I have been thinking about Rush Limbaugh and the "phony soldiers" controversy lately then I was recently challenged to explain it. So... its time to educate all you ditto heads.

To start let me inform any one who doesn't know... I am a long time listener of Rush Limbaugh. So I know very well what he says and have done the research to know that he is often full of crap. And I was actually listening when he made the "phony soldiers" comment. So I know what he and the caller were talking about and it wasn't just about one fake soldier.

First off I need to provide a link to the Media Matters page concerning this whole incident so every one can listen for themselves.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200709270010?f=h_top

I would have provided a link to Rush's edited version but you have to pay for it. And I am sure that any one who would be willing to pay for that has already heard Rush's clip. Besides... Rush's version has a minute or so cut out so it sounds like he immediately starts talking about Mcbeth when he actually didn't.

Now if you listen to the recording you will hear that the caller was clearly talking about soldiers that were speaking out against the war to the media and not one specific fake soldier. Now Rush did have the one fake soldier on his mind when he made the "phony" comment but he knew perfectly well what the caller was talking about.

The thing that every one needs to understand about Rush is that he lies all the time and usually gets away with it. But he has to be at least a little cautious when he does lie because some lies might actually piss off some of his listeners. Or he might say something really offensive that might get some reporting by the MSM. Rush has found a way around this problem. And many pundits on the right have learned from Rush and use similar tactics on a regular basis.

Now... I think it will be a little easier to explain this trick of Rush's by going slightly off topic but it will all make sense when I am done.

What this trick of his is is the ability to get his listeners to believe something he wants them to believe without him actually having to lie about it.
A perfect example of this is concerning taxes paid by Americans. Rush wants every one to think that the rich in this country are paying more than their fair share and that the poor don't pay enough. It is a real common misconception held by many conservatives including some who frequent this forum. Baldar is a perfect example. He used to have this incorrect belief before I pointed out the obvious truth of the matter. Now Rush(and others) have accomplished this by only talking about federal income taxes and never talking about any of the other taxes people pay in this country. If all you consider is federal income tax then it does appear as though the rich are getting soaked. So every time Rush talks taxes its never about any of the regressive taxes. Its only the most progressive tax that he will talk about. And he does mention that he is only citing federal income tax figures but its only once in a quick sentence that if you are not listening carefully too you could easily miss. So even though Rush doesn't have to out right lie about taxes the result is that most of Rush's listeners believe that the poor don't pay taxes and that the rich pay more than their fair share.

Now Rush is trying to do something similar concerning the troops who come back from Iraq and speak out against the war. He wants to discredit these soldiers but can't just come out and directly insult these vets without a huge backlash. So he is trying to put this notion into his listeners heads without having to directly trash any of our troops himself. This time he is doing it by constantly talking about this one fake soldier who was lying about atrocities committed by our troops. Now by constantly repeating these entirely true facts he was getting his listeners to associate these lies with any soldier that is speaking out against the war. And this was working as evidenced by the caller.

Now... what prompted the "phony soldiers" comment was the caller. He was saying almost exactly what Rush wants him to think but wasn't quite getting it right. The caller was saying that soldiers who speak out against the war were not real soldiers and that soldiers who support the war are the real soldiers. This wasn't good enough for Rush so thats when he interjected the "phony soldiers" comment. And the caller repeated it just like Rush knew he would.

So... now every one here knows what Rush wants people to think about dissenting Iraqi war vets but doesn't have the balls to state himself.

People still talk about Gore's "exaggerations" during the 2000 election as if they were real and not a figment of the "liberal media"'s imagination (as explained in great detail here: http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/10/gore200710?currentPage=7

So I'm all for people trying to keep the record straight. The right wing has been working overtime to re-write the history of their precious 4F Rush. They have to protect him from being criticized for dissing soldiers serving on the front lines in Iraq but who dare to disagree with him (even though they never miss a chance to excoriate a Democrat for not showing enough "support for the troops.")

Re-writing history is something Republicans have to do constantly, since true history with regards to their record is so bleak.

Buzz is a partisan Democratic hack as is jpn of Seattle. Dogface and SuperChicken are partisan Republican hacks. That is their privilege. For myself, I detest both parties.

OswaldTheOsprey

Oh please...  Rush is only the most listened to radio talk show host in the US. He has 13 to 15 million listeners of which most are complete idiots who believe everything he says. And much of what he says is often repeated and spread all over the place by the right. Rush is probably the most influential conservative pundit in the US.

And as far as I am concerned most of the rest of conservative talk radio pundits are just as dishonest and misleading as Rush. Its no wonder you conservatives are always so misinformed.


Hell no... because what Moveon did is not the same as what Rush is doing. Moveon was just questioning one generals facts based on what numerous other independent sources were saying concerning the war in Iraq. Rush is attempting to discredit all dissenting war vets in a dishonest and misleading way.

Now if you can show me where Moveon was getting their facts wrong than I may change my mind. I doubt that will happen any time soon as I have never seen any evidence what so ever to suggest that they were lying about anything.


Well... sure I am partisan... but I consider a hack to be someone who consistently gets their facts wrong. I would say you Oswald, are as big a hack as Dog, Chicken, and Totino because you all frequently get your facts wrong. And I don't see anyone proving me and jpn wrong all that often.

You are confusing facts with opinions. Rather sanctimoniously, I might add.

OswaldTheOsprey

Really...show me where I have gotten my facts wrong.....you may disagree on my opinion of the facts, but I never post something unless I believe it to be true.

On the other hand, jpn is wrong about GW and gets his face rubbed in it all the time.

No he is not.

Thank you.

This is the one I appreciate the most. 

Hasn't happened yet.