Iraq war vets who serve honorably but disagree with the war policy are "phony soldiers."
So says the Great Sage of Talk Radio, Rush Limbaugh. Speaking this week on his radio show, Limbaugh expressed contempt for those soldiers who want to end the war and bring the troops home.
It's not like Rush knows anything about combat or military service. During the Vietnam War, Limbaugh managed to escape the draft with a minor medical problem. He has never served a day in uniform.
We know Rush Limbaugh is a blowhard. We also know a real phony when we hear one.
UPDATE: In an attempt to defend himself, Limbaugh has edited his original comments, scrubbing his "phony soldiers" comment. Unfortunately for Rush, Media Matters has the original audio. Click here for more on Limbaugh's duplicity.
5 comments:
Personally, I can see--as Pat Buchanan and a number of the "Paleocon" crowd do--reasons for not having gone into Iraq. I can also see reasons for having done so. It is not a decision that I would have liked to have been responsible for making, and I don't blame anyone for their opinions on whether or not we should have gone in. It is possible to come down on either side of the issue and be a "good conservative"--and/or a "real soldier."
However, you can beat that horse--Limbaugh's phoniness--all you want and it won't make any difference. I can't see into Limbaugh's brain, though of course anyone who spends three hours a day talking is going to say something goofy occasionally. He may be a phony, he may not, about that I don't know.
I do know two things about him that do make a difference in how this will play out:
1) He is easily the most entertaining person on the radio, and draws millions of listeners a day in large part because most of what he says resonates with them. An occasional gaffe, an occasional idiocy, even an occasional boy-I-wish-I-hadn't-said-that won't change that.
2) With the vast majority of military personnel, both active and former, he is overwhelmingly number one and is an almost mirror-perfect reflection of much of their thinking. You can butter your bread on this: he won't lose much, if any, of his military audience over this, because you're gonna find that a surprisingly high number of his military listeners agree with him, rightly or wrongly.
This was no mistake or gaffe on limbaugh's part. This is a great example of the pathological liars on the left, twisting and turning and making up "facts" to fit their smear and hate agenda.
I can't wait for their next lie...
uhhh lets see, how about Condi Rice isn't really black.
or, Laura Bush had a sex change,
or Sean Hannitty once shoplifted a piece of candy... The left is not bound by the limitations of reality.
THeir only limitation is their ability to come up with the next big whopper.
-red
Dan, I would take issue with your statement that Rush is "an almost mirror-perfect reflection of much of their (military personnel's) thinking."
Here's a report on a poll of Iraq soldiers last year in Stars and Stripes (not exactly a left-wing publication):
http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=34538&archive=true
"Seventy-two percent of troops on the ground in Iraq think U.S. military forces should get out of the country within a year, according to a Zogby poll released Tuesday.
"The survey of 944 troops, conducted in Iraq between Jan. 18 and Feb. 14, said that only 23 percent of servicemembers thought U.S. forces should stay 'as long as they are needed.'
"Of the 72 percent, 22 percent said troops should leave within the next six months, and 29 percent said they should withdraw 'immediately.' Twenty-one percent said the U.S. military presence should end within a year; 5 percent weren’t sure.
"The poll also shows that 42 percent of the troops surveyed are unsure of their mission in Iraq, and that 85 percent believe a major reason they were sent into war was 'to retaliate for Saddam's role in the Sept. 11 attacks.' Ninety-three percent said finding and destroying weapons of mass destruction is not a reason for the ongoing military action."
If Rush is to be believed, there are a lot of "phony soldiers" in Iraq.
The soldiers' opinions are all the more remarkable considering the fact that they are exposed only to Rush and his ilk over military radio.
Tulsan, I see your point but think you have missed mine. I said "much of their thinking" and you heard, apparently, "specifically on our involvement in Iraq."
I'm being a bit broader than that.
It was indeed presumption on my part that active military personnel would have Iraq in the foreground of their thinking.
In addition, a large number of retired officers have voiced strong criticism of the rationale given for entering Iraq, and the manner in which the occupation has been conducted.
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