It looks like I might have written my most recent post criticizing Rush Limbaugh a bit too soon, because he really seems to be pulling out all the crazy stops in the call to massive resistance over health care reform. I have made the case on a few occasions that Limbaugh is blatantly hypocritical and has little to no respect for reality, the truth, or for his own audience. This has probably never been more true than at the present, so I thought it’s about time he received a coveted Stop Talking Award. He’s certainly earned it.

Limbaugh has been one of the leading voices blatantly misinforming about things that are in the House bill (HR 3200), and peddling some of the more disgraceful, fear-mongering lies about the health care reform proposals, such as the whopper of them all: forced euthanasia for the elderly. Now, as Rush cheers on the town hall “tea party” disruption/protest craze – which has largely been manufactured and fomented by the steady stream of disinformation from industry lobbyist insiders and people in conservative media outlets like Limbaugh  - he is upping the fear/anger/hate/distrust ante from calling Obama a “Marxist” and a “racist,” with direct attempts now to compare Obama and the health care “plan” to Hitler and the Nazi Party. 

His talk, then, has reached an unacceptable and incredibly irresponsible level…I mean, even more so than usual. It seems like Limbaugh’s favorite tactic these days is to stir people up and get a lot of attention with inflammatory rhetoric and misinformation, but then when others in the media or in government call him out for this, he points the finger like a child while saying the equivalent of, “Did not!,” or “I know you are, but what am I?,” or “But you started it!” Then, he attempts to justify further amping up the inflammatory rhetoric, by always childishly claiming the other side started it. So, in some ways, this is also getting to the point of laughable, unintentional parody. 

Don’t get me wrong. At the end of the day, I don’t think what folks like Limbaugh are able to get away with on the public airwaves is a laughing matter at all. It’s a disgrace, really, and now, it frankly seems to be getting dangerous. But if we stop and think for a moment about the profitable, commercial, and manipulative nature of what people like Limbaugh do, we can see just what an illuminating joke it all is. While parts of this country are in dire straits, and Limbaugh and others are working to fuel the fear and anger and direct it towards the president, guys like Limbaugh profit hugely from such conditions. In fact, they couldn’t be in a better situation right now as far as money, ratings, and publicity go.

So while Limbaugh’s language does often suggest he is just seething with hatred for Barack Obama, I have to think, that deep down, he just loves the presence of such a figure, on whom he can and does project all of his own anger, hate, racism, inconsistencies, and personal character flaws, while getting gobs of the attention he loves in the process, and laughing all the way to the bank.

Consider the following projecting statement Limbaugh made about President Obama after his press conference on health care reform. Note that every word of this perfectly applies to Rush Limbaugh, himself, or at least to his radio shtick:

“What we had last night was arrogance on parade. You have to be arrogant and full of hubris to think you can actually go out and tell those kinds of lies and have them believed. You must have a really, really high impression of yourself. You must really believe the people in your audience don’t care what you’re saying, they just marvel that they’re in your presence and listening to you. We’re talking about an ego here that has no boundaries.” 1

This one’s good too:

[Obama] is an utter, cold, mean-spirited, partisan liar. A man who has to lie about his agenda in order to get people to support it. Because he can’t be — this is why the Democrat Party will eventually implode and fail. They cannot be honest about what their intentions are. They cannot be honest about policies at all. They have to lie. 2

Limbaugh has also recently insisted that he “respects” his audience, thereby earning their trust, and that he is not at all elite, just a totally regular guy. Right.

But then, there’s these two chart-toppers on the oblivious to the incredible irony of your statements chart. First, Limbaugh said this about electing Barack Obama:

And there are people in this country who are Americans who have the same view of totalitarianism that all the worst regimes of the world have had. They just are a minority, or have been a minority, and they have to be stealth to get anywhere because who’s gonna vote for torture? Who’s gonna vote for tyranny? Who’s gonna vote for dictatorship? But we did. We did, and it’s — you see it’s slowly encroaching. 3

Yeh, you know, after he supported the Bush administration for 8 long years and defended, you know, the real torture that was happening, Rush should know all about this.

Secondly, and lastly, check out what a caller had to say about certain Democrats the other day and then Limbaugh’s response:

CALLER: I don’t like to be lied to. I can tell you I can take just about anything, but do not lie to me. I don’t like to be lied to. And I want to tell these people something. The reason we’re fired up and we’re going to these town hall meetings is not because we’re some bunch of riffraff or troublemakers. And the reason people are exploding like this is because we’re tired of being lied to. 

RUSH: Amen, sister. You are tired of being lied to, plus you have read the bill. You know what’s in it. 4

And yet, she listens to Rush Limbaugh. No wonder she’s so angry.

Congratulations Rush. You’re commitment to “cutting edge” disinformation, projecting your own narcissism and lack of integrity onto others, and consistently offering entertaining in the form straight-faced ironic statements has finally earned you the highest award this little blog can give. Please except it, then do the United States a huge favor and stop talking.