I wonder if the Dittoheads and other rightwing pundits and bloggers will jump all over Rush for his patronizing disrespect of US soldiers. I mean, really, not only did Rush Limbaugh basically accuse a soldier of being unable to think for himself and of being the dupe of the left, he also likens the soldier to a suicide bomber. Really.
Rush, with his "talent on loan from God" majestic and omniscient "wisdom," spins this soldier's opinions and thoughts according to his own convoluted logic. Of course, in Rush's myopic worldview it is just impossible to be a decorated Purple Heart veteran of the Iraq War AND a critic of the war. Hence, this soldier must be a feeble dupe of the anti-war left. What's Rush likely to say next about this soldier? That his anti-war stance is a product of brain damage caused by the shrapnel he took to his head while serving in Iraq? Puh-leeze!
That's bad enough as it is, but then look at how Rush tries to then turn around this soldier's sacrifice and equate the man to a suicide bomber! It's just stunningly and brazenly disrespectful of this soldier when you think about it. I mean, this guy comes out with some strong and powerful criticism of Rush, and what does Rush do? He basically calls the guy a suicide bomber who can't think for himself. To listen to Rush speak, this U.S. soldier is, in effect, the worst kind of enemy to Rush Limbaugh and all that is good and strong about America that Rush thinks he himself epitomizes. It's pathetic and vile, really. Rush removes any kind of agency from this soldier, which disrespects this man's intelligence, and then he likens him to some of the vilest of America's enemies -- an enemy, in fact, that actually gave the soldier the very injury that earned him his Purple Heart. Ain't Rush sweet?
And Rush has the gall to pretend that it's the left who thinks soldiers are fools and who "use" the military for their own political purposes.
I wonder what the Dittoheads and the rightwing blogosphere will say about Rush now? I'm not holding my breath.
Huck
ReplyDeleteI followed your links (to Media Matters and KOS). I also followed the links provided in those hack sites. Neither your links nor theirs produced the so called insults you write about. Do you have a reputable source? I will say right now that I do not listen to Rush’s show. I cannot swear that he didn’t say these things. But I will not believe any of the tripe that you find on the sites you are referencing.
Hi, don_cos - Go to the following Media Matters website: http://mediamatters.org/items/200710020014
ReplyDeleteAt the top right of this screen is an image of Rush Limbaugh with an audio clip from his show. Here you can hear that portion of Limbaugh's show where he equates McGough to a dupe of the left and describes him in terms of a suicide bomber.
I know you think of Media Matters as a hack site, but the audio clip of this part of Rush's show seems authentic.
I'll be curious to hear your reaction.
Huck
ReplyDeleteI listened as you recommended. I will have to say that Media Matters did a pretty good job of reproducing Rush’s words to type. However Rush did not call McGough a suicide bomber. The comparison was to those who Rush believes is misleading McGough. I can tell you straight up from experience, that yes there are genuine veterans who are against the war. And as long as they complete their service honorably, I have no issue with them. One of my former subordinates (who I have great respect for) is rabidly anti-Bush and anti-Iraq war. However we were more than able to work together, have mutual respect for each other, and debate these issues all at the same time. So I have no issue with McGough being against the war. Everything I read about him indicates that he not only served honorably, but that he served with distinction.
But regardless of McGough’s service, Media Matters is twisting this into something it is not. Rush questioned those who are using McGough. He praised McGough, calling him a hero. Never did Rush call him phony. The phony remark was about people like Jesse Macbeth. The left has dragged out fakes like Macbeth many times, and that is what started all this.
don_cos - Sure, Rush didn't use the words "suicide bomber" but he described McGough as one. Are you willing to give Rush a pass because he didn't use the specific words "suicide bomber"? Imagine if I used language to describe George Bush as a man who likes to strap on a swastika and round up every Jew he encounters to put in a gas chamber, but then go around claiming I never called Bush a "Nazi"? It's disingenuous. And you would be right to call me on it. And saying that Rush is also criticizing those he claims are "using" McGough is a red herring. He doesn't need to paint McGough in terms of a suicide bomber to make this point, a point which is still reprehensible and wrong because it assumes that McGough is being used and duped even though McGough says otherwise.
ReplyDeleteFinally, I have never heard until now any conservative paint the terrorist suicide bomber as an innocent dupe of Al Qaeda leadership worthy of some kind of empathy. Usually, conservatives tend to think that the folks who strap on belt bombs and harm people are just as responsible for their actions as the terrorist leadership that recruits them.
Finally, even if we take this spin to exonerate Rush with regard to McGough, that still leaves us with Rush using the descriptive of the terrorist suicide bomber to criticize somebody not actually a terrorist suicide bomber; and it used to be that conservatives were against this kind of gratuitous and shameful labeling of domestic political opponents.
No matter how you slice it, Rush's choice of describing a political opponent, whoever that may be, in the descriptive terms of a terrorist suicide bomber, is completely
Yes it does assume that. But Rush still did not compare him to suicide bombers. He compared “those who are using him.”
ReplyDeleteHi, don_cos: I think you are drawing the wrong parallels in Rush's analogy here. One may argue that Rush's intent is to attack those who he thinks are using McGough. So, perhaps Rush is comparing "those who are using him" to the evil masterminds who recruit terrorist suicide bombers. But these folk are not the terrorist suicide bomber. In terms of comparison, let's break the analogy down clearly according to the parallels in the analogy. Rush clearly references McGough in the analogy. Without McGough, there is no analogy to be made. So, my question to you is what role is Rush assigning to McGough in his analogy? To me, it is clear that Rush is NOT comparing McGough to those who recruit suicide bombers, but rather to the actual suicide bomber himself. Again, where does McGough fit into the analogy?
Though I have never seen heard you do this, we see this from the left all the time.
ReplyDeleteAnd every time the "left" does this, it's still wrong. You won't hear me defending any leftist making such statements. In fact, I've called out my fellow leftists on any number of occasions, most recently on the MoveOn.org Petraeus ad) when they resort to this completely gratuitous kind of cheap shot. Is it too much to expect conservatives to do the same regarding similar behavior when it comes out of the mouth of someone like Rush Limbaugh?
Without McGough, there is no analogy to be made. ~ Huck
ReplyDeleteThat is an excellent point. But I believe Rush is comparing him as a dupe not a bomber.
You won't hear me defending any leftist making such statements. ~ Huck
That’s why I wanted to be very clear that I was not accusing you of that.
And for what it is worth. I don’t listen to Rush.
That is an excellent point. But I believe Rush is comparing him as a dupe not a bomber.
ReplyDeleteYes, Rush is presenting him as a dupe. But the question remains, he is duped into what? It is the what that compares McGough to a "suicide bomber." There are many other ways to depict a "dupe." Rush consciously and deliberately chose to make McGoud a "suicide bomber" kind of dupe. Maybe Rush used McGough in this analogy to criticize those he thinks are duping McGough, but the fact remains that he chose to criticize his political rivals by using a "suicide bomber" analogy, and McGough is unquestionably the "suicide bomber" (duped into this role if you will, but nonetheless occupying this role) in this analogy.
Even still, I don't hear very many conservatives calling out Rush for calling a soldier and Purple Heart veteran, someone Rush says he considers a hero, as a mindless dupe. That's not how one describes a hero, is it? And there's no question in my mind that conservatives would be all over a liberal (witness the John Kerry "stuck in Iraq" comment) who seems to belittle the intelligence and agency of soldiers.
And there's no question in my mind that conservatives would be all over a liberal (witness the John Kerry "stuck in Iraq" comment) who seems to belittle the intelligence and agency of soldiers.
ReplyDeleteThe difference here is that Kerry has a long history of lying and belittling our veterans for his own political gain.