Minutes after sowing seeds of doubt as to whether U.S. embassies abroad are truly facing a possible terrorist attack, Rush Limbaugh warned that this line of cynical thinking is “really dangerous” and “unhealthy” while ignoring his own role in spreading misinformation.

After the State Department announced the extended closure of twenty-two U.S. diplomatic posts in the Middle East and Africa over the weekend, due to intelligence suggesting the possibility of a planned terrorist attack, Limbaugh pondered the theory that this new threat could be an attempt by the administration to distract from other stories. Limbaugh listed incidents in which he believed the White House has not been truthful before declaring, "[A]ll of a sudden here comes this monstrous terror threat ... It's just easy to not believe it anymore. It's just too easy to be cynical."

Approximately ten minutes later, Limbaugh returned to the topic of the embassy closures. But, ironically, this time he complained that the strain of cynicism which doubts the veracity of the embassy terrorist threat -- the same doubt Limbaugh himself had expressed minutes before -- is “a really dangerous thing”:   

RUSH: The very fact that there are so many people who are cynical about this. The very fact that there are so many Americans who think they're being lied to about a terror threat is a really dangerous thing. It is an unhealthy thing for the country. It is the surest sign of the wanton lack of respect for this country that has swept all across this country. This threat may be real. Everything we're being told could be real. We could be facing something as bad or worse than 9/11. And I bet the majority of Americans think it is a lie. What does that tell you? That what most Americans think of the people who are telling them about this threat -- they're liars too.

Limbaugh continued during a conversation with a caller, at once explaining why listeners should not trust the Obama administration all while asserting that this distrust of government is “not good.” Limbaugh stated, “This administration has shown a desire and a knack for distracting people away from things that might be harmful for them politically.” He explained that he doubts the threat because “it comes at a time when this administration is trying to cover up what happened in Benghazi. So it's not happening in a vacuum. And the people telling us this, Thomas, are not clean and pure as the wind-driven snow.”

Then he again pivoted, saying “I'm simply putting all this in a flow in a contextual flow to explain why there is a lot of cynicism.” He continued, “This threat could be exactly as it's being told. It could be dire. And we've got people out there thinking the administration is lying to them.”

Limbaugh's cognitive dissonance conveniently ignored the role he plays in encouraging his listeners to mistrust the Obama administration using false information and his influence on the conservative movement at large. Whether it's his claim that President Obama is “at war with the America that was founded,” his exploitation of a 10-year-old girl to lie about death panels in Obamacare, his lies about the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, or his repeated dismissal of climate change, Rush Limbaugh has consistently proven to be a habitually dishonest low-information radio host.

Beyond Limbaugh's two-faced approach to the embassy closures, the reaction in the conservative media has ranged from deeming the closure a "gross overreaction" to accusing the Obama administration of running from the terrorist threat.