Screw You, Rush

I don't usually waste my time on Rush Limbaugh, but he's said two things in close proximity that need highlighting.  The quote above, in case you can't read it, says, "These protestors who are actually few in number, have contributed nothing.  They're parasites.  They're pure, genuine parasites.  Many of them are bored, trust-fund kids, obsessed with being something, being somebody.  Meaningless lives, they want to matter."

The picture is of a World War II veteran marching with OWS.  But it's more than that.  Unions have joined, too.  Of course, in Rush's world, unions are moochers and parasites, too, because... Screw you, that's why.

And then there is the rapidly rising fame of Sgt. Thomas.  He was one of those troops that we were supposed to be supporting.  But I guess when they get home, screw'em.

Next is this unbelievable item. Rush goes off on Obama for sending in a Ranger company to fight the Lord's Resistance Army because, wait for it, they're Christians.  See, Obama's a Muslim, so naturally he's sending American troops to help jihad.  Did he ever think to look up exactly WHAT the LRA is?

Of course not.  This is the modern GOP in a nutshell.  Limbaugh has long been the voice of the mass of GOP voters and the specifics of his criticism are less significant than they reflexive, tribal nature of his take on these two stories.

OWS has struck a nerve in the US and around the world.  It is increasingly made up of people who are not "trust fund kids" but genuine middle class workers or the skilled unemployed.  The LRA is pure, unadulterated evil.  But OWS is not Limbaugh's tribe.  And Obama isn't in Limbaugh's tribe, so anything he does is de facto wrong.

I think it's wrong to dismiss Limbaugh completely as being a talk radio buffoon (though he is).  Limbaugh represents that hard core 27% of the population who will never, ever do anything that might reflect well on the people outside their tribe, even if it hurts their country.

My mother-in-law pondered at dinner the other night, "Why was no one supporting Hunstman?"  We all quickly agreed that at 3%, he has captured all the non-crazy GOP votes that he will ever get.

Being a conservative, Limbaugh Republican is to have a cognitive disorder.