Rush Limbaugh

[guywithashovel]

Klavan attempts to reach out and change our minds by calling us all "yellow-bellied, lily-livered intellectual coward(s)". Hardcore right-wingers like him wouldn't recognize diplomacy if it punched him in the face.

It's not surprising to me that someone like Andrew Klavan doesn't find Limbaugh's show particularly shocking. However, as someone that doesn't write articles that call my readers names, I do. I have been trapped in a car listening to that blowhard for hours on end. And I find Limbaugh misogynistic, ignorant, small-minded, and hypocritical.

Yeah, I know. A short while after he issued his challenge, Klavan appeared on Fox News to talk about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3i_gk3DEL5o

Evidently, if you listen to Rush, and you come to a different opinion about the man than Klavan does, he's going to accuse you of not really listening to him.

Personally, I've never listed to Rush for longer than a few minutes, so I hesitate on actually labeling him as racist, hateful, or whatever. I just can't listen to talk radio of any kind for very long. Sometimes in the car, I'll turn on NPR (an alleged "left wing" station) and listen to those programs where they talk about books, movies, restaurants, and other artsy or cultural things. But after a while, that constant talking starts to get on my nerves.

However, I do find myself put off by many of Rush Limbaugh's fans (though not all). He seems to appeal to a lot of people who are similar to how the media portrays him, so maybe his detractors aren't too far off.

[BroomJockey]

Actually, most people in thread admitted to never listening to him.

Please quote the exact posts/sections which give you this impression. Boozy flat out said that she's listened to him for hours, and Lord Lundlar mentioned breaking equipment to save sanity. No one else has mentioned listening one way or the other before your first post.

[MadMike]

I don't know about being racist, homophobic, or a lot of the other accusations, but I've heard enough from him to conclude he's an asshole with a blind hatred towards anything not republican. His entire show can be summed up as follows: "My friends blah blah blah the liberal media blah blah blah the democrats blah blah blah the liberal media blah blah blah..." He's also a hypocrite, which is one of the traits I despise most in a person. He believes that drug offenders should be dealt with harshly, but I guess that isn't supposed to include him.

The local burger place is always playing that loudmouth on the radio, and I've heard more from him while waiting for my food than I care to hear in a lifetime. I don't go there for lunch nearly as much as I used to. It's a shame, because they have really good food, but I can only listen to that hypocrite for so long.

I remember one time hearing a call in, where someone dared to present an opinion Rush didn't agree with. The asshole kept interrupting him, talking over him, and even insulting him.

[Arcade Man D]

Actually, most people in thread admitted to never listening to him.

Actually, no, they didn't.

In fact, I have listened to him for hours, because you don't change the radio dial on your elderly aunt. He spews hatred, and bile, and anger. Rush Limbaugh is not the kind of person I would want anyone listening to. He doesn't "aid discourse", or "add another viewpoint". Rush Limbaugh merely serves to inflame passions, on both sides, and cloud the debate with too much negativity.

[Lady_Foxfire]

the way I look at Rush Limbaugh is that either he believes the things he says, and is therefore an ignorant, sexist asshole, or he doesn't believe the things he says, in which case he's a vile person who doesn't care what he does to the social and political discourse in this country as long as he gets paid. Either way, he's disgusting.

Oh, and as for taking the "I hope he fails" comment out of context, here's the context, as copy and pasted FROM LIMBAUGH'S OWN WEBSITE: I got a request here from a major American print publication. "Dear Rush: For the Obama [Immaculate] Inauguration we are asking a handful of very prominent politicians, statesmen, scholars, businessmen, commentators, and economists to write 400 words on their hope for the Obama presidency. ... So I'm thinking of replying to the guy, "Okay, I'll send you a response, but I don't need 400 words, I need four: I hope he fails

[Mytical]

I've listend to Rush, Beck, and many others. I find that I agree with a lot of people here in that it doesn't matter if they believe the way they come accross or not. I don't think they do, but that they are in it for one reason. Money. But that is immaterial. If you spout hate, regardless if you believe what you are saying or not, then you are a hateful person. Period.

From a person waving a peace sign yelling out "Death to animal murderers" to a Klan member shouting how much he hates anybody not pure white. It doesn't matter. People like Rush, Beck, etc do what they do to make money, but it doesn't matter if they believe what they say or not. If they don't they are just hateful hypocrits. If they do then they are just hateful. Does it matter which they are? Do your own research, ignore the people on the television or radio that try to sway your opinion by throwing crud against the wall. Think for yourself.

If you listen to them, and have done your own research and agree with them..great. More power too you. Just don't be led like sheep on EITHER side.

[guywithashovel]

One definite problem I tend to have with Limbaugh and people like him is that they almost always tend to think in terms of

Democrat = Liberal

Republican = Conservative

and that's often not true. There are many Republicans who would not fit the mold of what most people would consider "conservative," and most Democrats are not liberal. In fact, if you were to do an analysis of most Democrats' political philosophies and place them somewhere on the political spectrum, most of them would probably fall either right in the middle or slightly to the right (and that includes the Democrat who currently works in the Oval Office).

[joe hx]

Democrat = Liberal

Republican = Conservative

some call conservative democrats "blue dogs" and liberal republicans "RINO" or "Republican in Name Only"

[guywithashovel]

Yeah, I've heard of the "Blue Dogs" and the "RINOs." Most of the time, those labels seem kind of paranoid to me.

[MystyGlyttyr]

If you want to listen to someone spewing actual hate, racism, bile, and bigotry, try listening to Michael Savage. Rush Limbaugh will forever after sound like a calm Oxford professor.

I like him, though. He says a lot of things that a lot of people are thinking but won't say. (Since I know I'll be jumped on otherwise, I'm not implying he's saying things that anyone HERE thinks, but there are plenty of people do, and DID before he ever said them.) And he's entertaining at it, unlike some people who just blatantly insult people and things and call it humor.

And if he's sexist, so am I, because frankly, I can't stand the vast majority of "feminists" I've ever dealt with either. Yes, there are some who aren't psychos, and yes, most of the ones any given person knows aren't psychos, but most of the ones I've ever seen or interacted with are certifiable.

I don't know about the other stuff, being racist or whatever, since these days it seems like you're racist just for acknowledging a person's race in any way and you're a hateful, uneducated moron for daring to have different opinions about anything.

[guywithashovel]

Some of the sexist quotes I've seen attributed to Limbaugh aren't really what I would consider to be sexist. Take that one that goes something like "feminism was only invented so that unattractive women could get into power." Personally, I don't think that's sexist. It's demonstrably wrong, but I don't think it's sexist, mainly because it's not attacking all women, just feminists.

[Lady_Foxfire]

Some of the sexist quotes I've seen attributed to Limbaugh aren't really what I would consider to be sexist. Take that one that goes something like "feminism was only invented so that unattractive women could get into power." Personally, I don't think that's sexist. It's demonstrably wrong, but I don't think it's sexist, mainly because it's not attacking all women, just feminists.

But it's implying that letting unattractive women have power is a bad thing, which is a sexist idea. Women should not be judged only by their beauty.