NY Times Tom Friedman to Charlie Rose: How long is the GOP gonna be dragged around by the base? Charlie, in my next life I want to be part of the base.The base has all the fun, okay?-Rush Limbaugh

.
12/19/14, "What Is Thomas "Loopy" Friedman Talking About?" Rush Limbaugh
.
"RUSH: Yes, ladies and gentlemen, your host was on the news quite a bit since we were last together. Last night on PBS Charlie Rose, New York Times columnist Tommy "Loopy" Friedman was the guest. And this is really inane. I mean, when you listen to this, keep in mind who won the November elections and by how much.  Charlie Rose says, "Mr. Friedman, do you think that the politics on Cuba may change? I mean you look at some of the early reaction on the Republican side to Cuba, Marco Rubio, even Jeb Bush, they're both from Florida, but..."

FRIEDMAN: How long, you know, is that party gonna be dragged around by the base?  Really, Charlie, in my next life I want to be part of the base. The base has all the fun, okay? Look at just the Cuban-American issue. Two-thirds of Cuban-Americans, I read in the poll this morning, support this, 'cause it's a new generation. They don't carry the feelings, very legitimate feelings of their parents having, you know, been exiled, forcibly in some cases. So I think ultimately you gotta pay attention to that.  You can't just be responding to what Rush Limbaugh is stoking up in the base. Too many times we start the day by saying, "Where's the base? Where's the base?" okay? I think a lot of what the last election was about was real disgust with that.

RUSH: Real disgust with what? The last election, the real disgust was with the base? How does that figure? The base is who engineered this Republican victory for the Republicans. The base and a cross section of American people at large engineered this massive landslide defeat for the Democrats. Who is this loopy guy talking about? "Last election, real disgust with the base"? No, the real disgust with the base is with people like you, Mr. Friedman, and the Republican leadership and the Democrat establishment. They are the ones with problems for the Republican base.

"You gotta pay attention to that, Charlie. You can't just be responding to what Rush Limbaugh is stoking up." They're not. The base is being urinated on. The base is not yanking anybody around by the chain. These guys, I tell you, they are so cloistered and they're so caught up in the daily soap opera script, narrative, that they're 180 degrees out of phase with what is really happening. And they are considered the brightest among us."
.
END TRANSCRIPT. Image from Rush Limbaugh




.