# Limbaugh..my hunch was right.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaugh-my-hunch-was-right/329512>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [November 4, 2005, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaugh-my-hunch-was-right/329512 "2005-11-04T18:10:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaugh-my-hunch-was-right/329512/1 "2005-11-04T18:10:42Z")

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I was listening to the coverage of the Rosa Park’s funeral…and specifically Bill Clinton’s remarks. Clinton was commenting on the effect of Park’s actions on him as a little boy.

> [@](#):
>
> I remember as if it were yesterday that fateful day 50 years ago. I was a nine-year-old southern white boy who road a segregated bus every single day of my life. And I sat in the front. Black folk sat in the back. When Rosa showed us that black folks didn’t have to sit in the back anymore, two of my friends and I who strongly approved of what she had done decided we didn’t have to sit in the front anymore.

I was in a cynical mooed as I heard this and thought to myself…man the usual suspects on the right will probably think that Clinton just took the opportunity to pat himself on the back for his wisdom as a little boy.

Nice to know that Limbaugh didn’t [let me down](http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_110305/content/stop_the_tape.guest.html).

> [@](#):
>
> I mean, yesterday, the story is Rosa Parks, as it should have been, but Clinton has to make himself the story! He has to basically say, “I did the same thing she did, I was only nine. I was only nine years old, and my friends and I, when we saw what she did, we immediately decided we’re going to sit in the back of the bus.” So he’s telling these people, “Hey, Rosa had nothing on me. I’m just as moral. I’m just as good as Rosa. I was only nine.”

Most sane folks would realize that Clinton was telling the story to illustrate how the actions of one woman in Alabama could ripple across the country in big ways and small. Limbaugh of course leaves out the rest of the quote…

> [@](#):
>
> It was just a tiny gesture by three ordinary kids. But that tiny gesture was repeated over and over again millions and millions of times in the hearts and minds of children, their parents, their grandparents, their great grandparents, proving that she did help to set us all free.

Oh well. At least Rush is predictable.

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**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaugh-my-hunch-was-right/329512/2 "2005-11-04T18:14:48Z")

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Hey, you know what the difference is between Rush Limbaugh and the Hindenburg?

Daniel

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**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaugh-my-hunch-was-right/329512/3 "2005-11-04T18:18:40Z")

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> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#):
>
> Hey, you know what the difference is between Rush Limbaugh and the Hindenburg?
> 
> Daniel

Both are full of hot air and could explode with the slightest spark?

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**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaugh-my-hunch-was-right/329512/4 "2005-11-04T18:18:45Z")

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Re the Hindenburg: Oh, the humanity!  
Re Limbaugh: Oh, the inanity!

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**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaugh-my-hunch-was-right/329512/5 "2005-11-04T18:20:12Z")

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The Hindenburg doesn’t loathe its job, and wouldn’t trade it all in a heartbeat to be a serious, professional, recognized sports reporter?

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**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaugh-my-hunch-was-right/329512/6 "2005-11-04T18:20:20Z")

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One’s a gigantic flaming gasbag, and the other’s just a blimp.

> [@beagledave](#):
>
> I was in a cynical mooed…

Heh.

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**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaugh-my-hunch-was-right/329512/7 "2005-11-04T18:21:39Z")

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I believe the canonical response is:

One’s a flaming nazi gasbag. The other one’s a dirigible

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**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaugh-my-hunch-was-right/329512/8 "2005-11-04T18:23:21Z")

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> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#):
>
> Hey, you know what the difference is between Rush Limbaugh and the Hindenburg?
> 
> Daniel

The Hindenburg wasn’t a drug addict?

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**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaugh-my-hunch-was-right/329512/9 "2005-11-04T18:24:06Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> I was in a cynical mooed…

Aww geez…I’ll stick with Freud over bad typing.

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**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaugh-my-hunch-was-right/329512/10 "2005-11-04T18:27:33Z")

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> [@beagledave](#):
>
> Aww geez…I’ll stick with Freud over bad typing.

Hey, don’t be cowed by the nitpickers!  
Daniel

PS I love the alternate answers to the riddle!

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**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaugh-my-hunch-was-right/329512/11 "2005-11-04T18:28:18Z")

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I heard someone say that Clinton’s claim was a bit hinky, because at the time he was 9 and going to school in Arkansas the buses (or schools?) were not segregated? Can anyone verify this, one way or the other?

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**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaugh-my-hunch-was-right/329512/12 "2005-11-04T18:32:13Z")

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> [@ivylass](#):
>
> I heard someone say that Clinton’s claim was a bit hinky, because at the time he was 9 and going to school in Arkansas the buses (or schools?) were not segregated? Can anyone verify this, one way or the other?

The Little Rock schools were desegregated in [1957](http://www.centralhigh57.org/). I don’t know about the buses but somehow I doubt Arkansas was at the lead of the desegregation pack.

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**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaugh-my-hunch-was-right/329512/13 "2005-11-04T18:35:21Z")

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> [@ivylass](#):
>
> I heard someone say that Clinton’s claim was a bit hinky, because at the time he was 9 and going to school in Arkansas the buses (or schools?) were not segregated? Can anyone verify this, one way or the other?

Yeah, let’s nail him! He probably never had the “Look for the union label” song sung to him as an infant, either! Fucker.

And props to **Silas Sparkhammer** of the snopes message board, who claims to have written the flaming Nazi gasbag joke, if I recall correctly.

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**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaugh-my-hunch-was-right/329512/14 "2005-11-04T18:35:58Z")

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> [@ivylass](#):
>
> I heard someone say that Clinton’s claim was a bit hinky, because at the time he was 9 and going to school in Arkansas the buses (or schools?) were not segregated? Can anyone verify this, one way or the other?

Clinton turned 9 on August 19, 1955. As to whether Arkansas schools were integrated at the time, consider that in October 1957 the Arkansas governor, Orval Faubus, ordered the Arkansas National Guard to keep nine black students out of Central High School. President Eisenhower sent soldiers from the 101st Airborne and federalized the Arkansas National Guard in response.

My suspicion is that some people may be casting aspersions on Clinton’s story for nefarious purposes.

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**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaugh-my-hunch-was-right/329512/15 "2005-11-04T18:36:16Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Limbaugh of course leaves out the rest of the quote…  
> Quote:  
> It was just a tiny gesture by three ordinary kids. But that tiny gesture was repeated over and over again millions and millions of times in the hearts and minds of children, their parents, their grandparents, their great grandparents, proving that she did help to set us all free.

Actually I heard this part, which you claim was ‘left out’ on Rush’s show.

So what was your point again?

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**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaugh-my-hunch-was-right/329512/16 "2005-11-04T18:39:23Z")

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> [@kanicbird](#):
>
> Actually I heard this part, which you claim was ‘left out’ on Rush’s show.
> 
> So what was your point again?

Read the transcript he linked to. It’s not in there. I assume he got Limbaugh’s take on Clinton’s speech from there, and not directly from the radio show.

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**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaugh-my-hunch-was-right/329512/17 "2005-11-04T18:39:46Z")

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> [@ivylass](#):
>
> I heard someone say that Clinton’s claim was a bit hinky, because at the time he was 9 and going to school in Arkansas the buses (or schools?) were not segregated? Can anyone verify this, one way or the other?

Not sure about the buses themselves, but Eisenhower famously took over the state’s National Guard in 1957 in order to enforce desgregation law.

And on preview, i see that **lno** beat me to the punch.

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**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaugh-my-hunch-was-right/329512/18 "2005-11-04T18:40:47Z")

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Ok, thinking about it I have to admit I may have heard it from Hannity, I just remember hearing from some right wing host.

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**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaugh-my-hunch-was-right/329512/19 "2005-11-04T18:48:23Z")

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> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#):
>
> And props to **Silas Sparkhammer** of the snopes message board, who claims to have written the flaming Nazi gasbag joke, if I recall correctly.

Hmm. I believe I read it first in 1991 or 1992, when I worked at a leftist bookstore in Chapel Hill; it was in a zine devoted to mocking Rush Limbaugh.

Daniel

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**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limbaugh-my-hunch-was-right/329512/20 "2005-11-04T18:56:32Z")

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> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#):
>
> … in 1991 or 1992, when I worked at a leftist bookstore in Chapel Hill …

Good Lord, I moved to Chapel Hill in 1993! Were you still there then?

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