Limbaugh, Kerry and the madness of Politics

The BBQ Pit
1

Rush Limbaugh is officially senile.

It seems to be accepted as truth that 9-11 made conservatives the virtual slaves of Bush administration. My personal experience was exactly the opposite. I used to be within conservative mainstream before 9-11. In particular I used to listen to Limbaugh quite often without much disagreement, except for his pomposity. I was Clinton hater, too.

After 9-11, all that has changed. First, I was revolted by emerging chorus from the right that the country is much safer with Bush, culminating in Limbaugh actually saying, “Praise God for George Bush!” on the air. I stopped listening to his show right there.

Next, I went back and reviewed everything Clinton-Gore administration has done in foreign politics and realized what good and important things they were doing for the country and the whole world, at the time when majority of the US populace didn’t care about ‘stupid foreigners’ one way or another.

Anyway, it’s been three years since I listened to Limbaugh show. Today I was driving to work late and decided to tune in. Limbaugh was trashing Kerry. Apparently, Kerry said that young US soldiers shouldn’t terrorize Iraqi civilians by breaking into their dwellings in the middle of the night, but to leave this to Iraqi internal forces. I thought it was perfectly sensible, but Limbaugh was screaming how stupid, wrong and unpatriotic it was to say that. Went downhill from there. It was simply embarrassing. Democrat Saddam lawyer, Dems giving Iraq back to Hussein, paying retributions to Saddam and so on, and so forth. Simply embarrassing. And always back to Kerry, evil, stupid, traitorous Kerry with his treasonous testimony to Congress in 1971. I can’t believe sane person can say such things. So for me, Limbaugh has officially entered retirement. His mouth is still running, but not his brain. No more about him.

Which brings us to Kerry. His suggestion was perfectly sensible and well informed. He knows first hand about such things. Likewise, there must have been a lot of truth to his Congress testimony in 1971. Vietnam was a slaughterhouse, with at least 10 Viet Cong killed for any US soldier, not counting civilians. It was the same tactics as WW2, except this time the slaughterhouse approach didn’t work. Kerry called it like it was, basically. He was there, strafing the jungle with machine gun and shooting up civilian saipans.

By the end of 2004 presidential campaign I thought I had a glimpse of what the real man Kerry is. I think he was terribly miscast by stupid Dem political strategists and Reps took immediate advantage of that. Dems went batshit crazy with their demands for handsome, smart and noble candidate, anti-war icon but also a war hero. Kerry is not all that smart (his grades are below Bush’s), not nuanced but blunt (his equivocations actually result from talking straight every time; he just can’t freeze and smile stupidly at the cameras) and as I said before would make a good President. I still didn’t vote for him because he was so miscast; I was afraid he can’t be his own man.

Which brings us, finally, to regular Democrats in general. I heard it said by some ancient Greek that if Dems will give the country a decent candidate that majority of people can understand and trust, half the Republican party will jump to your side. I think it’s quite plausible. I believe the honest, sane Democrat president is our best prospect for 2008. Stop chasing chimeras, educate yourselves about the state of modern world, stop twisting in the wind every time Rove farts in your direction and show you can win.

2

Okay, who hacked New Iskander’s account? 'fess up!

3

I’m right wing and I always thought that Limbaugh was an idiot. These “we vs. them” radio show hosts of either persuasion only serve to polarize the nation even more than it already is. I wish they’d all go away.

The Democratic leadership has proven that they have no idea how to run a Presidential campaign. They inexplicably kowtow to the right wing and try to sterilize every issue (including abortion, the death penalty, etc) to the point where they become unrecognizable as an opposition candidate. I’d like a candidate who is willing to state a contrary position no matter what the polls say. I’ve yet to see that candidate.

Personally I think John McCain is the most sensible man on the political horizon. He’s Republican but is pro-environment and is willing to (gasp) criticize his own side when the screw up. Which they’ve done a lot recently.

4

WTF, This is not the NI we all know and love…

5

It is either a CIA plot or some kind of mod revenge for all the pit threads against them.

6

I’ll argue with you on this one point. I can’t in good conscience say that a guy is “not all that smart” based on his mediocre grades at Yale. I won’t vouch for how smart Kerry is or isn’t; I don’t think you get solid grounds to judge that in a campaign. I do think he proved he knows how to argue and he can certainly express himself in writing, even if he is not what you’d call thrilling. I didn’t see anything on that level that would lead me to conclude he’s “not all that smart.” The man was certainly not chosen, by the way, for his looks.

I will say with total confidence that Kerry is not blunt. Blunt people say what they mean and say it dirctly. Kerry earned a reputation as a dull speaker because he tends to belabor every point and go into too much detail. And his major gaffes were not caused by bluntness, they were caused by failure to express himself clearly. His wordiness actually results in decreased clarity. “I voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it” is the most famous and illustrative example. It would have been possible to clearly explain those votes in a way that made a positive point. Instead, he unleashed one of the clumsiest lines in modern political history. It simultaneously made him look inarticulate, dishonest and weak, and it provided the Republicans with a gift-wrapped campaign theme. In a sense, his failure to respond to the Swift Boat people was also a failure to clearly explain himself.

7

Hey good call New iskander! :slight_smile:

From one who’s changed their mind on a great deal of things as well, it’s been an interesting past few years. I salute you for weighing both sides, and coming to your own opinion.

8

When New Iskander thinks you’re a dumbass something is terriblely wrong. Kinda like when Pat Buchann actually sounded sensible for about a month after 9-11.

I’m going to go outside and see if the birds are flying backwards or the horses are eating themselves now…

9

Are the nazis riding dinosaurs yet?

10

Is insulting someone who agrees with you a good way to further your position?

11

Nein! I mean… no!

Grrrooar!

Quiet, you schweinhund Tyrannosaur!

12

They’re called Jesus Horses, thank you.

-Joe

13

If this is Isky, then who the hell have I been slugging it out with in that other thread?

14

I suspect this is his twin from the Evil parallel universe. Check for a Goatee.

15

…and a sash!

16

Alright…Who are you, and what have you done with New Iskander?

17

What’s up with you people? This is just more of New Iskander’s usual shit, in slightly different clothes.

Can none of you see the complete and utter contradiction in his post?

First, he spends paragraphs telling us that Kerry is, essentially, a sane and honest man, and then he berates Democrats for their choice of Presidential candidate, and says that many Republicans (and, presumably, NI himself) would vote for a Democratic candidate if only he were honest and sane. Well, moron, by your own definition, you got a sane and honest Democratic candidate last year, and you didn’t vote for him.

He also gives us a further small window into his even smaller brain when he tells us that the reason that he didn’t vote for Kerry was not because of anything Kerry did or didn’t do, but because he was “miscast.” So, basically, he refused to vote for Kerry because of how other people portrayed him.

New Iskander, you are welcome to vote for Bush or any other moron of your choosing whenever you like. But you don’t do yourself any favours by exposing the lack of rational thinking behind your decision.

18

Man, it’s going to break Iskanders little heart to find out that Clinton got a blow job. Nobody tell him.

And it took you this long to figure out that Limbaugh is a mouth operating without a brain?

19

So he was saying it was better to elect someone dishonest and insane? Because of “miscasting”? That is fucking crazy.

20

Hmm…if Oxycontin can make Rush’s mouth spew hatred for years nonstop…maybe we’ve solved our Energy Crisis?

-Joe