# 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:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/41 "2009-02-20T16:55:56Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > I do see what you’re getting at (and it’s more than **Shodan** bothered to do), but I don’t see that it makes it any less vile. He wants liberals to be associated with murderers and rapists, to make his listeners put them in the same moral category. If he didn’t, then he would have picked food processors or something equally innocuous. That is so, but the substance of their argument is correct, if not the spirit. > [@](#): > > ETA: I just now noticed how **Rand** and **Shodan** have tried to reframe this thread from “Look at the vile connection Rush tried to draw” to “The OP’s title is misleading.” Let’s put aside the actual content and just fight instead over whether or not Rush really was trying to draw an equivalency. **RickJay** ’s post once more applies. Common legal tactic. Ignore whether or not the complaint/charge/whatever is valid and build your case around a procedural error or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/42 "2009-02-20T17:14:52Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > As Euphonius points out, that’s irrelevant. By saying it, at least five million people now believe it’s true. > > Lying to frame a debate is a fundamental argumentative tactic, because \*\*once that’s the point under scrutiny it attains a level of legitimacy by virtue of being argued over. \*\* I hate to use another baseball analogy, but… a few years back Bill James wrote a story about how he was in an arbitration hearing for Denny Walling, a long time player with the Houston Astros. Walling was a decent player but nothing special, and spent most of his career as a backup or a part-timer. (In baseball arbitration is used to determine salaries for players of a certain level of experience.) Anyway, Walling’s agent just came out and said “Denny has the best arm of any infielder in the National League.” This being utter bullshit, the team’s representatives argued against it, and James couldn’t understand why the agent had said that… but later realized that they’d just spent fifteen minutes arguing over whether of not Denny Walling was the best throwing infielder in the league. By virtue of framing the debate, the arbitrator was at least made to think that maybe Walling MIGHT have had the best arm in the league, or was pretty close. Had to at least be really good, right? Otherwise, why are we arguing over it? James realized the agent had done a brilliant job. Rather than talking about how Walling was comparable to any one of three dozen utility players you’ve also never heard of by saying “well, he’s pretty useful as a platoon player or a guy who can come off the bench” they were implicitly comparing him to people like Cal Ripken and Ozzie Smith because they were arguing whether his defensive skills were comparable to them. > > The same tactic, to bring this back into the realm of politics, is why religious nuts want intelligent design to be presented as an “alternative” to evolution in schools. You would think that, given an honest examination of the two, it’d be harmless because there is lots of evidence for evolution and none for intelligent design. But the very act of arguing over it gives intelligent design credibility. Students will think “well, if there’s nothing to it, we wouldn’t be talking about it.” > > If nobody challenges Limbaugh on this bullshit, he wins; millions of people will think NOW supported the decapitation of an innocent woman. That’s why he didn’t make a big deal about it, just threw it in as if he’d just happened to remember it. But if people DO challenge him, he can prevaricate and argue in circles, saying “well, here is evidence NOW supports multiculturalism, and here is evidence they supported some completely different things that are a bit offensive, ergo, they have contributed to an atmosphere that makes this sort of thing seems permissible.” He can tie up the debate indefinitely, and make his claim seem vaguely legitimate. > > He can’t lose, at least not with regards to keeping his audience. Believe me, he knows what he’s doing. This is a really good post. Well done, and thanks. ---
**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:** [February 20, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/43 "2009-02-20T17:26:40Z")
I’m not really interested in dissecting the arguments of **Rand Rover** and **Shodan**. I’m not interested in dissecting the arguments of infant anal rapists. I’m not interested in dissecting the arguments of labrador jizz felching whistle dicks. I don’t care why they argue the way they do. All that matters is defeating them. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/44 "2009-02-20T17:34:53Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > I’m not interested in dissecting the arguments of labrador jizz felching whistle dicks. Hey, I am! ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/45 "2009-02-20T17:36:06Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Care to explain how I’m wrong, then? Or do you just want to assert I am and be done with it? As I mentioned, it wouldn’t be possible to explain to you (absent waterboarding). You can’t explain something to someone who isn’t listening. **Stoid** posted a misleading thread title, you saw the subject, and you fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. And you are prepared to fight for your knee-jerk response like grim death. It’s like the thread about Sarah Palin explaining what a Vice-President does. Several pages of people explaining, over and over again, that what she said was quite correct and accurate. Followed by other dolts posting, with equal persistence, “NO!!! SHE’S WRONG!! SHE’S STUPID!! FUCKYOU!” Etc., etc. Which can be amusing on a certain level, but I have to be in the right frame of mind. Maybe later, but maybe not. **Stoid** is probably in a bad mood, because she lost her pornography business to the only guy in California willing to get on top of her, and her attempts at a real-life reenactment of Erin Brockovich aren’t going so well, so she started this to get some affirmation from the Usual Suspects. Which is fine, as far as it goes. It just doesn’t go very far. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/46 "2009-02-20T17:37:15Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Stoid is probably in a bad mood, because she lost her pornography business to the only guy in California willing to get on top of her, and her attempts at a real-life reenactment of Erin Brockovich aren’t going so well, so she started this to get some affirmation from the Usual Suspects. Eh, you’re just feeling bitter because she turned you down. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/47 "2009-02-20T17:37:27Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Hey, I am! Well, [you’re in luck, then!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=507285) Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/48 "2009-02-20T17:38:49Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Eh, you’re just feeling bitter because she turned you down. 😃 Not a chance! The woman on the phone said her name was Tiffany, she was 18, and she was waiting only for me! And that was BEFORE she asked for my credit card number! Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/49 "2009-02-20T17:42:40Z")
You people are idiots. I’m sorry to be so blunt, but I’m kind of pissed off this morning for reasons having nothing to do with anyone here, but what the fuck. The people screaming that **Shodan** and **Rand Rover** is wrong are idiots for not acknowledging that Rush did not, in fact, say that liberals are equivalent to rapists and murders. As they point out, he simply drew a comparison on one point: the motive, he says, of a liberal is irrelevant. He just wants liberals stopped. Similarly, the motive of a murderer or a rapist is irrelevant; he just wants them stopped. Now, **Rand Rover** and **Shodan** are also idiots for failing to acknowledge the undeniable: Rush picked “rapists and murderers” to draw his analogy rather than, say, mimes or reality TV producers or people who talk loudly during movies or… any of a hundred different actors whose motives are ALSO irrelevant but should be stopped. He picked rapists and murderers for the obvious reason of drawing a blatant yet deniable comparison. So much of this board consists of poorly trained, kneejerk debaters talking past one another. I’m sick of it. No, Rush did not say they’re equivalent. And yes, he picked the comparison as a snide way of placing liberals in execrable company without explicitly doing so. Yes, Rush is also an idiot. Debate solved. Now go away, everyone, you make me sick. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/50 "2009-02-20T17:44:21Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > As I mentioned, it wouldn’t be possible to explain to you (absent waterboarding). Oh, that’s funny. That’s rich. Ho ho. A joke about torture. This is what passes for Republican humor? You may have missed where **RNATB** actually did explain it and I accepted it. If you’d stop going on and on about how I’m just so godawful stupid and actually engage me like a fucking human being, you might find me willing to listen. Fair enough, **Bricker**. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/51 "2009-02-20T17:44:30Z")
I like food processors better than mimes. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/52 "2009-02-20T17:46:33Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I like food processors better than mimes. Hell, I like **Shodan** better than mimes. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/53 "2009-02-20T17:47:17Z")
deleted. ---
**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:** [February 20, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/54 "2009-02-20T17:50:17Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > If Rush went completely mental, how would his listeners ever tell the difference? > > That’s kind of interesting, actually, as a philosophical concept–a guy who starts off like Rush, spouts weirder and less probable bullshit, getting ever richer and more popular, until he finally is reduced to muttering incomprehensible gibberish over the air, while his hard-core fanship keeps marvelling “Did you HEAR him today, when he said 'Gnor bah ice cream Clinton Librul gah!” Wasn’t that just super?" Wasn’t there a Tom Tomorrow strip once with that theme? ---
**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 20, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/55 "2009-02-20T17:50:18Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > because she lost her pornography business Nope. Back to Reading Comprehension 101! ---
**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 20, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/56 "2009-02-20T17:52:15Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Debate solved. Now go away, everyone, you make me sick. Thanks, Bricker! Well done! ---
**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:** [February 20, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/57 "2009-02-20T17:56:16Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Hell, I like **Shodan** better than mimes. I liked it when **Shodan** was beaten by a mime for talking loudly during a movie. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/58 "2009-02-20T18:00:24Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Now, **Rand Rover** and **Shodan** are also idiots for failing to acknowledge the undeniable: Rush picked “rapists and murderers” to draw his analogy rather than, say, mimes or reality TV producers or people who talk loudly during movies or… any of a hundred different actors whose motives are ALSO irrelevant but should be stopped. He picked rapists and murderers for the obvious reason of drawing a blatant yet deniable comparison. Bah. A distinction without a difference. Okay, contrary to the thread title, he didn’t **say** that liberals were **equivalent** to murderers and rapists. He plainly **insinuated** that liberals were **comparable** to murderers and rapists. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/59 "2009-02-20T18:05:14Z")
An insinuation supported by a rock-solid innuendo. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680/60 "2009-02-20T18:05:32Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > I liked it when **Shodan** was beaten by a mime for talking loudly during a movie. The mime got away with it. The arresting officer failed to warn him he had the right to remain silent. Regards, Shodan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-rush-rush-liberals-are-equivalent-to-murderers-and-rapists/486680.md?page=4)