Here's Chris Van Hollen from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee:
“Rush Limbaugh’s personal attack on our men and women in uniform is reprehensible. It minimizes the sacrifice our troops in Iraq and their families are making and has no place in the public discourse. Rush Limbaugh owes our military and their families an apology for his hurtful comments that minimize their service to our country.”
And here's John Kerry.
"This disgusting attack from Rush Limbaugh, cheerleader for the Chicken Hawk wing of the far right, is an insult to American troops. In a single moment on his show, Limbaugh managed to question the patriotism of men and women in uniform who have put their lives on the line and many who died for his right to sit safely in his air conditioned studio peddling hate. On August 19th, The New York Times published an op-ed by seven members of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division critical of George Bush's Iraq policy. Two of those soldiers were killed earlier this month in Baghdad. Does Mr. Limbaugh dare assert that these heroes were 'phony soldiers'? Mr. Limbaugh owes an apology to everyone who has ever worn the uniform of our country, and an apology to the families of every soldier buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He is an embarrassment to his Party, and I expect the Republicans who flock to his microphone will now condemn this indefensible statement."
What a lack of imagination. The Democrats seem to believe that people won't get the message until you say "chicken-hawk" 100,000 times in a row--or more. This is a mistake. Although literally true, the "chicken-hawk" characterization works better if it's associated with other reflections on Limbaugh. Here's some examples.
1. The pathetic weeniness that leads Limbaugh into macho posturing with cigars, flags, and tough-guy talk while he's basically afraid to come out of his room. There's lots of criticism of right-wing masculinity by left-wing bloggers. Use some of it.
2. Stress Limbaugh's perfect willingness to play warmonger for ratings and pile up the big bucks while soldiers and the families of soldiers suffer.
3. Connect Limbaugh's bigotry to dissenting soldiers to his racism and his misogyny
4. Find a synonym for chicken-hawk
The Democrats could also emphasize that MoveOn.org had the guts to pick on a four-star general at the height of his celebrity. Limbaugh's attack on privates is a good illustration of how gutless he is.
Finally, Limbaugh is obviously using the MoveOn controversy as cover for his attack on common soldiers.
But if the Democrats are smart, they shouldn't demand that Limbaugh be fired from his radio gig. Limbaugh's almost as big an asset for the Democrats as Dick Cheney and George Bush. He has tons of listeners on the right but he's just hated by about all the moderates I know.
Unfortunately, I expect to see stories about demands for Limbaugh's firing as soon as I wake up tomorrow.
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15 comments:
Thanks Caric for another fine example of creating a controversy by applying the intent you'd like to hear rather than applying a minimal amount of intellect towards figuring out what the actual context was.
As long as it forwards "the cause" I guess anything is justified.
Given that the post was meant as a critique of ineffective Democratic responses, I'm not sure what you're talking about.
As for Limbaugh, what's the problem? He was trying to smear dissenting soldiers under cover of the MoveOn controversy. But people flagged it anyway.
The "problem" is that he wasn't. It was about people who pretend to be soldiers to get quoted in the Media, and more loosely, in my opinion people like beauchamp who join the military with the intent of using their service to denigrate the military.
3 of your 4 points refer back to limbaugh while the entire thing is built on something that exists only in progressives' heads. Perhaps a post detailing the inability of leftists to connect with reality would be more appropriate.
Limbaugh was referring mainly to the seven guys who wrote the NYT op-ed. I think five of them are still alive. Limbaugh's background thought was that any soldier who opposes the war must be a phony. Contrary to polling data on American troops, Limbaugh (and Michael Yon) believe that the soldiers love the war.
Needless to say, Limbaughs identification of dissident soldiers as "phonies" runs parellel to the right-wing thought that "real" Americans support the war and that anyone who opposes is a traitor. If you want to see a really popular right-winger enunciate this thought, read one of Ann Coulter's columns.
As for my comments about Limbaugh being a weenie boy, racist, misogynist, etc., it's all too obviously true to comment on. But if you want to see some classic pictures of a weenie boy, check on Limbaugh's web site.
Limbaugh's background thought was
How is that new mind reading machine working out for you? Could you use it to tell me what my wife really wants for Christmas this year?
The correct phrasing of that comment should be... The intent that I am ascribing to Limbaugh's comment is. See that way, the reader can clearly identify the part that you are making up.
anyone who opposes is a traitor.
As opposed to calling a commander of troops in Iraq a traitor? Sorry, the left lost any supposed claim to that bit of moral high ground.
it's all too obviously true to comment on
Of course it is. When properly ascribed with the necessary intent and illuminated by the beacon of the progressivist narrative, it is all indeed so obviously true.
Hey, if you don't think Limbaugh is a weenie-boy, check out his pictures on his web site.
Let me know what you think.
What actually is the "progressivist narrative that you're ascribing to me? It sounds like you took one English class in college (or read one of Goldstein's posts on Protein Wisdom) and decided that "narrative" would be a good insult word.
I forgot the competitive motivation behind Limbaugh's troop smear. Given that Ann's Coulter's got a new book coming out, Rush has to "keep up with the Coulters" to maintain his market share.
Go read the transcript, ef, it's at his damn website.
No, it's not. And what's really funny is they never talk to real soldiers. They pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue and spout to the media.
RUSH: The phony soldiers.
CALLER: Phony soldiers. If you talk to any real soldier and they're proud to serve, they want to be over in Iraq, they understand their sacrifice and they're willing to sacrifice for the country.
RUSH: They joined to be in Iraq.
"phony soldier": any soldier willing to oppose the war to the media
If I can be allowed a Cutnpaste moment.... A bit of background from Rush on "Phony Soldiers"
---
Here is a Morning Update that we did recently, talking about fake soldiers. This is a story of who the left props up as heroes. They have their celebrities and one of them was Army Ranger Jesse MacBeth. Now, he was a "corporal." I say in quotes. Twenty-three years old. What made Jesse MacBeth a hero to the anti-war crowd wasn't his Purple Heart; it wasn't his being affiliated with post-traumatic stress disorder from tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. No. What made Jesse MacBeth, Army Ranger, a hero to the left was his courage, in their view, off the battlefield, without regard to consequences. He told the world the abuses he had witnessed in Iraq, American soldiers killing unarmed civilians, hundreds of men, women, even children. In one gruesome account, translated into Arabic and spread widely across the Internet, Army Ranger Jesse MacBeth describes the horrors this way: "We would burn their bodies. We would hang their bodies from the rafters in the mosque."
Now, recently, Jesse MacBeth, poster boy for the anti-war left, had his day in court. And you know what? He was sentenced to five months in jail and three years probation for falsifying a Department of Veterans Affairs claim and his Army discharge record. He was in the Army. Jesse MacBeth was in the Army, folks, briefly. Forty-four days before he washed out of boot camp. Jesse MacBeth isn't an Army Ranger, never was. He isn't a corporal, never was. He never won the Purple Heart, and he was never in combat to witness the horrors he claimed to have seen. You probably haven't even heard about this. And, if you have, you haven't heard much about it. This doesn't fit the narrative and the template in the Drive-By Media and the Democrat Party as to who is a genuine war hero. Don't look for any retractions, by the way. Not from the anti-war left, the anti-military Drive-By Media, or the Arabic websites that spread Jesse MacBeth's lies about our troops, because the truth for the left is fiction that serves their purpose. They have to lie about such atrocities because they can't find any that fit the template of the way they see the US military. In other words, for the American anti-war left, the greatest inconvenience they face is the truth.
How popular could that guy be on the left? I'm fairly well informed and I've never heard of him. Are you sure Limbaugh didn't just make him up while he was on his sex tourism vacation in the Dominican Republic.
Well, at this point pretty much all of the top google results are for conservative blogs. At is high point though, he was pretty popular around the Dkos types.
Ric, I had never heard of him of him until Michael Goldfarb, resident braying ass for the Weekly Standard pointed him out. Apparently, he was so famous the only people who ever heard of him were Iraq Vets against the War and the entire right wing. It helped confirm their beliefs, so they remembered minor things. The irony is sweet and yummy
Here's a pretty good list of places this PoS got play:
from Dkos
To be fair, the kos kids turned on this guy pretty hard once the truth came out.
Limbaugh has truly hit tock bottom on this issue. "Phony soldiers." It is absurd and insulting.
People like Limbaugh insist that to oppose the war is to diss the troops. Not so it seems. My own cousin served 18 months of a six month tour of duty over there and he said it was pointless. I dare anyone to call my cousin phony.
Limbaugh has made it crystal clear for some time now that he believes the lives of our brave men and women are irrelevant. He claims to support them but that apparently only applies to the soldiers who agree with him.
Real support for the troops requires ending the occupation, getting them out of the crossfire of a growing civil war,and ending the waste of precious lives and vital resources on a phony policy and a failed military action. And it's not as though our troops have failed over there. They've served honorably and well. It has always been the mission that truly was flawed, not the troops.
People like Limbaugh claim to honor the troops but it very much dishonors active-duty personel as well as those who served since the advent of the United States.
Certainly sentencing them to continue this costly occupation undermines their credibility as a force for peace and weakens the image of America all over the world.
This occupation pushed by the White House and sactioned by the right wing radio idiot gestapo (IE: Limbaugh)is costing lives and treasure of our country with the exception of that portion Bush gave them as a reward for the courage it took for millionaires to get huge tax-cuts.
The cost of six hours in Iraq would pay for the cuts in the National Institutes of Health research budget, cuts that are occurring even as scientists are starting to leave the field because of shortages of funding.
For the cost of every 1½ month in Iraq; about $15 billion; we could provide health insurance for one year for 9 million children who now go without. Children who go without adequate health care when they are young find it more difficult to learn, and are more likely to develop chronic illnesses. We are not only stealing from their promise, we are adding to our own future health care bills.
But back to Limbaughs slanderous words aginst them, I said it before and I'll say it now; Mr. Limbaugh owes all our men and women in unifrom a huge apology.
Mr. Limbaugh owes all our men and women in unifrom a huge apology.
Thanks, but No.
Curiously, where was this indignation at the "Betray Us" line?
No, todd mayo, he does not. Had he said what you attribute to him, then probably so. Your desire to (mis)interpret his words in a such a manner does not change what he said.
ef - Moveon was speaking Truth to Power, or other such nonsense.
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