"Okay, I'll send you a response, but I don't need 400 words, I only need four: I hope he fails! See, here's the point. Everybody thinks it's outrageous to say. Look, even my staff says, 'Oh, you can't do that.' Why not? Why is it any different? What's new? What is unfair about my saying I hope liberalism fails? Liberalism is our problem. Liberalism is what's gotten us dangerously close to the precipice here. Why do I want more of it? I don't care what the drive-by story is. I would be honored if the drive-by media headlined me all day long: 'Limbaugh says: I Hope Obama Fails.' Somebody's gotta say it."

In Chess, there is a move known as zwischenzug, an intermediate move in which a player makes an immediate threat that must be answered instead of an expected capturing move. In this manner, you can open the board (or close the board if you desire) and gain a move in hand.

So, Limbaugh opens his trap. Every day he opens his trap and says something divisive. That is the white noise method of outrage merchant talk radio. All of the conservative hosts have a bag of major premises that they prove every day with selective readings of the news. For example Michael Savage prefaces most of his broadcasts with "liberalism is a mental disorder," and spends hours cherrypicking and reinterpreting reality to suit his purposes. For Limbaugh, he represents himself as an alternative to liberal "drive-by" media which is in collusion with the Obama candidacy/administration. This consistently places him in the position of underdog, despite the fact that he is one of the highest paid entertainers in the world.

So, he recently opened his trap with the statement quoted above. Obama singled him out for rebuke to Congressional leaders, telling them that "they will have to do more than listen to Limbaugh" in order to pass a stimulus package.

This was Obama's intermediate move. Limbaugh likes nothing more than being the center of attention. He is a pawn that thinks he's a queen. What Obama is exposing is the vacuity of conservative ideology of which Limbaugh is the most mainstream proponent. Limbaugh can demonize Obama and liberalism all he wants, but without an effective counterproposal, he is all bluster. The only solution offered by the conservatives and their spokespeople is tax cuts. And tax cuts are becoming a joke.

The reason: JOBS. There is no point to getting a tax cut if you are unemployed or threatened with the prospect of unemployment. If you are behind on your mortgage, tax cuts offer you nothing that will save you from foreclosure. And, above all, tax cuts are now associated with the mess we are currently in. Part of why McCain was repudiated so handily on election day was because his economic agenda was a continuation of Bush.

Obama is focusing on job creation and promising jobs for millions. The conservative opposition is simply offering more of the same and, even worse, wishing for Obama's failure. A majority of Americans right now trust Obama and are willing to believe his promises. If he is obstructed with nothing other than the same old failed ideas, then the Limbaugh culture of us versus them smashmouth politics is to blame.

For any of you who might be concerned about unleashing the Limbaugh "juggernaut" by giving him the spotlight, just realize that he is always there engaging in obstruction and peddling hate. His audience assumes Limbaugh's power with or without Obama. He verbalizes the hate, mistrust, and fear that they live with but are unable to articulate.

So Obama has attacked Limbaugh, and Limbaugh will respond with narrow Bush rhetoric. Conservatives who continue to obstruct JOBS will be seen as dittoheads who take their orders from a dopefiend. The end result: the potential peeling away of moderate Republicans who do not want to be associated with the passe conservative movement. Look for moderate Republicans to start breaking ranks and watch for Obama's stimulus package to move ahead with little compromise.

I look forward to Obama being able to continue wearing the moderate mantle while singling out obstructionist voices who have diminishing credibility. This will create more and more checkmates over the next 8 years.