Phony Outrage at Phony Rush's 'Phony Soldiers' Comment

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Phony Outrage at Phony Rush's 'Phony Soldiers' Comment

Posted Oct 3rd 2007 10:57AM by Ben Greenman
Filed under: Scandal, Media, Rush Limbaugh

Rush Limbaugh is under fire for calling anti-war military "phony soldiers."

Harry Reid has asked Limbaugh's bosses at Clear Channel to discipline him for "hateful" and "unpatriotic" remarks. Limbaugh has upped the ante by calling one soldier who has attacked him a "suicide bomber." That soldier has told Limbaugh to stop "nursing the boils on his ass." Wesley Clark has said that Limbaugh's show should come off of Armed Forces Radio.

(Watch the video of Reid here and of Rush's response here.)

And so the wheel of idiocy keeps turning...

Let me clarify. When I say "wheel of idiocy," what I mean is a circular process, populated by one or more idiots on one or more sides of an issue. Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer more than he is a politician. I agree with him about almost nothing. But I do agree that he has the right -- and, more importantly, the compulsion, to make inflammatory statements. He has, for years, lobbed rhetorical grenades into every foxhole he could find. It's what he does. Is he for the troops, in general? Is he against them? There is more evidence to support the former than the latter, obviously, but there is even more evidence to support the "who cares?" thesis. Evidently Harry Reid cares, because he's wasting the the Senate's time asking for Limbaugh, a radio host -- an entertainer -- to be disciplined. This responds to idiocy with idiocy and is consequently a Wheel of Idiocy.

When the Republicans in the Congress went after the Moveon.org ad undermining General Petraeus, I thought it was a monumental bit of foolishness. This is, too. Just because one person's an idiot doesn't mean that others people should respond in kind. These kind of responses violate one of the fundamental rules of intelligent debate: don't get drawn down to their level. Instead, what's happening is that Democrats are attacking Limbaugh, and conservatives are defending Limbaugh by attacking Democrats -- by way of proving that Limbaugh is not anti-soldier, Sean Hannity has been playing his tiresome montage of Murtha/Kerry/Obama anti-military remarks. Your guys said unwise things, too, so our guys aren't wrong. Bad blood, bad thinking, bad business. Ecch. Idiots.

I am using the word "idiot" imprecisely here. I am lobbing a rhetorical grenade. In this post, this one right here, I am part of the problem. But that's the insidious nature of these kinds of slap fights. They reminds me of that scene in "Police Squad" where Leslie Nielsen and a crook are shooting at each other. The camera shows Nielsen, then the crook, then Nielsen, then the crook. Then it pans back to show that they're only a few feet away from each other. That's funny. Then their guns run out of bullets and so they start throwing their guns at each other. That's funnier. And that's what's happening. And we keep watching, because we like comedy. What gets lost, of course, is real debate. The most cynical part of me wonders if this isn't intentional -- if it isn't easier for politicians and commentators to keep the debate in the idiotic rhetorical realm instead of dealing with substance. It's easier for the politicians on both sides of the issue because it distracts us from the fact that they have gotten us into a mess (war supporters) or can't get us out of that mess (war opponents). And it's easier for commentators because it gives them ratings boosts, reader boosts, and cash in the pocket. Ann Coulter, appearing on Sean Hannity's radio show, said that she envies Limbaugh his condemnation by Harry Reid, because it's the equivalent of free advertising. She's right, of course.

In the end, it's worth wondering whether an idiotic controversy is good for anyone (it's not), and whether it should be thought of as a controversy at all (it's not). Frankly, it seems more like a conspiracy. I don't mean a conspiracy in the towers-can't-fall-from-a-plane-crashing-into-them-so-let's-look-for-a-bomb sense, but rather a conspiracy by message makers in the media and Congress to take everyone's eye off the ball. When the sun goes down on this dumb little "phony soldiers" hiccup, just like when the sun went down on the General Betray Us hiccup or the O'Reilly hiccup or the Imus hiccup or the a million other tempests in teapots, people in power will have stalled another day without solving anything -- or, for that matter, showing most Americans a clear difference between the right and the left, except that the right barks at the left and the left barks at the right. Let radio people say whatever they want. Stop pretending to be outraged and giving them so much attention. And force politicians to govern. No country, not even one this size, needs so many windbags.

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Reader Comments ( Page 3 of 7)

Previous 15 Comments | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments

31. "29. OH Manny, Manny, Manny...
Just let Rush take his oxycontin and let it go, just let it go...
Manny, death count on Reuters is approximately 600,000 or more, I do not think that is a lib, pinko (like me) news agency.

rhodalee at 7:07AM on Oct 4th 2007"

Rhoda, Rondel, Ron , or whatever yout real name is.
To think that Reuters stories are 100% truthfull you are , to put it politely, mistaken.
Just check out some of the "stories" they have printed and what later was eventually found out
about the accuracy (?) of their reporting.
It's like saying RJR Nabisco was a great company because "look at all of the different cookies
the sell and after all they "are" Nabisco yet ignoring the fact their main income was from the sale of tabacco products.

JZeeeeeee at 8:09AM on Oct 4th 2007

32. Sombody please tell Rip Van Manny it's 2007 not 1951, and it's "righties in the closet" not "commies under the bed"...

All these years and he's been looking in the wrong place before donning his nightie!

Unfortunately for you Reich types the airwaves belong to all of us,and not just you neo-fascist types.

BT at 9:10AM on Oct 4th 2007

33. AND WHY WASN'T LAURA BUSH TRIED FOR HOMOCIDE WHEN SHE KILLED SOMEONE IN A CAR ACCIDENT? ANSWER THAT!!!! Anyway, to the story: Rush Limbaugh is a scary bigot, and he's very, very offensive, mean and nasty. I have to wonder about anyone who defends him or who agrees with him. He sounds like a child with all his name calling and bashing, and if he's patriotic with his horrible tongue, then I'm the pope.

Nancy at 9:23AM on Oct 4th 2007

34. I guess it is good news when there is no news that we are talking about Rush Limbaugh. This is just Sh#t. I don't listen to him because I choose not to but he can say what he wants. I don't care because Rush means nothing to me.

David McCool at 9:40AM on Oct 4th 2007

35. The reason this is news is because the left is obsessed with conservative ENTERTAINERS...Last night, a quick flip through the channels had Olbermann talking about Rush, Coulter and, making a nightly appearance on his show, O'Reilley.

Is there a night that goes by that the lefty ENTERTAINMENT shows don't obsess over their higher rated competition on the right?

twann9852 at 9:58AM on Oct 4th 2007

36. Harry Reid...Nancy Pelsoi wants to drain the swamp. Well, she can't. Harry Reid is caught-up in the sewer pipe.

willet at 10:42AM on Oct 4th 2007

37. You hit the nail on the head Makendoo.

David at 10:47AM on Oct 4th 2007

38. **PRIVATIZATION DURING THE CLINTON BUSH ERA**

Sources familiar with the Middlebury conference say that the event capped an organizing drive for the "privatization of national security" that has been under way since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"""During the Presidency of William Clinton""",

""Rohatyn"", who served briefly as Ambassador to France, was the

""""leading champion of the privatization""" and """outsourcing""" of as many Pentagon functions as possible.""

Rohatyn, Shultz, Cheney `Privatization'
Scheme To Wreck U.S. National Security

http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2006/3313rohatyn_privatiz.html

CLINTONS + BUSHS FIRST SELL DRUGS TO POOR THEN BUST THEM AND SEND THEM TO PRIVATIZED PRISONS FOR PROFIT AND SET UP FUTURE POOR KIDS FOR DRUG USE AND PRISON + DEATH PENALTY

SEE LINK BELOW FOR HOW KIDS ARE SET UP FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/danielleclarke/CSnl

BELOW SEE HOW THEY IMPORTED DRUGS BEFORE THEY GOT INTO OFFICE AND WERE ABLE TO FUND THEIR CAMPAIGNS AT THE SAKE OF THE POOR

If the clintons get back in office watch drug use zoom out of control they are in cahoots with bush and now making money on privatized prisons

If you want to know about the clintons and how they make money (on Drugs) on the lives of children see their past history.just google "clinton cocaine arkansas"

http://prorev.com/connex.htm http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/MENA/mena.html

LINK BELOW HAS THE SAME AS ABOVE LINK BUT IT ALLOWS YOU TO HELP BLOG IT OUTSIDE OF THIS SITE

or "clinton privatized prisons" or google "amy goodman marian edleman hillary clinton july 24 2007"

SEE = Daniel Patrick Moynihan opposed the Clintons' Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act--their "welfare reform" law. When it was passed, Moynihan called it "the most brutal act of social policy since Reconstruction." google "clinton crack cocaine prison"

OR

just go to my newsvine and see it all = http://danielleclarke.newsvine.com/_news/2007/10/01/996857-hillary-and-the-death-penalty-the-clinton-welfare-reform-law-mandates-a-five-year-cumulative-lifetime-cap-on-the-benefits-you-are-off-the-rolls-forever-the-safety-net-that-eleanor-roosevelt-and-her-husband-worked-so-hard-to-get-into-law-has-been-t?threadId=156777&cmt=1069745#c1069745

MENA CONNECTION: Clinton, Cocaine & Coverup =

youtube = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqY3pMcW8DI

VOTE OBAMA FOR A REAL HONEST GOVERNMENTBUSH ALLOWED THE DRUGS TO FLY INTO ARKANSAS THROUGH TEXAS

THEY ARE BOTH IN CAHOOTS TOGETHER

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=TSHB,TSHB:2006-45,TSHB:en&q=bush+clinton+arkansas+texas+cocaine

GOOGLE = bush clinton arkansas texas cocaine

VOTE OBAMA FOR A REAL HONEST GOVERNMENT A MAN WHO WANTS TO PUT THE MONEY BACK THAT THE CLINTONS TOOK AWAY WHEN THEY NEVER FUNDED THE MOTHERS WHO GOT TAKEN OFF WELFARE TO WORK FOR EDUCATION AND HOW THEY NEVER FUNDED THE CHILDREN FOR CHILD CARE AND HOW THEY TOOK AWAY THE PELL GRANTS FROM PRISONERS SO THAT THEY KEPT REVOLVING THROUGH THE NEW PRIVATIZED PRISONS THAT THE CLINTONS PROMOTED DURING THEIR REIGN.

PS: I DO NEED SOMEONE WHO IS A PROFESSIONAL WRITER TO PUT ALL THESE LINKS IN A COMPLETE FORM / DIARY SO THE WORLD AT LARGE CAN UNDERSTAND HOW THE CLINTONS HURT PEOPLE OF COLOR THE MOST BY THEIR USING CRACK COCAINE AGAINST PEOPLE OF COLOR AND THE INNER CITY POOR AND THEN SEND THEM TO PRISON FOR LONGER TERMS AND THEY GOT THEIR CAMPAIGN FUNDS FROM IMPORTING DRUGS INTO ARKANSAS THROUGH TEXAS WHILE BUSH WAS GOVERNOR OF TEXAS AND CLINTON WAS GOVERNOR OF ARKANSAS AND WHILE BUSH SR WAS PRESIDENT AND EVEN BEFORE THIS WAS SET UP WHILE REAGAN WAS PRESIDENT AND BUSH SR WAS A VICE PRESIDENT AND EVEN BEFORE THAT WHEN BUSH SR WAS THE CIA CHIEF ALLOWING THESE DRUG CARTELS TO FUNCTION AND IMPORT DRUGS INTO THE USA.

NO !!! BILL CLINTON IS NOT THE "" BLACK PRESIDENT "" HE IS THE "" WHITE DEVIL ""

is ""HUKABEE"" now running ""clintons mena operations in arkansas"" ? ? ? ?

Danielle Clarke at 11:12AM on Oct 4th 2007

39.

Can you believe what they are saying about Rush Limbaugh? Here again is the lie, say it enough times and people believe it, put around in enough places like MoveOn.org. And some believe.

Wake Up people, use your minds, quit following. Research and you will find the truth, don’t believe everything you hear, just because you want too.

Read what Rush has to say.
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_100207/content/01125109.guest.html

Tom at 12:14PM on Oct 4th 2007

40. Phony outrage? It's a shame the far doesn't get you can't have it both ways.If you skewer one side for "demoralizing" our troups simply by protesting the war, then the man that speaks to millions calling the soldiers phony, for telling what they think, well, you don't get it both ways drug boi!

Bryan at 12:30PM on Oct 4th 2007

41. What really scares me is the votes on this...most people thing Rush is right? Second people think they're all blowhards (IMHO, the correct answer) and third place is the soldiers? WTF?
Rush is an ass. Reid is an ass. Anyone making a fuss and passing ammendments in reference to this puerile "fight" is an ass.
What I'm seeing is lip service to the troops, not support (on both sides). It's criminal that they're risking their lives in this war AND being used as political fodder by partisan assholes who have every right to speak. And we have every right to ignore them. Why don't we?

raging moderate at 12:36PM on Oct 4th 2007

42. What a bunch of weird, hateful people most of you are...you are exactally what's refered to as the fringe left. You are so obvious. Hateful and no intellectual intergrity, only a political agenda. Most of you and your "opinions" are a waste of my time...See ya...wack-o's!!

kim at 3:30PM on Oct 4th 2007

43. #31 JZeeeeeee Thank You for enlightning Rhodalee I hope she uses your facts for good!!

#29 Rhodalee mam, I show respect because you called me sir on another posting,Please read the posting sloooowwwly so you can understand. I'm not a lingustic major but am proficient enough so that even a person with the least amount of estuteness can understand. I never said forget anything the fact that we're discussing something that is meritless with haters is obvious that you really think you have a fallacy that is worth wasting your time debating!
I said AGAIN if your not in chronic pain or understand the concept Please mam don't lower youself to show your ignorance! If you don't know what it is to wake up with severe pain and go to bed and you notice I said to bed not to sleep then at least show compassion. Not being able to stand the pain is something that only those individuals can comprehend, by the way on another blog where the conversation was about vaccinations and the possibility of the vaccines causing autheism(hope I spelled it correctly) you also were very cold and uncaring for those whose children had been affected by it.You obviously are in good health, I'm presuming and I thank God for that but a little compasion and understanding for those not fortunate enough will go a long way and at least will cause me to have more faith in Humanity!By the way on another blog you said you were a Republican and now you morphed into a democrat?

Manny at 3:45PM on Oct 4th 2007

44. I would have to agree with you Joe 100 percent. Givibg this guy this type of publicity only works to serve his interests, yet as you have said I would also flood the airwaves with people like Limbaugh. Just like with other nefarious groups and people, let them speak so you will know who they are and what they are about. The unchecked mouth says some of the damndest things, so as you say we should provide the rope for him and his ilk both right and left. Now as far as this context bullshit, I care not for meaning between the meanings, I still believe in shaking a mans' hand and looking him in the eye when greet them, agree with them, are make a deal with them. I read the damned thing and heard to damned much. The caller says he was tired of the liberal media pulling soldiers out of the clear blue to denounce the war. To which Rush responded phony soldiers which was Limbaugh adding to the callers comments, which in turn the caller ammended his statement and agreed "phony soldiers." It was several minutes later before Limbaugh said anything about that fake bastard Macbeth. Needless, to say Macbeth is a single person, hardly soldier(s). I have come to realize that and both sides the respect and honor due my brothers and sisters in arms is selective and conditional by both sides. So all of them from draft dodging Clinton, Cheney, Bush, and pimple on my arse Rush need to thank a vet shut the hell up or eat shit and die.

Logan at 3:54PM on Oct 4th 2007

45. Hurray! My goodness Mr. Greenman, I was about given up on reading blogs forever when I read Dinesh D'Souza's constipated analysis on the same subject earlier. He was so caught up in foolish he-said she-said, that oh! the sense of relief I felt when I found that someone actually used a blog to tell the truth. Ohhhh! Speak Mr. Greenman!!!! I hope you are not a lone voice crying from the wilderness, because D'Souza has elephant cutouts in his blinders.

Oh holy Pundits & Politicians, I pray of you, please come down off the pedestals you build for yourself. Harry Reid, much to do about nothing, please don't waste Congressional time on this!!!

Irrationality leads to moral decay. The minute we make Rush Limbaugh some sort of moral role model instead of seeing him as the comedian he is, the further and further we will get away from ever solving our nations problems.

Rush Limbaugh is NOT the God of the Republican Party. Don't believe that no matter how much Dinesh D'Souza tells you so....Fight the urge to debate every Rush Limbaugh statement as if it is an interpretation of the 10 Commandments. I know the BS is raining down all around you people, but listen to Mr. Greenman...Fight the urge.
Fight it!!!

Tammy at 3:59PM on Oct 4th 2007

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Mo Rocca appears on a bunch of shows, including CBS News Sunday Morning (with the indescribably wonderful Charles Osgood), The Tonight Show on NBC, and NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! He's a sometime judge on Iron Chef and was featured on Telemundo's Amore Descarado. Last year he starred on Broadway in the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. His expose "All the President's Pets" was published by Crown in 2004.