Tonight I had the misfortune of turning the TV on to a station that was playing an interview that someone (I never figured out who – although the station was NBC) had with Rush Limbaugh. I forced myself to listen to this, and the person giving the interview gave Limbaugh the opportunity to respond to some of the more direct criticisms of him. The guy is such a liar, he doesn’t think twice about lying. In fact, while I listened to him, I was reminded of the school counselor who told me that students who lie all the time must “figure this out” by the time they’re 14 years old or lying becomes part of their character. Some of Limbaugh’s lies tonight were obvious to me without going to any lengths of research – and I wouldn’t do that anyway. But, he tried to give the persona of someone who welcomed all the criticism – kind of like Bush’s “bring it on” when he was encouraging the insurgency in Iraq. As Bush should have respected the phrase “Be careful what you wish for,” I believe so should Limbaugh.

Now, it’s true, the man is filthy rich. So, he is probably immune from anything other than the criticism he gets. although his place in history is not one that I would envy – no matter how much money he has. One of the topics the interviewer brought up was the recent “stirrings” in the Republican party that Limbaugh is destroying the party. When you watch the guy, you see someone who’s trying as hard as he can to remain calm, while his body language is spewing anger at the thought that anyone could deem him in a negative light should they be a Republican. And, his demeanor while responding to the “charges” is quite childish. He was making facial expressions that I would expect from my sixth grade students when they are caught doing something wrong and choose to try lying their way out of trouble. On the one hand Limbaugh disdains the idea that he’s the leader of the Republican party and then, in almost the very next breath, he points out that if the party wants to return to “power” they will listen to him.

He calls anyone in the party who would disagree with him a moderate or liberal Republican and says that there is no hope for people with that “bent.” One of his comments was that the only way for the Republican party to regain power was through “conservative” policies. Of course, his “conservative” philosophy is just as elusive to understand as “victory” was in Iraq all those years when he was a water carrier for George W Bush. There appears, at least to me, to be no doubt that the fascist tendencies of the Bush administration were the connecting points to Limbaugh. I’m only guessing here, but I believe his favorite politician in America would be Dick Cheney – there was nothing in the part of the interview that I saw which would confirm this directly, but it’s just my intuition after watching the two of them for the past many years.

And, both tonight and in another recent “blurb” that I saw of Limbaugh, he continues to make references to God. As if he’s a Christian. Tonight, he said, “Thankyou Lord for my enemies.” It appeared this was his way of impressing people that it doesn’t bother him to have enemies. Also, I’m guessing he’s implying that his enemies are helping to make him even richer financially. And, it’s not my place to judge him spiritually, just suffice it to say that he must go to a far different church than I do. Last Sunday, for example, I listened to a sermon on how Christians are called to be compassionate toward the poor, the sick, and the weak. Based on what I’ve seen from Limbaugh, he’s almost the opposite. Regarding the sick, I recently heard him say that Americans should have the same health care as dogs – if they can pay for it, fine, otherwise forget it – as far as medical treatment of any kind. That didn’t seem like a compassionate statement to me. However, as a member of the “Christian Left,” his lack of compassion actually does qualify him to be the leader of the Republican party as it’s presently constituted, in my view.

There was no extended discussion of how Republican politicians seem to feel like they have to run their thoughts by Rush before making them public, but the hint of that seemed to bring a smug look of pride from Limbaugh. The really dicey part of the interview, at least from my point of view, was the discussion of President Obama. This was where Limbaugh was very liberal with his “fish stories.” For one thing, he said he thought it was a great thing that an African American was elected President – well, he didn’t say that in those words, but he answered yes to a question which asked that. Then, almost under his breath, he added “but not for very long.” He made non-sensical comments about Obama’s policies that really meant that the idea of a Black President succeeding would lead to the failure of our great nation (apparently for no other reason than he’s Black). He, in a very clumsy manor, tried to find a way to say that he wasn’t rooting against America by hoping President Obama failed. What he actually said was “If President Obama succeeds, the country will fail.” The absurdity of some of his comments were such that I, as I’ve been for many years, was left wondering how this thug gets any credibility whatsoever, ANYWHERE.

Let’s just look at that last statemen of his from a rational, logical point of view. What could he possibly be implying that if President Obama succeeds, America fails. Well, President Obama is trying to extract us from two entrenched political and militarial nightmares that were caused by the very people Limbaugh still believes should be running the show – how can anyone root for Obama to fail in this endeavor (well, I guess if Obama’s success would only exacerbate someone’s own failure, then an UNBELIEVABLY SELFISH person would root for him to fail – despite what that would mean for our prized troops that that person is so much “in support” of). Worse than that, Obama is trying to close GITMO, the house of horrors where America gained the moniker of torturers – torture that was authorized by the very people Limbaugh supports – and torture that he, himself, has come out in favor of (here again, Obama’s success only heightens Limbaugh’s and Bush’s failures). Obama is trying to “right the ship” in an economy that the very people that Limbaugh supported nearly (and may still have) ruined. The fallout from the Bush economic crisis could last for years to come – it was nearly another Great Depression – only headed off by Obama’s quick action to “stimulate” the economy (I say this, even though I personally believe the stimulus was too small) – I guess if you’re making hundred’s of millions and everyone else having a job makes you look bad, you root for the President’s failure – again, HOW SELFISH CAN SOME PEOPLE GET? Obama is trying to bring confidence into the justice department, the agency that Limbaugh’s heroes totally politicized, so that the American people believe they are going to be fairly treated by the government when it comes to the laws of this land (I guess if your desire is for Republicans to be elected NO MATTER HOW IT HAPPENS, and you expect the justice department to do their part to insure this, then you would root against success here as well).

In fact, Limbaugh should be thankful that Obama is so fair minded. Although I haven’t given up hope that the torture policies of the Bush administration along with the illegal wiretapping and the lying us into war will all be investigated by our justice department at some juncture – Limbaugh should be thankful that President Obama is “looking forward and not backward.” He should also be thankful that Obama has an extreme belief in freedom of speech, because some of Limbaugh’s own rhetoric is, in my view, WAY OVER THE LINE. There are laws against sedition (encouraging the destruction and/or overthrow of our elected government) and some of the inciteful language used on the public airwaves by Limbaugh (and some of his associates) is borderline treasonous. Which reminds me, when Limbaugh claims to be independent from the Republican party (which he did tonight) – how does he explain that he’s been spouting the so-called “talking points” – along with all the other Republican “puppets” – for the past 20+ years. I’ll give him credit for being the first “puppet,” it’s just that all that money has made him see himself as something way more than what he really is (believing his own lies again).

And, I’ll end with, I believe all his “vitriole” is coming back at him. In the last few days I’ve witnessed something that virtually restores my hope that America is going to get through this difficult time of people like Limbaugh rooting for our failure. It was reported last week that Limbaugh, along with some partners, was attempting to purchase the St Louis Rams NFL (National Football League) team. The thought of that, I’ve been an NFL fan for my entire lifetime, made me shudder (I remember Leroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsh). I’m in a fantasy football league, and to a man, everyone in the league said they’d boycott St Louis players the day Limbaugh became the owner. Much to my surprise and admiration, in the past two days, the NFL players association has written a letter to the league taking the position that they want nothing to do with Limbaugh. His long history of insensitive racist comments caused them to point out they are a league that seeks unity among people and Limbaugh’s divisive, racist nature has no place in the NFL. I hope the NFL listens. Additionally, based on the interview questions tonight, it’s fairly obvious that there are those in the Republican party who are evidently “jumping ship” from Limbaugh. One of the interviewer’s questions was framed with the statement that many Republicans feel he’s ruining their party. As stated above, his response was that they are liberals and they are the ones ruining the party. The reality: the Republican party is imploding and it will continue to do so until it repudiates racists like Rush Limbaugh.