Rush Limbaugh Doubles Down
Jan 15th, 2010 | 37 responses
I’ve run out of adjectives to characterize this kind of behavior, so I am just going to blog it and let it speak for itself.
Limbaugh’s first remarks about the earthquake in Haiti came after Pres. Obama went on television to convey that the hearts of Americans went out to Haitians in their suffering, and that the United States would be actively and immediately involved in relief efforts. Limbaugh attacked Obama for responding to the earthquake (which was 7.0 on the Richter scale and basically has destroyed almost every structure in Port-au-Prince and killed tens of thousands of Haitians) faster than he responded publicly to the attempted airline bombing on Christmas Day, and then predicted that Obama would use the disaster for political purposes, to show the “light-skinned and dark-skinned black community” how compassionate and humanitarian he is.
Then he told his listeners (apparently in the same show), “We’ve already donated to Haiti; it’s called income tax.” And, for good measure, he tried to discourage callers from donating to private aid organizations that are trying to get food, water, medical care and other pressing necessities to Haitians affected by the earthquake. Today, he claimed that his intentions had been misunderstood, and responded abusively to a woman who called in to criticize his earlier statements (emphasis is in original):
Today, a woman named “April” from Paducah, KY called into Limbaugh’s show and asked where he got the “cojones” to make such statements. Limbaugh insisted that he never meant to discourage private donations to Haiti, but stood by his remarks that Obama will try to exploit the disaster for political gain:
RUSH: No, I’m not evading it at all. If I said it I meant to say it, and I do believe that everything is political to this president. Everything this president sees is a political opportunity, including Haiti, and he will use it to burnish his credentials with minorities in this country and around the world, and to accuse Republicans of having no compassion. [...]
CALLER: [A]re you implying that the Huffington Post as the one and only resource that I [read]? I even watch Fox News once in a while.
RUSH: No, no, no, no, no. I’m not implying that. … What I’m illustrating here is that you’re a blockhead. What I’m illustrating here is that you’re a closed-minded bigot who is ill-informed. … And if you had listened to this program for a modicum of time you would know it. But instead you’re a blockhead. You’re mind is totally closed. You have tampons in your ears. Nothing is getting through other than the biased crap that you read.
The only support I’ve seen for Limbaugh on the right over this one is from Jim Geraghty at National Review Online. Geraghty seems to think that the politicking is coming from those who are condemning what Limbaugh said, rather than from Limbaugh himself, and he declares that Limbaugh has his facts right. The title of Geraghty’s post is “Unsurprisingly, Rush Is Right“:
You knew it was just a matter of time before partisan angles emerged about the disaster in Haiti. The Huffington Post takes umbrage at Rush Limbaugh: “Limbaugh also seems to feel we’ve done enough already for Haiti: ‘We’ve already donated to Haiti. It’s called the U.S. income tax.”
Obviously, when people are struggling to crawl out from rubble and with meager medical systems stretched to the breaking point, you’ve got to mobilize. But on the facts, Rush is right.
The tale of U.S. foreign aid to Haiti is maddening, as well-meaning Americans dump more and more money to alleviate suffering, only to see little or no actual improvement in the living conditions on the ground.
The thing is, not only does no one deny this, but all the news coverage that I have seen on Haiti since the earthquake struck, has pointed out this fact repeatedly and discussed it in great detail. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and despite years and years of foreign aid and both financial and human resources poured into the country from vast numbers of non-governmental humanitarian aid organizations, the majority of Haitians (by far) still live below the poverty line. I personally have heard analyses of this and interviews with all kinds of experts about it numerous times in the last 24 to 48 hours. It’s not a secret and it’s not being ignored. It’s just that, for most people — government agencies, Pres. Obama, ordinary Americans, aid workers, charitable organizations, and even the journalists I’ve seen who are in Haiti right now and appear devastated by what they’ve seen — it’s not the time right now and it’s certainly not the point to be disparaging relief efforts, or the eagerness of Americans as well as people all over the world to help, or the motivations of the POTUS, on the basis that Haiti is dirt poor, always has been, and we’re wasting our money there. At a time like this, you do what has to be done to help other human beings who are going through unimaginable suffering.
On Keith Olbermann tonight, he opened with some reaction shots of survivors. One woman, lying on the ground with the thousands of other injured waiting for help, had her head raised, and this is what I heard her saying, in a broken voice, over and over: “Why? Why? Why? Why?”
A good question for Rush Limbaugh at this moment too, I would think.
And yeah, I know I ended up giving my own thoughts. Can’t help it.
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37 Responses to “Rush Limbaugh Doubles Down”
And people wonder why the NFL didn't want to give him a team. What I find more frightening are the millions of “dittoheads” that listen to his show and agree with him. At least we can count on the Republican leadership to keep the brand down while Obama's numbers suffer.
The amount of Foreign Aid being given to Haiti is minimal.
The Bush Government didn't care for the Aristide administration, so they attempted to starve the country into submission, when that did not work they had a coup that put the current president in power…
Clinton Urges More International Aid for Haiti
Haiti: Mud cakes become staple diet as cost of food soars beyond a family's reach
For those of you who think this a lot of money: The Cost Of The War In Afghanistan
Well now Kathy, you wouldn't want or “Rush to judge Limbaugh” as the the headline said in TMV article a couple of weeks ago. Well, now that he is fully recovered from his “gas problem” I guess we are free to pass judgment. He is quite and incomparably so– a jerk.
Rush is jumping to politicize this disaster, and trying to accuse Obama of politicizing it. Let him have the rope he needs.
What really surprises me is that this kind of behavior by this man still surprises some.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by TMV, Michael Tedesco. Michael Tedesco said: Here, here Kathy RT @TMV: Rush Limbaugh Doubles Down: I’ve run out of adjectives to characterize this kind of behavior. http://bit.ly/6dZ82P [...]
There isn't anywhere near enough rope in the US for him to hang himself with…
There are a few points getting jumbled together here.
Limbaugh was undeniably rude to his caller and called her names, something that no one can defend. He is a blowhard and a poor spokesman for conservatives. His insults don't hold a candle to the ones in the ThinkProgress comments, though.
Will Obama use this for political gain? Probably, although that's not a reason not to donate to Haiti.
Limbaugh does not discourage giving money to Haiti, he discourages doing so through the White House website, and in his follow up comments encourages people to give to private charities. To ThinkProgress's credit they do post the entire transcript below the sound bites Kathy references, and that gives a more complete picture.
Was federal aid to Haiti money poorly spent? Probably.
Is this “not the right time” to bring it up? Hard to say. It's right that the first priority is to help the victims, on the other hand right now everyone is paying attention to Haiti and this might be a good opportunity to look at the background that has left Haiti so vulnerable.
Give a malignant narcissist a microphone and an incredible salary and you shouldn't be surprised at what comes out of its mouth even in a time like this. Narcissists lack the ability to have human empathy in even small amounts. Not making this stuff up. Google it.
Pus Windbagh is the poster child for this affliction.
Is there no one willing to defend the heart and soul of the party, its stream of conscience talking point generator?
The point he made about politicizing the Haitian disaster just supports my contention that most of the right's arguments come from simple projection.
I don't like the Reps any more than you do, merkin, but I do have a problem with you and Silhouette tossing around these kinds of generalizations. Rush and Pat don't represent the conservatives any more than DQ (“you're all a bunch of racists”) represents liberals. A popular entertainer does not a representative make. If you persist, I'll research some fringe liberal commentators to demonstrate my point.
20 years of US occupation followed by 14 years of Papa Doc Duvalier and by another 15 years of Baby Doc Duvalier, not to mention coups every time the locals have the bad taste of electing people we don't like might have a little something to do with the sad state of Haiti…
By all means..lol..
We're moderates most of us. We are equal-opportunity BS meters..lol.. You'll notice that I didn't attack the GOP so speaking of making stuff up. My post was directed straight at Pus Windbagh.
Silhouette frequently misuses “narcissist” without foundation, to describe anyone she doesn't like. At least Stalin was more creative in similar attacks on political opposition. (Obama, too, for that matter.)
The real story here isn't an isolated example of Limbaugh's mistreatment of a caller. (I actually heard this exchange with the caller, when on the road and momentarily switching to Limbaugh from listening to Thom Hartmann — which I somtimes do when there are commercials on the station that plays the Hartmann show.) Limbaugh was simply wrong, and he was rude — but the story here (as with other low-grade attacks on Limbaugh I have been observing) is the poor nature and character, once again, on the Left, looking for any excuse to criticise or abuse Limbaugh and by extension, others who aren't lock-step lefties. (The stupid overreaction to what he said about Haiti was even more laughable.)
Ha!…and all of you were kind to him as he lay in a hospital bed in Hawaii one week ago!
Maybe he is right, maybe you are, “Blockheads”.
Take a lesson from David; When you have Goliath down and out on the ground, you cut his friggen head off before he gets up again!
If you pray, pray for his death. There is no telling just how many lives you may save!
It was my impression from the events of last spring when politicians first disagreed with Rush and then had to recant in days if not hours, the discussions on who was the leader of the party which seemed to always include Rush, that he was more than a simple commentator.
Is this a sweeping generalization that will force you to find a liberal commentator? If it does please find one of equal stature in the Democratic party that Rush is in the Republican. One that is literally above criticism from individuals in the party.
Wasn't there an honest piece maybe a couple days ago about keeping politics out of this disaster? Then gas assbag and his twin dunce spit out their hate and we get numerous posts on how they said it, why they said it, what they meant by it, etc. There's a reason why Media Matters has some poor soul hired to listen to everything Rush says and dutifully transcribe it to make headlines – these morons say stuff like this because then everyone pays attention to them. I'm pretty sure Hannity or Coulter will say something too just so they don't feel left out. I'm beginning to think Sil has a point about clowns like this exhibiting some narcissistic tendencies.
Our shared national disease is political polarization. Moderation is the cure.
“There are a few points getting jumbled together here.”
Consider the “jumbled” source of the predictable Limbaugh-bashing. This is but the latest excuse for it.
Reid.
I'm waiting on the sidelines for that. Success has ruined more popular people than him, this may be Waterloo.
Then again, maybe not.
“this may be Waterloo”
It won't be. Limbaugh's opponents are grossly inflating this, and being self-lowering once again.
I thought Limbaugh's show was getting stale and that it would eventually diminish or subside in importance — not as quickly or as deeply as, for example, Letterman, who really isn't important but to a small subculture (many of us don't watch or “require” television, as most programming has been substandard for decades). I did think Limbaugh was starting to struggle a few years ago, though it may have been a relative lack of misdeeds by libs and Dems once Republicans had a chance in power once more in Washington that also gave him less misdeeds to present and turn into entertainment (at their expense, as usual — nothing new, and they earn it) as well as criticise. When he got a huge contract for several years, I felt the sponsor was taking an enormous risk. But it has paid off, primarily because now that the Dems are back in power in Washington, they have not only repelled the public with their misdeeds, but these have given Limbaugh countless valid objects of criticism and forming entertainment, and reinjected life into his show. (Is the best the opposition can do, is continue to snipe at him and to debase themselves in their customary way?) Way to go, libs and Dems, again.
[...] Rush Limbaugh Doubles Down (themoderatevoice.com) [...]
Why Doesn’t the United States Have a European-Style Welfare State? PDF – Page 49
We're not Europe, that's why. We're substantially less collectivist, and all the rest…there is no racist conspiracy.
“If our theory is correct, states with more African-American residents should have less generous programs.”
Blacks are clustered mainly in the South, where welfare payments have and always have been low.
There is no racist conspiracy. I hope tax dollars weren't misappropriated to produce any more elaborate versions of that bogus conspiracy “institutionalized oppression,” etc., nonsense.
“Blacks are clustered mainly in the South, where welfare payments have and always have been low.”
In case the obvious (which you should know) is unknown to you, Don Q., the South has been historically a poor region in the nation, with trouble as well as reluctance paying for all kinds of things (not limited to welfare).
Well if we were in Europe we'd have a higher standard of living than we do now.
“Well if we were in Europe we'd have a higher standard of living than we do now.”
Debatable, but you're not the only one saying that. I'm with an interesting gang of guys here, who have lived and traveled in some of the places I have, and they're all liberals, who love to decry the poor state of affairs in this country — and one has been to Europe and have hosted friends or relatives from Europe. I forget which country (the Netherlands?) but when they've come to visit, they're appalled at the sight of an old person working as a greeter at a Wal-Mart (or, working two or three jobs, not retired).
And how much of that poverty is due to the unwillingness to invest in human capital?
After all there might be a negro who gets something for nothing, would not want that to happen now would we?
“And how much of that poverty is due to the unwillingness to invest in human capital?”
[inflammatory portion deleted]
“Invest in human capital” is misleading. To describe the South or the Red-Blue distinction, the level of government services (and substitution of public for private sector presence) depends in part on choices and values, and part on pure wealth and basic ability to pay – not only due to penuriousness by the mythical wealthy elites. (I.e., it's limited by ability as well as by the willingness to pay for these things.)
Mississippi will never equal, and may never reasonably be expected to equal, what California can, as well as will, pay.
“Consider the “jumbled” source of the predictable Limbaugh-bashing”
************
lol…what? He can dish it out but the poor big baby can't take it huh? What a frail bully he is.
Kathy, here is a real interesting story full shocking news.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=29…
EXACTLY! D.E. Rodriguez said it. I cannot believe people on the left are acting so outraged. It's RUSH LIMBAUGH for goodness sake. What else is new? We should sit back and let Rush do what he does best: entertain us.
And kudos to this article for providing an objective look at Rush's comments, as well as to most of you who did the same. I have finally found a blog for reasonable people.
FT, stories about what has been happening in Gaza are not being reported or under-reported in nearly all but progressive press.
Horseshit!!!
Improving education & health-care are the two single most important that any state can do, literacy leads to fewer children and better employ-ability, which in turn leads to far more stable marriages and children born in far more stable household which creates an easier to educate population which in turn leads to better schools. Are you getting the picture? A nice virtuous circle where improvements lead to more improvements…
Now if in 1957 following Brown V Board of education, Mississippi and all the other Confederate States had started investing in human capital, we would now be in our third or fourth iteration of the process and instead of the CSA looking like third world countries wannabes, the CSA might now look like Vermont or Minnesota. But instead of “improving their human capital”, they deliberately went out of their way not to improve it, and if in the process of making sure negroes got as little as possible, the poor white population got the exactly the same thing, well though cookies…
The truth is not inflammatory, it just is…
Yeah it would seem so. Looks like the Israelis are just gunning down UN relief people. Hard to believe.
“> “Invest in human capital” is misleading.
Horseshit!!!”
(Confirmed.)
“Now if in 1957 following Brown V Board of education, Mississippi and all the other Confederate States had started investing in human capital [sniffle], we would now be in our third or fourth iteration of the process and instead of the CSA looking like third world countries wannabes …”
Actually, the Sun Belt has demonstrated growth and vitality over the past 2-3 decades, while the Snow Belt or Rust Belt has not grown that way, and has visibly or observationally declined. (The Sun Belt has pull factors, while the liberal policies in liberal Yankee Land have constituted push factors.)
You're like many liberals, intellectually as well as temporally arrested somewhere before 1980 (with this subject, in large part, before 1960-65, probably including regional or provicial conceit that lies often behind the use of Third World nomenclature to describe the South as recently as the late 1940s or the 1950s), firmly believing in related myths rather than in reality.
“I cannot believe people on the left are acting so outraged.”
I can, because this immaturity with them is commonplace. It's one of many things Limbaugh exposes.
Nobody has even to be a devoted fan of the guy, or much of a fan at all, obviously, to see and correct this. If and when I'm listening to the radio at that time of day, when I'm on the road, it's usually not to him but to Thom Hartmann, a lefty-talk radio show (lefty talk is farther left than righty talk is rightish, and is especially interesting currently with the Dems in power and with the thhhhhhhhhh
“I cannot believe people on the left are acting so outraged.”
It's commonplace, due to immaturity and irrationality, among things that Limbaugh routinely exposes.
You don't even have to be a typical fan of him to see this. I'm not; when I'm on the road and listening to the radio, at that time of day it's tuned normally to Thom Hartmann's show not to Limbaugh's. (Lefty talk radio is farther left than righty talk is rightish, and presents an often extreme or even alien point of view of things. Currently it's especially interesting because the Dems' rushing too far left to craft bad legislation, and do more craziness in Washington, is inhibited currently because they have gone too far, too quickly. Far lefties are not only frustrated with the stalling but are upset (if not Outraged!) by the latest compromises made with health care “reform” legislation, the final version of which will leave them very disappointed as well as likely please nobody else.) I do listen to Limbaugh once in a while, as his show remains among the best — and is kept alive and quite well because of the many lib and Dem follies this past year, with no end foreseen to them. Almost all the negative reaction to Limbaugh is due in large part to anger at him not personally (even if many would say it is so, in this or in other instances), but as a handy demon and object of demented leftist hatred, and even a projected object of hatred of dissenters from the leftist political world view (the farther left, the more angry and hateful, as a rule) and suppressive reflex that is part of political correctness. Other than that, it's simply a case of angry, surly losers griping.