# Rush, Rush, Rush... liberals are equivalent to murderers and rapists? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 20, 2009, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680 "2009-02-20T05:01:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/281 "2009-02-23T16:41:03Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > By saying that it doesn’t matter why liberals do what they do, Rush isn’t advocating conservatism, only obstructionism in disguise. He’s advocating opposing liberals simply because they’re liberals, not necessarily because their ideas are bad. Well, no, he isn’t saying this. The two “whys” about which Rush doesn’t care (per the transcript) are why liberals don’t leave the country, and why liberals see the country in the manner that he alleges that they do. > [@](#): > > It creates a divisive, hate-filled political atmosphere which is wholly antithetical to a functional democracy. So does misrepresenting what your opponents say. Unfortunately, that kind of misrepresentation is viciously attacked when it comes from one side, and warmly endorsed coming from the other. Don’t believe it? Try a little experiment - start a thread misrepresenting what Barack Obama says, and “edit” a transcript of one of his speeches to make it sound worse than it is, and see how long you last. > [@](#): > > But when a rallying voice for one side demonizes the other and insists that they are bad and must be stopped no matter what, what is there to argue about? All the other side can do is defend themselves or retaliate. It’s a war cry, no more, no less, and it sickens me that anyone would defend it or even tacitly condone it by arguing a side matter. Then why do you react so strongly to misrepresentations that are meant to make it appear that Rush does it, and not even twitch when it comes from **Shayna** and **Der Trihs**? Come on - spare us the pious horseshit. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/282 "2009-02-23T16:56:38Z")
Since when is **Der Trihs** a famous figure with the ear of a huge number of liberals? And I don’t think I’ve ever seen **Shayna** take the “conservatives are bad no matter what” position. She argues for her side, not against the other, and she does it with more thought than “four legs good, two legs bad.” Really, it’s a fool’s errand to compare voices on a message board with Rush. They influence far fewer people than he does, and he advocates a thoughtless, adversarial approach which people gobble up like candy. I don’t see how you can read him saying “They. Must. Be. Stopped” and try to argue that he’s being reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/283 "2009-02-23T17:41:00Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Since when is **Der Trihs** a famous figure with the ear of a huge number of liberals? He isn’t. However, you have exactly the same options available to combat his bigotry as you do for Rush - Pitting and speaking out. And you are far more likely to counter his negative influence on the discussion on the Dope than you are to get Rush to give up his multi-million dollar gig. Yet you choose not to avail yourself of them in the one case, yet do so with more enthusiasm than consistency in the other. > [@](#): > > And I don’t think I’ve ever seen **Shayna** take the “conservatives are bad no matter what” position. She argues for her side, not against the other, and she does it with more thought than “four legs good, two legs bad.” Oh yeah - she’s the voice of sweet reason all right - > [@Shayna](#): > > I no longer just disagree with their politics, I actively loathe them. I want to see their party ground into dust and destroyed. > [@](#): > > But when a rallying voice for one side demonizes the other and insists that they are bad and must be stopped no matter what, what is there to argue about? All the other side can do is defend themselves or retaliate. It’s a war cry, no more, no less, and it sickens me that anyone would defend it or even tacitly condone it by arguing a side matter. So this is a terrible thing. Except when your side does it. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/284 "2009-02-23T17:49:08Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > He isn’t. However, you have exactly the same options available to combat his bigotry as you do for Rush - Pitting and speaking out. And you are far more likely to counter his negative influence on the discussion on the Dope than you are to get Rush to give up his multi-million dollar gig. > > Yet you choose not to avail yourself of them in the one case, yet do so with more enthusiasm than consistency in the other. Precisely because it’s not worth speaking against **Der Trihs** , while people actually listen to Rush. > [@](#): > > Oh yeah - she’s the voice of sweet reason all right - So this is a terrible thing. Except when your side does it. Notice what I said, that I don’t think I’ve ever seen her take that position? You pointed out something I missed, and I stand corrected. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/285 "2009-02-23T17:53:16Z")
Yeah! And as soon as Shayna publicly mocks the symptoms of a victim of Parkinson’s, I will be in line to renounce, denounce, and condemn. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/286 "2009-02-23T17:59:52Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Because as we all know, all those things are equally evil. :rolleyes: Let me know when you’re ready to leave the fifties, if that ever happens. And what’s this with ‘so-called individual freedom’? I thought conservatives were all about the individual. Conservative “freedom” means the freedom to make as much money as you can pull off. It rarely has anything to do with freedom to live your life as you see fit. Well, at least until you’ve amassed that mountain of money that makes you better than the masses. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/287 "2009-02-23T18:27:35Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > “N’encoulons pas des mouches” is the original, I think, literally “Let us not bugger flies.” _N’enculons pas des mouches_, actually. Corrected only because precision is, I believe, critical in all matters involving interspecies assfucking and the various folk idioms the practice has inspired. To my knowledge, the verb _encouler_ does not exist in French except as a misspelling, but if forced at gunpoint to translate the original phrase I’d stammer out something like “let’s not flow into flies,” which sadly is patent nonsense, even for the French. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/288 "2009-02-23T18:34:15Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > I wouldn’t fuck him with Hannity’s dick! Me neither, but I would pay to watch it done. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/289 "2009-02-23T18:52:32Z")
Sean Hannity fucking Rush Limbaugh? Listen, I’m about as gay friendly a hetero as you’re liable to find, but I’m pretty sure that would make me puke. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/290 "2009-02-23T18:55:38Z")
Well, its not \*necessarily \*a gay thing. It could be snipped off first, like with fingernail clippers, and then applied. I mean, I’m no expert on gay stuff, but so long as he doesn’t actually enjoy it, its not gay, right? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/291 "2009-02-23T19:31:25Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Precisely because it’s not worth speaking against **Der Trihs** , while people actually listen to Rush. I would have thought you could have more influence on the tone of the debate on the Dope than on Rush Limbaugh, who I doubt has ever heard of the SDMB, let alone reads anything on it. YMMV. OTOH, the only people I know of on the SDMB who listen to Rush Limbaugh are lefties looking for some reason to take offense. No harm in that. Just keep in mind that when one of the Usual Suspects [ul][li]posts a misleading thread title[_]doctors the transcript to make it look as bad as possible [_]misrepresents and distorts what he actually said, and then [\*]gets a lot of hoo-hah about how dreadful Rush Limbaugh is because he does exactly the same things[/ul] one should not be surprised if there is some slackness in the applause for one’s high-mindedness.[/li] Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/292 "2009-02-23T19:48:33Z")
I think I’ve identified much of your problem. It’s that your thinking really is incredibly sloppy. > [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > The problem is that liberalism, by and large, is not content to simply be of good will and contribute some good to the world. Liberalism, as it exists today, is an “impassioned do-gooder”. It attempts to force its remedies upon society while lacking the perspective, patience and discipline to do so with regard to consequence. In fact, it rarely cares about consequence at all and is generally scornful of those who do. “Do something, even if it’s wrong” appears to be the motto, and woe betide any who disagree. > > There is also the inability of liberalism to put on the brakes when things have gone too far. I can’t think of a single instance when liberalism has said “Stop, we’ve progressed far enough in this case!” Whether in terms of censorship, sex, drug use, so-called individual freedom, government spending on social programs, whatever – there never comes a time when liberals say “This has gone too far”. > > So liberalism, benign and of charitable intent though it may be, carries with it a hugely deleterious effect on society. It champions individual freedom over society on the one hand, yet paradoxically wants society to provide for everyone by making us all serfs to the government. And of course with government largess – scant though it always is – comes government control and therefore less personal freedom. > > In short, liberalism is largely unworkable. It ignores what centuries of history have taught about human nature; it seeks a confiscatory government that punishes the productive and rewards the nonproductive; it seeks diametric goals at the same time; and ultimately creates a society that is less prosperous, less civilized, less productive and less free. Two huge errors of thought jump out from this. The first is the way you talk about “liberalism”, as though it is a self-aware entity that makes choices, acts, and functions like a person. Liberalism is a label applied to certain kinds of ideas, and not even a consistent one, as my list of definitions readily demonstrates. So how does “liberalism” -do good? -be content or not - force remedies? - care about consequences? - put on the brakes? And a host of other verbs you used? Verbs are actions, a label cannot act. Secondly, you have apparently equated this phantom creature you call “liberalism” with socialism and/or communism, when it is neither. ( Of course, as we’ve just reviewed, it’s nothing at all as far as the way you describe it, but looking at it as what it is generally understood to be, a political point of view.) This is made most obvious by the last paragraph, which is applicable to communism. I am a capitalist and a liberal. So is Warren Buffet. They can and do co-exist within one person’s belief system. They can co-exist as the framework of a government and political system. And this does not even address the simple inaccuracies about liberal ideals, (which, again, come in many flavors. So it’s kind of meaningless to say that “liberalism” or even “all liberals” think any single way about anything.) such as your (tired, false) statement that liberals champion individual freedom yet wants society to provide for everyone and make us all serfs. That’s just… goo. Meaningless. Untrue. Distorted. IN fact, nothing you said in the above passage about “liberalism” applies to my political point of view. I doubt it genuinely applies to many people’s, seeing as how it is simply a dismissive pile of goo. Anyway, all of this is just your way of dodging the fact that Rush equated liberals with rapists and murderers and in your attempt to deny it you confirmed it. But it does tell us why you felt the need to do that, though. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/293 "2009-02-23T19:50:19Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Sean Hannity fucking Rush Limbaugh? > > Listen, I’m about as gay friendly a hetero as you’re liable to find, but I’m pretty sure that would make me puke. Oh, not me! Hot, hot, hot I tell ya! A Keithism that I enjoy: “the Mannity”, which is funniest if you know the picture he uses to go with it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680.md?page=14)