September 19, 2008

Rush Limbaugh accuses Obama of tearing his words out of their original parody context to stir up racial fears.

In this WSJ editorial:
The malignant aspect of this is that Mr. Obama and his advisers know exactly what they are doing. They had to listen to both monologues or read the transcripts. They then had to pick the particular excerpts they used in order to create a commercial of distortions. Their hoped-for result is to inflame racial tensions. In doing this, Mr. Obama and his advisers have demonstrated a pernicious contempt for American society.

We've made much racial progress in this country. Any candidate who employs the tactics of the old segregationists is unworthy of the presidency.
Read the whole thing.

The Obama campaign not only shamelessly misused Limbaugh's quotes but also connected McCain to Limbaugh over immigration, an issue over which the 2 men have continually disagreed.

Look how dishonestly the Mother Jones blog purports to recontextualize the quotes (especially the second one). It is nice to see that the first comment corrects what is an egregious deception.

Salon, which obviously hates Limbaugh, is decent enough
-- or just forced -- to concede that the Obama campaign was deceitful:
Limbaugh is absolutely right about one thing. He makes a convincing case that the Obama campaign used his words in a fundamentally dishonest way. In both cases, the quotes were pulled from segments in which Limbaugh was clearly being facetious.
Salon doesn't want to concede that there was anything racial about Obama's tactics.

Ed Morrissey says:
The national media just got done clucking their tongues and wagging their fingers at McCain over an ad they claimed was a lie, when in fact it turned out to be true. Not once in this entire campaign have the media taken Obama to task for his strategy of lying to stoke racial tensions in this campaign. Only blogs at ABC and the Washington Post have even raised the question, while the AP or the Miami Herald busily buries the evidence of it through editing tricks. If Rush makes this a national story, perhaps the media will finally take stock in which campaign has run the dirtiest attacks — a smear campaign worthy of Joe McCarthy.
And if you like post-modernist horsing around, check out Protein Wisdom:
As Obama learns poststructuralist iteration and differance, Rush Limbaugh fires back by invoking intentionalism. It is progressivism and its linguistic assumptions — consensus interpretation and manufacted consent, deployed cynically to create new “meanings” in new “contexts” — vs. a coherent linguistic system in which meaning, for purposes of interpretation (rather than, say, the kind “re-imagining” the Obama campaign engages in here), must necessarily appeal to the creator of the signs: the author/utterer...
Obama is flatly and embarrassingly wrong on this, but I find it hard to picture him apologizing. I hope he is at least forced to talk about it, so we can pick apart the all-but-inevitable weaseling.

122 comments:

Irene said...

Bingo.

Henry said...

"What's happened to Barack Obama? He's running the sleaziest ads ever. Truly vile."

tdocer said...

Senator Obama won't apologize for this. He'll blame it on his staff, claim he had no knowledge of it, and state that it is inconsistent with his real beliefs.

former law student said...

Where are the links to Limbaugh's .wav files?

I don't trust anyone's self-serving assertions any more.

Patm said...

Obama will not be forced to talk about it. Even Rush, with his big microphone, cannot get the press to talk about that which they would rather not. The Press has no more credibility in what they say. Their only remaining power lies in what they do not say, in what they do not cover. The only power they have left is the power to IGNORE something so that it does not become a story at all. And in the case of this election season, they are ignoring anything that can remotely hurt Obama. And they're ignoring Sarah Palin now, because they figured out that she hurts him BIG TIME.

I've never seen a press like this. They're throwing themselves away on this guy, because they know if he wins, they share all the power. And if he loses, they still have the microphones, and they still CONTROL THE NATIONAL DISCUSSION.

It's infamous. It is iniquitous. And I don't see how it can be stopped.

vnjagvet said...

You need not, FLS. It will be all over the web.

I suspect Rush is right about this one.

And if he is, there is no reasonable excuse for the Obama ad.

dbp said...

Patm is correct. The MSM will ignore the story or cover it so sparsely that it never breaks-out. If it does emerge into the general awareness, some minor underling will be blamed, then fired.

Icepick said...

FLS, check Limbaugh's website. He played the clips on his show yesterday.

Donn said...

I can't wait for all the Althouse lefties to spin this one. It should be priceless!

Patm said...

Yes...the press has become Pravda.

chickelit said...

Another "clever" thing about the Obama camp's deception is that it was done in Spanish, giving the English MSM media grounds to ignore.

Anonymous said...

Sticking out my neck, but what say, during one of the debates Johnny Mac' lets out a jab to obama's face about this deliberate fabrication? Even the MSM would have to provide backstory and context for the charge.

Ann Althouse said...

former law student said..."Where are the links to Limbaugh's .wav files? I don't trust anyone's self-serving assertions any more."

I've heard the audio on the show's podcast. He is absolutely correct about the quotes and what they meant. You can decide for yourself what conclusions to draw from it.

Anonymous said...

But Obama is fair to point out, as he has lately, that Rush is a liar who lies to lying listeners to try to induce them to vote for and support that lying vile man John McCain, who lies about Obama with statements that cite to the Washington Post in lying, despicable ads that are all lies and deceit because, as we all know, Republicans are all lying, deceitful bastards that lie to everyone so that they can tell even more lies about virtuous and honest Democrats like Obama, who has never lied in his life, and certainly never lied about McCain or all the other Republican lying devils, even though if he did lie, Obama’s lies would be better than McCain’s, because that lying scum McCain can’t lie as well as Obama could, if, in fact, Obama wanted to lie, which he doesn’t and neither do his advisors.

Those lying sacks of crap!

LonewackoDotCom said...

What's also interesting here is that JakeTapper, the NYT, and even JoeKlein have all called out BHO over the ad, in that order. They're apparently trying to set a limit for him. See a long list of others who helped BHO with his latest lies here.

But, aside from that, don't expect BHO to be called out on this to his face. You have to do that yourself by going to one of his appearances and asking him to renounce the ad. Make sure to get his response on video, and upload it to Youtube and make sure others know about it.

Or, try the same technique regarding these other BHO lies that the MSM will never call him on.

garage mahal said...

Ann finally finds what she thinks is a misleading ad. Aww, poor Rush. Poor guy just can't catch a break! Where is the honesty?

Wonder if Limbaugh considers Obama a "clean black".

Feb 1 2008
LIMBAUGH: U.S. blacks -- young U.S. blacks believe in politics, according to a new study. "Many U.S. blacks are as confident" -- and we're talking about the clean ones here, folks, I must stipulate this -- young, clean U.S. blacks -- "believe in politics. Many young U.S. blacks are as confident as their white and Hispanic peers that they can use politics to make things better, but a majority of young blacks feel alienated from today's government." Why would that be? The government's been taking care of them their whole lives. Why would they feel alienated from -- maybe "today's government" means the Bush administration.

carosmama said...

garage mahal,

Limbaugh may or may not consider Obama clean, but Joe Biden sure does.

ricpic said...

La Raza y Senor Obama: junto perfecto!

dbp said...

GM,

Rush was obviously riffing off of this Biden quote:

"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," and "I mean, that's a storybook, man."

UWS guy said...

You're missing Mickey Kaus' take.

Weeks ago Kausfiles wondered how Obama could use immigration against McCain. Though they both share the same philosophy McCain's republican base is not happy with his bi-partisan position.

Now, Obama can't come out as an anti-immigration candidate, but what he can do is call McCain anti-immigration--thereby securing voters who are leery of the republicans on this issue at the same time force McCain to restate his pro-amnesty postion and alienating (pun intended) his republican base!.

Brilliant!

UWS guy said...

Your post proves you spend too much time over at hot air ...as Ed Morrissey is a republican hack (even though Alahpundit links and likes you...and probably trolls your forums!)

You should have been reading Mickey.

dbp said...

but what he can do is call McCain anti-immigration--thereby securing voters who are leery of the republicans on this issue at the same time force McCain to restate his pro-amnesty postion and alienating (pun intended) his republican base!.

OR

McCain can ignore the ad and let Rush tear into BHO for his dishonest ad.

chickelit said...

@ UWS:
Obama and MCCain can fight a proxy war in Spanish. That's a weakness of Obama's "brilliant" move.

Unknown said...

In other words, UWS guy, the ends justify the means.

Got it.

LonewackoDotCom said...

UWS guy says: Obama can't come out as an anti-immigration candidate, but what he can do is call McCain anti-immigration--thereby securing voters who are leery of the republicans on this issue at the same time force McCain to restate his pro-amnesty postion and alienating (pun intended) his republican base!.

Brilliant! Except for the part about BHO sounding like a MEChA member and all the other even-worse-than-McCain examples I could provide. So, the only people who would switch to BHO due to McCain being bad on immigration are very low-information voters. There are certainly a lot of those around, but I don't think too many are going to buy BHO being better (except tactically, i.e., BHO might be less likely than McCain to push the issue because he'd have other things on his plate).

So, I think that deals with the first part of BHO's supposed brilliant scheme.

The second part is something that McCain is currently doing, and the solution to that is to teach McCain a lesson by using the same video technique outlined above, but using this question.

UWS guy said...

Boo hoo.

P_J said...

This is hardly the first instance of Obama playing the race card. He's been pushing the envelope for a while, seeing what he can get away with.

Turns out, quite a lot.

UWS guy said...

Limbaugh is scrambling to reflect the focus away from McCain's actual position.

PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN! Obama is Bull Conner!

Patm said...

Well, Bull Connor WAS a community activist.

blake said...

Alpha Liberal rebuts with left wing talking points copied-and-pasted from Kos in 5..4..3..2..

Patm said...

Um, I mean ORGANIZER. Bull Connor was a Community Organizer.

I always get those two things mixed up!

UWS guy said...

I admit, I laughed patm.

Peter V. Bella said...

Patm said...
Um, I mean ORGANIZER. Bull Connor was a Community Organizer.

I always get those two things mixed up!


It is not hard. The two are very similar. An organizer does things like hand out pamphelts and tries to get people to go to meetings. An acitivist prints the pamphlets and runs the meetings.

Cedarford said...

Yeah, that is world-class race-baiting from Team Axelrod.

Obama is just a surrogate in this beholden over 25 years of special favors to the billionaire Progressive families of Chicago (Crowns, Pritzkers, Klutzniks) and Axlerods excellent service in playing race to advance his kind.

This game has gone on since the early 1900's in NYC. Play the whites against the minorities, play them off against each other to elevate the natural superiors to all - and speak in different messages to audiences listening in different cultural languages. Be cunning and deceitful. Hold your kind out as the natural repository of wisdom, best suited to have all the landlord, school board, business, lawyer spots in minority communities to best advance their interests. And to ensure those that needed to be educated must learn they are not Americans - but they should be hateful and resentful victims.

NYC-born Axlerod and his NYC writers are just operating on an old script. Leverage your power in the Class Struggle by being the champions of the oppressed - only to maximize your own people's wealth and power.

Zachary Sire said...

Someone took Rush Limbaugh's words out of context and used them in a dishonest way to satisfy their own political agenda? This is an outrage. At least we know Rush doesn't stoop to these kinds of dirty tricks.

rhhardin said...

I don't know if it's any worse than the critics' quotes that appear on theater marquees, as to being lifted out of context.

Palladian said...

"NYC-born Axlerod and his NYC writers are just operating on an old script. Leverage your power in the Class Struggle by being the champions of the oppressed - only to maximize your own people's wealth and power."

Those wily Jews!

The Cedarford Dictionary:

NYC-born: adj. 1. Dirty Jew.

Billionaire progressive families: n. 1. Dirty Jew.

Sprezzatura said...

...we can pick apart the all-but-inevitable weaseling.

Yes! I can't wait. This is an outrage. This is terrible. This is horrible. This is the worst thing I've ever heard!!!!!!!!!

Rush must not be distorted. I'm beside myself. I'm loosing my mind. I need medication......

Unknown said...

garage mahal,

Its called satire. Rush was obviously making fun of Biden and his "clean" and "articulate" comment about Obama.

EnigmatiCore said...

"Obama is flatly and embarrassingly wrong on this, but I find it hard to picture him apologizing. "

Why should he? He has learned from people like Azinsky, Ayers, Wright and a host of others that the ends justify the means, that agitation is necessary, and, most of all, that the cracker deserves it.

garage mahal said...

Limbaugh was not referring to Biden's comments. He was referring to a Reuters story about a University Chicago study here. Nobody has polluted the discourse in this country more than Limbaugh. I'm hoping if Obama has 10 million or so left over he'll run nonstop ads on this racist fat fucker. But that's just me.

Unknown said...

'

First of all, thank you Ann for bringing this to the fore. The New York Times may not print a story on the dishonest Obama immigration ad, but there ARE people at the Times who read Althouse.


I am not so quick to believe that Obama's other ads are stoking racism. I do believe that he is just not smart enough to fully know what is going on with his team.


I mean, look at Obama, for real.

He talks a good game, when he's had time to think about and prepare what he's going to say. But other than that, it just seems that he's being led by his team far more than he's leading them.

And we don't need that kind of governance in the White House, do we?

rhhardin said...

And if you like post-modernist horsing around, check out Protein Wisdom:

As Obama learns poststructuralist iteration and differance, Rush Limbaugh fires back by invoking intentionalism.


Protein Wisdom is parroting jargon, and I'm sure Obama hasn't a clue about postmodernism either.

As to intention, consider Wittgenstein.

Intention isn't a report of an event, but a grammatical component of an account. Even though syntactically it works like a report of an event.

There are a lot of these in language. Belief being another.

Postmodernism takes place far from these insults of it, in another space entirely.

Derrida's Spurs is a nice introduction for guys, but for God's sake skip the introduction.

``And in truth, they too are men, those women feminists so derided by Nietzsche. Feminism is nothing but the operation of a woman who aspires to be like a man. And in order to resemble the masculine dogmatic philosopher this woman lays claim -- just as much as he -- to truth, science and objectivity in all their castrated delusions of virility. Feminism too seeks to castrate. It wants a castrated woman.''

Something Ann could probably agree with, in working out her own style.

Donn said...

Okay, so we can see the pattern of the ALs (Althouse Lefties):

Smear the messenger, don't even address the message. This is the same tactic Obama used against WGN....I guess they think it works?

Palladian said...

"I'm hoping if Obama has 10 million or so left over he'll run nonstop ads on this racist fat fucker. But that's just me."

Oh this is a wonderful strategy for Obama. I definitely join you in urging Obama to spend every possible cent of his campaign funds running negative ads against the nefarious Rush Limbaugh.

I would also urge Obama's many followers to continue to call everyone who disagrees with them or criticizes them "racist fuckers". In fact, that might be a good strategy for the Obama campaign itself to adopt. I suggest running ads with pictures of random people who have criticized The Obama with the words "RACIST FUCKER" superimposed. A winning strategy!

Sprezzatura said...

and a host of others

That's right; like Chicago thugs and our enemies abroad and Stalin and Hitler and Satan.

Come on conservatives take to the streets (or at least type lots and lots of angry comments!) Now is the time. Don't let this outrage pass: our American way of life (and Rush) is threatened.

Donn is right! Don't let the lefties get away with their shameful behavior. Fight, fight, fight, fight--just like McCain says.

Fight (or type) on!!!!!!!!

rhhardin said...

One of the reasons I never mind insults is that it always seems to me that they make my point for me.

I may be mistaken, of course. I might read differently.

If I had been Rush, I would have only said again, recast, what apparently I had said badly the first time.

There's no need to say Obama is unfit to be President.

Leave it to the reader.

Unknown said...

Even Limbaugh's own explanation of the second quote is not satisfying. Maybe it's because his writing is so bad, that I misunderstood.

But it seems that he's saying that he was only repeating what the Mexican government's policies. He claims to be using the Mexican government's policy towards others against the Mexicans that live here. I don't see how that excuses it.

He says: "I took the restrictions Mexico imposes on immigrants and appropriated them as my own suggestions for a new immigration law."

If I follow, he was trying to tell Mexicans here "how dare you act this way in this country, in Mexico, people can't act that way, so you shouldn't be able to here." It's still a slam of Mexican people living here. Why should they be held to the standards imposed by the government of the country they've left. Quite the contrary.

I'm not sure about the first one, but this second snippet is valid. Sorry, Rush.

garage mahal said...

Touchy touchy Palladian. Notice I didn't call you or anyone here a racist, and here you come flying out of the woodwork defending him. Telling. Deal with it, Limbaugh is a racist. We have 20 yrs body of work to examine -- didn't he get fired for making a racist comment on TV from ESPN?

Unknown said...

Limbaugh was not referring to Biden's comments. He was referring to a Reuters story about a University Chicago study here. Nobody has polluted the discourse in this country more than Limbaugh. I'm hoping if Obama has 10 million or so left over he'll run nonstop ads on this racist fat fucker. But that's just me.

garage mahal,

Get your facts straight before you call someone a racist. Biden this comment sometime at the end of January 2008 to New York Observer:

"first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."

Rush then commented on the study on his February 1 show. He was cleary making fun of Biden.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-01-31-biden-2008_x.htm

LonewackoDotCom said...

garage mahal says: "Limbaugh was not referring to Biden's comments. He was referring to a Reuters story..."

He was discussing a Reuters story, but the "clean" bit was an aside taking off on Biden's comments.

As for BHO running more anti-Rush ads, he's made it quite clear that he supports something more far-reaching. Not mentioning Rush or Dobbs specifically, he said: they're counting on us to stop the hateful rhetoric filling our airwaves – rhetoric that poisons our political discourse, degrades our democracy, and has no place in this great nation.

Of course, my definition of "hateful rhetoric" probably differs from that of those at DailyKos, and that's why we have the FirstAmendment. Apparently that's part of BHO's plan for "change".

Peter V. Bella said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Peter V. Bella said...

like Chicago thugs,

Soviet style Chicago tugs. Get it straight and write that down. Now I gotta run and hide from the Chicago Democrat KGB.

LonewackoDotCom said...

I think this example of Mexico's laws will make things a bit clearer to BHO followers like Mixalhs.

Or, there's this.

Revenant said...

Most illegal immigrants are only temporary residents of the United States -- the equivalent of guest workers. They are still Mexican citizens, and still consider themselves Mexican rather than American.

Mexico is a democracy. It is extremely hostile to foreigners because most Mexicans want it to be extremely hostile to foreigners. Holding the Mexican people accountable for that is entirely fair, especially considering the hefty chunk of Mexico's GDP that is earned in the United States.

Ann Althouse said...

How weird that the Limbaugh haters act like they are too dumb to understand the show. It's not hard to understand, but strangely, it's pretty sophisticated!

I'm Full of Soup said...

Obama actully and finally sounded a bit presidential today when he spoke of the financial crisis and the plan he is putting together.

He needs to do that more IMO. He does not get votes by attacking Rush, McCain's VP etc.

Garage:

The MSM has done more than anyone except you to "pollute the discourse". Dishonesty and bias will do it every time.

Patricia said...

This is an absolute outrage.

Rush is the obvious victim of slander. I hope he sues.

Thank you Phyliss Schafley, of Madison, for pointing this out to us.

Let's fight fire with fire.

EnigmatiCore said...

"I don't trust anyone's self-serving assertions any more."

Good! You have arrived where most commenters have been here with regards to your posts for months!

Bill Kilgore said...

Obama may win this election yet, but the tone of his campaign is going down harder than Charles Nelson Reilly backstage at an Elton John concert.

Clean it up little man, or else everyone will see what a little man you are.

I'm Full of Soup said...

ECore:

Excellently worded. Thanks. I was gonna reply to FLS' latest rant but I figured "why bother wasting my time". You said it better than I could have.

Paul said...

Barack Obama is Warren G. Harding, and would be a worse president.

Anonymous said...

Well, thank God the wetbacks to whom the ad was directed don't speak English and, even if they did, wouldn't be caught dead reading the commentary of a hypocritical, useless blond mouth breather and her legion of sex starved, racist, limp dicked yes-men!

Amen!

Peter V. Bella said...

La Raza, a community organization that supports street gangs. Think about it folks. He is addressing a group that aids and abets criminals.

vbspurs said...

In the "Whatever Happened To" category, via Drudge:

Biden taps reporter's chest, tells him, 'you need to work on your pecs'... Developing...

LOL.

Cedarford said...

Palladian -

Now, now Palladian, I applaud you and the prediliction to Jewish males to homosexuality. It frees up Jewish women to be lifestyle hardcore feminist lesbians, childless careerists, eager concubines to alpha male minorities, or being early-on coed relationless, BJ artists to any goy that hooks up and springs for a nice night out.

Self extinction is sexy!

The Cedarford Dictionary:

NYC-born: adj. 1. Dirty Jew.

Billionaire progressive families: n. 1. Dirty Jew.


But Palladian, is it kosher to bring up Sandrah Bernhard? And a whole Jewish community center laughing in tears as she talked about how great it would be if thug-niggahs she would direct gang-raped the Republican VP nominee?

I mean, in Jewish terms, does that rate right up with the yucks hypothetically gained from "Chosen" talking about lynching Obamessiah? Would the DC Jewish Comunity Center been rolling in the aisles if Bernhard had been talking about Omamessiah encouraging more Crown Heights thug-niggah huntdowns of foul Yeshiva folk?

Let’s be honest. Jew-Girl would not have had her audience at the DC Jewish Community Center if she had proposed instead that white meth-heads under her (implied) command target and rape Michelle Obama.

She would have been an instant outcast amongst Jews. Not ever given another gig.

But the Jews assembled, instead, roared in laughter.

Why?

Because Bernhard successfully portrayed Palin, in Jewish eyes, as an inferior white "Flyover Land" Christianist deserving to be raped.

Now you got Uncle Women, like Sarah Palin, who jumps on the s–t and points her fingers at other women. Turncoat b—h! Don’t you f–kin’ reference Old Testament, bitch! You stay with your new Goyish crappy shiksa funky bulls–t! Don’t you touch my Old Testament, you b—h! Because we have left it open for interpre-ta-tion! It is no longer taken literally! You whore in your f–kin’ cheap New Vision cheap-ass plastic glasses and your [sneering voice] hair up. A Tina Fey-Megan Mullally brokedown bulls–t moment.

Got niggahs in my control that will bend the b--h over if she ever sets foot in Manhattan and bring her to her f--ng Jesus!

Well, this stinking Jew-gal would deserve to have her ugly face rifle-butted if she ever tried to go past “comedic excess” to an actual attack by what she thinks are her “loyal black animal Niggahs” on the VP nominee.

Then billed 50,000 for beneficial plastic surgery by security people who can say pounding her face to paste improved Sandra's looks.

The slimey Jew-Boy in charge of the show at the DC Jewish Community Center, Israeli-born Ari Roth, said this in defending her - “niggahs will gang-rape her if I say so, schtick”:

We’re proud of our producing — proud of Sandra’s sense of timing — taking the fight out to the house and to the street beyond, channeling so much of our rage and frustration at the bizarre recent twists of fortune since Karl Rove trotted out Sarah Palin for John McCain to briefly meet and then get in bed with.Sandra’s face is hanging 10 feet tall in a banner over the DCJCC steps and we’re proud that she’s a new emblem and ambassador for our theater and our center. She’s not the only one who represents us. But her large heart, her generous talent, and her big mouth are all a big part of who we are.

Yes, Bernhard is a big part of who Roth and his crowd are. The same Jew-boy would be calling for apologies, demand abject groveling, and lifetime blacklisting if a non-Jew comic ever assailed minorities or Jews with gang-rape threats as a joke.

Jews are generally incredibly smart, cunning, gifted individuals who sometimes are the world’s finest talent - but always get in trouble in creating real friction when when as groups and cabals - they do incredibly dangerous or bigoted stuff. Overeaching and menacing.

The usual excusatory spiel is that Jews have been tossed or made very unwelcome, eventually tossed or killed in 52 of 58 cultures they have been in - “because of the irrational psychological disorder of anti-Semitism”. Which must be a global psychosis - "since Jews are pure as lilies."

Well, is America next up because we cannot abide a “wildly popular amongst Jewish Community Center members comedian who wishes to convey images of (1)inferior black animals at her beck and call (2)raping and subjugating any white Christian woman who dispeases her?

I’m beginning to understand why cultures that embraced diversity, like ancient Greece, Rome, the Ptolemys, the Caliphate, the Moors, Spain, the Brits, modern 20th Century France, Germany, Russia and the whole Ummah - finally sought to remove Jewish influence.
That when Jews wanted a homeland, the feeling was, OK, but nowhere near our people…we fear for their safety, economic exploitation.

Trying to balance Jewish talent and many gifts against Jewish cancers like Bolshevikism, the modern ACLU, and the Sandra Bernhards. Should they stay or should they go?

Sometimes, it appears that what Jews alledge is the “psychological infirmity” of 189 of 191 nations prevails. They best be gone. Sacred law and Constitutions erected as legal shields nonwithstanding….

Just saying, Palladian...suck on that big chunk of Bernhard-Ari Roth salami...

And yes, Jew-boy and Jew-girl ARE excessive gratuitous slurs on my part - but then again 637 DC Jews at 60 a plate prime rib comedy dinner tables howling in amusement about Bernhard saying her niggers would put the Jesus deluded VP nominee in her place with their big black dicks - is the sort of provocation that invites "backlash against innocent Jewish Progressives".

You know. "Jewish Progressives". Code for "dirty Jew" in Palladian's book.
The pure clean people, immeasurably innocent and noble, who cheer as one of their own says:

You stay with your new Goyish crappy shiksa funky bulls–t! Don’t you touch my Old Testament, you b—h!

And their man, Avi Roth, defends yet again:

When Sandra warns Sarah Palin not to come into Manhattan lest she get gang-raped by some of Sandra’s big black brothers, she’s being provocative, combative, humorous, and yes, let’s allow, disgusting. That's why we love her!

Martin Gale said...

That's not the David Axelrod I knew!

-Barack Obama

Bruce Hayden said...

Even Limbaugh's own explanation of the second quote is not satisfying. Maybe it's because his writing is so bad, that I misunderstood.

But it seems that he's saying that he was only repeating what the Mexican government's policies. He claims to be using the Mexican government's policy towards others against the Mexicans that live here. I don't see how that excuses it.


But that is just it. He first threw out what he and his listeners considered an extreme position. And then, the punch line was that this is what the Mexican government is doing right now to its own immigrants and legal aliens. He has hit more than once on that government and its hypocrisy as to how they treat aliens and immigrants, versus how they expect their own emigrants to be treated by us.

Peter V. Bella said...

I Another VRWC; Rangel Claims GOP Guerrilla war against him.

Rangel, the dean of the New York congressional delegation, has faced a string of embarrassing revelations -- he didn't pay taxes on rental income for a beach house in the Dominican Republic; he used three rent-stabilized apartments in Harlem, including one for a campaign office; he used his congressional stationery to drum up private donations to a college center named after him.

This guy is a real pooch. He got caught and now it is someone else's fault. Democrat Excuse Abuse. Don't worry Charlie, some one will come up with the cash under the table to reimburse you.

Anonymous said...

The real Ann Althouse on Jessica Valenti and feminism-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwt9-Wb6R5E

Methadras said...

The Left, the left, the left. Isn't that all that matters?

Methadras said...

Waxine Meiss said...

The real Ann Althouse on Jessica Valenti and feminism-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwt9-Wb6R5E


HAHAHAHAHA!!! Classic, "do you know I voted for Russ Feingold 143 times?" HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Shit, I pissed myself. A little.

ricpic said...

Keep it up Cedarputz and you'll stroke out right in the middle of one of your self-induced top floor blood pressure Jew Boy rants.

Maybe right in the middle of Dirty Je.......

Now wouldn't that be sweet?

Poetic justice, I'd say.

Cedarford said...

rick-lick - Even sweeter than watching Bernhard and her cheering Jewish Community Center fans get discombobulated by black rape-animals or stupid Christianists that took offense to her bigoted spiel?

And rifle-butting the bitches face WOULD be a significant improvement to her looks. Though I'm sure her pet black rape-animals might do the equivalent by a a nice stomping.

JAL said...

Limbaugh is scrambling to reflect the focus away from McCain's actual position.

Errr.... And why would he do that?

Repeated information: McCain's immigration position -- even the 'borders first' version is NOT a position Limbaugh endorses. (And RL has never been shy about saying that.)

McCain and Limbaugh are not hand in hand ideological buddies. (Though I think Limbaugh will vote for McCain-Palin).

I think it is funny that the leftists actually think all Republicans look / sound the same.
We actually allow different opinions to coexist in our tent.

bleu meanie said...

Would you please link to the original Limbaugh quotes?

UWS guy said...

wow...that youtube has been watched 24,000 times...

Rose said...

Rush has never had a kind word to say about McCain. that's what makes this so weird. He didn't back when McCain ran against Bush and he hasn't throughout this election season - until, sort of, McCain won, and it became clear just how bad a choice Obama really is.

Even without Palin, conservatives would have to turn to McCain because he is closer to what's real and important than Obama the sounds-so-good but-isn't king.

"Conservatives' should not make the same mistake the Dems did with Lieberman. You don't eat your own, and ultimately, you want a President who understands that he works for ALL the people - ALL parties. And McCain, whether you like it or not, has shown that he can do that. Palin has, too.

I don't think we will ever recover from this intense partisanship, but they are the only chance we have to do so.... getting off track here - back on - it's just crazy to use Rush against McCain.

And to be fair - I think what Biden meant by 'clean' was 'no political baggage.' Little did he know.

(I am, btw, a big fan of McCain from way back and a big fan of Palin as well - and yes, I do listen to Rush.)

Synova said...

"He claims to be using the Mexican government's policy towards others against the Mexicans that live here. I don't see how that excuses it."

I realize that others have addressed this but I just wanted to make sure it got through... Rush was NOT suggesting that we implement the Mexican government's policies so there is nothing to excuse. Reading the whole riff it is blindingly clear that he is presenting a "plan" that would be extreme to anyone not living in a survivalist camp in Montana... and the punch-line was that it was the actual Mexican policy.

Rush is often sarcastic like that.

And the fact that Rush and McCain are at odds and have been forever... coupling them together in an ad that blatantly misrepresents McCain's views of illegal immigration says something about just how much Barack respects Hispanics.

Which is not at all.

Because he's lying to them on the hope that because it's in Spanish no one will notice and that the Hispanic people who might not speak English well will not have heard enough of Rush or know enough of McCain's history to know the difference.

Obama is planning on the fact that (he thinks) Hispanic people are stupid.

Anonymous said...

Cedarford -- You such a fucking twat. I don't read your ridiculously long and -- I rest assured -- inane posts. But that short one above caught my eye.

Tell me. Humor me. Why does it matter that Sandra Bernhard is Jewish? What does that have to do with anything? Is she genetically programmed in some way because of her religion? Do you think that what David Lee Roth has to say is equally important?

Tell me also why you care what a washed-up, horse-faced comic has to say.

Unknown said...

Obama took the chance, on very good authority, that the media would not call him on this, so he will get away with it for a time. Not that many people read the blogs or other alternative media.

It is up to both McCain and Palin to raise these issues in the debates. I hope they do it, and I hope the millions listening find out what sort of "new" politician Obama really is.

Anonymous said...

Back to the topic at hand, it's weird that immigration has such an effect on elections so often because nothing ever seems to change with regard to, you know, actual policy.

If McCain is smart, he'll now go hard to the right on immigration, even if it's a total lie. It's the only political play for him at this point. He's sort of boxed in, as Mickey Kaus has noted. Moreover, in the states in play that he needs to win, anti-immigration will put him over the top.

Methadras said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Methadras said...

Rose said...

I don't think we will ever recover from this intense partisanship, but they are the only chance we have to do so.... getting off track here - back on track


No. You are right on track. This is the poisonous villainy that Leftism and Leftists have injected for the past 50 years into the body politic of the US. It is Leftism that has created this division in any attempt at political unity in this country. It has been Leftism that seeks to destroy from within to remold this country into an image only Bolshevists could dream of. If Leftists had it their way in this country, you would be one of the first people on the wall and you would be wondering how it got this way. They've already done it many times before and they seek to try and crack the American nut.

You see it in the sheer lunacy that is the Left, their derangement, their insane rantings, their seeming ability to mobilize and fund large amounts of useful idiot leftist zombies to vomit their proscribed sloganeering and pass them off as official policy. You see it here. Point the finger at them. The are the sole blame for this political poison and I spit on them for taking it to this point. All the while they shamelessly and unabashedly seek power for it's own sake so they can put their puppets into positions of power to chase after the golden goose of taxpayer money to further fund their treasonous acts of trying to tear this country apart.

I'll vote for John McCain because at the very least he's an antithesis of what these ghouls are and that is as good a vote as I can muster to stop these political vampires in their tracks.

bleu meanie said...

Per Jake Tapper,

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/from-the-fact-1.html

Railing against NAFTA in 1993, Limbaugh said: "If you are unskilled and uneducated, your job is going south. Skilled workers, educated people are going to do fine 'cause those are the kinds of jobs NAFTA is going to create.

If we are going to start rewarding no skills and stupid people, I'm serious, let the unskilled jobs that take absolutely no knowledge whatsoever to do -- let stupid and unskilled Mexicans do that work."

Someone please explain to me where the parody, irony or sarcasm is in this statement.

Synova said...

blue... I thought it was that NAFTA supporters were saying that we wouldn't lose the *good* jobs, only the bad ones no one wanted.

Rush was parodying the PRO-NAFTA arguments... or at least that particular pro-NAFTA argument.

Even just in the bit you quoted.... he's railing AGAINST this, not arguing for it.

Synova said...

Also, please!

Very very few people are actually against immigration!!!

Reframing the illegal alien question as being anti-immigrant is dishonest from the start of it and it shouldn't be allowed to go uncorrected.

The "anti-immigrant" side of this argument is actually made up of people who think that our borders should be controlled for a whole host of reasons, and that those who violate our laws should not be rewarded for it but should be deported post haste so that more illegal immigrants are not encouraged to break our laws and so that those who immigrate legally will not be penalized in comparison.

Chip Ahoy said...

Ha ha ha. Obama thinks Americans don't speak Spanish. He said as much. He's dumber than I imagined if he thought he'd get away with this crap. "As I've been saying all along ... if you'd been paying attention ... Americans don't speak two languages. They're insular. They could really learn a little more about the rest of the world."

Arf! Arf Arf! clapclapclapclapclap

Note to Obama's camp: Grow up dumb asses. You're dealing with Republicans now. Big mean ol' Republicans! It's a whole 'nuther ball game.

On the other hand, weasels make pretty good presidents, don'cha think? Bilingually weaseling around. I'd rather think of him as a stoat. Perhaps an ermine. It's more royal but just as slinky.

section9 said...

Cedarford's problem is that he finds such rhetoric only among the Jooos. But that's what makes C4 such a National Treasure.

The Left's problem is that they will accept Sandra Bernhard long after her rape spiel has become a You Tube Greatest Hit. To the Left, it's acceptable rhetoric. That's what appalls many conservatives about the Left: the lack of standards.

Nobody even stopped to think why the first people that Sandra thought of as rapists were black men. And Sandra is a Good Democrat.

bleu meanie said...

Oh, O.K., so "I'm serious" is facetious, then.

Unknown said...

Compare Ann's opinion on this ad (bad bad bad Obama) to Ann's opinion on the Raines ad (it's TRUE - he WAS an advisor - bad bad bad Obama) for what are both basically misleading ads and Ann's so called "neutrality" becomes a laughing stock.

Unknown said...

McCain is 1000 times closer to Limbaugh than Obama is to Raines.

Fair is fair.

Joe said...

Obama has long struck me as a very charismatic, but rather daft and bland man. Perhaps the most surprising thing, is how truly awful he is speaking extemporaneously. (A few slips of the tongue is one thing, but the constant stream is very surprising for a front runner.)

However, he doesn't strike me as being mean or Machiavellian.

So why has his campaign taken such a sharp turn toward the nasty of late?

I'm growing convinced it's because Obama isn't, and never has been, in charge of his campaign. He really is a charismatic empty suit which his handlers have filled up with canned speeches and heavily controlled environments (and he really does do well in those venues.) Unfortunately, Obama's puppet masters are extremely mean, nasty, vile people. And they are very spooked. They were caught with their pants down with Palin. They likely had commercials ready to go for Romney or Pawlenty, but didn't even have a folder on Palin (they probably looked her up on Wikipedia as soon as the pick was announced.)

In the end, Obama isn't running ads, approving them or probably even seeing them before they air. His handlers are and since they have no sense of honor or decency, they are surprised at the backlash they've received over their vile attacks on Palin and onto this latest piece of garbage.

I'll go one step further and suggest that McCain knows this. He knows it because he knows Obama and he knows Obama is as empty a suit as they come. And that's been the entire point of McCain's ads for the last few weeks--they aren't about convincing voters of anything. Rather, he is goading Obama's handlers into making mistakes, just like this one. And they are falling for it hook, line and sinker. They are becoming increasingly desperate and desperate people, no matter how Machiavellian, make mistakes. They also lose control of their candidate--they put words in his mouth that don't sound natural or convincing.

The ultimate possible scenario is that Obama begins to believe that he actually runs the show and either goes off script or fires his chief handlers. The result will be disaster.

bleu meanie said...

Although, I have to agree with UWS that the ad is brilliant in that it does bring attention to McCain's position on amnesty for illegal immigrants.

Unknown said...

JOe,

Thank you for agreeing with my observations, as I mentioned above earlier at 6:03


Satire?!

For all you Palin haters, of couse you know about this:

Bullwinkle Assassinated

(Apologies if Althousians have already seen it).

Unknown said...

And where was Ann when McCain distorted Obama's record on immigration in a spanish language ad?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/us/politics/16madbox.html

Oh that's right. She was silent.

Half a year of cruel neutrality, and still not ONE post critical of McCain.

A Joke.

Eli Blake said...

downtownlad:

I pointed out McCain's spanish language ad problem in a comment thread here the other day.

Saying one thing in English and the opposite in Spanish, that smacks of the way Yassir Arafat used to preach peace in English and Jihad in Arabic. But I guess when John McCain does it then it's actually Obama's fault.

Eli Blake said...

And Rush is hardly a guy who should be upset about being quoted out of context or stirring up racial fears.

It was just last year before the Chicago-Indianapolis superbowl that Rush jumped on the media saying they were out there saying that Rex Grossman would fail, because they hated Rex Grossman, because he was (gasp) white! Never mind that his counterpart, Peyton Manning, was also white, or that the press was right and Grossman actually did stink, but Mr. 'Donovan McNabb is overrated' Limbaugh saves his most racist comments for when the subject is black quarterbacks. The rest of the world moved on from that after Doug Williams won the Superbowl in 1988 but Limbaugh still has trouble with the idea that black quarterbacks might actually be starting in the NFL because they are good enough to be there.

Unknown said...

Paraphrase a blog comment: Critic: Clooney's latest flick is far from a great movie.

Clooney: Critic said "Clooney's latest flick is ... a great movie."

Obama's anti-McCain ad is a distortion of the truth.

Obama: "Obama's anti-McCain ad is ... the truth."

Eli Blake said...

Oh, and because I would prefer to discuss practical solutions to the economic crisis rather than all this lipstick-on-a-pig garbage,

this is what I'd do about the economic crisis: It will be interesting to see if either candidate comes up with any ideas along this line:

If the Federal Government is going to effectively back up institutions and banks that make risky decisions and then step in and absorb the fallout when the risks become reality, then we (collectively, as taxpayers) should share in the rewards. Let the Treasury Department hang onto a share-- say in the 10-20% range-- of stock in the company, and mandate that this stock remain under the control of the Federal government for at least 20 years after any bailout. That way if and when the company regains profitability then We the People will get a direct return on our 'investment' (made as it was under the darkest of circumstances.)



This may be criticized as 'socialistic' but let's face it-- the bailout and takeover of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and AIG are nothing else. Maintaining a 20% federal ownership of companies like these actually would achieve three goals: 1. it would over time pay us all back as a society so that we wouldn't just be paying out good money for bad, 2. it would help stabilize the share price as the company clawed its way back, and 3. while 20% isn't a majority and the major decisions would ultimately be left to the rest of the investors and the CEO they appoint, it's a big enough piece that the government would have a lot of input. Treasury Secretaries are by nature a cautious bunch so having a representative of the treasury department representing taxpayer interests in a corporate boardroom meeting might influence those decisions in a more cautious direction but clearly that isn't such a bad thing.

And then once 20 years are past, the treasury department could slowly release our shares onto the open market, using the profits to pay off our own national debt or to pay for other spending (possibly reducing the need to collect taxes from the rest of us.)

former law student said...

McCain is 1000 times closer to Limbaugh than Obama is to Raines.

The Obama campaign not only shamelessly misused Limbaugh's quotes but also connected McCain to Limbaugh over immigration, an issue over which the 2 men have continually disagreed.


As a conspiracy theorist I would suggest that the commercial is a subtle but brilliant way to emphasize McCain's deviation from Limbaugh orthodoxy. Will the dittoheads, disgusted, stay home on Election Day? Or will they wryly shake their heads, and go vote for that wacky maverick?

I haven't looked for the show yet. The excerpts may yet give Obama plausible deniability.

Is race an issue when you talk about immigrants? I would submit it's the same issue for everyone talking about immigrants from Latin America.

Anonymous said...

It's really amazing to me that union types choose massive illegal immigration of low-wage workers yet also choose to be against free trade. Because that's what they do when they vote Democratic, as they tend overwhelmingly to do.

It makes no sense. Unionized workers would be much better served by being for free trade, which allows the United States to compete in international markets, and against the immigration of low-wage workers, who are taking low-wage jobs at even lower wages than would otherwise obtain.

I'm sure union workers like to be against both, but there's no option for that.

vbspurs said...

OT, heads up:

Bill O'Reilly's site also hacked

They posted a screenshot of the names, emails, passwords, addresses of his Premium members.

So if you have a registration there, CHANGE IT NOW.

These kids are dumb. This only makes us Conservatives get angrier, and angrier and angrier.

We vote. You don't. Go on, give us more reasons to wipe the floor with you in this election.

Cheers,
Victoria

Daryl said...

Obama apologize? Hahahaha.

That man will never apologize for anything.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

It's not hard to understand [Rush], but strangely, it's pretty sophisticated!

I remember sometime back how Rush... discovered really, what seemed to be an innocuous effort to affect consumer choice in an underhanded sort way. To make the SUV a menace to society.

At first he didn't let on what he was up to.

But as he kept reading these stories and the paper stories piled on a variation of a theme started to become clear, the SUV as responsible agent for an inordinate amount of carnage on the road. And then Rush set out to point out how the opposite was true. People were safer on an SUV.

I don't know anybody on media giving us that kind of bang for our attention.

Rush treats listeners with respect. He makes the precarious world of culture and politics fun.

Rush used to have a thing, that people who disagree with him would be bumped to the front of the line.

Rush was the impetus behind the seminar caller fenomena. Talk about fear.

I could go on.. restless legs syndrome?

Methadras said...

bleu meanie said...

Although, I have to agree with UWS that the ad is brilliant in that it does bring attention to McCain's position on amnesty for illegal immigrants.


Brilliancy? It's an unadulterated lie. Oh, I'm sorry, I just realized you've taken a nuanced position, how low-brow of me. [I'm Mr. Barely and I approved that message. Void where prohibited.]

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Sometimes I hated him. I never understood why he was.. shall we say less than enthusiastic about a possible Powell candidacy.

Powell had a chance at being first, yet he choose to put himself first.

As Hitchens has pointed out, nothing can come btwg Powell and his halo.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Oh yes.. Obama.

Obama is such an amateur, he provably doesn't realize how he has given Rush the opening he relishes.

Rouster said...

Althouse=Phyliss Schafley

They both have gay sons and are willing to string their gay sons up on a tree while they support the republican party.

True patriots.

Zachary Sire said...

Why hasn't Ann mentioned LYNN FORESTER DE ROTHSCHILD? Here is a peek into her life of "humble" luxury.

blake said...

Ah, yes, after we rig the elections, repeal the 14th amendment, we shall have to kill all the 'mos.

(I'm not a Republican and not even really conservative, but if we're going to institute theocracy, I'd like to be on the side of the winning church.)

blake said...

Zeeps,

Wealth <> elitism

You just sound jealous when you write about others' wealth.

Bissage said...

THIS sounds like a job for . . .
Nonsense Rhyme Cheerleader Man!!!
(a copyrighted feature of this broadcast):

Plastic chair, brunette hair, naughty woodland duck,
Macarena, air-ah plane-ah, baby’s out of luck.

Gooooooooooooo TEAM!

I'm Full of Soup said...

Bissage:

Good one.

When is the book being released? Or deal with SNL? Or T-shirts at least "I knew Nonsense Ryhme Man when he was just Bissage".

Re Rush:

I get his newsletter - it's hilarious and somewhere in the stack of stuff, I have the edition where he facetiously wrote about his immigration plan (which was actually Mexico's real law).

I will see if I can find it and email it to Ann.

Rick Lockridge said...

If you're Obama, and you've got Rush sitting over there more or less on the sidelines, playing the role of bemused observer/commentator but otherwise Sitting This One Out, why would you want to poke him with a stick? How can that horrible idea have ever got through an Obama campaign media committee meeting?


If Rush takes this as a personal challenge, gets his dander up, and decides to change his position from "oh, go ahead and vote for McCain, he's probably better than Obama, if you have nothing better to do that Tuesday" to "Obama is a lying, dishonest thug who MUST be defeated on election day," that is not a subtle change and the implications may be large.


Love him or hate him (and I admire his talent, but not how he uses it), Rush is a force.

AlphaLiberal said...

All of a sudden Ann cares about if a quites if "recontextualized."

But when the Obama line about calling the McCain reform post "lipstick on a pig" was recontextualized, she just rode right along with the right wing.

I'm not going to subject myself to Lust Rimbaugh to find out if he has a point. But Salon did concede it so maybe there's a point.

Ann, of course, takes the Salon quote out of context and missses where they say of Limbaugh:

"The rest of his Op-Ed, however, is patently ridiculous. "

Recontextualize much, Ann?

AlphaLiberal said...

And, McCain has caved into the right on immigration as on most issues. The right wing demanded slavish adherence to their extreme positions and hurt their nominee in the process.

McCain came out against his own 2006 proposal to win the nomination. He's realigend with hard liners. And that core message of the ad should be hammered on a second ad that doesn't use dubious quotes.

former law student said...

It's really amazing to me that union types choose massive illegal immigration of low-wage workers yet also choose to be against free trade.

I can parse this out for you. First, business owners, not unions, chose massive illegal immigration of low-wage workers. It wasn't union workers who trucked in loads of illegals to work at the Iowa kosher meatpackers, as an example recently in the news. In fact, Midwest meatpackers such as Hormel used to pay union members a decent wage until the packers deliberately set out to bust the unions.

First the meatpackers replaced the union workers with scab workers; then they replaced the scabs with legal immigrants, finally they replaced the legal immigrants with illegal immigrants.

Businesses also prefer the flexibility in working conditions that illegal immigrants provide. If the illegals don't like the working conditions, they're free to go back where they came from. And Upton Sinclair's The Jungle suddenly becomes relevant once more.

So, to prevent this race to the bottom of both wages and working conditions, unions want illegal immigrants to come out of the shadows. If they're going to work in America, they deserve the same wages and protections that American workers have.

Re free trade. Jobs that paid Americans good wages making goods for Americans moved from the North to the South during the 60s and 70s, from the South to Mexico during the 90s, and from Mexico to China in the '00s. These jobs have basically been replaced with minimum wage, part-time "Do you want fries with that?" jobs. What rational factory worker would not prefer a job that would support a family to that?

Welcome to Wal-Mart!

Bruce Hayden said...


Re free trade. Jobs that paid Americans good wages making goods for Americans moved from the North to the South during the 60s and 70s, from the South to Mexico during the 90s, and from Mexico to China in the '00s. These jobs have basically been replaced with minimum wage, part-time "Do you want fries with that?" jobs. What rational factory worker would not prefer a job that would support a family to that?


This does sound logical at some low level, and it is their failure to understand this that so frustrates the Democrats about so much of their base.

But of course, it is wrong. At the macro/ national level, those jobs that went south were replaced by better jobs.

Part of the problem is that we were paying a union premium for semi-skilled labor. No surprise that those were the first to go elsewhere. We now live in a global economy, and trying to keep low skill jobs here just wasn't going to work.

What do we get for giving up those overpaid low skill jobs? More wealth for most everyone. Bigger houses, nicer cars, big TVs in multiple rooms, computers, etc. The general wealth has increased as a result.

Yes, there are many who made bad life choices. When I graduated from high school and went to college, there were many who chose to go straight to work, or did so after a year or two of college. For awhile, they made a lot better money than those of us who went to college, and then graduate school, did doing just the sort of work you are bemoaning losing.

Decades later though, those with the relevant graduate degrees (the bartender last night had a Master's in English Lit, which is why I am limiting this to relevant degrees), have almost all had very good careers. Many of those who took the quick way out did not.

former law student said...

Yes, there are many who made bad life choices. When I graduated from high school and went to college, there were many who chose to go straight to work, or did so after a year or two of college. For awhile, they made a lot better money than those of us who went to college, and then graduate school

While I credit Bruce's sincerity, and his belief in egalitarianism, the idea that everyone is capable of graduate school is unrealistic. To believe this is to believe that Ann's C-student hs classmate who went to beauty school had the same shot at Ann's career that Ann had.

But I could be wrong; maybe every French soldier did carry a Marshal's baton in his cartridge pouch.

Unknown said...

Ann et al.,

I find it extremely interesting that no link is provided to the original Rush Limbaugh clips. We just have to rely on Rush Limbaugh's word for what it says?

First, I'd like to point out that we all know how Rush feels about Mexicans, or at least undocumened Mexicans (which I don't think he distinguishes). So to act like these "parodies" were not conveying is true thoughts on the issue is, in itself, disingenuous. Are you implying that Rush actually *hearts* Mexicans and all this time has been just parodying?

Second, to the facts. From Limbaugh's own site (which, doesn't have the links to the clips either, interestingly):

(1) "Shut your mouth or get out!"

He said it. He said that Mexico has laws like this (though, I defy him to find a single Mexican law that says "shut your mouth or get out"; indeed, that's his spin). He says taht he would like to propose similar laws here for Mexicans living here, which he calls "Limbaugh Laws."

"Everybody's making immigration proposals these days. Let me add mine to the mix. Call it the Limbaugh Laws . . . You think the Limbaugh Laws are harsh? Well, every one of these laws I just mentioned are actual laws of Mexico today. That's how the Mexican government handles immigrants in their country, yet Mexicans come here illegally and protest in our streets. How do you say double standard in Spanish? How about no mas?"

Are you, Ann, implying that Rush does not support these "Mexican" laws for the United States? Of course that's what he's saying. He's making the facile and erroneous claim (often made; he's not the first) that it would only be fair to treat Mexicans in the United States by the same standards that the Mexican government treats its foreigners.

This makes no sense. The Mexicans coming here are coming her to get away from that government. Moreover, I would hope that treatment weren't the treatment I'd receive. I'd hate to go to another country, say Syria, and have them arrest me and put me on some Cuban island without charge or hope of due process, for example.

In sum, it's not a parody. He's not making fun of the Mexican laws, he's advocating their adoption here, or at least lamenting that those laws don't exist here.

(2) "stupid and unqualified"

This ones a little closer. But it seems in the context of the quote (though, I've yet to see any audio proof of the context, or even the full text, instead of just a mini-excerpt.....WHERE IS IT?) he's using "let stupid and unskilled Mexicans do that work" to rile up his audience.

He's saying, "look, NAFTA thinks that your jobs are so easy that even stupid Mexicans can do them." Yes, he's trying to get around calling names directly, but just because he's embedded it in "humor" or "satire," doesn't mean it's not what he thinks. Indeed, we know it is (from the whole of his commentary)

Also, consider this, at the end of the day, which of the two, NAFTA (its drafters, let's say) or Rush Limbaugh holds the view that Mexicans are stupid and unskilled? When you think about it that way, you see that "parody" is Rush's clever way of shielding himself from responsible for what he full and well meant to say.

In sum, Rush's response sounds like this to me: "Hey, you can't use that quote that way. I cleverly used parody to disguise what I was saying! No fair! Of course, that's what I think, BUT I NEVER SAID IT, uh, I mean, I never said it without embedding it in HUMOR, which of course means I never said it."

To that, I respond: "How dare we criticize Rush, he's not a obese, idiotic, drug addicted hypocrite! He's a really good guy."

I didn't say any of that, because I embedded in sarcasm.

Nice try.

Ann Althouse said...

Eh. As I've said, I've heard the audio on the podcast, but I don't have a link to the audio. The op-ed accurately quotes what I've heard.