Democracy Has Prevailed.

October 15, 2007

The Trib Editorial Board On Limbaugh's "Phony Soldiers."

Here's what they had to say this morning. The whole thing's from the Scaife-owned "Media Research Center, run by Brent Bozell. After quoting MSNBC's Chris Matthews:
Radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh says veterans who support withdrawing the troops (from Iraq) are 'phony soldiers.' Those are his words.
They try to correct the "media bias" with this:
Actually Limbaugh was talking about leftist anti-war groups touting tales of U.S. atrocities from Jesse Macbeth, a soldier who flunked out of basic training and who is going to prison for making it all up.
The story's changed so much I'm not sure where the Limbaugh spin has settled. The Addict himself initially claimed to be talking about ONE "phony soldier", Jesse MacBeth, not, as Scaife's various hacks claim, "leftist anti-war groups" QUOTING Jesse Macbeth. Here's what The Addict said on September 28:
I was not talking, as [MSNBC's] Contessa Brewer said here, about the anti-war movement generally. I was talking about one soldier with that "phony soldier" comment, Jesse MacBeth.
Then he changed his own tune later that day:
Yes, because there have been a number of these people, but they were not active duty -- I was not talking about anti-war, active duty troops. I was talking about people who've been exposed as frauds who never served in Iraq but claimed to have seen all these atrocities...
So it was about troops who never served in Iraq, but claimed to have seen atrocies there - still not the groups touting phony tales.

Here's the transcript, by the way:

LIMBAUGH: Another Mike, this one in Olympia, Washington. Welcome to the EIB Network. Hello.

CALLER 2: Hi Rush, thanks for taking my call.

LIMBAUGH: You bet.

CALLER 2: I have a retort to Mike in Chicago, because I am a serving American military, in the Army. I've been serving for 14 years, very proudly.

LIMBAUGH: Thank you, sir.

CALLER 2: And, you know, I'm one of the few that joined the Army to serve my country, I'm proud to say, not for the money or anything like that. What I would like to retort to is that, if we pull -- what these people don't understand is if we pull out of Iraq right now, which is about impossible because of all the stuff that's over there, it'd take us at least a year to pull everything back out of Iraq, then Iraq itself would collapse, and we'd have to go right back over there within a year or so. And --

LIMBAUGH: There's a lot more than that that they don't understand. They can't even -- if -- the next guy that calls here, I'm gonna ask him: Why should we pull -- what is the imperative for pulling out? What's in it for the United States to pull out? They can't -- I don't think they have an answer for that other than, "Well, we just gotta bring the troops home."

CALLER 2: Yeah, and, you know what --

LIMBAUGH: "Save the -- keep the troops safe" or whatever. I -- it's not possible, intellectually, to follow these people.

CALLER 2: No, it's not, and what's really funny is, they never talk to real soldiers. They like to pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue and talk to the media.

LIMBAUGH: The phony soldiers.

CALLER 2: The phony soldiers. If you talk to a real soldier, they are proud to serve. They want to be over in Iraq. They understand their sacrifice, and they're willing to sacrifice for their country.

LIMBAUGH: They joined to be in Iraq. They joined --

CALLER 2: A lot of them -- the new kids, yeah.

LIMBAUGH: Well, you know where you're going these days, the last four years, if you signed up. The odds are you're going there or Afghanistan or somewhere.

CALLER 2: Exactly, sir. And -- and my other comment was -- and the reason I was calling for -- was to report to Jill about the fact that we didn't, didn't find any weapons of mass destruction. Actually, we have found weapons of mass destruction in chemical agents that [inaudible] been using against us for awhile now.

I've done two tours in Iraq. I just got back in June and there were many instances of -- since [inaudible] not know what they're using in their IEDs [improvised explosive devices]. They're using mustard artillery rounds. The vx-artillery rounds in their IEDs.

Because they didn't know what they were using, they didn't do it right, and so it just kind of -- it, it didn't really hurt anybody but there are -- those munitions are over there, it's just -- it's a huge desert. If they've buried it somewhere, we're never gonna find it.

LIMBAUGH: Well, you know, that's a moot point for me right now --

MIKE: Rush --

LIMBAUGH: -- the weapons of mass destruction. We gotta get beyond that. We're, we're there. What -- who cares if, if -- we all know they were there and, and Mahmoud [Ahmadinejad, Iranian president] even admitted it in one of his speeches here about -- talkin' about Saddam using the poison mustard gas or whatever it is on his own people -- but that, that's moot, right? What, what's more important is all this is taking place now in the midst of the surge working.

And all of these anti-war Democrats are getting even more hell-bent on pulling out of there, which means that success on the part of you and, and your colleagues over there is, is a great threat to them. It's just, it's frustrating and maddening, and it is why they must be kept in the minority.

Look, I want to thank you, Mike, for calling. I appreciate it very much. I gotta -- let me see -- got something -- here is a "Morning Update" that we did recently talking about fake soldiers. This is a story of who the left props up as heroes. And they have their celebrities.

One of them was Jesse MacBeth. Now, he was a "corporal," I say in quotes - 23 years old.

From the context it's obvious (to anyone with a functioning brain, that is) that the discussion of "phony soldiers" was about those men and women in the military interviewed by the media who are against the war. The caller then asserts that "real soldiers" (as opposed to the anti-war soldiers the media talks to) are proud of their service, they understand their sacrifice and so on. As if the anti-war soldiers do not. The Addict, to his ultimate discredit, does not disagree.

After that, I want everyone to notice three things, 1) how long it takes The Addict to get to Jesse MacBeth and 2) there's a whole discussion of WMD in between and 3) The Addict still thinks there were WMD in Iraq when dubya gave the order to invade.

Still a far cry from what the Trib's editorial board said.

At least The Addict has an excuse - he's an addict. What's the Brent Bozell's excuse? The Trib's

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

John K. says: Have to correct the record again. Limbaugh is not an addict. This can be verified by the State of Fl which has tested Limbaugh for 18 months and have certified that he is indeed not an addict. And there is that pesky Jesse Macbeth who you lefties once trotted as a big hero. That is funny. (LMAO here) And we of course have McGough on record saying he lied but he doesn't care because he hates Limbaugh so it was okay. Can any lefty name Mike Murphy and what he did? We'll see.

Sherry Pasquarello said...

if he's clean then he is a recovering addict but he will always be an addict just as my father was a recovering alcoholic for the 25 years that he did not drink until he died this spring.

arrogance which limbaugh has an over load of doesn't help recovery.

he lies and twists and spins things to avoid taking responsiblity for his mistakes.

that is a very bad trait for him to hold to.

Anonymous said...

In the show "Evita," she complains to a retired Argentinian admiral about being labelled as a prostitute by the press. He sympathises with her and confirms the evil ways of the press, saying, "They still call me 'Admiral' even though I haven't been to sea for a decade."

I hope that when he shuffles off his mortal coil, Limbaugh's tombstone is engraved with my favorite Rush quote (about Jerry Garcia), "Just another dead junkie."

Anonymous said...

Whether Rush is or isn't an addict is totally beside the point...

The point is that he does indeed believe that anyone who doesn't hew to HIS point of view is a "phony."

Funny thing is, I just talked to a solider the other day, a guy who had signed up and served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He was bright and articulate. Glad to be home alive and hoping that he can now get a college degree...

I asked him two pointed questions; "Can we win in Iraq?" No, he said. It's pointless. The Sunnis and Shia have a hate and distrust that goes back forever and our attempts to "impose democracy" are childish and will prove fruitless. He said this with no malice...just the logic of someone who had actually seen the situation for himself.

The second question was in relation to the NPR story I'd heard about Minnesota Guardsman, who had been in Iraq for one day less than the 730 (I think that number is right..) that it would take for them to get college benefits.

He told me he wasn't surprised at all. That things like that "Happen all the time." In fact, he told me that soliders know better than to let ANYONE in the chain of command know if they are close to finishing up their tour....because officers will look for reasons to kick them out with dishonorable discharges...another trick that allows the Army to deny them any benefits. Sweet, huh?

What Rush and his cronies are trying to do is to innoculate themselves from this sort of "phony solider." They know that guys like this are speaking up...and they don't like it, 'cause the truth hurts...

Pilt

Anonymous said...

Glad Limbaugh is clean, well, at least clean of his little oxycontin addiction - who knows what he picked up during his little trip down south of the border to spend quality time with the underage prostitutes in the Dominican Republic. Unless of course Rush just had that Viva Viagra to help with his sciatica or something after the long flight...

Anonymous said...

John K. says: LMAO you phonies. Just as I thought. Not one of you knew who Mike Murphy was. Yet, you all hammered Limbaugh. LOL Lt. Michael Murphy USN/SEAL is being awarded the Medal of Honor on Oct 22nd. This was announced on the same day Gore got the Nobel Peace Prize for producing a documentary with at least 9 factual errors. LOL LOL LOL 9 errors. LOL Now come on lefties, let me hear it again how YOU support the military. I outed you phonies once again. LMAO LOL LOL You fakes.

Anonymous said...

DTOJF, let me get this straight: Are you equating a Navy SEAL who died from a bullet in the back on a mountaintop in Afghanistan with Druggie Limbaugh? Are you THAT fucking clueless?

Yes, supporting the military, like that closet case Sen. Graham when he criticized Lt. Gen. Sanchez for his performance in Iraq because, gasp, Sanchez dared to criticize the White House and the politicians who have fucked up everything in Iraq. So, as long as a general isn't lying in front of Congress, it's OK to smear him? I see. Makes perfect sense.

Talk about phonies. Why don't you send a copy of your comment equating Druggie and Lt. Michael Murphy to Murphy's family and see what they think about that?

Anonymous said...

How surprised I am...NOT...to see our Favorite Chickenhawk laughing about an American troop being shot!

Keep up the good work, John. People like you and Rush keep demonstrating to the rest of us what you mean when you talk about "supporting the troops."

Anonymous said...

John K says: Yah right on que. You lefties know who Jesse MacBeth is. But no idea who Lt Murphy was. Not unusual for a blog that thinks Gore deserves some sort of Nobel Prize. And since your Democrat led congress cannot stop the war, or even defund it, you attack a private citizen Limbaugh. LOL LOL That still makes be guffaw in laughter. The lame Democat Leadership of Congress can't get to Bush but they can get to a radio talk show host and you lefties eat it up. Look at you, worried about Limbaugh and how many viagra pills he takes. LOL LOL We own you.

Anonymous said...

John K. says: Limbaugh says boo on his radio show and you lefties shit all over yourself. Hey Henry! LOL LOL join me in a hearty guffaw.

Anonymous said...

9 errors. Wow. Well THAT certainly invalidates the movie.

Anonymous said...

Still laughing at the dead GIs, Chickenhawk? Keep those bodybags coming, eh, Chickenhawk? You are really going to hate yourself when you quit junior high school at 21 and look back on this.

Anon: Nine errors is about how many (intentional) errors Rush makes in a half hour, but I'm sure it's a number that John pulled out of his ass. He certainly never saw the documentary.