From my first liberal guest blogger Leah (and female too. See, I'm so for diversity!)
First things first. I heard this lovely quote from Rush over the liberal media, which was not featured in my required hour of Limbaugh listening. In this quote, Limbaugh equated Judge Sotomayor’s “wise Latina” comment to Former Senator Allen’s macaca comment.
“Macaca” is a racial slur. Judge Sotomayor said no such thing. She did not say, “whitey” or “cracker.” She did not say “k***” or “w**” or “n*****.” Those are the true apples to apples equivalents of the word “macaca.”
In the phrase at the center of the controversy, Judge Sotomayor stated that a ‘wise Latina’ might better understand a case than a ‘white man.’ It was sai in the context of a Latina knowing what it means to be discriminated against and downtrodden, and therefore might have more information at her disposal for making a decision. There is an argument against her judicial philosophy there, and what should be taken into account when weighing a case. but there is not one for racism.
The idea that Latinos are discriminated against more than whites and therefore may have a different understanding of the world is a fact and one that should be able to be expressed without a label of racism or of race baiting.
As to the argument that liberals are allowed to be racist while conservatives are not, how does Limbaugh explain the firestorm that rained down on Bill Clinton following his comments on Obama’s victory in the South Carolina primary? This is one liberal who changed her primary vote from Clinton to Obama following those remarks.
Right. I’m glad I got that off my chest. So, here goes nothing. It is so unfair that I have to listen to this 6 months pregnant [Whoa,whoa, did I even know you were pregnant??? Mazal tov! - ETR], and therefore without the benefit of a stiff drink.
0:00 His circa 1980’s thin, handsome Rush photo for his podcast is cracking me up. At least he is showing humility in his intro.
1:20 One half of a sentence from Obama’s Weekly Address from July 11th. In said clip, as played by Limbaugh, Obama states that “the Recovery Act has worked as intended.” This is a completely out of context quote. The full text of the address can be found here: The full quote, with Limbaugh’s clip in italics, is:
“The Recovery Act wasn’t designed to restore the economy to full health on its own, but to provide the boost necessary to stop the free fall. It was designed to spur demand and get people spending again and cushion those who had borne the brunt of the crisis. And it was designed to save jobs and create new ones. In a little over one hundred days, this Recovery Act has worked as intended. It has already extended unemployment insurance and health insurance to those who have lost their jobs in this recession. It has delivered $43 billion in tax relief to American working families and businesses. Without the help the Recovery Act has provided to struggling states, its estimated that state deficits would be nearly twice as large as they are now, resulting in tens of thousands of additional layoffs – layoffs that would affect police officers, teachers, and firefighters. ”
The rest of Obama’s address underlines Americans’ frustrations that the plan is not working faster, and states that the plan was designed to work over 2 years and has only just begun. Acknowledging this would have completely undermined Limbaugh’s characterization of what Obama was saying. So, I suppose it would have been inconvenient to present the quote in a context that was, oh, I don’t know… truthful?
One minute and twenty seconds in, and we already have a biased quote, taken out of context and out of time line. Amazing. And I thought Limbaugh’s propensity for doing that was just a myth.
1:30 Back to July 5th and Joe Biden speaking on “This week” with George Stephanopoulos. We once again have a quote without relevant context, let along time line. I’m confused about how this paraphrasing of Stephanopoulos’s lead in, which reinforces the argument Limbaugh just made against the last Obama quote, goes along with Limbaugh’s regular complaints of Liberal Media Bias in the mainstream media.
Full text of the interview can be found here. Relevant quote and response, with Limbaugh’s cut off point in italics:
BIDEN: And so the truth is, there was a misreading of just how bad an economy we inherited. Now, that doesn’t -- I’m not -- it’s now our responsibility. So the second question becomes, did the economic package we put in place, including the Recovery Act, is it the right package given the circumstances we’re in? And we believe it is the right package given the circumstances we’re in. We misread how bad the economy was, but we are now only about 120 days into the recovery package. The truth of the matter was, no one anticipated, no one expected that that recovery package would in fact be in a position at this point of having to distribute the bulk of money.
So, Biden is not contradicting his boss, a week before Obama’s July 11th statement though it may be. And both are saying the stimulus is working and citing the ways in which it is working. Which is the exact opposite of what Limbaugh says they’re saying. Huh.
4:02 Limbaugh is deliberately distorting a point here. Neither nor Obama and Biden are both saying the unemployment numbers are anything but a travesty and a disappointment, neither planned for nor intended. They’re simply saying that the numbers would be much worse if the Recovery Act hadn’t been instituted and backing up their argument with statistical facts. So far, Limbaugh has backed up his point with out of context quotes and outrage.
4:32 Let me see if I have Limbaugh’s theory straight: Obama wants America to have 10% unemployment and American citizens to be suffering. Limbaugh said a minute back that the Obama administration is continuing the failed policies of the previous administration, but now he is stating that these policies are why he wanted him to fail? So, Limbaugh wanted the Bush administration to fail? And if another Republican administration had come in and had been continuing these policies as one Republican administration to another, Limbaugh would have wanted them to fail, too? Do I have this right?
5:17 Ah, conspiracy theories and misrepresented statistics. Limbaugh cites the Rasmussen Report poll that states more Americans are against national health care than for. First off, he’s leaving out that 75% of Americans are for health care REFORM. Second, as of now, the bills in Congress are not going to institute a mandatory one payer system and the Obama administration is not strongly advocating for one. So. what is he railing against exactly?
7:20 Limbaugh re: Obama: "This is a man with a chip on his shoulder. This is a man who seeks to get even." For what exactly? Here’s another case of Limbaugh’s quoting a debunked misquote/splicing.What’s this, the third in seven minutes? Obama flat out did not say we had nothing to do with the cold war in the interview I presume he’s citing.
But I understand. It’s worth not telling the truth if it helps his listeners to see that Obama and the Democrats have a secret plan to destroy America.
So… Obama wants America to fail, so that the government has more things to fix? Or Obama wants to cut us down to size because he’s one of those people like “Sonia Sotomayor?” Ah, Senator Boxer and your fight to be called by your earned title, where are you when I need you. Limbaugh must mean they both went to Ivy League colleges. No? They’re both lawyers? No? They both have brown skin and therefore are mad at America and can’t love it the same way a white person can? They both come from races of people who are obviously all poor with no wealth that needs redistributing?
9:19 Tax cuts. Tax cuts will stimulate the economy. Limbaugh’s grand plan and alternative to the Recovery Act emerges. You mean like the ones in the stimulus plan for 90% of Americans? And tax incentives. He wants those, too. You mean like the ones for home buyers? But, wait. I though he said that those things would get the economy “moving,” and didn’t he just say that the economy is failing because of the Recovery Act?
10:27 Chuck Todd interview with Obama on July 7th. Should we look for the transcript, or just assume we have yet another quote cut and spliced to make Limbaugh’s point? Full transcript here, containing no apologies or disowning of the Cold war, by the by:
Looking over the transcript, I can assure you we’ve been deliciously spliced from bits of the interview here and there. Here’s part of it. This quote includes the ‘c’ of Obama’s three part answer at the end of the clip. It would have completely undermined Limbaugh’s argument. I guess misquoting someone is a small price to pay for making your point. Parts played are once again in italics:
OBAMA: Well what I would say is that in some areas you are seeing the economic engine turn. But what we always knew was that a. this recession was going to be deep b. it was going to last for a while and c. even when the economy pulls out of recession that you are going to see jobs emerging only at the end of that process rather than the beginning.
11:39 If Republicans are not going to grow by bringing in moderates and independents how ARE they going to grow? Where will the new Republican voting demographic come from?
13:36 We’re back to the July 7th interview, in which “Obama disagrees with his idiot Vice President Biden.” The funny thing is this interview shows more than any other that Obama and Biden are saying the exact same thing. If you LOOK AT THE TRANSCRIPTS this can very plainly be seen. Limbaugh must know this, right? He wouldn’t deliberately be misleading his listeners in order to make his point, would he?
Oh, sorry. I forgot. Obama wants America to fail. Right. Silly me. And we must convince our listeners that this terrifying idea is true, even if it means stretching the truth. And you know, hearing one sentence here, one sentence there, I just might believe it was true if I didn’t have the common sense to LOOK AT THE TRANSCRIPTS.
19:16 Anderson Cooper interview July13th. Full transcript? Eh. Let’s just assume at this point that the rest of the interview would contradict Limbaugh’s arguments. In the meantime, we’ll listen to Limbaugh blame the Obama administration for “Stimulus 1” even though they had yet to be elected. And Obama’s incompetent, while at the same time somehow have the Evil Mastermind skill of passing a secret plan to destroy America under the noses of the US Congress and the American people.
21:07 Geithner’s comments, twice filtered. Sigh. Well, Congress Daily has it under subscription only. But, all other articles on his testimony makes no mention of said comments. Perhaps it is because we have *gasp* another out of context quote manipulated to prove a point. Facts are such pesky things. From what was quoted, it is plain Geithner was talking about spending’s effect on the market. In other words, we are seeing a true market instead of one falsely inflated by overextended credit. Would Eric the Red and Limbaugh prefer the alternative?
29:00 $4 a gallon gasoline is being covered but the economic crisis is not. Wait… the media is not covering the economic crisis? Did Limbaugh listen to the 1st half of his show? Within it, he cited three major ‘mainstream’ news networks (ABC, NBC and CNN) all talking about the economy and pitching such non-softball questions and follow ups to the President and Vice President.
30:00 Sotomayor hearings. I forgot. Sotomayor didn’t attend any schools past high school or serve on any court. She just grew up in the Bronx and is empathetic, and those are those are the only arguments being presented as to why she’s being nominated.
Do I HAVE to go and pull Leahy’s transcript from yesterday, or should I go ahead and assume we have another misquote? Oh, why not? Here’s the transcript.
No mention of ‘the classics,’ Marx or otherwise. Go read it if you must.
36:18 Obama in Ghana. To paraphrase: Obama having African blood justifies his incompetence. And we all cut him slack because of the color of his skin. Lo and behold, we’re back to our original discussion of ‘macaca.’ Who knew?
The important part of Obama’s statement not that he has African blood, but that he is the American president. Therefore, the world listens when he speaks.
The majority of the country and the world do not listen when Limbaugh talks (that is to say, of course, unless they’re roped into it by their right wing friends). This is regardless of what blood he has in his veins. Jealous, Rush? Run for office, take up your mantle, and call it a day.
Day 1 done. Well, that was relatively painless. After all, I could have been listening to Hannity.
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