Rush Limbaugh Defines A Real Vs A "Phony" Soldier

[AEON]

What grabs a reader is moral courage and honesty.

Yeah....right....those stories always make the front page.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Media Matters

On September 27, several members of Congress denounced Rush Limbaugh for, as Media Matters for America documented, calling service members who advocate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq "phony soldiers" on the September 26 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show. Reps. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) made speeches on the House floor responding to Limbaugh; Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) made his comments on the September 27 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann; and Reps. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Patrick J. Murphy (D-PA) issued statements denouncing Limbaugh's comments.

On the House floor, Pallone stated: "Yesterday, Limbaugh called service members who support a withdrawal from Iraq 'phony soldiers.' " Pallone added: "Last month, seven soldiers from the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division wrote an op-ed in The New York Times questioning our continued war efforts, but also stating, and I quote: 'We need not talk about our morale. As committed soldiers, we will see this mission through.' Now, since publication of that op-ed, two of the soldiers have died. As this op-ed shows, soldiers may question the war, but that does not mean that they are any less committed to their mission."

Schakowsky stated: "How dare Rush Limbaugh label anyone who has served in the military as a quote, 'phony soldier,' unquote? How dare he say that his views on Iraq formed in the comfort of his radio studio are legitimate while the views of those whose opinions were forged on the battlefield are not?" She added: "These are soldiers like Brandon Friedman, a former rifle platoon leader in the Army's 101st Airborne Division who fought in Afghanistan in 2002 and commanded troops in Iraq. He says quote, 'The escalation of the war is failing and now the mission must change.' 'The fact is,' he says, 'the Iraq war has kept us from devoting assets we need to fight terrorists worldwide as evidenced by the fact that Osama bin Laden is still on the loose and Al Qaeda has been able to rebuild.' " Schakowsky asked: "Is Brandon Friedman a phony?"

On Countdown, Webb said: "I really regret Mr. Limbaugh saying things like that. You know, we have a political diversity inside the military just like we do in the country." He later added: "I really react strongly when people politicize the service of our military people. They have a wide variety of political viewpoints, from all the way for this to all the way against it, and we need to respect that."

Murphy, an Iraq war veteran, said in a statement posted on Huffington Post:

"When someone like Rush Limbaugh says that soldiers who disagree with the failed strategies of President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld are "phony soldiers," you have to consider the source.

Rush Limbaugh, who, in January, called Vietnam veteran Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) "Senator Betrayus" for disagreeing with President Bush, has made no secret of his disdain for those who serve and speak out. Where was Rush Limbaugh when it came time to serve his country?

What's more, where was Limbaugh's outrage when Max Cleland, a Senator who left three of his limbs in Vietnam was smeared on television? Where was Limbaugh when Senator John Kerry's (D-MA) service was called into question in the form of millions of dollars in campaign ads?

My service was questioned last year during my campaign for Congress. Fortunately, the swift-boat attack on me didn't stick because people in my district in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and across America know that if someone wears the uniform and serves their country they've earned our respect regardless of political party.

Sadly, the political debate in this country has devolved into who can be more outraged at the latest smear attempt on those who should be thanked and praised for devoted service. Rush Limbaugh's phony outrage and derisive words call into contrast that which we all must honor: our Armed Forces currently fighting for their lives and our freedom all across the world. We need to be vigilant and speak out against those who question the value of that service -- and that goes for people on the right and the left. "

Van Hollen said in a statement: "Rush Limbaugh's personal attack on our men and women in uniform is reprehensible. It minimizes the sacrifice our troops in Iraq and their families are making and has no place in the public discourse. Rush Limbaugh owes our military and their families an apology for his hurtful comments that minimize their service to our country"

 

[AEON]

Privates up to the top ranks shouldn't have freedom of speech? Wow, your views of military get better and better...

I wouldn't outlaw it, but I discourage it.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Yeah....right....those stories always make the front page.

I'm talking about the moral courage and honesty to speak up and out about certain aspects of the war in the face of enormous pressure not to do so. There is more than one definition of moral courage, and moral courage is not exclusive to the battlefield.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I'm not exactly a Rush fan. From what I've heard he is generally very supportive of the Armed Forces - so I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on his comment.

I am of the opinion that the soldiers shouldn't talk to the press (or anyone else for that matter). The press is looking for something that will grab a reader...even if they have to quote a 19 year olf frustrated Private First Class who is tired of cleaning latrines because he has poor attitude.

well... this might be off topic, but while i'm certainly for freedom of the media, it's clear that the way america gets it's news doesn't work. how can we trust a news system that places more value on ratings and subcriptions than on integrity?

 

[BVS]

I wouldn't outlaw it, but I discourage it.

Well I'm glad because your views are downright scary.

 

[Irvine511]

Yeah....right....those stories always make the front page.

you mean like Jessica Lynch or Pat Tillman?

 

[Irvine511]

well... this might be off topic, but while i'm certainly for freedom of the media, it's clear that the way america gets it's news doesn't work. how can we trust a news system that places more value on ratings and subcriptions than on integrity?

PBS and NPR.

 

[AEON]

PBS and NPR.

that's funny....

 

[Irvine511]

that's funny....

they are, hands down, the best news available for precisely the reason that Headache mentioned -- they are beholden to NO ONE and do not have to worry about advertiser dollars.

but i suppose you're right -- reality does have a well-known liberal bias.

 

[AEON]

they are beholden to NO ONE

Where do they get the money to operate and pay employees?

 

[Irvine511]

Where do they get the money to operate and pay employees?

from taxpayers and private endowments.

 

[BVS]

but i suppose you're right -- reality does have a well-known liberal bias.

I think this is true to a certain point, although I wouldn't call it bias. But this is why higher education often gets the "liberal" label.

Status quo and nostalgia will get us nowhere, something the extreme right haven't figured out yet.

 

[AEON]

from taxpayers and private endowments.

well then it is good to know they are beholden to no one...other than taxpayers and private donors...

 

[Irvine511]

well then it is good to know they are beholden to no one...other than taxpayers and private donors...

yes, don't you get it? the reason all other stations exist -- save for subscription channels -- is because corporations will buy ad time that enables programming to exist. what you see on CNN was paid for by Ford or Toyota or Fannie Mae or Cialis. and if these companies don't like what's on a specific channel, then they will pull out their advertising dollars.

NPR and PBS are guaranteed a certain number of dollars a year by the government and from foundations that have been in existence for decades. they get their operating budget, profit is NOT a consideration, and they can simply go about the business of being journalists.

this is how most civilized nations get their news -- the BBC, ABC, CBC, these are all government funded.

i used to work for the Discovery Channel. we were forbidden from doing shows on global warming because they'd lose advertising revenue from car companies. talk about censorship!

 

[BVS]

I don't think he gets it.

 

[AEON]

I don't think he gets it.

You're right.

 

[phillyfan26]

You're right.

What about what Irvine said do you not understand?

 

[diamond]

So like if the if private organizations with names like (fictious of course)..

"Clandestine Rump Rangers For Non Disclosure In America Foundation"
or
"Whacked Out Enviromental Nazis For Christ Foundation"

were to bundle money together and offer it as an endowment could that unduly slant the tone of the how topics are presented on NPR?

It seems like that is how topics are presented on NPR- with an obtusely liberal slant.

dbs

 

[phillyfan26]

Non-ficticious examples?

 

[BVS]

It seems like that is how topics are presented on NPR- with an obtusely liberal slant.

dbs

If you knew anything about what you were talking about, you wouldn't have to use ficticious examples.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

you mean like Jessica Lynch

Well I guess she's a phony soldier for speaking out against the phony stories/mistruths/lies? that were put forth by the military/US government about her situation. If she was a real soldier she would have just kept her mouth shut.

 

[AEON]

Well I guess she's a phony soldier for speaking out against the phony stories/mistruths/lies? that were put forth by the military/US government about her situation. If she was a real soldier she would have just kept her mouth shut.

I think it is a mistake to automatically equate courage and honesty with speaking out against the war.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I think it is a mistake to automatically equate courage and honesty with speaking out against the war.

Well I don't know what that has to do with the post that you quoted, I assume you were referring to one of my previous posts. I certainly do equate courage with speaking out (when you are in the military) when you know you will get holy hell from many directions for it. And when Jessica Lynch spoke out during the Tillman hearings, well that was just as courageous as anything she did in Iraq. She spoke the truth, whether or not certain people liked it didn't make it any less true. She wasn't speaking out against the war, she was clearing up all the falsehoods that had existed about her time in Iraq. I guess some would equate that with speaking against the war, if you believe in that code of silence sort of stuff.

 

[phillyfan26]

I think it is a mistake to automatically equate courage and honesty with speaking out against the war.

I think it's a mistake to criticize soliders for being honest.

 

[diamond]

I think it is a mistake to automatically equate courage and honesty with speaking out against the war.

The Left's new hero and poster child:

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) - A university student with a history of taping his own practical jokes was Tasered by campus police and arrested after loudly and repeatedly trying to ask U.S. Senator John Kerry questions during a campus forum.
Andrew Meyer, 21, spent a night in jail before his release Tuesday morning. His attorney, Robert Griscti, did not return messages seeking comment.

Videos of the Monday night incident, posted on several Web sites and played repeatedly on television news, show officers pulling Meyer away from the microphone after he asks Kerry about impeaching President Bush and whether he and Bush were both members of the secret society Skull and Bones at Yale University.

"He apparently asked several questions—he went on for quite awhile—then he was asked to stop," university spokesman Steve Orlando said. "He had used his allotted time. His microphone was cut off, then he became upset."

As two officers take Meyer by the arms, Kerry, D-Mass., can be heard saying, "That's alright, let me answer his question."

Audience members applaud, and Meyer struggles for several seconds as up to four officers try to remove him from the room. Meyer screams for help and tries to break away from officers, then is forced to the ground and officers order him to stop resisting.

As Kerry tells the audience he will answer the student's "very important question," Meyer yells at the officers to release him, crying out, "Don't Tase me, bro," just before he is shocked by the Taser. He is then led from the room, screaming, "What did I do?"

Meyer was arrested on charges of resisting an officer and disturbing the peace, according to Alachua County jail records, but the State Attorney's Office had yet to make the formal charging decision. Police recommended charges of resisting arrest with violence, a felony, and disturbing the peace and interfering with school administrative functions, a misdemeanor.

Orlando said university police would conduct an internal investigation.

"The police department does have a standard procedure for when they use force, including when they use a Taser," Orlando said. "That is what the internal investigation would address—whether the proper procedures were followed, whether the officers acted appropriately."

Meyer was ordered released from jail Tuesday on his own recognizance.

Meyer has his own Web site and it contains several "comedy" videos that he appears in. In one, he stands in a street with a sign that says "Harry Dies" after the latest Harry Potter book was released. In another, he acts like a drunk while trying to pick up a woman in a bar.

The site also has what is called a "disorganized diatribe" attributed to Meyer that criticizes the Iraq war, the news media for not covering the conflict enough and the American public for paying too much attention to celebrity news.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

What does that have to do with anything?

 

[phillyfan26]

The Left's new hero and poster child:

That's BS and you know it.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Why is it that sometimes I feel like there is some sort of bizarro world here of mashed up threads? Oh yeah, that's why...

 

[BVS]

The Left's new hero and poster child:

Only in your delusional world...