# Rush Limbaugh Claims "The Dark Knight Rises" is pro-Obama propaganda **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 19, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-claims-the-dark-knight-rises-is-pro-obama-propaganda/628718 "2012-07-19T14:36:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-claims-the-dark-knight-rises-is-pro-obama-propaganda/628718/1 "2012-07-19T14:36:49Z")
[because the villian is named “Bane”, which sounds just like “Bain”, which was Romney’s company a decade ago.](http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/robert-schlesinger/2012/07/18/rush-limbaughs-right-the-dark-knight-rises-is-a-pro-obama-plot) The fact that Bane was selected as the villian probably two years ago, and the Bane character was introduced in the comics some 20 years ago, apparently sailed right over his fat bald head. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-claims-the-dark-knight-rises-is-pro-obama-propaganda/628718/2 "2012-07-19T14:43:49Z")
Limbaugh: Asshole, Idiot or Both? Is there a left-wing comic book conspiracy to create villains to embarrass politicians 20 years later? Mitt Romney vs. Christian Bale-who would win? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-claims-the-dark-knight-rises-is-pro-obama-propaganda/628718/3 "2012-07-19T14:48:48Z")
This has been making the rounds, and it’s WRONG. Limbaugh was commenting on parodies and mash-ups being made on liberal blogs conflating the movie Bane and Mitt Romney’s Bain. He was not by any stretch of the imagination saying that the movie used the villain Bane to take a shot at Romney, never mind that the villain was created in the first place for this only recently-applicable connection. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-claims-the-dark-knight-rises-is-pro-obama-propaganda/628718/4 "2012-07-19T14:54:05Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > This has been making the rounds, and it’s WRONG. > > Limbaugh was commenting on parodies and mash-ups being made on liberal blogs conflating the movie Bane and Mitt Romney’s Bain. He was not by any stretch of the imagination saying that the movie used the villain Bane to take a shot at Romney, never mind that the villain was created in the first place for this only recently-applicable connection. I came in to say this. I was listening to Rush yesterday while driving between meetings (because I needed to cringe at something) and heard him talking about it. ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-claims-the-dark-knight-rises-is-pro-obama-propaganda/628718/5 "2012-07-19T14:54:47Z")
The quote the Guardian gave [cite](http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/jul/18/dark-knight-rises-bane-mitt-romney): “So this evil villain in the new Batman movie is named Bane. And there’s discussion out there as to whether or not this was purposeful and whether or not it will influence voters,” said Limbaugh. "A lot of people are going to see the movie. And it’s a lot of brain-dead people – entertainment, the pop culture crowd – and they’re going to hear Bane in the movie and they’re going to associate Bain. “And the thought is that when they’re going to start paying attention to the campaign later in the year and Obama and the Democrats keep talking about Bain, not Bain Capital but Romney and Bain, that these people will start thinking back to the Batman movies: ‘Oh yeah, I know who that is!’” I don’t see anything about parodies or mashups in there, but I’m willing to accept that the Guardian didn’t quote the entire bit. Anybody got a transcript? I’m at work and can’t devote time to finding anything else. Also, Romney is more like Wayne anyway - immensely rich, with reasons not to divulge their finances 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-claims-the-dark-knight-rises-is-pro-obama-propaganda/628718/6 "2012-07-19T14:57:21Z")
Read the transcript for yourself, **cmkeller** : [The Batman Campaign? - The Rush Limbaugh Show](http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2012/07/17/the_batman_campaign) He’s clearly talking about the movie, not mashups. And he says it’s intentional. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-claims-the-dark-knight-rises-is-pro-obama-propaganda/628718/7 "2012-07-19T14:59:00Z")
I didn’t actually listen to the show, but what I know of the issue prior to the posting of this thread came from [Comic Book Resources](http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2012/07/rush-limbaugh-spies-link-between-dark-knight-rises-bane-and-bain). Scroll to the part labeled “UPDATE” in bold lettering. Rush-bashing finds an easy audience in many forums, including this one. But sometimes, it’s simply not warranted. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-claims-the-dark-knight-rises-is-pro-obama-propaganda/628718/8 "2012-07-19T14:59:39Z")
To add: I’m sure that since then (like yesterday, as **Sicks Ate** refers to) he changed it to mash-ups and parodies, but his original idiotic point was that the name in the movie was intentional and would confuse the “brain-dead people [who] show up at the polls”. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-claims-the-dark-knight-rises-is-pro-obama-propaganda/628718/9 "2012-07-19T15:01:16Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > Rush-bashing finds an easy audience in many forums, including this one. But sometimes, it’s simply not warranted. But in this case it is. You no longer have to refer to a comic-book blog - you can read the transcript yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-claims-the-dark-knight-rises-is-pro-obama-propaganda/628718/10 "2012-07-19T15:01:20Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > I came in to say this. I was listening to Rush yesterday while driving between meetings (because I needed to cringe at something) and heard him talking about it. > [@Jas09](#): > > Read the transcript for yourself, **cmkeller** : [The Batman Campaign? - The Rush Limbaugh Show](http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2012/07/17/the_batman_campaign) > > He’s clearly talking about the movie, not mashups. And he says it’s intentional. Never mind me. I heard him yesterday, explaining (or trying to explain) his way out of it, not the original. Reading the entire transcript, it is pretty obvious he was floating the theory that the use of the name was intentional. Still, it just goes to show that he knows that as far as his audience is concerned, he can pretty much say whatever he wants, and when he explains it away his regulars will eat it up. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-claims-the-dark-knight-rises-is-pro-obama-propaganda/628718/11 "2012-07-19T15:01:34Z")
They didn’t need to reference a character named Bane (sounds like Bain) to make a correlation to something malicious. Bane (sounds like Bain) is and has been for centuries an english word meaning: 1. A cause of great distress or annoyance. 2 .Something, typically poison, that causes death. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-claims-the-dark-knight-rises-is-pro-obama-propaganda/628718/12 "2012-07-19T15:09:35Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > They didn’t need to reference a character named Bane (sounds like Bain) to make a correlation to something malicious. > Bane (sounds like Bain) is and has been for centuries an english word meaning: > > 1. A cause of great distress or annoyance. > 2 .Something, typically poison, that causes death. The English language has a well-documented liberal bias. ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-claims-the-dark-knight-rises-is-pro-obama-propaganda/628718/13 "2012-07-19T15:14:23Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > I didn’t actually listen to the show, but what I know of the issue prior to the posting of this thread came from [Comic Book Resources](http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2012/07/rush-limbaugh-spies-link-between-dark-knight-rises-bane-and-bain). Scroll to the part labeled “UPDATE” in bold lettering. > > Rush-bashing finds an easy audience in many forums, including this one. But sometimes, it’s simply not warranted. We used to watch the news, then we got our current events through The Daily Show, now do we just skip those and go to Comic Book Resources to see what is happening? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-claims-the-dark-knight-rises-is-pro-obama-propaganda/628718/14 "2012-07-19T15:14:55Z")
Weird. The [guy at Salon.com says the movie is a fascistic masterpiece](http://www.salon.com/2012/07/18/the_dark_knight_rises_christopher_nolans_evil_masterpiece/). Which, you’d think, would be right up Limbaugh’s alley. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-claims-the-dark-knight-rises-is-pro-obama-propaganda/628718/15 "2012-07-19T15:21:59Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > Weird. The [guy at Salon.com says the movie is a fascistic masterpiece](http://www.salon.com/2012/07/18/the_dark_knight_rises_christopher_nolans_evil_masterpiece/). > > Which, you’d think, would be right up Limbaugh’s alley. The guy that created Bane is quite conservative and in response to Limbaugh explicitly stated that Bane is like an Occupy Wall Street guy and Romney is Bruce Wayne. ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-claims-the-dark-knight-rises-is-pro-obama-propaganda/628718/16 "2012-07-19T15:28:06Z")
Batman also used highly intrusive surveillance and illegally extradited a crook in _The Dark Knight_. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-claims-the-dark-knight-rises-is-pro-obama-propaganda/628718/17 "2012-07-19T15:29:01Z")
I wonder what Rush’s worldview would be if he had his maid get him some really high quality weed rather than oxycotin. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-claims-the-dark-knight-rises-is-pro-obama-propaganda/628718/18 "2012-07-19T15:29:23Z")
Jas09: I posted my prior message before you posted the transcript. I’m rather surprised that direct transcripts are available to non-subscribers, but I guess I could have checked like you did. The transcript definitely sounds like he’s actually saying it, though he does reference the Washington Times story, so it’s possible he was merely riffing on that. It’s clear he doesn’t know his Batman history; heck, he hardly even remembered the name of the movie that’s about to be released. ---
**Author:** ![tellthetruth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/82dd89/32.png) [@tellthetruth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellthetruth)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-claims-the-dark-knight-rises-is-pro-obama-propaganda/628718/19 "2012-07-19T15:32:41Z")
“Flush LintBall”…what an idiot…pop another Oxy, dude! ---
**Author:** ![tellthetruth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/82dd89/32.png) [@tellthetruth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellthetruth)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-claims-the-dark-knight-rises-is-pro-obama-propaganda/628718/20 "2012-07-19T15:36:21Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > The guy that created Bane is quite conservative and in response to Limbaugh explicitly stated that Bane is like an Occupy Wall Street guy and Romney is Bruce Wayne. Romney is Batman? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-claims-the-dark-knight-rises-is-pro-obama-propaganda/628718.md?page=2)