perfect EV for her one day, and I’ll just go buy it.
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