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N.O.W. Was Right: Let the Fat Man Ruin Himself

Back when Rush was sponsored only by Snapple tea drinks, the Ditto Heads were a trendy thing, and Rush listening posts were springing up in coffee shops and sandwich parlors all over America, I heard Limbaugh say something on his show that almost caused me to wreck my car I was so shocked anyone would say such a thing. He said, "...you know that organization, N.O.W., a lesbian organization that...." Rush is master of the straw man (or woman), post hoc reasoning, circular logic, and a plethora of other logical fallacies which he intentionally uses to please the GOP base (and I DO mean BASE -- the lowest common denominator. He was moving from the particular to the general with all the ease of a man on a flying trapeze, using the rumored lesbian sexual orientation of Eleanor Smeal, then head of N.O.W. to suggest that all women who belonged to N.O.W. were lesbians as well. And so what if they were?

My intelligence had been insulted and I immediately contacted N.O.W. to suggest that they sue Limbaugh for what a lot of people erroneously call a "blood libel," words that apply only to a specific period in history and a specific lie about a specific religious race of people. No, it's rather the old McCarthyist trick of guilt by association, the prime mover of the HUAC investigations and the Hollywood Red Scare and "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been...." (A theocratic president like Santorum will be asking the same question but substituting "women who use birth control" and "homosexuals" for "Communist Party." Almost all women will become guilty or fellow travelers. Ditto homos.) Rush studied the methods of Joe Goebbels and may even by J.G. speaking from beyond the grave, a kind of Rotwang, or even Dr. Mabuse himself. When he did TV for a short time, he was so radioactive (pun intended) that the resulting telemosaic immediately antagonized the audience; so he went back to his shtick at the radio network. When Olbermann satirized Rush he used a clip from a recent C-PAC appearance that had Limbaugh cracking jokes he thought seriously funny and rocking back and forth with swelling egomania, there for all to see, a rotund Caesar-faced pimp for 1% of the people.

N.O.W. got back to me and said if they sued everyone who said something absurd about them they would have no time for anything else. Why didn't I calm down and wait. "Mr. Limbaugh will self-destruct in time."

He has, too. He will now join Glenn Beck in that big Green Room at Fox.

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Permalink Reply by Steph S. on March 13, 2012 at 7:16pm

I am glad he self destructed. I so agree with what you say here. I am also a member of NOW.

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Permalink Reply by Secular Forces 2013 on March 13, 2012 at 8:28pm

sigh... oh the rock stars of the right that burn out... cuz they hate to fade away...
http://www.atheistnexus.org/profiles/blogs/stoked-two-planets-seem-...

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Permalink Reply by Pat on March 13, 2012 at 9:09pm

Will the pimple-assed draft dodger, drug addict, racist, pervert, probable pedophile, ultimately disappear in his own ruination? I doubt it.

James, you're correct in your assessment of the BASE - being the lowest common denominator. In thinking of his base, I'm reminded of Pat Robertson's base. They still give Rev. Sparky McBatShit part of their social security check, notwithstanding his blatant misogyny, homophobia, and bald faced lies. The base eats it up, as does Fatty's the Radio Hatemonger. While all analogies are necessarily imperfect, both of these audiences are like the mobs in Orwell's 1984. They revel in the festivities of "Hate Week" and the grotesque lies they're being spoon fed. Even while, in the midst of one lie, the story turns 180 degrees. It's not the reality of the message that matters. It's the fear and hatred of scapegoats, and unreal and illogical solutions to destroy them that are important.

"Who is our enemy, and how do we annihilate him?" is all that matters. 'Ole Joe Goebbels knew this, and the lessons are not lost on Limbaugh. So long as the lowest common denominator exists, Limbaugh will have an audience.

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Permalink Reply by Brad Splaymeier on March 14, 2012 at 9:27am

I listen to Rush as a "monitor" (sp?) rather than a fan and, trust me, he is first and foremost BORING AS HELL......... secondly slightly overpaid, and when his non-fans hear about him its of course because he is desperately trying to get attention, however low brow and short lived.

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Permalink Reply by James M. Martin on March 14, 2012 at 5:49pm

Speaks well of you that you would rise above anger at his remarks. You know what Wilde said, the only sin is to be boring. I had not thought of calling him that. A bore. That should be an epithet that would really get to him, telling him he is a bore. Hooray!

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Permalink Reply by Robert Hess on March 14, 2012 at 10:53am

That idiot will do the same thing he's always done, lay low for a few months and then do it again. He does this to keep his audience of small minded chauvinist bigots happy. Most of the time he picks easy targets like gays, Atheists, Muslims, and extreme liberals. He tried to step up to the big leagues AGAIN by trying to take on women. He did this before when he made a racist comment about Michael Vick a few years back. As much as we would like to get rid of him completely, we won't. Unfortunately bigots are not in short supply in the U.S. and many of them are very, very wealthy.

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Permalink Reply by Sentient Biped on March 14, 2012 at 10:59am

I think you are right. Trolls need to hibernate for a while, like bears and tulip bulbs, then re-emerge to remind us that "all my life's a circle."

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Permalink Reply by Robert Hess on March 14, 2012 at 11:54am

Exactly.

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Permalink Reply by James M. Martin on March 14, 2012 at 6:04pm

Sir! On behalf of pigs I resent the comparison. And, BTW, did you read the marvelous essay on pigs in Christopher Hitchens' God is Not Great? Turns out we have been unfairly maligning them all along, as they are not only clean animals, they have internal organs that are more like our DNA than almost any other species except, of course, the chimpanzee. Just lends more credence to two obvious facts: (1) the Bible was written by men, and in particular men governing ancient tribal Abrahamaic peoples and ruled in anticipation of Seneca's observation about the usefulness of religion to chieftans and leaders, and (2) it was written to pertain to facts at hand, situations that needed Divine Guidance to prevent harm to the group, which was mostly nomadic and in constant threat of war with, e.g. the Midianites. It goes without saying that the authors of the O.T. had no refrigeration, so their pork got tricky worms that ate your guts out. So you can almost see the mythical Abraham or the mythical Mosheh telling the flock, "God said this," or "God said that" because he wanted the tribe to tow the line.

The remark on Chelsea's plainness (I think she looks a little like a Howdy Doody puppet in drag, but what do I know?) is ad hominem (just as was my puppet remark). Ad hominem immediately alarms you to the fact that the speaker is not above fallacious argumentation. With that in mind, everything that follows is suspect. Unfortunately, nobody brought the listeners -- Rush's radio following -- into enlightenment where the logical fallacies are concerned. After all, they really believe Palin's remark about seeing Russia from her house was a made-up quip designed to show how the lamestream media are misogynistic and secular. (I myself am a bit of a misogynist, but not of the serial kind; I just think that Former Gov. Palin is the dumbest woman on the face of the earth and that anyone who would think she has potential for national office is deaf, dumb, blind, and loony tunes. Senator?

My own feeling is that the "slut" remark was a perfect example of what Freud called "projection." Rush calls a young "feminazi" a "slut" because Rush knows that is precisely the trait in Rush that Rush most wants to "get rid of" -- by projecting it upon Ms. Fluke. Rush is a slut. Rush is whore for the 1%, including the Koch Brothers. But not including Barack Obama, who says candidly that he is way rich. Obama says he himself should pay more taxes.

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Permalink Reply by James M. Martin on March 14, 2012 at 7:52pm

If his religion is true, he will go to Hell and meet Voltaire, Darwin, and others, because Fat Boy is the worst excuse for a Christian I've ever seen. Perhaps, if there is an immortal soul, after meeting Christopher Hitchens and others "down there," he will, as a Hindu or Buddhist, be reborn, this time a more enlightened individual. Well, we can pray can't we?

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Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on March 14, 2012 at 6:09pm

Seems to me I heard somewhere that the producers of Rush's broadcast were filling the gaps left by his departing advertisers with PSAs - Public Service Announcements - which bring in precisely ZERO DOLLARS for the show. Just how long will THAT go on before ol' Rushie is flying half an MPH above stall speed?

I STILL say Limburger should join the ranks of Glen Beck among the unemployed right-wing dips.

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Permalink Reply by Dorris Journeay on March 14, 2012 at 6:55pm

Agreed. Rash Limpballs can just oink his way into oblivion - scarce are the situations that would make me happier. Of course, he's rich, so even if he is finally kicked off the air, he'll just pop some Oxycontin and Viagra and fly off to Thailand or Haiti or who knows were to wallow in the stuff us American women won't do for him. He is truly a festering boil on the ass of humanity, but unfortunately he's not the only one, and boils have a nasty habit of recurring.