Rush Fights the Facts, and the Facts Win

There's no news in reporting the errors and inconsistencies of Rush Limbaugh's daily radio rant.

Still, it's instructive to compare Rush's words with something real and actual, like, say, facts.

The Los Angeles Times did just that the other day and the results did nothing to raise our opinion of Limbaugh, one of his generation's most impressive Chickenhawks, those GOP militant phonies who never served a day in uniform. (It's Veteran's Day, by the way, and yes, we served with pride. Go Navy!)

But here's the LA Times on Rush and his fact-free delusions:

In a time when the nation calls out for cool leadership and rational discussion, Limbaugh stirs the caldron, a tendency he proved in a particularly grotesque way last week when he accused Obama’s party of plotting a government takeover of 401(k) retirement plans.

“They’re going to take your 401(k), put it in the Social Security trust fund, whatever the hell that is,” Limbaugh woofed. “Trust fund, my rear end.”

A slight problem with Limbaugh’s report: Obama and the Democrats have proposed no such thing.

The proposal, in fact, emanated from a single economist, one of many experts testifying to a congressional committee….

To broadcast such a report — —would be a shameless act anytime, so drained of context as to constitute a lie. But Limbaugh needlessly stirred the fears of the millions he holds in his thrall — making the 401(k) thievery sound like nearly a done deal. Shameless.

UPDATE: Some gullible lady at the Republican Women's Club of Tulsa was duped by this rumor. The Tulsa World reports today that U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, speaking to the group Tuesday, was asked about "fears that Democrats intend to confiscate retirement savings…." 

To his credit, Coburn wasn't buying. "Coburn, for the most part, tried to soothe the most-troubled among his listeners," the World reported. 

Memo to Tulsa's GOP ladies: You might want to spend a little more time with, say, CNN or the LA Times, or the Tulsa World—and a lot less time listening to Rush, Sean and the rest of the rumor-mongers and know-nothings.