Fools Rush In
Bill O’Reilly pretty much always refers to Media Matters as a “left-wing smear site.” Granted, I don’t take his accusations seriously — and I highly doubt he’d be having similar complaints if there’s a right-wing site that posted up things said by Keith Olberman and Michael Moore — but I do take it with a grain of salt nonethless. That what you have to do with any source of information these days.
Nonetheless, I took notice of this article about Rush Limbaugh. MM’s headline is “Service Men Who Support Withdrawal Are ‘Phony Soldiers.’” Depending on who you believe that comment could have been taken out of context. The part that bugs me, which I don’t think could have been taken out of context, came well before it in the transcript. You can read it for yourself if you’re so inclined, but a caller said:
CALLER 1: Good. Why is it that you always just accuse the Democrats of being against the war and suggest that there are absolutely no Republicans that could possibly be against the war?
The caller goes on to explain how he’s a Republican yet he’s against the war, and Rush just can’t handle the idea. (I overcame the temptation to type that last bit in all caps, barely).
LIMBAUGH: Mike, you can’t possibly be a Republican.
CALLER 1: I am.
LIMBAUGH: You are — you are –
CALLER 1: I am definitely a Republican.
LIMBAUGH: You can’t be a Republican. You are –
CALLER 1: Oh, I am definitely a Republican.
LIMBAUGH: You are tarnishing the reputation, ’cause you sound just like a Democrat.
So, this is what I’m always going on about in terms of divisive politics and tainted discourse. In Rush’s world everyone who wants to call themselves a Republican has to support the war in Iraq, and by extension everyone who wants to withdraw even remotely soon must therefore be a Democrat. The whole spectrum of possible opinions on the matter, reduced to red vs blue. I’m not saying that liberals never do this kind of thing, just that, god dammit, here’s an egregious example right in front of my face. Not only are people allowed to believe what they want on the issue, but there are a zillion other issues to talk about that matter at least as much to everyone. Is it really that hard to believe that an intelligent human being, after examining the available information, might come to the conclusion that we should leave (or stay in) Iraq, regardless of that person’s stated political affiliation?
