Limbaugh's school of hard knocks for other guys

Palm Beach Post ^ | Sunday, May 9, 2004 | Frank Cerabino

[new cruelty]

Rush Limbaugh is a slow learner.

That might explain why he looked at the sadistic photos from the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and likened them to some college fraternity high jinks.

Boolah, mullah! Boolah, mullah!

Most reasonable people expressed disgust by the sight of the bound, nude, hooded men in American custody being forced to degrade themselves sexually.

And Limbaugh surely would have, too, if it had been under the previous administration.

But Limbaugh's a referee without a whistle these days. So here's how he excused the inexcusable:

"This is no different than what happens at the Skull and Bones initiation, and we're going to ruin people's lives over it, and we're going to hamper our military effort, and then we are going to really hammer them because they had a good time," he said on his radio show.

Limbaugh added: "I'm talking about people having a good time. These people, you ever heard of emotional release? You heard of need to blow some steam off?"

I knew he was an apologist. But I just figured that in light of his newfound expertise in the realm of investigatory zeal run amok -- something he claims to have learned the hard way in Palm Beach County -- he might have temporarily burst through the wall of his professional limitations.

But, like I said, Limbaugh is apparently a slow learner.

And yet, there's hope.

There used to be a time when he thought that the problem with drugs was that we weren't locking up the people who got caught. This was during the days when he thought the American Civil Liberties Union was a flaky impediment to justice and criminal defense lawyers were an evil bunch of liberal simps who were out to subvert the truth by freeing the guilty on procedural maneuvers.

He has been educated through experience in that regard.

Caught in cross hairs of justice

Ever since the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office declined to respectfully turn a blind eye to Limbaugh's years of prescription drug abuse, he has become a champion of the drug addict caught in the cross hairs of justice. He talks of the pain of addiction, the need for treatment and the unfairness of prosecutors pursuing people with a personal problem.

If you go to Limbaugh's Web site these days, it's full of tales of horrific miscarriages of justice and calls to end investigatory techniques that we, as Americans, shouldn't stand for.

There are warnings about the "threat to the rule of law." Harassment we can't condone. And a horrible "fishing expedition" for information that should chill us to the core.

No, none of that is about the sadistic abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison.

It's all about Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer's having the nerve to document Limbaugh's drug abuse through the use of his medical records.

Oh, the horror!

From Limbaugh's bellowing, you'd think Krischer was breaking chemical lights and pouring the scorching phosphoric liquid over the naked talk-show host's... oh, never mind.

Besides, that's just "people having a good time."

All those naked Iraqis must be guilty of something, right? There can't be any innocent civilians rounded up by overzealous authorities. That never happens.

And as for the guilty -- well, the rights of people behind bars is just a left-wing abstraction.

For now. The slow learner better hope this isn't the next awakening in his education.

[F16Fighter]

"Savage is fun, if you want to listen to a guy who disingenuously affects the persona of a paranoid, egocentric, pugilistic madman. He is sort of like a shot of Wild Turkey. To do it more than once a week at most, is bad for the liver."

Appropos description of a night out with Savage.

Almost like trying to outrun a State Trooper in your hot rod with a steering problem and the gas tank on 'E'. You're laughing the whole way until you run out of gas.

[ATCNavyRetiree]

You and Torie keep messin' with Pukin Dog and ya might find
a JDAM through your bedroom window tonight, dropped from his trusty F-14D "Bomb"cat!

[Mr. Mojo]

One gets the feeling that were this *1944* instead of *2004*, this would not be anymore than a one day story on page A-23, below the fold. But that was back when this country didn't flinch at every P.C. melodrama that came down the pike in the middle of a full-fledged war.

Can you imagine anyone raising a stink about a few American soldiers "humiliating" (or even torturing and killing) some Nazis? We were made of much sterner stuff back then, and it helped that our media actually wanted us to win the war.

[avenir]

"They were disgusting, unprofessional, illegal, ineffectual, and damaging to both the moral standing of this country, and to the causes for which it fights."

"Man's inhumanity to man" is as old as the hills, and if there was ever a superpower, such as the great U.S., less totalitarian and abusive in all of history, please point it out.

Any thinking adult can seperate the actions of a few soldiers from the true zeitgeist of a nation. Some, however are cynical and desperate enough (read: libs) to pretend they cannot.

[Texas Eagle]

You're going to have to ask an anthropologist what makes an Arab an Arab. For Instance Iranians live on the Arabian Penninsula, but they aren't Arabs. Incidently, I suspectthat Rush was confusing Iraqis and Iranians when he said Iraqis weren't Arabs.

Ohhh-kayyy, so you don't know what an Arab is either. But you deign to pontificate that Rush is no intellectual because he doesn't know that Iraqis are Arabs.

Thanks for your time.

[danamco]

Rush is a very good communicator and is very entertaining, but he's no intellectual, that's for sure


Do you consider yourself to be an intellectual???

[ladyinred]

I can understand why Rush said this. Many of the things in the first reports are fraternity rush like. Palm Beach rag is not exactly unbiased reporting where Rush is concerned, and unless you call this torture you are castigated! This entire thing is blown way out of proportion.

[Pukin Dog]

Pardon my French, but what a stupid comment.

Sorry about your French, but in English, it was a question.

The exchange of ideas should be about just that. Ideas. Where was the idea in that opinion to which I asked my question? When someone with a reputation for condescending commentary about all things conservative bashes a Conservative icon, I think the question is appropriate. You may not agree, but then, who the hell asked you either?

[Torie]

I guess you don't do perceptions. Someday, you might understand that perceptions have their own reality. I have written on this very site more posts than you can shake a stick at, about how special I think the US is in so many ways, including its essential humanity and morality. In some ways, some might consider me disgusting, naively patriotic. In a nutshell, I don't think you are familiar with my repertoire. Just ask John.

[ladyinred]

No matter what, the media will make sure heads roll, unless the left is in charge of course, that is the point! We are darn sick and tired of them getting a freaking pass on even WORSE things. I can tell you Torie, they know stuff that they have SPIKED that would bring the left to their knees and out the freaking door, but they cover it up!!!! Stay Tuned!!!!

[jps098]

He won't defend rape. It is interesting that you miss his entire point. He mentioned that there is a major point to the story that you have not, nor will hear, from the mass media. Why not trust the military to finish the investigation? Let's face it they have facts the media does not know.

This reminds me of the entire Rodney King mess where the police were convicted by the jury of public opinion, forgetting that the jerk was out of control and got up numerous times to harm the police.

What was done is wrong. The troops who did this should face military justice, but it's not like we simply executed those Arabs caught trying to kill us.

[John Lenin]

I think your problem with Rush is you see him as a C student who happened to do great things in his life.

[ATCNavyRetiree]

You and the rest of the "American apologists" in this country better wake up...these guys who were "abused" were cold-blooded terrorists who have one goal in mind: to kill every American they can.

And now the Arab world is laughing their asses off about how we are trashing our own military...and playing right into their hands.

"Torture" is seeing your loved one leaning out the 87th floor window of the WTC and then watching it collapse.

This "abuse" at Abu GHraib WAS nothing more than what happens at a Navy "crossing-the-equator" ceremony!

We had better WAKE UP to the enemy within...our own media!!!!

[Texas Eagle]

This is what I find interesting. Rush is on the radio 3 hours a day, five days a week, 48 weeks a year. He literally makes tens of thousands of statements a year.

The author of this article and some in this forum take three or four of those thousands of statements and declare Rush a "slow-learner" and "not an intellectual".

This is not a serious debate. I'm going back to bed. I can nuke these Dittophobes in my sleep.

[jamaly]

You are a genius! I am always happy when I get a chance to hear you on radio or see you post here. Thanks for being such a great conservative warrior. Keep us the good work.

[nunya bidness]

Good to see you. Keep stirring things up.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

Good, heed the lefties, then don't haze the prisoners, kill all the SOB's, take no prisoners, just kill them all.

I have seen the WW2 films of US submariners machine gunning Japs in the water after torpedoing their ships, kill them now or kill them later, a good old policy. It didn't bother me a damn bit. I have seen the WW2 films of American marines shooting wounded Japs in the South Pacific and we took no Jap prisoners. That bothered me not a damn bit either.

The Japs started the entire thing with their blades flashing in the sun when they beheaded American wounded and prisoners on Guadalcanal in 1942, and they reaped the whirlwind a thousands of times over for almost the next four years.

The Islamist terr perps have done much worse to their prisoners whom were American. So kill all the bastards, and that will not bother me one damn bit either. Put the fear into the Islamist pigs of ever crossing an American. make them fear the US, they will never like nor love us, so let them fear us. Fear is a healthy thing for the scum, make self preservation their top priority for the near future.

[Yaelle]

I've been FReeping for years and this was the only issue where I found myself floundering, out of sync with apparently the majority here, as well as with Rush and Hannity. I was relieved to see, finally, that many of the active or retired servicepeople here actually took the high road and condemned these atrocities for what they are.

Moral relativism means that it's OK for Your Team to break the rules, even the G-d-given moral codes we are to live by. And Sean says he is the first to criticize Republicans when they do wrong! Well, this may not be Bush or Rummy's fault, but Sean and Rush should have come down seriously hard on the perpetrators and chain of command, if they believe America is to be the shining light and example of decency and democracy in this world.

[John Lenin]

I was at a Dennis Rodman party and saw worse than what I saw in some of them photos ...

[Torie]

I like and admire C students who do great things in life, as long as they don't pretend to be who they are not. Rush pretends that he has certain intellectual powers which he does not possess. What he possesses is the gift of gab and the power to entertain. I hope that helps.