Appearing on NBC's Meet the Press yesterday, Times columnist David Brooks made an excellent point when discussing the right-wing “loons” on the AM dial. They “couldn't control Republican voters in South Carolina” last year during the GOP primary, said Brooks.

The columnist's larger point was that Limbaugh and company don't steer the Republican Party; they don't steer “real Americans.” Yet the Times itself has been pushing the opposite storyline for quite some time. Last summer, the Times celebrated Limbaugh with a Sunday magazine cover story, which heralded him as the leader of the GOP.

As Media Matters noted at the time:

The Times' ego-stroking premise that Limbaugh pulls the strings within the GOP remains laughable. It was just a few months ago that Limbaugh put his reputation on the line when he announced Sen. John McCain was not a true Republican (neither was Mike Huckabee) and that conservatives should vote for Mitt Romney to be the party's presidential nominee.

So what did millions of Republican voters nationwide do in response to Limbaugh's clarion call? They completely ignored him and voted for the guy Limbaugh said was a bum.

On the eve of last year's GOP Super Tuesday, the Limbaugh talk radio crowd went all in against McCain and Huckabee, who then then proceeded to run the table. Mitt Romney, talk radio's favorite son, made an early primary exit.

Brooks is correct that Limbaugh has a long track record of impotence in terms of moving voters and votes. Maybe Brooks' colleagues at the Times will take note.