http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2013/01/14/obama_and_moderate_republicans_see_conservatives_as_common_enemy
What is of interest in this show is that Rush Limbaugh talks about the South being under attack from elites, such as an article in The New Yorker magazine. Limbaugh's comments sounds like something that neo-Confederates would say.
Rush's comments: http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2013/01/14/obama_and_moderate_republicans_see_conservatives_as_common_enemy
New Yorker article: http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2013/01/21/130121taco_talk_packer
The author of the article is somewhat sympathetic to the South, but discusses how it is becoming culturally isolated from the rest of the nation. Limbaugh suggests that the article is part of some conspiracy to isolate the South which it clearly isn't:
And what this is about is a very approving story from the New Yorker about the attempt here to isolate the South.Limbaugh sees the South being attacked by liberal media elites because it is conservative and that these supposed enemies of the South love the movie Lincoln because Lincoln attacked the South; Quoting Limbaugh:
Have you asked yourself why is Hollywood so gaga over Lincoln, the movie? Why is Bill Clinton all of a sudden out there at the Golden Globes last night being brought on stage to thunderous standing ovation to talk about Lincoln and what he did during the Civil War?
What did Lincoln do, as far as these people are concerned? He wiped out the South.The rest of Limbaugh's comments also sound like something the league of the South would say. Indeed the League of the South (LoS) is very enthused about Limbaugh's comments as shown in their posting about them which you can read at the LoS's blog at the following link.
I don't know if this is just a one time thing by Rush Limbaugh or if it represents a new ongoing theme in his performances. It could be that Limbaugh has recognized that his likely listeners are geographically concentrated and that he needs to orient his narratives towards that demographic. Or that the geography of current politics has become obvious and he needs to be relevant to this developing public awareness of this geography of current politics. Rush points out a recent article at www.salon.com in his comments:
Last week, Salon.com had a story called, "Welcome to the new Civil War -- Lincoln's Unfinished War Rages On, as the Neo-Confederacy Tries to Turn Back the Clock on Women, Gays, God and Guns."(Article is online here: http://www.salon.com/2013/01/05/welcome_to_the_new_civil_war/)
I don't think for a second that Limbaugh's bringing up this issue about the South was accidental or just the result of a meandering monologue. I think Limbaugh is shrewd and carefully considers his topics and presentation of them.
If this new theme is successful for Limbaugh, as the leading figure of conservative news entertainment, I think that other media figures in the same field will rush to do pick up this theme of the South being under attack.
There have been articles in the past which have referred to the Civil War in discussing the modern geography of partisan politics and mapping it to the geography of the Civil War. However, these have been all in liberal or progressive publications or in non-partisan publications. Now Limbaugh is responding to these articles and affirming that there is a modern geography of partisan politics. If groups in both sides of the political spectrum see the same modern geography of partisan politics that it is likely that the general public will accept this geography as a given.
Finally, if the South is seen as the conservative region and southern is identified as being identical to conservatism, will not many see conservatism as being Confederate?
Well one commentary is a trend. We will have to see.
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