Thursday, November 5, 2009

Rush Limbaugh, Obama, Ad Hominem, Ad Nauseum

By Manifesto Joe

One of the things that's remarkable about right-wingers is their chutzpah. Herr Rush Limbaugh, postmodern court jester for the Third Reich, may be the biggest, or at least the fattest, example.

Lardbaugh's latest outrage was his tirade last week against President Barack Obama. Huffington Post reported that:

During a rant in which he Limbaugh accused senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett of unfairly pressuring the Chamber of Commerce, the controversial radio host slammed Obama as "this little boy, this little man-child president whose primary job, if you will, in life has been leisure. This guy is more practiced at leisure than anything else."

You can view the video here.

Let's see, now. A "man-child president whose primary job ... has been leisure."

Perusing Wikipedia's biography of Lardbaugh, one notices things such as these:

Education
Limbaugh graduated from Cape Central High School, in 1969. His father and mother wanted him to attend college, so he enrolled at Southeast Missouri State University. He dropped out after two semesters and one summer; according to his mother, "he flunked everything", even a modern ballroom dancing class.[1] As she told a reporter in 1992, "He just didn't seem interested in anything except radio."[4]

It appears that Herr Lardbaugh's mouth, clearly hyperactive in more ways than one, has been his ticket to getting through life. He was no student then, and regarding his accuracy, the easiest job on the planet today would be a gig as his fact-checker.

Here's more from Wiki:

Draft status
Limbaugh's birthdate was ranked as 152 in the Vietnam War draft lottery. No one was drafted above 125. He was classified as "1-Y" (later reclassified "4-F") due to either a football knee injury or a diagnosis of Pilonidal disease.[1][5]

He came from a well-to-do family, lousy with lawyers. More from Wiki:

Limbaugh was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, the son of Mildred Carolyn "Millie" (née Armstrong), originally from Searcy, Arkansas, and Rush Hudson Limbaugh, Jr. His father was a lawyer and a World War II fighter pilot who served in the China-Burma-India theater. The name "Rush" was chosen for his grandfather to honor the maiden name of family member Edna Rush.[1] His family has many lawyers, including his grandfather, father and brother David. His uncle, Stephen N. Limbaugh, Sr. is a Ronald Reagan-appointed federal judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and his cousin, Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr., is currently a judge in the same court, appointed by George W. Bush. Rush Limbaugh, Sr., Limbaugh's grandfather, was a Missouri prosecutor, judge, special commissioner and served on Missouri's state House of Representatives from 1930 to 1932.[2] Limbaugh's grandfather was a longtime president of the Missouri Historical Society. Rush, Sr., died at age 104, and was still a practicing attorney at the time of his death. The Federal Courthouse in Cape Girardeau is named for Limbaugh's grandfather.

Let's see some more. He's been married, and divorced, three times. You wonder what's wrong when a guy as rich as he was born, and as filthy rich as he got later, just can't stay married. Does it have anything to do with the fact that he's a world-class misogynist asshole? Or maybe with his apparent need for 100-mg. Viagra pills?

More still: His weight problem has been obvious for decades. He's been addicted to illegal drugs (oxycodone and hydrocodone).

His racism has been on display regularly throughout his radio career. More from Wiki:

On March 19, 2007 Limbaugh referred to a Los Angeles Times editorial by David Ehrenstein which claimed that Barack Obama was filling the role of the "magic negro", and that this explained his appeal to voters.[39] Limbaugh then later played a song by Paul Shanklin, "Barack the Magic Negro," sung to the tune of "Puff the Magic Dragon".[40]

Here's Limbaugh on NFL star Donovan McNabb:

Sorry to say this, I don't think he has been that good from the get-go. I think what we've had here is a little social concern in NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well, black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve ...

[On "free trade"] If we are going to start rewarding no skills and stupid people, let the unskilled jobs, let the kind of jobs that take absolutely no knowledge whatsoever to do, let stupid and unskilled Mexicans do that work.

Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?

There's plenty more along those lines. I'd say it calls into question his qualification to assess Barack Obama accurately in any way.

His misogyny is, of course, richly documented. Let's not leave out his homophobia:

The difference between Los Angeles and yogurt is that yogurt comes with less fruit.

And, let's not leave out his brazen hypocrisy:

I'm appalled at people who simply want to look at all this abhorrent behavior and say, "Hey, you know, we can't control it anymore. People are going to do drugs anyway. Let's legalize it." It's a dumb idea. It's a rotten idea, and those who are for it are purely, 100 percent selfish.

When you strip it all away, Jerry Garcia destroyed his life on drugs. And yet he's being honored, like some godlike figure. Our priorities are out of whack, folks.

There's nothing good about drug use. We know it. It destroys individuals. It destroys families. Drug use destroys societies. Drug use, some might say, is destroying this country. And we have laws against selling drugs, pushing drugs, using drugs, importing drugs. And the laws are good because we know what happens to people in societies and neighborhoods, which become consumed by them. And so if people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up.


Finally, there's the matter of ego. The Pigman has depicted Obama as having a titanic one. Can he be serious? To wit, Lardbaugh's descriptions of himself:

Half my brain tied behind my back just to make it fair.

Talent on loan from GOD.


When I think of Herr Lardbaugh, somehow another, very different metaphysical region comes to mind. Well, that's enough of this for now. Barack Obama, self-made sort of guy with a JD from Harvard Law, physically fit fellow, author, law professor, married only once and still married with two kids, etc., etc. ... he seems to have accomplished quite a bit for a man of such abundant leisure.

Contrast him with a fat, thrice-divorced, draft-dodging, ex-drug-addicted college dropout who is all opinions and no background, all prejudice and no facts, who has made a fortune with his mouth. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

Manifesto Joe Is An Underground Writer Living In Texas.

8 comments:

Jack Jodell said...

Manifesto Joe,
You have (deservedly) sliced and diced the reprehensible Rush Limbaugh FAR better than could Dr. G, Medical Examiner on her longest and most thorough day. I tip my hat to you on this comprehensive and fully accurate rundown on the loudest-mouthed, most bigoted public figure in our entire history. He is truly a complete and total loser, regardless of his wealth and audience. (Pro wrestlers are loud and wealthy, too, and just like Limbaugh, no one with any brains at all takes much stock in what they have to say).

Limbaugh, like his female counterparts Sarah Palin and Ann Coulter, has the severe character flaw and weakness of an out-of-control craving for public attention and adulation. They all make insane public statements to get noticed and paid attention to by the media. All are cold-hearted, selfish, and pathetic little children.

Pride and vanity like theirs always ends up in a crash landing. Like the old red-baiting Sen. Joseph McCarthy, each of them will eventually say or do something SO over the top that someone else will successfully call them out or the public at large will desert them in droves. This is a certainty, for egos like theirs eventually prove thoroughly self-destructive. I am anxiously awaiting each of their demises.

The only question and problem is, how many victims will they create before they do self-destruct?

Anonymous said...

I only wished fat wastes of space like Limbaugh would self-destruct sooner, save everyone's ear-drums and dignity that way.

-WageslaveZ-

Tony Barton said...

I believe that Rush serves a good purpose in the discourse of modern American life. Given that the mainstream media is far-left in it's viewpoints, we need a figure such as Rush to present the "other side" of the story.
If you listen to Rush's show, you'll note that he gives a lot of time to topics that are rarely, if ever covered by the MSM.
A good example is the Global Warming Hoax. The MSM has swallowed this lie, hook, line and sinker. Rush has pointed out how a lot of scientists still have doubts.
Another thing to note is that Rush has been a steadfast supporter of our troops. The MSM has attacked our troops and the War on Terror. If you read the newspapers, all they ever do is criticize our military.
Since Day One, Rush has always strongly supported the troops. He did so even during 2005 and 2006 (when all the MSM was proclaiming that the Iraq War was "lost").
Many of our brave men in uniform regularly listen to Rush's show on the Armed Forces Network. You might want to think twice before attacking Rush (there is a lot of soldiers out there who don't appreciate this).
Last, but not least, I urge all you Libs to listen to Rush's program before you criticize him. Have any of you Libs ever bothered to actually listen to his show? If you did, you might realize that Rush has a lot of good information that you will NEVER hear in the MSM.

TB3 said...

I believe Rush serves a good purpose as well. I admit, I once listened to the man religiously. However, as I got older and more politically savvy, things began to change for me. I stopped taking Rush's word as if it were the gospel and actually started to research some of the things he said. It was no trouble, really. I listened to him during my lunch breaks at work and then I would go home and hop online. I did not do this because I distrusted the man. I did this because it dawned on me that the man used rather generic phrases.

If Rush mentioned that the Main Stream Media believed in Global Warming, I would look up the various news agencies for examples of this claim. I would search for articles both for and against the idea of global warming. If Rush said that the media was against the troops than I would look online or watch the news that week for examples of this statement. If he asked me to read the newspapers to find support for his statements I would read them.

Rush was once my sole source of political news and information and I learned as I researched on my own that that was a mistake on my part. Rush does have a lot of good information on his show and information you might not see on other shows in the media. However a lot of his information requires a filter or sifter to run through it to get at the heart of the issue. Rush serves a great purpose. He fostered an interest in politics in me that has led me to arrive at my own conclusions. They have diverged from Rush as I've grown older, but I am still interested in politics. Tony: You urge 'Libs' to listen to his show. I urge you to not label people who don't agree as 'Libs' and just urge people to listen to his show and come up with their own opinion. I am happy people like his show. I'll be happier when people learn to listen to him, do their own research and come up with their own conclusions like Manifesto Joe.

RayGun said...

"do their own research and come up with their own conclusions like Manifesto Joe."
--
It appears Joe did his research and and concluded Rush is a hypocrite of the first order.

Seems like a common trait of most cons. Do as I say, not as I do, or don't tell me what to do, unless it's don't do drugs, no abortions, no same sex marriage, no prostitution, etc.

Cons know whats best for us all and they don't mind telling us. Loudly.

Anonymous said...

re:
>>Rush has pointed out how a lot
>>of scientists still have doubts.

What scientists would these be? There have been hundreds of peer-reviewed papers documenting global warming over the years. To date, not one peer-reviewed paper has ever disputed the fact that global warming is real and that it is man-made.

re:
>>Another thing to note is that
>>Rush has been a steadfast
>>supporter of our troops.

Yeah, in about the same way Ted Bundy was a supporter of women. Rush had his chance to serve, during Vietnam, and he chickened out. He now backs a war based on lies that has thousands of our troops dying for no good reason, outside of lining the pockets of Dick Cheney's billionaire, war-profiteering friends.

And speaking of supporting the military, Rush has spent considerable time attacking true American heroes like Jack Murtha and John Kerry, who fought and bled for their country.

RayGun said...

Isn't Rush a general in the army of the chicken hawks?

Manifesto Joe said...

Didn't know I would get so many comments for days. I guess I could have anticipated that, with Herr Rushbo being the lightning rod of opinion that he is.

I listened to Limbaugh some back in the '90s. My views differed little back then, but I wanted to hear what all the talk was about and find out what he was up to.

The impression I got was of a disc jockey with a gift for political comedy, but very sloppy with the facts. I can't say I never laughed at any of Limbaugh's gags -- he's got some comic talent.

But, I've been a professional journalist since 1978, so I've developed a pretty good BS detector over the years. Limbaugh mixes facts with prejudices, with just enough facts that he can bamboozle a lot of people who share his prejudices.

Since then, we've seen the depth of his private hypocrisy. He may have served some purpose for a while, but I stopped taking him seriously to any degree long ago.