Limbaugh is Limbaugh's fault

Earlier today, I was indignantly complaining to myself about the fact that Barack Obama hasn't received enough of the blame for the efforts of people who don't serve in his administration to spread the accurate meme that Rush Limbaugh is perhaps the most influential man in Republican politics. Fortunately for me, Michael Scherer has ridden to the rescue with a column accusing the administration of violating his promise to elevate the discourse, and using Limbaugh as a distraction from other, more important matters.

Let's set aside for a moment the questions of whether Democratic surrogates, and, yes, Robert Gibbs and Rahm Emanuel are right about Limbaugh, and whether his influence in the minority party is more important than, say, the "lipstick on a pig" controversy.

Limbaugh certainly is a distraction, but he made himself a distraction and Republicans refused to disavow the distraction and media figures in Washington decided to run with the distraction for days and days. That distraction was making the rounds on cable well before anyone in the White House began exploiting it. And that they've come up with a good and politically astute response (and that Limbaugh's playing right along) is entirely beside the point.

This is of a piece with the media's equally ignorant obsession with whether Obama is responsible for falling stock prices. Yes, it would be nice if the Obama team only ever talked to the media about the Geithner plan and the stimulus and the budget. But for that to happen, reporters have to stop basing the bulk of their inquiries on the day to day bleatings of Limbaugh and Jim Cramer.