Leave it to Rush Limbaugh. If a natural disaster or man-made tragedy strikes, he'll find a way to crassly politicize the situation.

As Media Matters has documented, El Rushbo has become something of a Gulf Coast oil spill truther:

Limbaugh: “Environmental whackos” may have blown up oil rig to “head off more oil drilling.” On his April 29 radio show, Rush Limbaugh questioned “the timing” of the explosion and said: “Lest we forget ... the cap and trade bill was strongly criticized by hardcore environmentalist whackos because it supposedly allowed more offshore drilling and nuclear plants.” Limbaugh added: "[W]hat better way to head off more oil drilling and nuclear plants then by blowing up a rig? I'm just, I'm just noting the timing here."

The local CBS affiliate in New Orleans went on to note on its blog that Limbaugh downplayed the importance of cleaning up the spill:

“You do survive these things. I'm not advocating don't care about it hitting the shore or coast and whatever you can do to keep it out of there is fine and dandy, but the ocean will take care of this on its own if it was left alone and was left out there,” Limbaugh said. “It's natural. It's as natural as the ocean water is.

”Well, the turtles may take a hit for a while, but so what? So do we!" Limbaugh said. “Just give it a pain pill! Why not? That's what they had for us, and we don't even launch ourselves into the windshields of fire trucks.”

The right-wing talker's insensitivity and asinine politicization of the horrible environmental mess reminded me of his comments following the devastating earthquake that ravaged Haiti in January. There too he attempted to politicize the tragedy...

• Limbaugh: Obama will use Haiti to boost credibility with “light-skinned and dark-skinned black community in this country”
• Limbaugh: Haiti earthquake “made to order” for Obama
• After making Haiti earthquake story about Obama, Rush complains the media is making the story about themselves
• After caller asks Limbaugh about earthquake comments, he defends them, calls her a “blockhead” who has “tampons” in her ears
• Limbaugh continues to make Haiti about Obama: “How many Haitians will we decide to give a pill? A legitimate question”
• Limbaugh attacks purported administrative costs of WhiteHouse.gov's Haiti efforts, linking it to welfare budget
• Limbaugh declares it “week two” of “Obama's Haiti crisis”
• Limbaugh says he would not be surprised if Dems propose statehood for Haiti: “It's gonna happen”
• Limbaugh: People are hurting in Haiti -- “Would it be fair to say ... Obama just doesn't care about black people?”

... and downplay the need for help:

• Limbaugh says, "[W]e've already donated to Haiti. It's called the U.S. income tax"
• Limbaugh: “The Haiti relief effort is nothing more than an excuse for the United Nations to pay itself”

In truth, Limbaugh has a long history of just this type of behavior. As Media Matters noted in a mid-January special report, recent years have seen him politicizing the Fort Hood shooting, H1N1 virus, Holocaust memorial shooting, Hurricane Katrina, and the Virginia Tech shooting to name only a few.