Why Should I Care?

Check out this clip from Media Matters, "Limbaugh Logic: Experts agree with Democrats, therefore experts are wrong:"

Actually, Limbaugh's logic appears to be this:

• According to the AP, Pelosi and the experts agree, therefore the AP and the experts say what Pelosi tells them to say. Limbaugh claims that the story he's reading is a fax from Pelosi. This is his way of combating accusations that Fox "News" and other conservative media outlets are doing the bidding of the Republican Party. 
• The experts say that unemployment benefits stimulate economic growth. But if that were true, eliminating all jobs and giving everyone unemployment benefits would stimulate the economy even more. Since that is completely absurd, unemployment benefits do not stimulate economic growth. 

Limbaugh makes $58 million a year. Perhaps he would rather the unemployed do without than he lose his generous Bush tax cut.

Limbaugh claims that the story is "easily nuked." If you disregard logic and evidence, isn't anything?

Note: while it may seem as if this post is at odds with my previous post, I believe that a certain amount of cynicism about Limbaugh's motives is called for, given the history of the man's career in radio, and I would also remind you that it was Limbaugh who said, "I hope Obama fails." 

Saul Alinsky's hypocritical followers

From Saul David Alinsky's Rules for Radicals:

The thirteenth rule: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.

From Conservapedia:

Demonization is when a demagogue, or group of demagogues, paints their ideological enemies or scapegoats in terms intended to render them as irredeemably evil and fit only for destruction, which is usually presented as 'self-defense'. Possibly the best-known example of demonization in the 20th century was the Nazis' demonization of Jews, which played off of existing antisemitism for political gain and eventually led to the Holocaust. . . . [emphasis mine]

A reviewer of Barbara Olson's, Hell to Pay : The Unfolding Story of Hillary Rodham Clinton Regnery Publishing (1999) wrote,

Olson discusses the Clintons' method of dealing with enemies, which is straight out of the writings of left-wing crank Saul Alinsky: demonize, polarize, and destroy. Witness Ken Starr, Newt Gingrich, Paula Jones, et al. Olson, a former Senate counsel who investigated the Clinton Administration's FBI file caper and Travel Office fiasco [emphasis mine].

A literal example of the politics of personal destruction from the Sual [sic]Alinsky field manual was uttered by Democratic Presidential hopeful John Edwards in 2007 about social commentator Ann Coulter. Edwards spoke of "that she-devil Ann Coulter" and in same breath said "people like Ann Coulter, they engage in hateful language."

From Michelle Malkin, "Thank you, Keep America Safe":

The DOJ terror lawyers’ defenders complain that it is unfair to question their motives and loyalty. There wouldn’t have been so many questions in the first place had Eric Holder simply divulged the names when Sen. Grassley asked him to do so months ago. 

The predictable cries of “McCarthyism” are rising. The demand for public disclosure is now being characterized as a “witch hunt.” Exactly as the Obama White House would have it: Demonize dissent. Freeze it, personalize it, polarize it. 

From The Huffington Post:  

Michelle Malkin labeled Michelle Obama "First Crony" on Monday, saying she was complicit in corruption reminiscent of the Clinton years and Watergate. According to Malkin, Michelle Obama's involvement is one of the "underplayed angles" of this story. She referred specifically to AmeriCorps Inspector General firing. (The AmeriCorps board has said that they, not the White House, initiated the dismissal.) 

From Eric Alterman, What Liberal Media?: 

The greater [Ann] Coulter's fame, the more malevolent grew her hysteria. In her 1998 book, High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton, she wrote, "In this recurring nightmare of a presidency, we have a national debate about whether he 'did it,' even though all sentient people know he did. Otherwise there would be debates only about whether to impeach or assassinate."

At a meeting of the National Political Action Conference, speaking of the young American who converted to militant Islam and fought for the Taliban, Coulter advised, "We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed to. Otherwise they will turn out to be outright traitors." 

 From Glenn Beck on Fox "News":

Progressives were lurking like a virus, waiting for their chance to suck all of the blood out of the Democratic neck. They were looking for the opening to infect the system. And once they were inside that system, I warned in 2004, the Democrats -- it will be a battle to the end of your party to get them out.

... What we are talking about is an ideological movement that has set its sights on the destruction of the Constitution and the fundamental transformation of our Republic. It is called the progressive movement, and it has been using both parties for a long, long time.

But mainly, it's the Democratic Party that has played host to it. And this parasite has been feeding on that host. 

From Glenn Beck's CPAC Address, 20 February 2010: 

Progressivism is the cancer in America and it is eating our Constitution. 

From Erick Erickson's Twitter feed: 

The nation loses the only goat fucking child molester to ever serve on the Supreme Court in David Souter's retirement. 

From Balkinization:  

Liz Cheney and her group "Keep America Safe" is after the lawyers who work for the government but (her ad disgustingly insinuates) are secret sympathizers with Al Qaeda. "Whose values do they share?" appears in bold white letters across the black screen, as the voiceover intones the same words against a background of ominous music. The slanders against government lawyers who represented detainees is an uncanny repetition of Senator Joseph McCarthy's hunt for Communists in government 60 years ago. In one of the most dramatic moments, McCarthy went after a lawyer. 

From The Rush Limbaugh Show: 

"Limbaugh likens Democrats to murderers, rapists, and 'this Muslim guy' that 'offed his wife's head.'" 

From Hardball Rep. Michelle Bachmann's appearance on MSNBC's in 2008: 

I'm focusing on Barack Obama and the people he's been associated with and I'm very worried about their anti-American nature. . . . I would say, what I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look -- I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America? I think the people would love to see an expose like that. 

 From Lori Ziganto, "Obama Administration and Democrats Kowtow to Other Countries . . ."

But the current crop of Democrats have taken it to new lows; they are past rock bottom and are now frantically burrowing through the Earth’s crust. Since attaining power, everything they’ve done has been an attempt to fundamentally change our “defective” Constitution and country. They are trying to create a federal government involved in and in control of every aspect of our lives, even the foods we eat. They have attempted and continue to attempt to morally equate America with those who wish to kill us . They have actively tried to weaken our military and are attempting to further their belief that America is not special. 

You get the idea.

Rush Limbaugh: BP's best friend

This morning, I briefly listened to Rush Limbaugh, one of the original loudmouthed right-wing clowns. And Limbaugh was discussing the BP catastrophe. (By the way, just in case you are wondering, Limbaugh has asserted that the dangers of the spill have been overstated.)  And he somewhat predictably blamed the spill on "environmentalist wackos." (I believe that is the phrase he used.) You see, if it weren't for environmentalists, oil companies would be able to drill in shallow water, closer to the shore, where a catastrophe like the one we're witnessing could have been easily avoided. Since the law does not allow for that, the oil companies must drill in far deeper water, for us!

Hey Rush, as Mom used to tell me, you don't have to do anything but die and pay taxes, you bastard.

And another thing, Rush: is it really accurate to blame this spill on environmentalists?  Let's think about this, you bastard. Government can't do anything right. Isn't that so? If you want anything done right, you have to hand it over to the private sector, and just get out of their way. Isn't that right? Surely even a prescription drug addict such as yourself can see that. Now, here's the problem. First, you can't say on the one hand that oil production ought to be left to the private sector but then on the other hand absolve them of any responsibility if things go wrong. Second, this whole BP spill is yet more proof that the private sector can fuck something up just as badly as government can, if not worse.  Handing everything over to the private sector is not going to solve all of our problems.  Take your copy of Atlas Shrugged to the recycling center and grow up, asshole.

And finally, it seems to me that if anyone is ultimately responsible for this catastrophe, it's people like you, Rush, and all those Republicans who have fought against raising automobile fuel efficiency standards.  You see, had we been able to make car companies produce more fuel-efficient cars, we might not have needed BP to drill in the deep Gulf water to get oil for our ridiculous-looking gargantuan trucks and SUV's.  So actually, the environmentalists are our friends since they support more fuel-efficient automobiles, you repulsive bastard.

Limbaugh's rant against environmentalists came in a segment in which Limbaugh claimed that Obama has been so slow to respond to the catastrophe because he has no idea what to do, as if Obama is somehow responsible for this mess.  How do the folks on the right complain about government regulation on the one hand, and then also complain when the government is too slow to clean up a corporation's mess?  Isn't that BP's job? Or is is that BP can't handle the responsibility and the Nanny State has to come save the day? Oh, I see how it is now: privatize the profits, socialize the catastrophe.

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Another example of the fine art of bullshitting

When I think of Rush Limbaugh, the Shit Demon from the film Dogma sometimes comes to mind.

Perhaps you have heard what the prescription drug addict himself has said about the Obama Administration's response to the earthquake in Haiti. If you have not, or if you need a refresher, here's what he said, among other things:

Yes, I think in the Haiti earthquake, ladies and gentlemen -- in the words of Rahm Emanuel -- we have another crisis simply too good to waste. This will play right into Obama's hands. He's humanitarian, compassionate. They'll use this to burnish their, shall we say, "credibility" with the black community -- in the both light-skinned and dark-skinned black community in this country. It's made-to-order for them. That's why he couldn't wait to get out there, could not wait to get out there.

Clearly, for people like Limbaugh—you know, bullshitters—there is obviously no way for the president to win. If Obama rushes aid to Haiti, then he is only trying to "burnish his credibility with the black community." If Obama does not rush aid to Haiti, then he, like that prick who preceded him in office, doesn't care about the suffering of victims of natural disasters, like all those people in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit who made the mistake of voting democratic.

Now, Limbaugh appears to believe that we've helped Haiti enough, so screw 'em. But the president obviously does not and cannot share Limbaugh's attitude. Limbaugh knows that if Obama drags his feat or only half-heartedly comes to Haiti's aid, he will receive widespread condemnation.

Many of us understand that a rapid, massive aid effort is clearly appropriate and required, and that is just what Obama is trying to mobilize. And yet Limbaugh condems the man for it. And that is why I can confidently, and without reservation, classify Limbaugh's criticism as another example of the fine art of bullshitting.

Hey, Rush: go f*ck yourself. And while you're at it, think about all the Haitians whose lives might have been saved if you hadn't convinced people not to contribute to the aid effort.