Rush Riot

Any time Rush Limbaugh gets caught out saying something stupid, rude, or outright lying he reminds us that he is an entertainer not a journalist. I will agree with him that he certainly is not a journalist, I'm also not too sure about entertainer. He is a rude loud lying sack of excrement but that doesn't seem to deter his listeners or those who seem to take him as seriously as he does himself. There really does come a point where even his "ditto-heads" might take exception and the media might take notice that he's run clean off the rails. Advocating voter fraud is one sort of thing, advocating civil disobedience is one sort of thing, advocating riot is a bit of another. It is, in fact, a felony in many states to incite to riot. It is a felony for a pretty good reason, people get hurt and things get destroyed.

In Chicago in 1968 there was rioting at the Democratic Convention, actually seems to have been a couple riots, a police riot and a protesters riot. The upshot, of course, was destruction of property, injured police and civilians, and a blasted Democratic Convention leading to a Democratic loss. Rush has announced that he thinks this is a very good thing to have in Denver. It is the desired end of his campaign to have Republicans sabotage the Democratic Primaries, the "dream." Cars burning and violence would mean a Republican win and that is all that counts.

As Rush says "That's what we're trying to do. You don't bring them together. We don't bring people together. That's not how this country works. We defeat our political adversaries so that they're in the minority." The object is to conquer, it is not to persuade or demonstrate legitimacy through the betterment of the nation it is simply to crush the opposition. I'm rather unsure that the citizenry of Denver would be pleased to have Rush's dream come true.

If one were to consider the Limbaughian Republican vision to be a functional one, it would begin to seem reasonable that with violence and destruction so integral perhaps the waging of war for political advantage would also seem reasonable. Rush certainly likes to draw distinctions:

We don't burn our cars. We don't burn down our houses. We don't kill our children. We don't do half the things the American left does. We need the American left -- and this is another great thing about Operation Chaos; nothing to do with my ego. We need as many ignorant Americans to wake up and find out exactly who the modern-day Democrat Party is as dominated by the far left in this country. We need that to be seen. Now, I am not inspiring or inciting riots. I'm dreaming. (singing to the tune of White Christmas) "I'm dreaming of riots in Denver."

Perhaps it is quite true that Republicans don't take to the streets, it seems they prefer bombing runs and artillery shelling in countries with third rate military forces. Rather than uproar in American streets Republicans send our kids out to kill and maim and to be killed and maimed. Once you reach the point of view of that a political opponent is so debased and contemptible and dangerous it is reasonable to take any action to defeat them. The truly dangerous and destructive component of Limbaugh's rhetoric isn't that people will riot because he wishes it, it is the creation of the enemy mindset and the rationalization that any means is called for to defeat that enemy. There is an inherent sickness in the concept that there are two Americas, evil Democrats and goodly Republicans, and war is joined. You can be sure that Rush wouldn't be among the first to fall, worm-like he'd burrow to safety, as previously.

Yes, when bullets flew for his generation child of privilege Rush found a debilitating condition to exempt him. Not for sake of principle did Rush stay home, a sore butt and a certain mind set... This is the pathetic doper who beats the war drums and advocates domestic civil strife, an addict who sends his house keeper to do his dirty work and thinks it's great your child is in Iraq - and George II is god's messenger. I don't take him the least seriously, what bothers me is some do - and not for yucks.