Limbaugh Smear Letter: Why Talk Radio is Needed

[Misfire]

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Rush doesn't mention Jesse Macbeth until well after he says this. But I can accept the fact that Rush was planning to talk about this, or maybe thought he already had, and just made a comment that sounded worse than he intended.

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Actually he aired an entire morning update about Jesse Macbeth the day before.

[Misfire]

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So when they see a chance to jump on him for something he said--similar to the way the other side jumped on Kerry for his "you end up in Iraq" comment-- they're gong to try to make that jump.

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Except taking Kerry's remarks as an insult to the military makes sense because they were very much in line with the attitude he's displayed toward the military since the late 1960s. To believe Rush would intentionally insult servicemen doesn't fit with his words and actions over the past 15+ years.

Also, the Kerry case involved members of congress criticizing a sitting senator's words, not a private citizen's.

[xorbie]

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To believe Rush would intentionally insult servicemen doesn't fit with his words and actions over the past 15+ years.

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CALLER: I used to be military, okay, and I am a Republican.

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RUSH: You're not listening to what I say. You can't possibly be a Republican. I'm answering every question; it's not what you want to hear, and so it's not even penetrating your little wall of armor you've got built up. I said we stay to get the job done, as long as it takes. I didn't say forever. Nothing takes forever. That's not possible, Bill. Mike. Whatever. Nobody lives forever, no situation lasts forever, everything ends. We determine how do we want it to end, in our favor or in our defeat? With people like you in charge, who want to put a timeline on everything -- do you ever get anything done in your life? Or do you say, "Well, I wanted to have this done by now, and it's not, so screw it"? You don't live your life that way. Well, hell, you might, I don't know. But the limitations that you want to impose here are senseless, and they, frankly, portray no evidence that you are a Republican.

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Fish, barrels.

[Misfire]

Yes, it's amazing how Rush attacked that guy's military service...

nhs

[xorbie]

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Yes, it's amazing how Rush attacked that guy's military service...

nhs

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Yes, it's amazing how fast you move those goalposts...

This was you, in case you forgot:

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To believe Rush would intentionally insult servicemen doesn't fit with his words and actions over the past 15+ years.

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[Misfire]

I didn't know questioning someone's political party membership had anything to do with insulting servicemen. If I claim Hillary Clinton is not a true Democrat, have I insulted women?

If I read the thread correctly, the context of Rush's "insult" to servicemen (which is what I was referring to) centered around belittling their military service, no? Certainly calling someone a phony Republican because of his political views (fair game, imho) does not equate with calling him a phony soldier for those same views.

[xorbie]

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I didn't know questioning someone's political party membership had anything to do with insulting servicemen. If I claim Hillary Clinton is not a true Democrat, have I insulted women?

If I read the thread correctly, the context of Rush's "insult" to servicemen (which is what I was referring to) centered around belittling their military service, no? Certainly calling someone a phony Republican because of his political views (fair game, imho) does not equate with calling him a phony soldier for those same views.

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Being a woman and being a soldier are not equally apolitical. It seems pretty clear from the context of the discussion and what they both say that being a soldier is important to this caller, important as evidence of his ideology and Limbaugh is belittling him and telling him that because he has decided that in this particular case sticking around is wrong that he can't possibly be a Republican.

The guy is a serviceman, this has been called into discussion and IMO is quite relevant, and he is being insulted.

[Misfire]

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Being a woman and being a soldier are not equally apolitical.

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Irrelevant. An attack on a person is not necessarily attack on the group he belongs to.

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Limbaugh is belittling him and telling him that because he has decided that in this particular case sticking around is wrong that he can't possibly be a Republican.

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Which, as I pointed out, is NOTHING like telling him he can't possibly be a soldier. It also has NOTHING to do with his service. If you actually listened to the show, you'd know he questions callers' political affiliations all the time, regardless of their claims about military service. He even has skits about "seminar callers"--Democrats who call in claiming to be Republicans only to disagree with his arguments.

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being a soldier is...important as evidence of his ideology

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Why? Do you have to be a Republican to be a real soldier?

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The guy is a serviceman, this has been called into discussion and IMO is quite relevant, and he is being insulted.

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So being in the service exempts this guy from criticism about his political views? Ridiculous. He was not insulted for being a serviceman. His service was not being questioned, degraded, or insulted. To act like this is an attack on servicemen is quite a stretch, and frankly I've come to expect better from you. Keep googling.

[xorbie]

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Which, as I pointed out, is NOTHING like telling him he can't possibly be a soldier. It also has NOTHING to do with his service. If you actually listened to the show, you'd know he questions callers' political affiliations all the time, regardless of their claims about military service. He even has skits about "seminar callers"--Democrats who call in claiming to be Republicans only to disagree with his arguments.


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So I'm to take it that Rush Limbaugh frequently makes a rude ass of himself (like he did in this case) while debating people who might be making rude asses of themselves, and that if only I would take the time to subject myself to listening to this take place more often I'd see that it's not so bad because it happens quite regularly. That about that?

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Why? Do you have to be a Republican to be a real soldier?

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I try not to make judgments like these. You'd have to ask someone like, say, Rush Limbaugh. The point is that this caller is saying that he was in the military. He brings this up not as an irrelevant detail like gender, but so as to legitimize his belief to some degree, as coming from someone who "really knows" as opposed to an armchair hack.

When Limbaugh responds that this guy basically can't be a Republican, he is very much belittling the caller. The caller is a serviceman, this has been brought up and is relevant to the discussion. The caller is questioned, degraded and insulted. I don't really see two ways around this.

[DblBarrelJ]

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Which, as I pointed out, is NOTHING like telling him he can't possibly be a soldier. It also has NOTHING to do with his service. If you actually listened to the show, you'd know he questions callers' political affiliations all the time, regardless of their claims about military service. He even has skits about "seminar callers"--Democrats who call in claiming to be Republicans only to disagree with his arguments.


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So I'm to take it that Rush Limbaugh frequently makes a rude ass of himself (like he did in this case) while debating people who might be making rude asses of themselves, and that if only I would take the time to subject myself to listening to this take place more often I'd see that it's not so bad because it happens quite regularly. That about that?

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Why? Do you have to be a Republican to be a real soldier?

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I try not to make judgments like these. You'd have to ask someone like, say, Rush Limbaugh. The point is that this caller is saying that he was in the military. He brings this up not as an irrelevant detail like gender, but so as to legitimize his belief to some degree, as coming from someone who "really knows" as opposed to an armchair hack.

When Limbaugh responds that this guy basically can't be a Republican, he is very much belittling the caller. The caller is a serviceman, this has been brought up and is relevant to the discussion. The caller is questioned, degraded and insulted. I don't really see two ways around this.

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So Limbaugh doesn't have a right to disagree with this man, for the sole reason that he served in the Military.

I respect military service, I really do. However, just because you're a military veteran doesn't give you the right to say whatever you want, and give others the right to accuse anyone who disagrees with you of "insulting servicemen". Limbaugh didn't treat this caller any differently than he treats other callers he disagrees with.