Hour 3: Limbaugh on the Wire: "Media Matters is running this daily - never mind"
We came
so close... so close...
By Simon
Maloy
It's the final hour, and Rush kicked it off explaining that he was being asked to explain why the Democrats are treating AIG employees more harshly than detainees at Guantánamo Bay. Rush said, once again, that AIG is all a distraction designed to stoke hatred among Americans for capitalism, but he heard a "rumor" that those "who got bonuses at AIG and Merrill Lynch will be transferred to Club Gitmo, Guantánamo Bay, after the terrorists there are released on American soil."
Rush then lauded the work of Victor Davis Hanson, specifically this piece entitled "The 'Depression' for Us Idiots." Before the break, Rush had a little more ranting to get through on investigations into AIG, saying that the rich will flee New York City and the city will get "creamed" by the loss of tax revenue. The New York Times, however, says there's absolutely no evidence to back up that theory. Then he laid into Lawrence Wilkerson for saying on MSNBC that Rush and Cheney are "fear-mongering," saying: "That's what you are, Mr. Wilkerson, a failure. And the failures and losers who've worked in Republican administrations always find voice on MSNBC, don't they?"
After the break, Rush offered an extended plug for BG Products and mocked Obama for saying today that the Ford Model T got better gas mileage than a modern-day SUV. Rush attributed this to... wait for it... the teleprompter, which has apparently grown sentient and is having some fun at the president's expense. After another caller and another break, Rush noted that Obama said at his townhall yesterday that higher taxes on wealthy Americans "allows us to pay for health-care reform for a lot of people out there working every day but are one illness away from bankruptcy," and "I don't think that's unreasonable. I don't think that's socialism. I think that's a realization that we're all in this together." Not surprisingly, Rush disagreed. Raising taxes on the rich? "[O]f course it's socialism. It's socialism-lite, so whatever you want." Ahhh... great-tasting, less-filling Socialism Lite!
Things got a little strange after that. A caller described to Rush an encounter he'd had the previous evening with some Obama-supporting truckers who threatened him at a rest stop because he listened to Rush Limbaugh. Rush was intensely interested in the man's tale, particularly the fact that one of the truckers had to put down his boxed chicken dinner to accost the caller with his karate moves. Rush thought it sad that conservatives might be losing the truckers, until Snerdley pointed out that they might have been Teamsters. So, watch out, you chicken-eating, black-belt Teamsters out there with chips on your shoulders. You've been exposed...
Before the break, Rush came so close to bestowing upon the Limbaugh Wire the legitimacy we so desperately crave but probably don't deserve. He noted that Barney Frank was asked on MSNBC last night about Fox News and Rush Limbaugh accusing him of McCarthyism, and he said that MSNBC got the question from Media Matters: "Media Matters is running this daily -- never mind." This daily what, Rush? This daily WHAT?! To leave it hanging like that is just cruel...
Anyway, after that crushing letdown, we somehow managed to monitor the rest of the show, during which Limbaugh expressed confusion as to why Democrats dislike being called communists, because they "love every communist regime to come down the pike." According to Rush: "What was so bad about being accused of being a communist? The problem with McCarthy was that he was right too many times about things." He closed out the show taking a few shots at the "once-brave" Jim Cramer of CNBC, saying that Cramer's recent praise of Obama's economic maneuverings on Mad Money (after criticizing Obama two weeks ago) was like "a hostage video."
That's a wrap for today's Limbaugh Wire. Tune in tomorrow to see if we'll have our hopes and dreams crushed once again, and be sure to catch up on The World According to Limbaugh, courtesy of Media Matters for America.
Highlights from Hour 3
Outrageous comments
LIMBAUGH: I have been asked to explain, ladies and gentlemen, to you why Democrats are treating AIG employees worse than the detainees at Club Gitmo, and of course I could explain this, but it's to miss the point. The whole point here is to create a distraction, a diversion to get you hating capitalism and capitalists. It is designed to -- all this is manufactured. It's a totally manufactured sense of outrage and crisis.
And I've heard a rumor out there the Obama administration, they're getting really -- I mean, they're -- in order to see this thing all the way through, there is a rumor that employees who got bonuses at AIG and Merrill Lynch will be transferred to Club Gitmo, Guantánamo Bay, after the terrorists there are released on American soil. So, Guantánamo Bay will house AIG and Merrill Lynch employees, while the various Abdullahs and Mahmouds and so forth that are down there now will be released, some of them -- Eric Holder said -- right here on American soil.
[...]
LIMBAUGH: Barney Frank was asked last night on MSNBC the following question: "Fox News and Rush Limbaugh are accusing you of McCarthyism." It was Martha MacCallum who did this. And by the way, Media Matters has - that's where they got the question by the way, because I -- the -- Media Matters is running this daily -- never mind. That's where this -- these people at MSNBC would be lost without Media Matters to tell them what happened and what questions to ask. So here's Barney's answer.
Enemies list
Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Colin Powell:
LIMBAUGH: Mr. Wilkerson, it's not me, telling the American people to hate their fellow citizens based on how much they earn or what line of work they're in -- that would be your friends, Mr. Wilkerson. It's not me dividing America based on race and age and wealth -- that would be your friends, Mr. Wilkerson. It's not me dividing America based on race and age and wealth -- that would be your friends, Mr. Wilkerson.
It's not me reaching out to mass murdering regimes throughout the world -- that would be your friends, Mr. Wilkerson. Mr. Wilkerson, you worked for a failed secretary of State, and thus he is a failed aide to a failed secretary of State. That's what you are, Mr. Wilkerson, a failure. And the failures and losers who've worked in Republican administrations always find voice on MSNBC, don't they? And they end up spewing hate and division 24/7. That's you, Mr. Wilkerson.
CNBC's Jim Cramer:
LIMBAUGH: This is a hostage video. They had to have Jim Cramer hostage last night on his own show because -- let's listen to this: March 3rd, 16 days ago.
[begin audio clip]
CRAMER: We have an agenda in this country now that I would regard as being a radical agenda. I think that we had a budget that came out that basically put a level of fear into this country that I've not seen ever in my life, and I think that that changed everything.
MATT LAUER (NBC Today co-host): So, the policies are not shareholder-friendly?
CRAMER: Shareholder-friendly? This is the most -- greatest wealth destruction I've seen by a president.
[end audio clip]
LIMBAUGH: That's just 16 days ago. Jim Cramer, but a hostage situation, or either Stockholm syndrome has taken over. Jim Cramer now with his mind right.
"Socialism" watch
LIMBAUGH: Going after a line of attack Republicans have used against him, Obama insisted, "I don't think it's unreasonable to raise taxes on the rich. I don't think that's socialism." I don't know what -- of course it's socialism. It's socialism-lite, so whatever you want. You know the labels here: statism, collectivism, whatever you want to call it. It's certainly from each according to his means, to each according to his needs.
[...]
LIMBAUGH: Oh, this is a popular myth -- that McCarthy falsely accused people of things. Mr. Frank, what he was falsely accusing people of being communists. What's so bad about being a communist? You liberal Democrats love every communist regime to come down the pike from the Sandanistas, to Hugo Chavez, to Fidel Castro, to, of course, the Soviet Union. What was so bad about being accused of being a communist?
The problem with McCarthy was that he was right too many times about things. That's - if he was wrong about it, they would have made a joke and laughed about it and so forth, but he was getting too close in a lot of ways. McCarthyism is one of these things that's so greatly misunderstood and now misreported and exaggerated.
Barney doesn't even get the irony here. He doesn't even understand Joe McCarthy sat there on a committee and was basically using the power of government to impugn, legally or not, falsely or not, private citizens.
Barney Frank is doing the same thing, demanding their names be made public, that their bonuses be turned back, even after being told that they are being threatened and they fear for their own safety. Barney Frank -- "I don't care. I don't care. The names will be released. I want them here in the committee. It's not McCarthy. I don't care what it is. The names will be released. I don't care what you say."
So, people, this is the unbridled power of government that doesn't seem to be stoppable.
Hmmm... Elitist Always Cry Socialism!
“There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class,
that’s making war, and we’re winning.” - Warren Buffet
1) Upper Class... Empowered!
Deregulation
Global Economy
Tax Advantages
2) Middle Class... Distracted!
Terrorism
War
Abortion Rights
Gay Marriage
School Prayer
Immigration
Scandal
3) Lower Class... Controlled!
Minimum Wage
Law Enforcement
Prisons
Government Assistance
"America wasn’t founded as a nation where winner takes all but over
the last couple of decades, that’s the way it has turned out. The
central vision of “We, the people” has been distorted and manipulated
by the powerful and privileged doing their damnedest as they wage
class war to sustain their way of life at the expense of everybody
else, even in this current crisis." - Michael Winship
This should be posted on every high school civic class bulletin board in the country.
True, but first you'd have to convince the Con's to move the frigin' 10 Commandments over to make room for it. You can add RELIGION to the wasy that the Lower Class is controlled. (By the upper class and their repug buddies, no less!)
MMFA is accomplishing much with this column. Limbaugh is letting it slip that he's worried about MMFA. That's progress. With Limbaugh frightened, he'll probably prune back his lies and hatred.
Some wrote comments yesterday that criticized the Limbaugh Wire for passing on frivolous information. The commentators got it completely wrong. The Limbaugh Wire has a depth of insight that surpasses anything else anywhere. While Limbaugh at times seems to stupid to be a real threat, he can't be ignored. Things he says get passed along, Without proper surveillance he can cause harmful uproars.
I am one of the "critics" of the Limbaugh wire, and I think you may be misunderstanding at least some of the criticism. Right up front: I'm a liberal and I despise Limbaugh (and company). Also: You are correct: He can't be ignored! And it's NOT the "information [that gets passed on]" that's frivoulous. It the method of presentation that's frivolous. The problem is that these columns do no more than present the information in a mocking, snarky tone. This is little, if any, direct factual refuation and, comprared to MMFA's typical articles, very few supporting referecnes.
I WANT to see this guy called out on ALL the BS he spouts. That is a critically important service that MUST be done! But I also want to see it done the way MMFA refutes ALL media: with reference to outside info showing why it's wrong/false, in a demonstable way, with an air tight, logically consistant and well reasoned argument. This is what they do 99% of the time. (Excepting Country Fair, and the other columns... BUT - the columns are infinitly more substatance in their arguments than the L-Wire pieces are, and even when CoFair just shows a video, the video usually speaks for itself. I'd still rather MMFA provide the supporting links, but the extreme examples that end up in CF barely need them.)
But if you're arguing with someone who's listened to Rush, but is not yet indoctrinated, if they are a rational person, they will want more than just, "He's wrong." They'll need evidence. MMFA has always been good at providing AMPLE, FACTUAL EVIDENCE to support their claims. These pieces do that to such a small extent that it amounts to little more than a whine-fest. Not convincing to anyone that doesn't already agree with thier POV.
I continue to rail against the Limbaugh Wire, NOT because I don't think he's a worthwhile traget, but rather because I think he's SO WORTHWHILE a figure to focus on that MMFA should do a BETTER JOB refuting each and every falsehood and misleading statement he makes, with the same quality argument that they always make.
We cannot afford to fall into the trap (that he does) that just because we're liberal, that we're right, and just because he's conservative that he's wrong. I don't just want his stuff put up for us to respond to in all our snarky glory, I want him logically skewered, academically slaughtered and rhetorically beheaded. I want to be armed with all the necessary information so that, should I run into a reasonable moderate or a moderate conservative, I can bring them around to our point of view, and show them howbadly Rush has been lying to them.
IMHO THESE PIECES FAIL TO DO THAT. They don't do ENOUGH to expose just how wrong he is, and WHY.
I go back and forth. On ONE hand, it's important to point out misinformation. On the OTHER hand, MMFA is giving this guy great publicity - he's got his own LIST NOW and I'm sure that's fantastic for his ego. He can certainly take criticism. On the ever present THIRD hand, I am drawn to reading his stuff like CRACK, which isn't good. On the FOURTH hand, perhaps its best to ignore these guys. I mean what is the sound of one fart in the wilderness? Or soemthing like that. On the fifth hand.
Look at it this way - who's howard stern?
Snoop :-)
Sometimes I miss Howard. But I refuse to pay for radio. And he wasn't as good after he divorced. ;-)
Well, you need to get real.
Not all publicity is good publicity. And it doesn't work to ignore them. And it's ridiculous to think that his ego likes getting his butt handed to him every day like this site does. And Rush "take criticism"? He wilts like warm spinach when he gets criticized.
You couldn't hardly have been more wrong, but thanks for pretending to try to look impartial.
You really don't think he's enjoying all the publicity? I think in celebrity land all publicity IS good publicity. As Joan Crawford said when called a bitch, "Oh Hunny. What if they didn't talk about me at all?"
He can have his own list, but it should consist of more than a summary of a three-hour show followed by little more that a snarky, yet tepid critique. I'd rather see each and every false and mnisleading statement addressed the way that they address ALL false and mnisleading statements in the conservative media. They do a lesser job refuting Rush THIS WAY than they do by following their typical MO: provide the statemnent (with transcript), say why it's false, and provide supporting info proving the point. They do this ALL the time, EXCEPT with the epicentre of conservative info. For his they just summarize his show, and say "See? Isn't he a kook?" They need to do BETTER than that.
I think you're right.
I'd agree with that. Perhaps its just too much - like we're forced to listen to even the blather.
I mean the personal blather. Not the lying blather.
Before the break, Rush had a little more ranting to get through ... saying that the rich will flee New York City and the city will get "creamed" by the loss of tax revenue.
Oh boy ! Lower rents.
Rush crushes y'all like a bunch of roaches and you hate it and can't stop it.
Christ, that's pretty obvious isn't it?
Any idiot can see that Limbaugh the Hutt would crush anyone or anything if he sat on them.
LOL! Seriously, he does NOT look good lately. If he's going to go SUPER NOVA now I hope he respects the American People enough to look better while in the public eye. I feel like I'm looking at Chris Farley right before...