Conservatives are crowing that Limbaugh's ratings are up (big shock, we know), and pretending that it's all a huge rebuke for Obama and the new Democratic White House.

See, according to the Noise Machine, the White House's occasional passing references to the talker this year, references which were part of the larger public debate about who really leads the GOP, were actually signs of a coordinated “attack” on Limbaugh--a “war”--and that the White House's true intent was to drive down Limbaugh's ratings.

So by calling attention to his show, the White House was actually trying to wreck Limbaugh's ratings. Riiight. But nothing gets conservatives riled up like playing victim, so it's game on.

“Given this blockbuster [ratings] data, will the White House think twice before targeting Rush again?” demands professional Limbaugh cheerleader Brian Maloney.

“President Obama declared war on Rush Limbaugh and his ratings went through the roof. If that's not a magnificent backfire, I'm not sure what is,” declared the MRC's Brent Bozell, who was so excited he issued an official statement about Limbaugh's ratings.

And no, BTW, there's no indication that Limbaugh's ratings have doubled nationwide this year. Although, there are indications that a new ratings method employed by Arbitron is a key reason Limbaugh's actual rating numbers (and talk radio ratings in general) are up so much in 2009.