Rush Limbaugh is one of the most influential voices on the American political scene today. While many regard his voice as polemical and bombastic, he nevertheless has a primary role in formulating the metaphors which shape much of the new Republican Congress' policies. Though many dismiss his rhetoric as simplistic and intellectually facile, he clearly taps deep into the American psyche with his visceral language. Viewed from the perspective of metaphor analysis, Limbaugh's rhetoric is brilliantly constructed in its use of culturally entrenched metaphors, which resonate with the emotional feelings of his listeners and readers. In this paper, we investigate Limbaugh's use of metaphor in his recent book, The Way Things Ought To Be.[1] We sum up by arguing that Limbaugh's metaphors cohere in his theory of human nature and a vision of a society built around the traditional nuclear family. We conclude that liberals are not yet articulating their own version of human nature and offering some initial thoughts as to what that might entail.
Their conclusion (with a LOT in between)
In short, we feel that the real challenge is to articulate a different theory of human nature. Such a theory would have to appreciate sexual difference while maintaining flexibility in gender roles; it would have to establish that compassion and teaching are inseparable; it would have to establish a view of nature that is dialogic rather than law-like; it would have to stress that negotiation and nurturance are more important skills than iron wills and denial. Liberals need to recover fatherhood without succumbing to conservative paternalism. If we look to American history, precisely a century ago the political debate was between liberalism and paternalism[3] --that might be a redefinition of the debate which would reinvigorate liberalism.