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.