Why does Rush Limbaugh hate America (and me)?
My response to Limbaugh's attack on my "wacko" views
Why does Rush Limbaugh hate America (and me)?
Rush Limbaugh called me a "wacko" yesterday to his 20 million radio listeners.
I am truly honored and humbled.
This is the guy, after all, who compared Abu Ghraib to a racuous frat party, who took American radio to a new lows with terms like "feminazi," who made fun of Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's disease and who called positive press for the Eagles' Donovan McNabb "a social concern" because McNabb is a black quarterback -- just 17 months before McNabb led his team to the Super Bowl. To make my way to his "wacko" list...well, I can think of no better proof that I must be doing something right.
To what do I owe the privilege? The backstory is interesting, but in a nutshell the right-wing blogosphere belatedly (as in nearly two months late) stumbled onto Sen. Barack Obama's April visit to the Daily News, where I had the chance to ask him how an Obama administration might deal with White House internal discussions of torturing terror suspects, and other potential crimes in the Bush White House.
Here's a short snippet of what I wrote on April 14:
Tonight I had an opportunity to ask Barack Obama a question that is on the minds of many Americans, yet rarely rises to the surface in the great ruckus of the 2008 presidential race -- and that is whether an Obama administration would seek to prosecute officials of a former Bush administration on the revelations that they greenlighted torture, or for other potential crimes that took place in the White House.
Obama said that as president he would indeed ask his new Attorney General and his deputies to "immediately review the information that's already there" and determine if an inquiry is warranted -- but he also tread carefully on the issue, in line with his reputation for seeking to bridge the partisan divide. He worried that such a probe could be spun as "a partisan witch hunt." However, he said that equation changes if there was willful criminality, because "nobody is above the law."
The story actually did make a small fuss at the time, but the world moved on, until a conservative blogger named Thomas Lifson apparently stumbled across the old post -- just as the right wing was waking up to the very real notion of an Obama presidency. To Lifson, Obama's fairly measured comments on the subject (in my opinion) in fact suggested "the totalitarian practice of jailing the predecessors when a new president takes office." From there, the far-right blogosphere was off and running, working its way down the food chain until it burrowed into the muck of Limbaughland, who really seemed more worked up about insignificant little me -- who became a "Stalinist" once the worked-up El Rushbo reached the end of his monologue -- than about the Democrat poised to take over the White House :
After the administration's left office, to pursue an investigation that might lead to criminal indictments for war crimes and other things. We used to do that to the Nazis. We did do that to the Nazis, the Nuremberg Trials and so forth. This is who today's modern liberals are. Now, Obama's got this wacko reporter for the Philadelphia Daily News who's obviously not a reporter. He is a leftist who happens to have secured a job in journalism, and he's got an agenda, and the agenda is right out of the cliched story line of the Drive-By Media, that we are a murderous, raping, torturing nation and that Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld and Powell have to pay. This is all about creating the notion in as many people's minds that our country is criminal, is in a constant state of decline, and we are not worth our reputation as the world's greatest superpower.
Limbaugh concluded:
This would be a direct assault on the United States and its government. And you talk about we need to improve our reputation in the world. Look at how they would do it. By finding the US guilty at every opportunity of whatever baseless, phony charges that they would make. This is Stalinist. If you've ever wondered what the definition of is Stalinist, this would fit it.
Frankly, I think the political right, all the way up to the White House, doth protest too much on this whole "war crimes" issue; that is, they're realizing the polls are showing the GOP may be shut out of power, and people desperately want to steer the conversation away from the things that were actually done the last 7 1/2 years, from authorizing torture to widespread spying on Americans. You're going to see a lot of things in the next few months -- some subtle, some blatant -- seeking to shift the debate away from the horrors inside the House at 1600.
Ironically, as the person who was actually in the room when Obama made his remarks, my sense was that -- given his reputation for caution and seeking the center -- that he'd rather undergo root canal than be linked to any kind of criminal prosecution of what happened from 2001-09 -- unless what happened under Bush and Cheney was so egregious that decent people simply could not look the other way.
Sadly, that may well be the case. Remember, we're talking about waterboarding, rendition, unlawful spying and possible cover-ups of those acts. Does most of America want a new attorney general who doesn't think these things aren't worth at least a preliminary peek?
Which brings me to the substance, such as it is, of what Limbaugh said yesterday. His message is quite simple -- or should I say simplistic? -- which is that an attack on George W. Bush and Dick Cheney very easily morphs into an attack on the "nation" -- as he said, specifically, that "we are a murderous, raping, torturing nation." Except that I said no such thing, nor do I believe that, nor do other people with liberal views. We believe that America has been a nation that has brought incredible good to the world, from our bedrock principles of free speech, free beliefs and democratic elections to the amazing people who used our liberty to bring the world everything from the electric light to the World Wide Web to "The Great Gatsby" and so many, many other things.
It was that power -- the power of morality and the idea that a nation could be ultimately governed by its lofty laws and not by flawed mortals -- that made America into the superpower that Limbaugh spoke of, a superpower in the sense that millions of people from around the world wanted to come here and, once upon a time, millions more wanted to be just like us. Our country is not criminal -- no one said that, either -- but for the sake of my children I want to make sure that future leaders know that criminals who somehow get in place to run the country can't get away with it. And no one said that our country is in a "constant state of decline" -- unless somehow when I wasn't looking the definition of "constant" was changed to "7 1/2 years." It was only a decade ago that most of the world envied our technology, our culture, and our enterprise -- before people around the globe from Bogota to Beirut learned how to pronounce Guantanamo.
A couple years back, Limbaugh wrote an interesting piece for the Wall Street Journal in 2005 explaining conservatism by saying that "We believe in individual liberty, limited government, capitalism, the rule of law, faith, a color-blind society and national security." Except that just three year later Limbaugh (in addition to his "color-blind" endorsement of an op-ed that called Obama "a magic Negro") doesn't care much about the unlimited power of a government to deprive people of their individual liberty -- even as Gitmo and Abu Ghraib compromise national security by serving as a recruitment tool to new terrorists.
Well, at least he still has faith in capitalism.
But Limbaugh's worst sin is equating our corrupt leaders -- who must never be above the law, both when they're in office and after they've left it -- with our timeless Constitution and the laws that all Americans are bound to follow, and -- if necessary -- to enforce. Indeed, who is really hating on America here? To say that any criticism or, if required, prosecution of those leaders is the same thing as an assault on our country means that we are no longer a nation but a cult of personality -- which in fact is exactly what they had in the Soviet Union and those other totalitarian states.
If you've ever wondered what the definition of Stalinist is, this would fit it.
It's not that Rush hates you... It's that he thinks you're an idiot... You're a typical bleeding-heart, pinko, media elite(smarter and more enlightened than all us hayseeds outside of the Philly city limits)liberal... He would be right in that assessment---so don't cry and complain because the man speaks the truth...— Delaware Vol- I'm always amazed how liberals will preach tolerance and acceptance of others but then turn around and engage in total destruction of anyone they don't like or disagree with. Obviously, Bunch you don't agree with George Bush's policies following 9/11, okay you can feel that way, but when you try to make him out to be some criminal who did what he did just because he's mean you became deserving of the title 'wacko'. Remember, the waterboarding and the rendition were done following a terrorist attack on our country by foreign terrorists living in our country. I don't like those things either, but he was doing what he did to protect the country. And there wasn't any 'unlawful spying', it was an 'electronic surveillance program' which was legal under the law of executive order, again to protect the country from foreign terrorists living here, not to deliberately spy on regular Americans as you make it out to be.— Phillysub
Captain Awesome: Is Shemp less funny than Joe or Curly Joe? I actually prefer Shemp slightly to Curly. After all, he was the original third Stooge in their vaudville/Ted Healy days. My dog is named Shemp (really). OK my Stooge geek-out is over, back to politics.— jmc- Government regulation? Like wiretapping? Or bailouts for Bear Stearns (which as partially a result fo deregulation)? Or how about amendments prohibiting gay marriage, flag burning, abortion, etc. "Conservatives" are just hunky dorey with gov't regulations when they fit their agenda of choice. As for higher taxes, if the Repubs could stop deficit spending, then maybe that idea wouldn't need to be floated. Keep running two wars on credit, we'll see how it turns out.— RG
- Delaware Vol. True. We're all just so darn un-enlightened. We really need to "wake up" and "think" because, obviously, if we have an opinion counter to the libs, we must be stupid. Congratulations, Will. Maybe you can make a bumper sticker out of this acknowledgement from Rush. Any more room on the back of the -- let me guess -- Subaru Outback?— Patrick M
- Phillysub, the prez hid the surveillance from the public, then when it was exposed, he stated he had the right to do it. Are you saying any action taken by the administration is justified under keeping the nation safe?— RG
Comment removed.- Will Bunch = Professional Journalist. Rush Limbaugh = large, leaking, pseudo-intellectual bag of aging methane adrift over the political landscape. The presumption that Limbaugh "speaks" for serious people who inhabit the entire spectrum of the political Right is on the same order as believing there really are fairies at the end of the garden (and that Obama has emerged unsullied from the Democratic Candidate Machine with his idealism intact). Calling Limbaugh a "Stalinist" diminishes the monstrosity of the genuine article; defining him as other than an attention-seeking entertainer is to take him too seriously. Each political party is cursed with it's own clowns and "idiots", whose only trick is an ability to manipulate language for their own self-aggrandizement: Sharpton does for the liberal left, and Limbaugh for the conservative right - but take either seriously as a representative of the whole, or the "Authentic Voice of The (mythical) People"? No. Mr Bunch, although I don't always agree with you, I do believe that as an accredited professional you deserve to be insulted by better than Limbaugh of the tiny mind and hot-button prose. Not every conservative/Republican is an "idiot", no more than every Democratic/liberal is endowed with some kind of rare, shining genius. Each party is deeply flawed but it is up to its membership to fix them. Depriving Limbaugh of oxygen would be a good beginning for those of us who are not seduced by the whole Obama/Democratic noise.— CCH
- JMC --- I have more respect for your political views (which I tend to disgree with) than your point of Shemp being funnier than Curly. Curly, along with Groucho Marx, Jackie Gleason & Jack Benny are the four guys who should be on comedy's Mt. Rushmore. Although Shemp is MUCH funnier than Joe & Curly Joe, you need to wake up & smell the coffee, brutha'.— yobill626
- Comment removed.
- Limbaugh, like other entertainers, only has one concern - how much money can he make to support his habits. If a liberal group offered him more money (and all the pills he wanted - anyone else would have a felony conviction for doctor-shopping to the degree he did) he would be so far left he would make Obama look like Rick Santorum. And yet some still take him as a serious political commentator. Sad.— what is truth?
- Under the circumstances RG, yes if it makes our country safer than yes I am for them taking any action necessary. Now before any of the liberals reading this post have a heart-attack---it was obvious that the gov't HAD to partake in these surveillance techniques secretly or it kind of ruins the element of surprise... If a terrorist knows they're being listened to than they're probably smart enough NOT to discuss terroristic activities. Unfortunately, the FISA laws were such that it wouldn't have been a problem to get a warrant to "legally" get authorization to wiretap these conversations. My theory is that unfortunately, the administration probably couldn't take the chance that the operation would get in the hands of the mainstream media because they've proven time after time that they can't be trusted with such important information... The funny thing is the liberal radicals in the media would have a problem with this operation whether it was gone about in the "right way" or not... It would have just given them something else to blame GWB for anyway... In closing, don't worry liberals---they don't care that you're having an intimate conversation with your boyfriend, girlfriend or mother... They're just worried about catching bad guys trying to hurt you and the boyfriend, girlfriend or mother that you're having the conversation with...— Delaware Vol
- Under the circumstances RG, yes if it makes our country safer than yes I am for them taking any action necessary. Now before any of the liberals reading this post have a heart-attack---it was obvious that the gov't HAD to partake in these surveillance techniques secretly or it kind of ruins the element of surprise... If a terrorist knows they're being listened to than they're probably smart enough NOT to discuss terroristic activities. Unfortunately, the FISA laws were such that it wouldn't have been a problem to get a warrant to "legally" get authorization to wiretap these conversations. My theory is that unfortunately, the administration probably couldn't take the chance that the operation would get in the hands of the mainstream media because they've proven time after time that they can't be trusted with such important information... The funny thing is the liberal radicals in the media would have a problem with this operation whether it was gone about in the "right way" or not... It would have just given them something else to blame GWB for anyway... In closing, don't worry liberals---they don't care that you're having an intimate conversation with your boyfriend, girlfriend or mother... They're just worried about catching bad guys trying to hurt you and the boyfriend, girlfriend or mother that you're having the conversation with...— Delaware Vol
- Sorry, double-clicked the submit button....— Delaware Vol
Shemp was and still is vastley underrated...especially the episode where they try to marry him off to get their uncle's fortune. Classic stuff right there.
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