Rush Limbaugh makes one impassioned gloves-off speech and the entire media circus seems to have suddenly swirled around him. What the main stream media has forgotten is what we all, me included, have forgotten... conservatism in general and Republicans in particular surged back to power precisely because pundits like Limbaugh said what we wanted to say, to people we wanted to say it to, in a way we've always wanted to say it. The frothing, rabid response just made it that much more entertaining.

Why did we forget it? Because for the past fourteen years, and especially for the past eight, our conservative op-ed writers have held themselves back. They knew that no matter how rotten the Republicans got, it was nothing compared to what the Democrats could pull. If they were quiet enough, circumspect enough, played ball just enough, maybe people like Limbaugh could slowly guide the party back to core principles without letting the teenagers and their college professors a shot at the wheel.

Well, that didn't work, but in failure were sowed the seeds of success. Because now there's nothing holding them back. It took a few months to get started, but an engine has come roaring back to life. Unfettered by the worry that noting the emperor had no clothes might lead the masses to put beggar in rags in charge, the entire arsenal is now being unleashed. It's now easy for Limbaugh and those like him to be both funny, right, and consistent, and they seem to be setting to it with gusto.

A certain admiral once quipped if given the opportunity he could run rampant for six months, but after that defeat was inevitable. It would appear this time around a different admiral only had three.

Hat tip: Instapundit.