RINGSIDE POLITICS – FEBRUARY 18, 2021

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Welcome to another edition of Ringside Politics with Jeff Crouere

Today’s Hot Topics:

1) Rush Limbaugh, the talk titan who made right-wing radio financially viable in American media and himself a Republican kingmaker years before Fox News, died Wednesday after he revealed in 2020 that his lung cancer was terminal. He was 70.

His death was confirmed by his wife, Kathryn, at the beginning of Limbaugh’s radio show, from which he’s been absent for almost two weeks.

2) President Biden is dismissing the genocide against the Uighur population in China, dubbing the mass internment a “different norm” — despite the State Department this month responding to “atrocities” in the camps, following reports of systemic rape and torture.

The commander-in-chief made the remarks after being asked during his CNN town hall Tuesday evening about his recent conversation with his Chinese counterpart, starting his response by relaying Xi’s justification for the abuses.

“If you know anything about Chinese history, it has always been, the time when China has been victimized by the outer world is when they haven’t been unified at home,” Biden began. “So the central — well, vastly overstated — the central principle of Xi Jinping is that there must be a united, tightly controlled China. And he uses his rationale for the things he does based on that.”

3) Anthony Fauci said Wednesday that vaccinating all teachers against Covid-19 before reopening schools is “non-workable,” wading into an issue that has taken center stage for the Biden administration amid the ongoing pandemic.

“If you are going to say that every single teacher needs to be vaccinated before you get back to school, I believe quite frankly that’s a non-workable situation,” Fauci told “CBS This Morning.”

Fauci’s assessment on Wednesday of vaccination plans for teachers laid down a marker that others in the Biden administration have thus far been unwilling to match amid a heated debate over reopening schools. On CNN Wednesday morning, Symone Sanders, spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris, repeatedly declined to answer directly whether teacher vaccinations are necessary to reopen schools, insisting instead that teachers should be “prioritized” for vaccination.

4) Tributes to the conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh poured in on Wednesday following news of his death earlier in the day. He was 70 years old.

Former President Trump praised the talk show host as a “legend.”

“He was with me right from the beginning. And he liked what I said and he agreed with what I said. And he was just a great gentleman. Great man,” Trump said in a phone interview on Fox News.

Trump in February 2020 awarded Limbaugh a Presidential Medal of Freedom, shortly after Limbaugh’s lung cancer diagnosis.

Today’s Guests:

1) Col. Allen West, Chairman of the Texas Republican Party – calls in the first hour to discuss Biden’s dizzying first weeks in office.

2) Steve Konos, Ringside Politics Creative Director; Ringside Politics Parody of the Week – joins the show to share and discuss his weekly political parody.

3) Josh Bernstein, Ringside All-Star – joins the show to opine with callers and discuss the events of the week.