Bah Limbagh!

So, Rush Limbaugh headlined the Conservative Political Action Conference.

I know, I know – you already know. You’ve probably already heard countless accounts of how screwed the Republican party clearly is, as exhibited by their obvious lack of leadership.

But you have yet to hear my take on it.

My response to Limbaugh’s speech can be summed up in one short but extremely descriptive syllable: bah.

In  case you are unfamiliar with this highly useful slang term, “bah” should be used sparingly to describe irritations so insanely ridiculous that no string of coherent English words could possibly provide a proper portrayal.

For instance, should you find yourself forced to wait for an awkwardly long time in line at Kroger because the old lady in front of you is purchasing Vagisil and it won’t scan, as you watch the cashier struggle with the computer while nervously laughing, feel free to mutter a “bah” (should this ever happen to you, I recommend going to get that Colby-Jack you forgot).

Or upon hearing that one of your friends who is studying overseas ended up at an Amsterdam sex show after eating a few too many moon cakes, you could appropriately describe the situation with “bah.”

Rush Limbaugh’s speech? Bah.

Beyond asserting his own hope for President Barack Obama’s failure – I hate to break this to you, Rush, but at this point we’re all in the same boat – Limbaugh stated, “Well, what do we do, as conservatives? How do we overcome this? . . . One thing we can all do is stop assuming that the way to beat them is with better policy ideas.”

Edmond Burke would be oh, so sad.

In case you’re asking, “Who on earth is Edmond Burke?” he is the man often credited as the father of conservatism.

Burke believed many political thinkers were too theoretical, ignoring the in-depth complexities of interdependent relations found in reality.

He argued that tradition stabilized society and change should come about slowly.

Most importantly, he thought the realities of society should be studied and analyzed and that workable polices could be derived only from the practical, not the theoretical.

Limbaugh and other Republicans have lost contact with Burke’s wisdom.

I have always felt that a major downfall of Democratic policy is how often it is rooted in head-in-the-clouds  thinking.

However, since the Bush administration took over, Republicans have been committing the same fallacy, trading practical truths and realities for ideologies and theoretical notions that do not always cohere to actuality.

We need to study the veracious properties of the real world and allow them to shape our strategy.

And more importantly, we need to reward those politicians who can offer solutions, not simple conceptual rhetoric.

The way to triumph against the crises currently ailing us – especially the economic ones – is to adopt practical and efficient policies.

I can only hope that the team with the best guiding principles wins come 2012.

To anyone who disagrees, I simply say, “Bah.”