Limbaugh offering inconsistent explanations for "phony soldiers" comment
SUMMARY: Responding to criticism of his "phony soldiers" comments, Rush Limbaugh again asserted that he had
been referring to multiple military imposters -- including Jesse MacBeth --
rather than service members or former service members with whom he disagrees.
Limbaugh described MacBeth as "the man I was referring to and others like him as
'phony soldiers.' " But
immediately after the controversy erupted over his comments, Limbaugh twice
claimed that he was "talking about one soldier with that 'phony soldier'
comment, Jesse MacBeth."
On the October 2 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, responding to criticism of his September 26 comments characterizing service members who advocate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq as "phony soldiers," Rush Limbaugh again asserted that he had been referring to multiple military imposters -- including Jesse MacBeth -- rather than service members or former service members with whom he disagrees. Limbaugh asserted: "The next ruse the left is saying: 'He couldn't have been talking about MacBeth because he used the plural. He said "phony soldiers." He didn't say phony "soldier." ' " Limbaugh continued: "Again, this is a willful and missing of the context of this program. We have discussed many of these phony soldiers over the course of the past few months. We discuss them constantly. MacBeth was just the latest." Earlier in the program, Limbaugh described MacBeth as "the man I was referring to and others like him as 'phony soldiers.' " But immediately after the controversy erupted over his comments, Limbaugh offered a different explanation, inconsistent with his claim to have been referring to MacBeth "and others like him": As Media Matters for America documented, during the September 28 broadcast of his show, Limbaugh twice claimed that rather than speaking generally of soldiers who support withdrawal from Iraq, he was "talking about one soldier with that 'phony soldier' comment, Jesse MacBeth." Indeed, the transcript (subscription required) of the September 28 broadcast that is posted on Limbaugh's site shows Limbaugh asserting: "I was talking about one soldier with that phony soldier comment, Jesse MacBeth. [emphasis in original]"
Further, to support his contention that he had been talking about "one soldier ... Jesse MacBeth," during his September 28 broadcast, Limbaugh purported to air the "entire" segment in question from the September 26 broadcast of his show. In fact, as Media Matters noted, the clip he then aired had been edited. Excised from the clip was a full 1 minute and 35 seconds of the 1 minute and 50 second discussion that occurred between Limbaugh's original "phony soldiers" comment and his reference to MacBeth. Also, the transcript of the first segment of the first hour of his September 28 broadcast posted on Limbaugh's website, which Limbaugh described as being the "anatomy of a smear," does not provide any notation or ellipsis to indicate that there is, in fact, a break in the transcript of the September 26 clip.
Later in the September 28 broadcast, in response to a caller's question, "But you did say 'soldiers' in plural, though, didn't you?" Limbaugh asserted: "Yes, because there have been a number of these people, but they were not active duty -- I was not talking about anti-war, active duty troops. I was talking about people who've been exposed as frauds who never served in Iraq but claimed to have seen all these atrocities, [unintelligible]."
As the blog Crooks and Liars noted, during his September 28 broadcast, Limbaugh also expanded the group of "phony soldiers" to include Vietnam veteran Rep. John P. Murtha (D-PA) and Pvt. Scott Thomas Beauchamp, who is currently serving in Iraq. In asserting that he was originally "talking about a genuine phony soldier," Limbaugh went on to state: "And by the way, Jesse MacBeth's not the only one. How about this guy Scott Thomas who was writing fraudulent, phony things in The New Republic about atrocities he saw that never happened? How about Jack Murtha blanketly accepting the notion that Marines at Haditha engaged in wanton murder of innocent children and civilians?"
From the October 2 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:
LIMBAUGH: Many of you have said, "You ought to sue." I can't, folks. I'm a public figure. It's part of the process. Can't. It's not doable. There are other ways of dealing with this. I was shocked when I heard Senator [Tom] Harkin [D-IA] say it, and I've thought about what he actually said, and I'm blown away. He attributes to me referencing seven soldiers in a New York Times story that I had never, ever referenced. I never have done so, until this very moment on this program. Now, there are also some people who are talking about this story. CNN did a story yesterday afternoon accepting the Harry Reid-Media Matters -- founded by Hillary Clinton -- premise. There have been others who have done so, and not one of them has gone into detail about Jesse MacBeth, the man I was referring to and others like him as "phony soldiers." So let me again detail for you Jesse MacBeth, because this is the celebrity the anti-war left props up and loves. Army Ranger, he said, a 23-year-old corporal. He said he won a Purple Heart. He said he was afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder from tours in Afghanistan and Iraq -- and what made Army Ranger Jesse MacBeth a hero to the left wing was his "courage," in their view, off the battlefield. Without regard to consequences, MacBeth told the world -- and his remarks were printed and reprinted in Arabic all over the Middle East and the Internet.
He told the world about abuses he had witnessed in Iraq: American soldiers killing unarmed civilians, hundreds of men, women, and even children, hanging them in mosques. That's one gruesome account translated into Arabic, spread widely across the Internet, MacBeth described the horrors this way: "We would burn the bodies, and we would hang their bodies from the rafters in the mosque." This is who I was discussing, and everybody in the drive-by media reporting on this knows this is who I was discussing. ABC reported on this man two days before I began this very commentary a week ago yesterday, a week ago Monday, ABC World News Tonight did the story. And still the drive-by media who are talking about this do not detail for anybody who Jesse MacBeth is. Well, here's the grand finale: Jesse MacBeth -- a poster boy of the anti-war left, heralded as a hero -- had his day in court. He was sentenced to five months in jail, three years' probation for falsifying a Department of Veterans Affairs claim. His Army's discharge record as well. Yes, MacBeth was in the Army -- for 44 days. He washed out of boot camp. He is not an Army Ranger. He is not a corporal. He never won the Purple Heart. He was never in combat to witness the horrors he claimed to have seen, but don't look for any retractions from the left.
Don't look for any TV ads about this guy from the left, not from the anti-war left, the anti-military drive-by media, or the Arabic websites that spread his lies about the troops, because fiction -- fiction, ladies and gentlemen, fiction is what serves the purpose of the anti-war left, from Tom Harkin to Harry Reid, to these groups that prop up phony soldiers, like Jesse MacBeth, groups like The New Republic, which run phony accounts from soldiers in Iraq lying about what they've seen. These are the heroes to the anti-war left. Fiction is what serves their purpose. The truth is just too inconvenient. The next ruse the left is saying: "He couldn't have been talking about MacBeth because he used the plural. He said 'phony soldiers.' He didn't say 'phony soldier.' " Again, this is a willful and missing of the context of this program. We have discussed many of these phony soldiers over the course of the past few months. We discuss them constantly. MacBeth was just the latest. I have a press release here from the United States attorney's office, the Western District, State of Washington, September 21st of this year. Headline: "Northwest Crackdown on Fake Veterans in Operation Stolen Valor -- Phony vets scam more than 1.4 million and damage image of honorable veterans."
Look for Rush and his rushbot followers to keep using this to create more division in America.
Rush is using this to divide? Who has been trying to make as much out of this as they possibly can? Dim wits like Harry Reid of course.
Brutus the only people like Harry reid are you!
"Brutus the only people like Harry reid are you!"
Huh?
Rush is using this to divide? Who has been trying to make as much out of this as they possibly can? Dim wits like Harry Reid of course. Brutus
Brutus the only people like Harry Reid are you! Skeptical
Huh? Brutus
Brutus you repeated the comment "Rush is using this to divide?" And then you ask the question "Who has been trying to make as much out of this as they possibly can?. Then you answered your own question with "dim wits like Harry Reid of course"?. So then Skeptical explained to you that the only ones like how you described Harry Reid, dim wits, is you.
Get it? You and they way you described Harry Reid are just alike, dim wits.
Maybe that's why they can't understand that Rush did call the soldiers phony.
BRUTUS:
That pain in your gut is the frustration that the GOP's plan to ride the phony "General Betray Us" pony all the way to election 2008 is now D-E-A-D.
There were supposed to be months of GOP Congressional condemnations, smears of all Democrats, sinister accusations against MoveOn and Soros (and, of course, PARTICULARLY Hillary), endless hours of tut-tutting on Rightwing talking-head round-tables about how UNAmerican those Liberals are, and Sean Hannity challenging everybody he meets down to the FOX janitors to either publicly CONDEMN the MoveOn Petraeus ad, or admit being WITH THE TERRORISTS.
I mean, this was PERFECT for the Rightwing Smear Machine ... no substance, no facts on the GOP's side, a General willing to carry Bush's water by adopting the Administration's political spin on Iraq, while simultaneously ignoring the TRUTH of the disaster on the ground ... and all that "off the table" because the Rightwing Mainstream Media had their STORY to dominate all media coverage.
Petraeus/BetrayUs was supposed to be the "DEAN SCREAM" of this campaign, the cash cow that brings in the donations by the trainload, the MAIN STORY which blots out all other news like GOP corruption, sex scandals, war casualties, Bush shafting sick kids with vetoes, EVERYTHING. It was PERFECT.
And then the strangest thing happened ... Limbaugh stole all the spotlights by showing his disdain for the troops. All of a sudden, PANIC set in with the Rightwing Smear Machine. "This isn't supposed to HAPPEN!" they whined, "WE control the message, WE decide what tidbit of information should be blown up into a national flap, tarring everyone on the opposition side. WE decide what issue will be discussed ad nauseum for the months coming up to election, and that story BY GOD will be a story which smears Democrats!"
The "usual order" was destroyed. The Rightwing Smear Media was thrown into DAMAGE CONTROL, to protect their number one gasbag, RUSH LIMBAUGH, a man who could be depended upon to "CARRY THE REPUBLICAN WATER" even though everyone knows the Republicans "DON'T DESERVE IT". A loyal liar, propagandist, and spouter of Rightwing talking points, Limbaugh could not be left swinging in the breeze, defending his own words (plus, he SUCKS at it).
A NEW disinformation campaign had to be ginned up, how to save Limbaugh's image, "good" name, and effectiveness as a spokesman for conservative spin. If he's smearing Combat Soldiers, he might lose some support from his "Dittoheads". Can't have that.
For the first time since the Rightwing Smear Machine dominated the airwaves ... ironically signalled by Limbaugh going into syndication ... the GOPundits found themselves off message, losing control, on defense, scrambling to repair the false narrative that the GOP consistently "supports the troops."
That pain in your gut, BRUTUS, is the realization that the era of Rightwing Smear and domination of the Media and the Message ... it's OVER.
Now, any mention of "General BetrayUs" is followed swiftly by "PHONY SOLDIERS", and the propaganda effectiveness is gone, vanished, lost forever. In fact, "PHONY SOLDIERS", and "SOLDIER CALLED SUICIDE BOMBER" are currently DOMINATING THE MESSAGE.
This isn't supposed to happen. But it IS. Hallelujah! And God Bless Media Matters!
Rush's original comment and entire discussion was divisive in nature. Heck, that's his entire act: to draw nice black and white lines between "us" and "them", with the only difference being who he wants to target as "them" on any particular day. This time, it's soldiers who are against the continued occupation of Iraq.
Don't deny it. Back the man up! You're one of the "us" people he's talking about! Be proud, man!
Good point Marv. Limbaugh's statements must have been offensive, even to Conservatives. Why else would they be buzzing around here like hornets, trying to defend the indefensible?
Yes, let's all rally around people who lie and say they fought in Iraq when they didn't.
That's not what's happening. What is happening is a bunch of arm chair generals are gathering around their favorite chicken hawk, cheering him on despite proven lies and now a horrible slur against those who did their duty.
Another strawman from the hivemind
I got a chance to hear Randi Rhodes on the ride home today - got out early... Anyway, her comment (probably one she's been making for a while) ... is all this clamoring about 'phony soldiers' and we send a billion dollars in tax money to contractors - the real phony soldiers. I love that. The irony... pure balls of these people to say...anything!
Not a Rhodes fan, but that's a great point.
Brutus,
Just so you know, I don't think Harry Reid is a dimwit, but you on the other hand!
Not much wattage in YOUR bulb is there Brutus. Resistance is futile. You have been assimilated. Another Limborg heard from.
how typical of the attack dog mentality of the partisan left to characterize limbaughs defense of himself as an attempt by him to capitalize on the uproar created by the attack.typically outrageous maneuver by the originators of the politics of personal destruction.first they attempt to smear their victim, then attack the victims defense of himself as devisive,or as having an ulterior cynical motive,etc.i am constantly amazed at the disingenuous, intellectually dishonest, ethically bankrupt tactics of the left.
How typically IGNORANT of the rightwing in general and the Limborg in particular to pretend that showing what someone SAID is intellectually dishonest. Then showing the blatant conradiction of the defense as somehow venal. The hivemind seems to have a collective IQ of about 6
CALMUFFINMAN:
You say, “I am constantly amazed at the disingenuous, intellectually dishonest, ethically bankrupt tactics of the left.”
Psychological Definitions. “Projection”
“Projection is one of the defense mechanisms identified by Freud. An individual who possesses malicious characteristics, but who is unwilling to perceive himself as an antagonist, convinces himself that his opponent feels and would act the same way as HE would. An individual demonstrates projection when that person is threatened by or is afraid of his own impulses, and so attributes those to someone else.”
To understand WHAT you are projecting, what behavior you are wishing to attribute to others (and are in personal total denial about), you need only review the works of the following people:
Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Neil Boortz, Ann Coulter, Michael Savage, G. Gordon Liddy, Bill O’Reilly, Laura Ingraham, Pat Robertson (to name only a sample few).
In reviewing the work of these people, you will find nonstop character assassination, smears, vile lies, divisive language, hatred, fearmongering, nationalistic jingoism, and demagoguery.
Once you’ve identified this phase of your condition, come back, and I’ll explain the difference between LIES and TRUTH, innuendo and fact, suspicion and actual evidence.
HINT: the Rightwing deal in lies, innuendo, and suspicion, while you will find in this site only truth, fact, and actual evidence.
Good luck with your recovery; your "amazement" is due a rude awakening.
Hillary Clinton started Media Matters. Therefore, Media Matters is affiliated with a particular candidate, contrary to their numerous denials of any affiliation.
- Computer / Wednesday October 3, 2007 12:46:23 PM EST
- Reply to this comment / Flag this comment
Um, buddy, you need to learn how to read. I don't know about affiliation or any of that stuff, but this is what Sen. Clinton said: "
""institutions that I helped to start and support like Media Matters and Center for American Progress."
It's not just supporting MediaMatters, it's STARTING it.
- portnoy64 / Wednesday October 3, 2007 01:20:03 PM EST
- Reply to this comment / Flag this comment
RUSH, Thanks 2 U I now know that MM was started by Hillary Clinton and is funded partly by her. Your playing her KOS speech stating this says it all.
- wizbor4654 / Wednesday October 3, 2007 12:56:15 PM EST
Don't ever say a liberal hasn't done you a favor. I have cut and pasted your comments to save you time ,OK!
LOL...good work, Pearlene.
BTW, that's what I call thinking for yourself. I am sure Billo would be proud of you. ;>)
Below is an excerpt from the conversation with the caller, "Mike in Chicago". immediately preceding Limbaugh's "phony soldiers" comment:
CALLER: I used to be military, okay, and I am a Republican.
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: And I do listen to you, but --
RUSH: Right, I know. And I, by the way, used to walk on the moon.
CALLER: How long do we have to stay there?
RUSH: You're not listening to what I say. You can't possibly be a Republican...
Is Limbaugh so out of touch that he doesn't know there are Republicans and soldiers who want us out of Iraq?
Keep talking, Rush...that hole gets deeper every day.
I'm glad you brought the previous caller up.
Limbaugh's comments to the previous caller have been overlooked. Limbaugh repeatedly called the previous caller a fraud. He was likely a real soldier who disagreed with the war. While Limbaugh didn't directly say during that call that the caller was never in the service, Limbaugh did accuse the caller of lying. That soldier was not Jesse MacBeth
The second caller referred to the first caller and referenced troops who complain to the media about the war. When Limbaugh said "phony soldier" he was saying that the first caller was an example of the phony vets that talk to the media. Limbaugh said they were all phony soldiers.
Its noteworthy that the second caller probably was a fake vet. The second caller made crackpot claims about WMDs being used in Iraq. Limbaugh accepted the second caller as real, based on his side of the Iraq War debate.
Limbaugh points to his later comments about Jesse MacBeth as proof he wasn't talking about all anti-war troops. But Limbaugh didn't talk about MacBeth as a single case. Limbaugh said MacBeth was "who the left holds out" as US servicemen. Limbaugh could only have meant that other soldiers who speak out for the left are phony. Otherwise, Limbaugh would have said, "A" soldier the left held out. It was Limbaugh's regular propaganda technique of falsely asserting that was is true of a part must be true of the whole.
All the subcontexts are within the greater context which is Limbaugh saying the most terrible things he can think up about anybody who disagrees with him.
People call and lie about who they are all the time. You have absolutely no clue or proof the guy was a soldier. Man, you people get more desperate every day.
Rush not only knows who the phony soldiers are, he talks to them during his show.
I'm sure he's on pumpkinheads payroll. The junkie has to screen his calls very carefully, so easier to have a shill, just like the chimp does.
Still trying the weak reverse the burden of proof tactic. Man you get weaker and weaker every post. The Oxymoron MADE THE ACCUSATION it is up to HIM to prove its true. He cant POSSIBLY know. So it is by definition a baseless accusation. One he made ONLY because it was useful for his argument not becaue he could possibly have any evidence it is true.
I think that anyone who actually listens to the call would suspect that this first "Mike" was a "seminar caller" -
You can suspect whatever you want. Unless you have any evidence making a baseless accusation is a WORTHLESS argument.
Cripes, the ditzohead trolls are falling out of the woodwork.
Of course his story keeps changing. He's a republican in the same mold as bush. Just like this war was about getting rid of wmd's, oops, getting rid of al queda, oops, getting rid of the folks who attacked the world trade center, oops...
And then, of course, there's "Freedom...!" (spoken in a high-pitched Texas twang)
Aren't they supposed to scream that as their guts are being pulled out of their belly? Ah, the good ol' days...
I think MMFA is purposefully misconstruing Rush's comments, just like Reid and Harkin.
It is a blatant attack of quid-pro-quo in retaliation to the MoveOn.Org add implying General Patraeus was a traitor.
The fanatical anti-war leftists and MMFA, keep digging themselves a deeper hole. They simply look ridiculous to the rest of us by trying to parse and misconstrue Rush's comments in a failed attempt at creating some equivalence between the MoveOn.Org ad and Rush's comments.
Everyone knows Rush supports the troops and everyone knows what he meant by the "phony soldiers" comment. He's explained himself many times. It takes a purposeful misreading to believe the opposite.
I think MMFA is purposefully misconstruing Rush's comments, just like Reid and Harkin.
Just becuase you say that it does not make it true, but in your great wisdom how is Reid misconstructing any comments?
Reid's comments: until he crossed that line by calling our men and women in uniform who oppose the war in Iraq, and I quote, "phony soldiers." [sic] This comment was so beyond the pale of decency, and we can't leave it alone.
It is obvious to everyone that Rush was not calling the men and women in uniform who oppose the war, phony soldiers. He was referring to those who lied about their experiences in Iraq and/or their service there.
Mr. Reid looks to me to be petty and willfully dishonest by purposefully misconstruing Rush's comments and doing so on the floor of the Senate.
It is obvious to everyone that Rush was not calling the men and women in uniform who oppose the war, phony soldiers. He was referring to those who lied about their experiences in Iraq and/or their service there.
Really? it is not obvious to me. Or most people who heard those hateful comments.
J,
Then you are purposefully not comprehending. Just take a look at the MMFA article above and you'll know Rush's meaning.
Instead the whole false argument of Rush's disparagement revolves around a comment that was, by MMFA's account, clarified less than two minutes later on the same show.
This attack on Rush is rabidly partisan and so blatantly ridiculous because it shows Reid to be a sockpuppet for MoveOn.Org.
Then you are purposefully not comprehending. Just take a look at the MMFA article above and you'll know Rush's meaning.
AA, I have read it and I understood Rushs meaning very clear. If you are a member of the American Military and you are against the war then you are a phony soldier. You can spin and defend it anyway you want. It was wrong and he should apologize.
J,
Apparently not. From the above:
There have been others who have done so, and not one of them has gone into detail about Jesse MacBeth, the man I was referring to and others like him as "phony soldiers."
Now there is no excuse. Hope that helps.
AA,
You are using the same argument as every other Rush apologist. We all know what Rush meant, but if you feel the need to defend him and read his mind for us and tell us what he meant to say then knock yourself out.
skeptical,
Apparently some, due to political filtering, are determined not to see what is plainly before them. If you or any of the others here do not wish to accept the bolded quotes from MMFA where Rush clarifies his statement , then by all means enjoy living in your world.
AA,
The problem lies with you not others. The bold statement by Rush is his after the fact explanation. I can read the actual full transcript and from that I and every other fully thinking person can see what Rush meant, by his actual own words.
Nothing can change what he said, so again, you can try to defend him and explain what he meant by his actual words, but they are there for all to see, and I don't need you to interpret them. They are clear in their meaning by themselves.
I'm not sure if Barney is deliberately lying here, or just confused. He seems to be pasting the bold-type comments by Rush from Oct 2 (yesterday), and thinking this was Rush's "clarification" within a few minutes of the original remarks (Sept 26).
Which is it, Dep. Fife? Has Rush got you believing that he did all this spinning on the original show, or are you just willing to let his later spinning in reaction to being caught fool you?
Why don't all the conservative trolls admit that ultimately they agree with what rush said: That if you do not support the war, no matter who you are, your loyalty and authenticity is suspect.
Even if they disagree that the word "soldiers" means more than one, lets cut to the chase cons and fess up. There are only two kind of Americans - Good ones that believe the all the right stuff and say the right things - and confused ones that are evil and by questioning are actually helping terrorism.
Just admit that you agree regardless of what rush said or did not say.
Rush and the Rightwing Republicans have a big problem: “Cognitive Dissonance.”
The Cognitive Dissonance theory asserts that a person often has two conflicting or inconsistent cognitions which produce a state of tension and discomfort, and that person is strongly motivated to reduce the dissonance in the easiest manner possible.
Here is Rush’s conflict: As a rightwinger, one of his strongest principles is to project that he is “strong on defense” and that he always “supports and honors the troops.”
But as an ideologue and propagandist, Rush is compelled to attack, smear, demonize, and DESTROY any and all people who disagree with his ideological policy positions. No matter how small the criticism (Dixie Chicks), the messenger must be attacked and crushed. Typically, the messenger is portrayed as unpatriotic, cowardly, immoral, Godless, intellectually dishonest, and bereft of any positive characteristic. The messenger is identified as an enemy, as evil, and their very existence is “bad for America.”
So, what to do when a soldier disagrees with Rush? Cognitive Dissonance. Rush is compelled to ATTACK, but the target is taboo per a basic principle.
As the NAZI PARTY gained power in pre-war Germany, there was a similar Cognitive Dissonance. In the German culture (as in most others), murder was considered WRONG, as was torture, inhumane treatment, and persecution of other human beings. Yet, the Nazis wished to cull out and eliminate segments of German society; Jews, Homosexuals, and Gypsies (to name the main targets). The German people would be repulsed and would oppose and reject this systematic murder of these groups of human being, because it is morally WRONG to kill without reason.
The Nazi Propagandists solved this problem by simply DEHUMANIZING those they wished to target. They called the Jews “VERMIN”, and so killing them was not immoral or wrong, because it is not immoral or wrong to kill VERMIN.
So, back to Rush. How did HE go about solving his Cognitive Dissonance? How did he justify smearing and attacking SOLDIERS who disagreed with rightwing ideological policy? Simple. They are NOT “real” soldiers, they are PHONY SOLDIERS.
PHONY SOLDIERS, those who disagree with Rush's rightwing ideology, are not due the support and honor “real” soldiers are afforded. REAL soldiers agree with rightwing policies. PHONY SOLDIERS could be attacked and destroyed with impunity.
Cognitive Dissonance SOLVED.
Apparently some, due to political filtering, ...
Um, project much?
Allow me to point out for the "read a direct quote and understand it" impaired, my previous post about projection was directed at AnotherAmerican.
We're seeking a cure for this ailment. Give till it hurts. Though understand that some may be beyond our help.
Sorry, I've heard too many of Rush's phony explanations before, including about what Democrats say, for me to believe what he says. I'll trust my own ears and instincts. Limbaugh is a pathetic liar...always has been, probably always will be.
Irony,
Please read Bittermarv's quote above. I think it is meant for you. :-)
You seem to have the same problem understanding Bitter Marvin as you have understanding Rush Limbaugh.
From Limbaugh's own archive:
RUSH: It's not possible intellectually to follow these people.
CALLER: No, it's not. And what's really funny is they never talk to real soldiers. They like to pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue and spout to the media.
RUSH: The phony soldiers.
CALLER: The phony soldiers. If you talk to any real soldier and they're proud to serve, they want to be over in Iraq, they understand their sacrifice and they're willing to sacrifice for the country. [bold mine]
So, Rush can't intellectually follow the people who are against this war/Bush's policies. The caller continues by saying that these people pull soldiers out of the blue to spout off to the media against Bush's policies. Limbaugh then says: The phony soldiers.
Now those with misplaced hero worhip syndrome are trying to control the damage Rush has done, when a simple appology from the fat boil butt himself would have avoided all this. But alas, Limbaugh is too insecure to admit any wrongdoing.
I hope he loses his show, he certainly doesn't deserve one. And listeners deserve better than Limbaugh.
GUILTY, END OF STORY
Yes yes yes. This is all you need to know:
If you talk to any real soldier and they're proud to serve, they want to be over in Iraq, they understand their sacrifice and they're willing to sacrifice for the country
And the logic here, typical I am afraid, is that we can't have real dissent and we can't question the conservative project. Even the men and women who are risking their lives and are aware of the reality on the ground in Iraq are to be marginalized.
A similar logic got us into the war in the first place.
Please read Bittermarv's quote above. I think it is meant for you. :-)
Nope, AA, it was directed at you, as evidence by the quote I cut and pasted from the post I addressed.
But thanks for proving you wouldn't know an accurate quote if it jumped out and bit you. Gives your arguments here that real lack of credibility that all Rushbots seek.
If you don't listen to the show, don't comment on what Rush says or means. Anyone who actually listens to the show new exactly what he meant. ABC came up with the term on their 9/24/2007 broadcast, although they call them "Phony War Vets" ("Phony soldier"...same difference). Look it up!
Gee,
I've only heard that excuse 5 million times so far from the dittoheads.
I can read, I know what he said and by that I can tell what he meant and he meant that any soldier that opposes the war is phony.
Nice try though!
What did he mean when he called Jessie a "fake soldier"? I don't think that was on the ABC broadcast.
It was on the radio the day before the phony soldiers caller. Rush did a morning segment on McBeth. But of course this slaughters Media Matters pathetic smear campaign so they have yet to mention it.
Leather, "fake" or "phony" hasn't got a damn thing to do with the day before. When agreeing caller Mike#2's definition of "real soldiers" Rush supplied the word "phony" and caller Mike #2 agreed and repeated the word "phony". When Rush mentions Jessie HE uses the word "fake soldier" not "phony".
Maybe listening to Rush gives you superpowers to tell the rest of us "what he was thinking" but what he said is what he said, no matter what he told you he meant to say!
Even if true it is not much of a defense. He clearly is suggesting that those against the war are phony - be it Republican or soldier. then he uses macbeth as the defining example of phony soldiers. So what if he is trying to finesse the argument so that he can later claim he was not suggesting this his ditto heads. He is conflating antiwar/phony republican/phony soldier/ jesse macbeth. Of course he is not making a clear logical argument or explicitly saying in just those words. He never does make clear logical connections. He is insinuating and it is pretty clear what the intending meaning he wants you to take form it. Soldiers who dont support the war are in the same class as Macbeth. Link a very strong negative with those who speak against the war.
So then you are saying it was in code for the Limborg ONLY? That only AFTER you have been assimilated into the hivemind can you comment on his blatant lying, dishonesty and basic churlishness? NAH, I guess I will decide what I comment on you dont GET to tell me what to do.
That's what amuses me, the overstatement of positions. If they would say IMO or "maybe he meant", they'd give themselves a chance.
It works on them though by their Svengalilike masters.
Thinking that Rush was talking about soldiers who oppose the war and not phony soldiers like Jesse Macbeth requires the willing suspension of disbelief.
Nice try Port,
The only people like that are the Rush apologists.
Port, why wouldn't rush smear dissenting soldiers. Look how the "patriotic right" has treated other dissenting soldiers: John Kerry for example. He spoke out and got swift boated. Also that politician in Georgia whose name escapes me.
You mean reading and understanding what he said is willfully disobeying your hivemind MASTER? Yeah we got that
Barney, you're falling back into those "everybody knows" and "it's obvious to everyone" introductions to your posts again. I've tried to help you by telling you how desperate it looks. If you believe something, just admit it, don't drag others along to bolster your confidence. ;0)
Gomer,
I apologize. I should have said, everyone but the loony left fanatics on this website like you. ;-)
Hey AA,
Instead of trying to insult someone, (by the way, it's tough to take you seriously, so your insults are more humorous than insulting)maybe you really need to heed his helpful advice.
skeptic,
Relax, just a little ribbing going on with Gomer. Maybe you missed the little smiley face.
I'll take your criticism to heart when I see you (or anyone else,) start consistently criticizing the anti-war, anti-Bush, anti-conservatives flame throwers here.
Everyone saw the smiley face. We get that it was just another lame attempt at a joke by a pathetic, passive aggressive, right-wing nutjob who lacks basic English comprehension skills. =)
Hey! That smiley is amazing! I'm gonna have to remember that trick!
Funny. Thanks for the laugh!
ps. Had you any critique for Irony or neon immediately below I might have taken your advice a bit more seriously.
AA,
They weren't offewring advice, they were just insulting. I was just trying to help you, I'm not sure what they are doing but if you don't like people tossing about insults then you should take your own advice!
You were the one who brought the subject up, not me. I am just looking at your hypocrisy. It's okay for everyone else to insult but a simple joking rejoinder that is so over-the-top as to know it is a joke is somehow over the line for me?
Thanks for your concern but for now I'll remain a little skeptical. ;-)
AA,
I guess I'm missing something. Are you saying it's okay to insult or it's not okay?
I'll take your word, because you seem to know what everyone thinks!
No you should have said that you MORONS that have been assimilated into the Limborg believe whatever you are TOLD to believe and you have your marching orders.
"It's obvious to everyone" ... it's only obvious when you read the doctored transcript and listen to the doctored audio provided by Rush, as opposed to listening to the entire conversation in real time, unedited, and reading the complete transcript ... which then makes it not very obvious ...
However, reading the entire transcript of John Kerry's comments at a commencement and listening to the complete audio make it obvious to everybody but the completely brainwashed cult of Rushbots, as opposed to listening to the few seconds which Rush provides ...
Thanks for sharing, AA... yaaawwn.
By the way, one day you might be embarassed about that ditto tattooed on your forehead.
That's no tattoo - that's the imprint from limpaugh's belt buckle.
Feel better? Good.
Everyone knows Rush supports the troops and everyone knows what he meant by the "phony soldiers" comment. AA
AA, you are so right, everyone knows that Rush supports troops who agree to stay and fight and die in a civil war with no end in sight. Everyone knows that Rush supports troops who are willing to do what his lazy butt was unwilling to do, serve his country. Everyone knows Rush's definition of a "phony soldiers" is someone who does not agree with his support of the war. So glad he's made that clear.
I'll bet your also happy to know that you're an OK Republican in Rush's eyes but NOW everyone else knows that you can't be a Republican UNLESS to agree with what Rush says. Again, sure glad he cleared that up.
I'll bet your also happy to know that you're an OK Republican in Rush's eyes but NOW everyone else knows that you can't be a Republican UNLESS to agree with what Rush says
Pearlene you make a good point, remember for years Rush tried to smear John McCain becuase of the Campaign Finance Bill and the 2000 South carolina primary. Rush is a disgusting person.
JLyons, I have notice a lot of attention paid to the "phony soliders" comment, which is more than fair, but I'm totally surprised that more Republicans aren't blasting Rush for deciding what makes a "good Republican" vs "you can't be a Republican". As someone posted, Rush has a large audience, do they agree with him?
As someone posted, Rush has a large audience, do they agree with him?
Pearle. I hope not , I know he has a large audience but I wonder if it is all retired people who will never change and people who just want to hear more racism. I can not stomach him but I am sure some can that do not even agree with him.
JLYONS:
Limbaugh once boasted 20 million listeners, but that's now down to about 13 million. Still a lot of people. I wonder how many members the KKK had in their hayday?
Pearlene,
Nice rant. I still appreciate the A you gave me the other day. :-)
AA, I'm thinking for myself ;-)
So, how are you going to try to parse away the fact Limbaugh called Iraq war veteran Brian McGough a suicide bomber?
Care to cite your reference?
Here you go, parse away:
[link to mediamatters.org]
Earth to Johnny,
Nowhere in your link does Rush call this guy a suicide bomber.
Here is the Rush quote from the link you gave:
"...lying to him about what I said, then strapping those lies to his belt, sending him out via the media in a TV ad to walk into as many people as he can walk into."
Unlike the Democrats who parse and misconstrue, the meaning of Rush's quote is clear.
Oh, Barn. By all means - clarify for those of us for whom the truth is obscured by metaphor.
It's an easy job but someone has to do it. :-)
You're really a liberal, right? Trying to make the cons look like, well cons?
Are you serious?
Who gets bombs strapped to their belt so they can bump into people?
Who exactly do you think Limbaugh is referring to?
I didn't see any quote by rush calling for this soldier to blow himself or anyone else up, only that he is trying to "bump" into as many people as possible. Maybe you can point it out?
I don't recall Rush calling for this person to commit suicide. Please point where I missed it.
Now, correct me if I am wrong, but I don't believe suicide bombers simply strap lies to their belt and bump into people.
Face it Johnny, any point you tried to make was lost long ago and you are only digging your self a deeper hole. (And no, I am not calling you gravedigger.)
The comparison to a suicide bomber is there if you open you eyes to see it.
Well now we're getting somewhere.
Johnny wrote: "...the fact Limbaugh called Iraq war veteran Brian McGough a suicide bomber?"
However making a comparison is not the same as Rush calling this soldier, as you erroneously stated as fact, a "suicide bomber".
It is simple. You were wrong in stating your fact and got called on it.
Dude, that's weak, even for you.
As has been demonstrated here time and time again, most conservatives seem completely unable to wrap their minds around abstract concepts like metaphor and analogy.
Clams,
I only tried to lead Johnny to admit his erroneous statement. He wrote an obvious falsehood. Johnny said Rush called this soldier a "suicide bomber'.
Rush never said that and it is proven by MMFA. Hence Johnny's statement is simply false. Can you agree with me on this point? If not, then it is useless to continue. Your blind partisanship is preventing you from seeing the facts.
I can grasp metaphor and analogy. I could all along. However unlike so many I understand the difference between an analogy and false quotes. Johnny finally backed off with this admission that Rush used a comparison without admitting his quote regarding Rush was simply made up.
Geeze. Everyone uses analogies. But saying someone is strapping on lies and bumping into people is not even remotely close to calling a person a 'suicide bomber'. I would think you could see the difference.
I guess I was wrong.
CLAMS:
Don't be naive. OF COURSE most of these rightwingers know about metaphors, and exactly what they imply.
What our Rightwingers are indeed unable to face up to is that their propaganda monopoly is falling apart, and their best bloviators are self-destructing.
The DETAILS of what any rightwing pundit has actually SAID is wholly irrelevant. At all costs, these people must be defended. No matter how ridiculous the denials, they will be made, and the purposefully obtuse will continue to deny the obvious.
Why is this? Simply because the alternative is unthinkable. The Rightwingers would have to face the TRUTH that their propagandists are full of crap, are phonys and hypocrites, and have no socially redeeming characteristics.
THEN what would they do? This would be the end of their world, as they know it.
They would then have to strap Rush's lies to their rope, tie a noose with 13 loops, throw it over a strong beam, mount a stool, place the rope around their necks, and kick away the stool.
[Now, you MIGHT think my above metaphor suggests Rightwingers "HANG themselves". LOL. I said no such thing. See how this works?]
<sigh>
You realize, Barney, that Andy isn't going to replace that bullet.
Now go see what Aunt Bea can do about your foot.
AA,
"I didn't see any quote by rush calling for this soldier to blow himself or anyone else up"
Do you know how Brian McGough received his brain injury?
From a suicide bomber!!!
Rush piled on the insult by using a completely tasteless and insensitive metaphor.
So not only does Rush not bother to watch the actual VoteVets ad before he criticizes it, he also does not bother to familiarize himself with McGough's personal story and what he endured. This is why this Rush has no business being on the radio, especially Armed Forces Radio!!!
Really? Because unless Rush meant to compare McGogh to a suicide bomber, his metaphor makes absolutely no sense. He was saying McGogh was like a guy who goes around bumping into people? What were the explosives Reid metaphorically strapped to his body for, and what on Earth is that supposed to mean anyway?
The suicide bomber metaphor on the other hand, while completely obnoxious, is at least understandable. By your account Rush must be getting a bit addled. Maybe it is time for him to retire.
Ken,
See my response above. The comparison is not in question. My point is that Johnny's statement saying rush called this guy a suicide bomber was a flat out falsehood.
YOU have been assimilated.
It is getting to the point where metaphor is confused with literal statements. However, this is an example of what the right has done for years through the Rush Limbaughs of the world. Intentionally refuse to understaand the meaning of a comment. Like intentionally taking the kerry joke about Bush and claiming it was about the troops.
John,
I understood the comparison all along.
AA-- I was not referring to you. I think the post was an intentional confusion of a metaphor with a literal comment. it is just turnabout as I see the right do this over and over. Limbaugh is obviously using the metaphor of a suicide bomber for this ad and I sometimes use the metaphor of the Iraq war for the propaganda war here. I dont think there is any real harm in doing this sort of thing. But if the left does it and it can be misrepresented it seems it gets misrepresented. I think both Rush and Moveon have an absolute right to say most anything they want about any soldier,officer or group of soldiers without congress or any branch of government saying or doing squat.. It is the double standard I see that pisses me off.
You are right he compared him to a suicide bomber. It is absolutly clear.
Yeah, I'm really worried about what 2% of the population who'll believe anything limbaugh says thinks.
Snoop,
I hope your note made you feel good even though it looks to me like you simply made up your 2%.
I'm sure the choir loved it.
You must have misconstrued what I said. What I really said is that 2% of the population in america are the blithering idiots who will believe rush regardless of the truth. There, now like Rush I have clarified myself, and you can't refute it because I came out and said it in defense of myself just like Rush did.
AA,
Is Limbaugh a chicken hawk? Next question, If "real soldiers" support the Iraq war, what to "phony soldiers" do.
"He's explained himself many times."
And which one of those multiple contradictory explanations is the one that you're choosing to swallow?
"The fanatical anti-war leftists and MMFA, keep digging themselves a deeper hole. They simply look ridiculous to the rest of us by trying to parse and misconstrue Rush's comments in a failed attempt at creating some equivalence between the MoveOn.Org ad and Rush's comments."
I think Rush's comments were more disparaging than MoveOn.org. MoveOn asked a question and provided some facts about the General and left it up to the reader to decide. Rush called troops who advocate withdrawing "phony soldiers".
When Rush said 'Phoney Soldiers' wasn't he refering to himself? He did not serve. He just plays a chickenhawk on the radio. Neither has Newt, or Rumsfeld, Bill O'reilly Glenn Beck, etc...
And if only 'Far left wing Fanatics' are for the end of the war, then I believe half of our country is full of fanatics. Listen Genius, Bush had been caught red handed changing the story of why we went to war, not once but several times. I heard the propaganda unfold not just on Rush, but Glenn Beck. Why do you conservatives find it so hard to believe that sane human beings may feel that being in a war under false pretenses is a bad idea? Fool me once.....
You mean everyone in the Limborg HIVEMIND know what you are TOLD to know. The rest of us are stuck with what he actually SAID. And that doesnt support what you were TOLD to know.
Limbaugh is still lying through his teeth if you accept his explanation.
Even if you grant Limbaugh was talking about one soldier who is falsifying his record, even if you grant Limbaugh was talking about more than one soldier who isn't telling the truth surely he knows the left doesn't rely on these people.
There's a whole slew of former military who disagree with the policies of George W. Bush. Everybody left, right or center knows this.
If you accept ANY of Limbaugh's explanations to his listeners he's still pushing the lie those who oppose the war are relying on the accounts of liars.
Rush, as usual, isn't telling his audience the whole story. Even though he is a public figure, he can still sue for defamation. It becomes more difficult to prove because he has to prove actual malice as well as the other elements, but if he's so sure MMFA is lying about him because he never disparages the troops, it shouldn't be a problem.
He isn't suing for defamation because there was no defamation.
Plus, if he thought there really was, a court ruling against him would most certainly end his carreer. Then we can go to work on Hannity, Beck, Savage,. . . oh God! The list is endless.
This article points out the obvious disconnect that limpaugh has with his butt. It's odd even having such close proximity to the source of his commentary that his brain has such trouble receiving it.
That's because of that disabling fluid-filled sac on his butt that kept him out of the military.
You mean Ann Coulter?
Don't you metro-sexuals have anything better to do with your time? Can't keep your lunie views alive on the radio without donations. Sad.
I don't believe I've ever had the pleasure - nay, HONOR - of reading such an enlightening piece of literature as that comment, Mr. Stupid.
Tell me - are you published anywhere? Is there, say, calendars or posters which I can purchase so that I may be reminded of your insight daily?
The men's bathroom wall at Cracker Barrel in Meridian, Mississippi.
Aintnopillforstupid-- and he should know, he's tried them all.
It's too bad that you can't find a pill for your stupidity, but since your stupid, you probably don't even realize it!
I find it ironic that you are stooping to insults.
Hahaha!
AA,
I think you need to double your meds!
Yeah, go see aintnopillforstupid.
I notice you didnt direct any such remark to anypillforhisstupidity. when will you Limborg get that you DONT have the exclusive franchise on personal attacks?
Hey, I don't even know what Metro-Sexual is, but it sounds a lot like Home- Sexual so that's what I'm gonna call them there Libruls. That'll learn-em.
BTW, ANPFStupid, who needs donations when MMFA is fully funded by George Soros and Hillary Clinton?
Dont you braindead morons have anything better to do than parade your ignorance around as if it were something to be proud of?
I wondered how long it would take for the Media Matters website to be reduced to arguing syntax, or the definition of "is". It seems now that the most horrific misdeed you can level against Rush is whether he was talking about single or multiple "phoney soldiers". The fact of their existence, the fact that Jessie Macbeth--erstwhile hero of the left--was indeed mentioned by Limbaugh on Tuesday just as he has maintained...well, the truth is like that tiny leak in the dam which no one believes can amount to anything. Once it breaks thru the fabric of lies used to conceal it, even the combined shameless artifice of the United States Senate and the MSM cannot succeed in reversing its spread.
Please provide any link that shows Macbeth was a hero to anyone!
Good luck, Skep. I've been asking for days. Apparently. Rush said it, and that's good enough for the dittozombies.
Anyone? The "lionizing" of MacBeth? We keep hearing vague rumors about it, not so much with the evidence.
I can honestly say, I don't remember ever hearing or reading MacBeth's name until this Limbaugh disaster started.
If any of my favorite bloggers took this guy seriously and gave him press, I will gladly send them a nasty gram for being so sloppy.
"Please provide any link that shows Macbeth was a hero to anyone!"
i did a search on macbeth and found that some minor blogs did tout him as a hero, without vetting his story...he was even interviewed for tv, which can still be seen on youtube...his testimony is laffable, as he is skittish and answers in vague generalities regarding incidents he recalled.
but he was never lionized by the left
You're just here to exercise your fingers, aren't you?
Actually, it's Rush who's doing the syntax parsing with regards to "phony soldiers." All MMFA has done is report his words verbatim. Now I know that having Rush repeat the same lies from the Bush administration seems to make them feel "true." But the truth just starts out that way. And holds up all on its own, despite Rush's objections to his own words.
Great post Owebetty,
The truth is standing up and Reid, Harkin, and MMFA seem to be using the same tailor as that famous emperor.
Doesn't matter how many threads MMFA starts, one can see right through it.
AA,
What was great about owebetty's post. Please explain in detail, because I can't see anything great.
It was incoherent, mindless BS.
Why wouldn't it get the Barney Fife Seal of Approval??
You wouldnt know the truth if is slapped your face and took you wallet.
Uh..no. You are making the assumption that MediaMatters accepts that one or the other or Limbaugh's explanations has to be true, but by pointing out they are contradictory MM is clearly arguing that neither explanation is true. Not a very well constructed straw man.
Keep trying to spread your hivemind. We like to think for ourselves. I am sure that is a concept far beyond you but its dear to us. Limbaugh lies and you repeat it. You guys are such a joke
His explanation is bogus because of what the caller said before Rush said, 'phony soldiers'.
CALLER 2: No, it's not, and what's really funny is, they never talk to real soldiers. They like to pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue and talk to the media.
LIMBAUGH: The phony soldiers.
CALLER 2: The phony soldiers. If you talk to a real soldier, they are proud to serve. They want to be over in Iraq. They understand their sacrifice, and they're willing toSorry, but anyone with a grade school education can clearly see he was talking about those soldiers who disagree with the war.
Now, IF he meant just one soldier, he should have clarified, but he didn't. Therefore, it wasn't a mistake on his part. HE MEANT IT.
So, it's clear reading all of these comments that there are some people inclined to believe Rush's explanations, and others who find them unbelievable. But it seems to me that the very idea that Rush's explanations and apologies are so difficult to judge that they require a full trial by jury begs a much larger question. That question is, What responsibility does a broadcaster have to the public to make clear, easily understood and responsible statements? Put another way, free speech does not entitle one to yell "fire" in a crowded theater. When Don Imus was fired for his comments, it did not matter that he didn't mean to call the women of the Rutgers basketball team by a hurtful name. What mattered was that he was irresponsible in his use of a public asset in a way that was unacceptable to a great many people. Rush has clearly acted in the same irresponsible way, as judged by the great many people who have seen and heard the story of his remarks and felt offended. And no amount of explanation will ever change that. He deserves to be taken off the air.
The "standard" of truthfulness for the right is almost explicitly stated by the ditto heads posting on this. I would bet that we had done a survey of the listeners right after the comments, and asked "are soldiers who are against the war real soldiers or phony soldiers just like macbeth" they would have said they are all phony soldiers just like macbeth. The caller explicitly stated that soldiers who are real soldiers are for the war. Limbaugh seems to me to approve of this comment. he then starts stalking about phony soldier macbeth, using macbeth himself as the poster boy for what he suggests are soldiers who are phony(i.e. the opposite of "real" soldiers who support the war.) Are you ditto head really that stupid are have you just abandonned any good faith in your political discourse? Do any of you still care about the truth or is this just a game? You guys insult my intelligence with this sort of nonargument. Thats what most pisses me off.
all blowhard has to say is that all military personnel, not just those who support this president, have a right to voice that opinion. all he needs to say is that those who oppose this foolish policy and inept planning are no more phony than those who are ordered to testify before congress about how well everything is going.
I heard the original Rush show! It was a riot listening to damage control on FOX and Glenn Beck...etc. They are circulating the same big lie to protect Rush! This is unbelievable to actually live it! But I guess I must part of the Liberal conspiracy, too. I am amazed at the conservative bull machine. It is propaganda the Soviet Union would have been proud of!
Who cares what Rushit says. The guys is an obnoxious asshole, drug addict, and draft dodger. If you add in racist and homophobic I guess you could call him the PERFECT Conservative Republican.
Media Matters
You're losing this battle and circling the drain fast. You're losing traction and really didn't have any to begin with
Riverbirch, is it scary to see your world of propaganda crumbling in front of your eyes?
Just because that is what the Oxymoron TOLD his borgian hivemind to believe doesnt mean it has any connection to reality.
And a wife or an approximation there of.
And a wife, or something like one.
Jesse MacBeth, a war hero of the Left? Obviously, Limbaugh is still on the "stuff", because I have NEVER heard of this person in any place at anytime. I listened to the entire replay of the segment the SAME day it happened, and there is no doubt he was talking about any soldier who does not agree with his opinion.
It wasn't until well after that ill-fated slip of truth that he backtracked and tried to explain his way out of that disaster. He's not in the studio alone. He has handlers that watch out for him and it's pretty obvious they told him in the 1:38 minutes that followed to explain himself. MacBeth was not brought up until it was too late.
But it is quite apparent that Limbaugh fans are clinging to that explanation like driftwood after a shipwreck. How desparate. No one is going to save you myopic people.
mmfa is making a big mistake in advocating that its readers and members contact el druggo's stations
this will accomplish nothing
want to put the fear of god in him?
we need to pull a spocko
send all offending clips culled from over the years to his national advertisers and ask only one question
do you want your product associated with this type of speech
do not ask for rush to be pulled from the airwaves...that wont work
it didnt with imus....for what got imus fired was the fact that his advertisers dropped like flies.
About a year ago didn't Rush and nearly everybody else in wingnut radio world spend a lot of time piling on John Kerry for botching a joke?
I would like to say I actually listen to this guy and how he is being treated and how this website has discredited this great man is overwhelming to me. I listened to the paticular episode where he talked about phony soldiers. The only soldiers he was refering to was the ones like that idiot kid that DROPPED OUT of the marines and still considered himself an army hero and said that he WITNESSED war crimes in iraq when he never left foot from America. Those are the soldiers he was talking about and thats what this redicoulous website doesnt want you to know. I dare any of you coolaid drinkers to listen to one of his episodes just ONCE and see the diffrence between how he is protrayed from this democratic mouth piece and who the guy really is..............
Another of the Limborg heard from. No one NOT assimilated is buying that nonsense.
Rush Limbaugh is a disgraceful human being, and I use the word loosely, who consistently makes fun of people, and afterwards claims his comments were taken out of context. He is a shill for the Bush administration or any other Republican administration which happens to be in power. He is a draft dodging chicken hawk who never spent a day in the uniformed services of our country, but will happily advocate sending our young men and women to their deaths in Iraq. The dittoheads who fawn over this piece of excrement are ignoramusses without a brain or original thought in their heads.
Why do none of you pay attention to those in here who heard the broadcast that day? Millions of people heard what he said, and it what context it was said. Keep up the crappy work you are doing here, because you are losing your credibility, thank goodness. You can also thank Shrillary for that, too. You can bet that MMFA's non-profit status will be investigated in light of all of this, too.
We were never going to have credibility among the Limborg. You guys only know what he TELLS you to know. We can read.
When the dems and major media come out publicly and in force to state their alliance with comments made by Macbeth were too quickly embraced and repeated with authority, then perhaps this issue can be dealt with. Limbaugh may have spoken too loosely, but he was not the first and he did not create the lie. He merely commented on it and the history of the dems to throw a limelight on anyone sharing their rhetoric.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Macbeth
Both sides of the debate are reacting rather than leading. Both sides are pulling away rather than pushing together. Nobody has the conviction to state their real objectives besides George Bush. At least he has put out something that he has been able to "stay the course" with. He hasn't flip-flopped. He hasn't made comments tailored to the "audience of the day". Why can't the dems focus on '88? Bush isn't running. This effort to poke and jab at Bush on every turn is ridiculous. So much wasted time and effort on someone who isn't even in the picture beyond '88. Clinton is a made up joke with the punchline changing daily. The republicans haven't been able to get anyone that has a clear shot at the nomination. We don't have leaders anymore - we have politicians. And that is a sad state of affairs.
Bin Laden is laughing his ass off as we play right along.
Yes he is laughing and thanking Allah for George W Gump every day. He thanks his pin up poster of George the dimmer for making everything he said come true and turning Iraq into the theocracy he wanted there so desperatly but would NEVER have been able to pull off himself.
Since the beginnings of his show, Rush's credibility has always lie in an ability to establish an "us against them" dynamic with his listeners. "We" see things as they really are; "they" are corrupt and try to deny the reality of events around us. This whole thing is just one more example of that intellectually and morally bankrupt, but firmly entrenched, dynamic at play.
And as a result, this will be ultimately be viewed as one more mildly outrageous statement from Rush not very different from any of his other inanities. His brave supporters will continue to see events as he sees them; his evil, corrupt detractors will not.
Rush can't lose this one because his dummies actually want to believe him; and the only people he's worried about pleasing are his dummies.
BTW, do a little research and find out what Jesse Macbeth's name was before he changed it.
Sounds like millions of Limbaugh dittoheads think they heard what they heard because they live in a paradigm on that show that leaves them unable to think objectively.
When people who are not stuck in that paradigm hear what he said, from the caller "Mike" that he argued with before, to the end of the dittohead Mike call afterward, there is absolutely no doubt what the context was. He did not say "Phony soldiers like Jesse MacBeth", he said "Phony soldiers". Period.
It really is quite simple when you back out of the paradigm and turn off all the wordsmithing that Limbaugh and his followers have practiced for the past 19 years. The best thing Limbaugh listeners can do right now is swallow their foolish pride and admit he made a mistake. The worst that will happen is an apology. Oh wait. Neo-cons never apologize.
What a bunch of losers...the 20 million of us who listen to Rush regularly along with all the drivel from the brains full of mush like you liberals know that once again you've had you ass kicked with the truth exposer about you, and with one hand tied behind his back...we heard what rush said IN CONTEXT....he was talking specifically about the liar who was born with an original arab name who had his name changed to MacBeth at some point ....talk about a total phony...claiming all these atrocities, and then was found to be lying about it all...never even served in Iraq...when are you all going to apologize for that...you supported him to the max....that was the context of his comments for "phony soldiers"... in other recent comments he has talked about others who have bilked the V A out of tax payer funds making phony claims by forging documents, like John Kerry did to get his phony medals, etc. then he did tie that image into Murtha, Reid, Durbin and other democrats who have point blank slandered our real heroic troops fighting in Iraq calling them murders, and comparing them to Pol Pot, Nazis and the like....so go ahead and keep it in the press. the more you people like the more people see you lying....you are all bunch of pathetic sociopaths...you're not going to win with a bitch like Hillary so quit kidding yourselves...Hillary..who by the way started up this trashy character assasination blog to begin with along with a true traitor and american enemy, George Sorrors. So my wish for all of is to eat your own excrement, choke on it, and die.....
JohnM Now what planet were you on when all this happened?
Ok John mission accomplished. You have PROVEN you are a complete moron without the capacity for independent thought. You are of the Limborg
It is nice to see the looney right playing defense for a change.
MDM:
Yeah, baby. And they SUCK at it!
This is all he said, she said, someone of you must have taped the show on the 26th of Sept as it was broadcast. Just post the audio, with proof that you did not edit it, and we will know the truth........I know that is scary for most of you but that is what you want isn't it?
Limbaugh doesn't have anywhere near 20 million listeners. That was 1996. Even MM is overestimating his audience. The latest figures show more closely to 11 million, approaching half of what it was 10 years ago when he had no competition. It has been in steady decline since its peak.
His remaining listeners now are the far righthand fringe. These are the people who could watch George Walker Bush rape and kill an 8 year old girl on live TV and then immediately start launching excuses for him- i.e. "she was a terrorist" or "you took it out of context", etc.....These are the dead-end 20+%ers who still approve of this illegitimate sociopath in the White House.
It's nice to see my theory of the Neo-con paradigm and the mental illness that is neo-conservatism at work. Plenty of examples here.
Talk about cool aid drinking ditto heads! John M must have swallowed a barrel full. I listen to Rush too so I will know mine enemy and catalog the lies which spring forth from the lips of this mean spirited character. Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh are two of the most evil and dangerous men on planet earth, and sadly there are far too many hopeless numbskulls who believe the lies these men spew forth on a daily basis.
Not only are these two mouthpieces some of the most extremely dangerous and divisive people in the Country, they are two of the most cowardly people imaginable.
Imagine the utter audacity for someone like Limbaugh or his sorry protege Hannity, both with NO military background, painting themselves as these brave, military types. That is proof that the word "shame" doesn't exist in the limited vocabulary of the neo-con dictionary.
I wonder how an anal cyst would be viewed today by the Bush Crime Syndicate as an excuse for staying out of the military. Something tells me it wouldn't fly very far.
Go on Rush, try to sue MMFA for 'smearing you' and 'taking you out of context'. I dare you to try to clear your good name in a court of law.
The phony soldier comment Rush made was clarified when he made the following statements,"They joined to be in Iraq" and "Well, you know where you're going these days, the last four years, if you signed up. The odds are you'regoing there or Afghanistan or somewhere." Those statements would have no relevanceto the type of phony soldier he claims he was referring to now. The phony soldiershe is trying to refer to now are soldiers that did not see action in combat or individualswho were not soldiers at all. His statements were about soldiers that were in Iraqor Afghanistan.
I realy don't understand how some people can hear the same words as I , and still insist that some one said something else.
I was listining to Rush that day that "The phony soldier" remark was made, and he was NOT talking about all soldiers.
Our congress men and women should get to work on things that matter, and stop worrying about what someone said on the radio, the public can figure out what is true and false without our elected officials well enough.