# Oil Spill and Rush Limbaugh **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [June 18, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-spill-and-rush-limbaugh/543675 "2010-06-18T15:06:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Flyxwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/65b543/32.png) [@Flyxwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyxwire)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-spill-and-rush-limbaugh/543675/21 "2010-06-24T04:48:52Z")
The Limbaugh quote was taken out of context. 6-8 weeks ago?, he mentioned that he got cited by the city for having a couple of back yard porch lights on after dark during the season when the local sea turtles lay their eggs. The environmental-minded city council had passed an ordinance saying that beachfront real estate can’t have lights on after dark for several months, on the assumption that such lights would confuse the newly hatched turtles so that they would run away from instead of into the ocean. He followed it up by saying that there were activists and researchers on the beach with flashlights, filming and documenting egg hatches. A marine biologist later called the show and debunked the city ordinance. When he referred to the sea turtles, it was in jest, and listeners understood that. But why let the facts get in the way of politics, amirite? ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-spill-and-rush-limbaugh/543675/22 "2010-06-24T16:36:34Z")
Ah, I get it, Rush is like a Zen master, where nothing he says which sounds unscientific or even plain Missouri-mule stupid can be fully _understood_ by the student unless they have wallowed in his teachings and instruction for some time. So for instance, when he said: > [@](#): > > ``` > LIMBAUGH: Hey, Barack Obama has picked up another endorsement: Halfrican American actress Halle Berry. "As a Halfrican American, I am honored to have Ms. Berry's support, as well as the support of other Halfrican Americans," Obama said. > > He didn't say it, but -- anyway, there are those out there -- greetings. > > ``` That was all taken out of context, and any of his die-hard listeners know what he really means is that trade relations with the Iberian peninsula are dependent upon the ability of the Portuguese government to allow its banks to purchase US treasuries. You betcha. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-spill-and-rush-limbaugh/543675/23 "2010-06-25T17:50:26Z")
> [@Flyxwire](#): > > The Limbaugh quote was taken out of context. 6-8 weeks ago?, he mentioned that he got cited by the city for having a couple of back yard porch lights on after dark during the season when the local sea turtles lay their eggs. The environmental-minded city council had passed an ordinance saying that beachfront real estate can’t have lights on after dark for several months, on the assumption that such lights would confuse the newly hatched turtles so that they would run away from instead of into the ocean. > > He followed it up by saying that there were activists and researchers on the beach with flashlights, filming and documenting egg hatches. A marine biologist later called the show and debunked the city ordinance. > > When he referred to the sea turtles, it was in jest, and listeners understood that. > > But why let the facts get in the way of politics, amirite? Maybe I’m dense, or may it’s Rush… bt I don’t get this. Was there actually a rule, that he violated, about lights on the beach during turtle breeding season? Or was that who light/beach/turtle thing a figment of his imagination - “If I had a socialist econazi city council, this is how things would be…”? Mother nature does not care if you get a crop or catch fish this week or this year, mother naturedoes not care if the flood takes out your town or the earthquake knocks over the city, or the tornado flattens the area. Eventually, sonething else will grow when it can, and that will attarct more somethings and eventually you will have a full ecosystem just like before. The disaster of the forest fires in Yellowstone, for example, was going to be the end of the world tehre - until after biologists realized it just meant a whole new world. Oil is a collection of carbon chain molecules of various lengths. Over time, the shorter more volatile ones escape- evaporate, float away, disperse, get eaten by microbes. What’s left is the longer, thicker more solid molecules. One article Iread said the Alaska sound looked clean, but in many spots if you dug down you hit a layer of tar - the solid thick stuff that never dispersed. But eventually the natural processes buried it under other sediment. This is likely what will happen to the gulf. More Missippi silt will bury the layer of tar that does not disperse, eventually the area will be clean enough that other plants will grow to replace the dead ones, bringing back the animals that feed on them, etc. How long the shrimp will continue to have that piquant hint of WD40 flavouring? I gues that’s the real question… ---
**Author:** ![kgreene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@kgreene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kgreene)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-spill-and-rush-limbaugh/543675/24 "2010-06-29T21:15:31Z")
Why does every Rush Limbaugh apologist claim Rush is misquoted or misunderstood? You guys are just kidding with that stuff, right? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2010, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-spill-and-rush-limbaugh/543675/25 "2010-07-04T07:58:01Z")
> [@bradfregger](#): > > … For example, Obama should override the Jones Act, which requires that all workers on the oil spill must be union members. … I’m not really in the mood to read all of Section 27 (AKA “The Jones Act”) of the _Merchant Marine Act of 1920_, so could you point me to the chapter that states that? [The full text of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 with 2006 Re-Codification.](http://www.1800jonesact.com/maritime_statutes/default.html) CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-spill-and-rush-limbaugh/543675/26 "2010-07-04T14:21:02Z")
> [@bradfregger](#): > > Cecil, > > I hate to see a smart guy like you falling for the mass media tripe and lies about Rush Limbaugh. If you actually listened to his program, you’d have heard that he said almost exactly what you’ve said. This includes the fact the the spill is a disaster that needs our attention. His major point was that the panic about the oil spill destroying the Gulf of Mexico was wrong, that the Gulf was very capable of taking care if itself. Which is essentially what you are saying. > > We need to do what we can to help nature take care of the problem as soon as possible, but there is no need to spread panic about the gulf as a whole. He also mentioned, in regard to the Gulf as a whole, that if the leak continued unabated until August that it would have leaked the amount of oil into the Gulf that was equal to one millionth of an ounce of oil in a bathtub full of water. > > I have not checked the accuracy of this statement. … However, try to be as accurate in your comments about what others have said as you are in your answers. > > Brad Fregger > > * * * > > LINK TO COLUMN: [Did nature clean up most of the Exxon Valdez oil spill? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2943/did-nature-clean-up-most-of-the-exxon-valdez-oil-spill) The idea that it is like one millionth of a drop is absurd. The ocean is about 3/4 of the globe .But the spill is not affecting the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean or the Pacific Ocean. It is concentrated in a heavily populated, tourist, fishing area of the Gulf of Mexico. I am sure you rejected his analogy when you saw how much oil was pouring into the gulf and landing on the shores of at least 3 states. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-spill-and-rush-limbaugh/543675/27 "2010-07-04T15:35:57Z")
> [@bradfregger](#): > > He believes that the Obama administration likes the crisis, that “no crisis should be wasted.” And that they are using the photos of the disaster and resultant publicity to push through cap and trade … which, if passed, will be a disaster for the American people. And I’d guess having our coastlines underneath 5 feet of water would be a complete and total boon, leading to an economic Golden Age. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![MeDrewNotYou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@MeDrewNotYou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeDrewNotYou)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-spill-and-rush-limbaugh/543675/28 "2010-07-07T02:57:07Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > And I’d guess having our coastlines underneath 5 feet of water would be a complete and total boon, leading to an economic Golden Age. :rolleyes: More beach front property _and_ all those underwater houses will need to be rebuilt. Global warming is just the Invisible Hand’s way of addressing the housing bubble. ---
**Author:** ![Uncertain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Uncertain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncertain)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-spill-and-rush-limbaugh/543675/29 "2010-07-13T03:26:31Z")
> [@bradfregger](#): > > For example, Obama should override the Jones Act, which requires that all workers on the oil spill must be union members. This means that many ships, etc. from other countries can’t be involved, that only American ships with union members can do the work. This is crazy in a situation like this. The thing about that is, [it’s completely untrue](http://www.factcheck.org/2010/06/oil-spill-foreign-help-and-the-jones-act/). You might ask yourself who is really “playing politics” with the situation: the Obama administration, or the Republican politicians who spread such falsehoods? In any case, I hope you’ll educate people about the truth of the matter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-spill-and-rush-limbaugh/543675.md?page=1)