CON GAMES: Green Pimp Rush Goes Wacko

February 26th, 2007 at 07:52am Michael Conniff 2

In the world of abject conservatism, where almost nothing is like they want it to seem, Rigthy radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh reached a new low--or was it a new high--by smacking environmental "wackos" for using smart lightbulbs even as he was plugging Rinnai tankless hot water heaters because they "save energy."

Conservatives, you see, face a conundrum: how to continue to hold to values most dear--i.e., that liberal activists are liable for all the ills of the world--as they continue to latch onto a good thing when they see it. And a conservative likes nothing better than saving money, even if it means they fall victim to conservation.

"I’m not trying to tell people not to buy them," Limbaugh said of the treachorous, traitorous lightbulbs on his radio show. "Pure and simple. I just don't want to get caught up here in another one of these massive media bubbles, conventional wisdom oriented toward panic with people buying things just because a bunch of wacko activists are out there suggesting that if we don't all kinds of hell is going to break loose in our planet and our country and so forth."

Earlier in the program, Limaugh said of the so-called compact flourescent bulbs: "Don't tell me that I have to put these things in, or everybody else does, or the whole country does or we're going to kill ourselves. I just don't want to be insulted with this stuff. I'm not going to ever own and drive, and I pledge to you today, I am never going to ride in a Prius or a hybrid. Not to pick out a brand name, I'm not going to ride in one of those things. I'm not going to ride an electric car, and I'm not going to exercise to lose weight. I will exercise for other reasons, but not to lose weight because I don't fall prey to typical conventional wisdom that seems to seduce people into believing a bunch of gunk. "

Or, as one might add somewhat puckishly, a hot water heater that actually (lightbulb!) "saves energy." Limbaugh, like most conservatives, wants to have it both ways--he wants to knock conservation even as he plugs the energy-saving benefits of his hot-hot-hot Rinnai sponsor with 30 million installed. The same thing goes for global warming in general: there are myriad reasons for ignoring the facts, but no reason not to pursue a strategy that would leave us less dependent on oil and natural gas from the Middle East.

Rush Limbaugh's late-to-the-party conversion to conservation (minus the Prius) means that he still refuses to untie the half of his brain tied behind his back. Conservatism is not exactly dead, but you might say the lightbulb is on and nobody's home.

Entry Filed under: Environment, Politics, Con Games