Rush Drops the "S" from his "Phony Soldiers" comment

Barack Obama said: "We've got to get the job done there and thatrequires us to have enough troops that we are not just air raiding villages andkilling civilians, which is causing enormous problems there"....Hedidn't mean the soldiers were doing this on purpose, he was referring to the"cluster-F**K" that was going on, and it needs to be handled.

John Kerry said: "Education, if you make the most of it, you studyhard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well.And if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."...He didn't mean the soldierswere stupid, his reference was to George Bush, figuratively speaking Bush ISstuck in Iraq (and is about as sharp as a bowling ball). Kerry supports thetroops in an unconsciously competent way (he doesn't have to even thinkabout it) 

When you listen to the conservative commentators and media, they usuallyparaphrase it as "Obama said our soldiers are bombing and killing innocentpeople" and "Kerry called our troops dumb" (Sean Hannitypractically ANY night of the week)

Now let's take a look at Limbaugh's "phony soldiers" remark. Ithink we need to pick this apart to try and get an understanding of who Limbaughwas referring to.

CALLER: No, it's not. And what's really funny is they never talk to realsoldiers. They pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue and spout to themedia.

RUSH: The phony soldiers.

CALLER: Phony soldiers. If you talk to any real soldier and they're proud toserve, they want to be over in Iraq, they understand their sacrifice and they'rewilling to sacrifice for the country.

RUSH: They joined to be in Iraq.

The caller is clearly talking about actual soldiers. The "phony soldiers"appear to be soldiers that don't agree with the war, or veterans that speak outagainst the war. Conservative commentators may have spoke too soon when theysay Rush was referring to the people that aren't or weren't soldiers at all, butscammers. I say spoke too soon because according to Rush (even though he did say"soldiers) what he meant was:

LIMBAUGH: I was not talking, as Contessa Brewer said here, about the anti-warmovement generally. I was talking about one soldier with that "phonysoldier" [Comment: he dropped the "s"] comment, Jesse MacBeth. They had exactly what I'm going to playfor you. This is Michael J. Fox all over again. Media Matters had thetranscript, but they selectively choose what they want to make their point. Hereis -- it runs about 3 minutes and 13 seconds -- the entire transcript, incontext, that led to this so-called controversy.

Note is drops the plural. He refers to the transcript running about 3 minutesand 13 seconds...Rush edited 1 minute and 35 seconds out of it. Listen to hisedited radio broadcast HERE(transcript can also be read at the same link). For any conservatives that wouldlike to cross reference the typed transcript, it can also be found at Rush'ssite, or from the conservative blog WakeUp America.

I truly believe Rush meant any serving soldier or veteran that is against thewar and speaks out against it as one of the "phony soldiers". I saythis because it seems to be a trend among conservative commentators, radio showhosts etc. For example Melanie Morgan, when she was on The News Hour with JimLehrer and subsequently got banned from that show for her viciousness towardsJon Soltz. The post with videos can be viewed at 'MelanieMorgan banned from 'The News Hour with Jim Lehrer'.

Once again, listento the broadcast Rush replayed and read along either HERE(shows where edit starts and ends), HEREor HERE.

Comments

[Ted K.]

Well, you guys are going to LOVE todays show where Limbaugh is dropping "S" bombs all over the place.
By "S" bombs, I mean he is using the plural "soldiers" and then telling the stories of soldiers lying about their service and atrocities and such.

Good God Tony, can you be any more biased left?
I can imagine you jumping around
"He dropped the S!! He dropped the S!! - see see see he hates anti war troops!"

I like this thought in your post:

"I truly believe Rush meant any serving soldier or veteran that is against the war and speaks out against it as one of the "phony soldiers". I say this because it seems to be a trend among conservative commentators, radio show hosts etc. "

I am SURE that is what you believe. He even clarifies in multiple broadcasts what he was talking about and not what your side claims, but you still believe what you believe. Why would he playback the audio you have time and time again if it was that incriminating?
But you are going to believe what you WANT to believe, not the truth.

Listen to the link you have there, Rush plays it back. The caller said "And what's really funny is they never talk to real soldiers."
To which Rush interrupts: "phony soldiers"

This is accurate. So what is your point? Semantics? An "S" missing?
There are stories of multiple phony soldiers, lying about what they saw and did and their ranks and medals.
Why aren't you guys screaming at the anti-war movement to do some background checks before running out liars that are anti-war?

Operation Stolen Valor has been going on for a year now.
1.4 million has been stolen from Veterans services because of phony soldiers lying about these things.

And you are screaming about an "S'' being dropped.

Again, listen to Tuesday's show and he is S-ing the phony soldierS all over the place.

There are multiple phony soldiers, disgracing the uniform, so what is your big deal? He dropped the "S?"

The libs are just trying to get their "Betray Us" moment back.
They are stinging from being attacked there and are outright lying about what Rush was talking about.

HIs comments were much less inflamitory then Kerry or Obamma, no matter how you wanna spin it.

Face it, your side is lying about what he "meant" to try and deflect the whole Petraeus debacle.

[aravella]

Ted,

what is your take on the missing 1 minute and 35 seconds of the playback?

[Chief Editor: Todd]

lol Isn't it so amusing that the only way Rush can defend himself is by bashing even more soldiers?

What a great way, Ted, to change the subject from the miserable failure in Iraq on the part of Republican policy-makers, and Democratic ones that don't have the courage to say anything. This is what has happened the entire war. The GOP picks subjects, such as the MoveOn.org ad, to divert attention. Why does the so-called "liberal media" spend more time on that then the more than 1,000 security incidents per week in Iraq?

[Ted K.]

I am with you Todd.

This is such a non-issue to bring to the Senate floor.

I thought the MoveOn.org add was dispicable, but a waste of time to pass some non-binding resolution about it.

I am all for not wasting time passing any non-binding resolutions.

There are much bigger things to worry about than passing these idiotic resolution-type statements.

In regards to the "missing" 1 min 35 sec.
I have no idea what is missing.
There could have been an aside taken out, that had nothing to do with the topic he is getting reamed over.

I listened to the live broadcast that day and I knew exactly what he was talking about when he was talking about phony soldiers.
Be it Macbeth or multiple fakes.

I would have condemned Rush if he had said anything to smear a soldier who differed in opinion.
If you think that Limbaugh doesn't back the military, you are misinformed..He would thank them for service, no matter what their take on the War, but would not call them fakes for just a differing opinion.

Todd, again your thought process is flawed.
Rush today did not attack more soldiers, but attacked more "phony soldiers"-
Soldiers that discredit the uniform by lying about service time, falsifying documents and stealing money with these fake claims from Veterans Affairs.

I would like to as you, Todd, why do you consider these people credible soldiers?
Why are you defending these slugs?
Why are you intimating that Rush is attacking EVERY soldier with a differing opinion, when it is clearly not the case?

Your anti-war side is embarrassing. They will embrace any military that bashes the war, without even checking on their stories or on whether they served or not.
Doesn't matter if they lie, the anti-war crowd is not going to appologize because if the ends justifies the means, its all good.

MoveOn.org smeared Petraeus before he even said one word in front of the panel, and you think this and Rush are the same thing?

Get some perspective.

More teenagers lost their lives in car accidents last year than our military in 4 years in Iraq.

[aravella]

In regards to the "missing" 1 min 35 sec.cI have no idea what is missing. There could have been an aside taken out, that had nothing to do with the topic he is getting reamed over.

The Missing 1 minute and 35 seconds. The rebroadcast is at the same link. Or you can view the transcripts on the conservative blog Wake up America.

LIMBAUGH: -- know where you're going these days, the last four years, if
you signed up. The odds are you're going there or Afghanistan or somewhere.

CALLER 2: Exactly, sir. And, and my other comment was -- and the reason
I was calling for -- was to report to Jill about the fact that we didn't,
didn't find any weapons of mass destruction. Actually, we have found weapons
of mass destruction in chemical agents that [inaudible] been using against us
for awhile now.

I've done two tours in Iraq. I just got back in June and there were many
instances of -- since [inaudible] not know what they're using in their IEDs
[improvised explosive devices]. They're using mustard artillery rounds. The VX
artillery rounds in their IEDs.

Because they didn't know what they were using, they didn't do it right,
and so it just kind of -- it, it didn't really hurt anybody but there are --
those munitions are over there, it's just -- it's a huge desert. If they've
buried it somewhere, we're never gonna find it.

LIMBAUGH: Well, you know, that's a moot point for me right now --

MIKE: Rush --

LIMBAUGH: -- the weapons of mass destruction. We gotta get beyond that.
We're, we're there. What -- who cares if, if -- we all know they were there
and, and Mahmoud [Ahmadinejad, Iranian president] even admitted it in one of
his speeches here about -- talkin' about Saddam using the poison mustard gas
or whatever it is on his own people -- but that, that's moot, right? What,
what's more important is all this is taking place now in the midst of the
surge working.

And all of these anti-war Democrats are getting even more hell-bent on
pulling out of there, which means that success on the part of you and, and
your colleagues over there is, is a great threat to them.

Rush changed his website transcript. When I read it earlier it was complete (Wake up America copied what they have from Limbaugh's site, and linked it)

From Limbaugh's site:

RUSH: The phony soldiers.

CALLER: The phony soldiers. If you talk to any real soldier and they're proud to serve, they want to be over in Iraq, they understand their sacrifice and they're willing to sacrifice for the country.

RUSH: They joined to be in Iraq.

THE MISSING TIME GOES HERE

RUSH: It's frustrating and maddening, and why they must be kept in the minority. I want to thank you, Mike, for calling. I appreciate it very much.

"In regards to the "missing" 1 min 35 sec.cI have no idea what is missing. There could have been an aside taken out,"

Please Ted, under the circumstances it's all relevant. Relevant for the people that are trying to understand what was meant, and relevant to Rush to prove he didn't mean what the evil lefty's say he meant.

[Chief Editor: Todd]

Ted, hopefully now you know what Tony was referring to regarding the missing 1:35.

Lastly, Ted I agree that non-binding resolutions are a waste of the Senate's time. For example, the Biden resolution that partitioned Iraq was non-binding. It helped in no way. And thank you for agreeing about the MoveOn.org resolution.

[Ted K.]

Yes, I did hear that, I thought you meant something else was taken out.
So, what of it?

I don't hear anything in that bite that indicates he was besmirching troops that spoke out against the war.

It was taken out because it really didn't have anything to do with the context of him talking about the phony soldier.
WMDs and mustard gas, Ahmadenijahd, and knowing the probablity that you are going into the mid east if you signed up in the last 4 yrs. Even took out the part about the Surge working.
This is off the topic upon which he is being attacked.
Why don't we just include the whole 20 min prior to this call to?
Often times a call spins off different thoughts and then Rush goes in another direction from the original call.

You can't expect somebody to listen to all the tangentals if you are trying to get a focus on the meat of the matter on which you are being attacked.

He is being attacked on saying soldiers that speak out are phonies and it is a complete fabrication.

Nothing you just posted (and I also heard it on the link) gives me any evidence that he was covering something up by not playing another 1 1/2 minutes, in fact it would distract one from the issue at hand.

Do you think this is incriminating evidence as to his calling ALL antiwar soldiers fakes?
Explain if this is your take, because I cannot fathom how you would come to such a conclusion.

[aravella]

"Yes, I did hear that, I thought you meant something else was taken out.
So, what of it?

I don't hear anything in that bite that indicates he was besmirching troops that spoke out against the war."
___________________________________

I gave my take in the post and in my comments. Regardless of the content of the missing piece, don't you think that it's important not to give "sound bites", but rather ALL the information so people can make their own educated conclusions? One of the problems with the media/politicians/commentators whether it be left or right, is feeding the world sound bites. I want ALL the info, then I'll decide which way I'll go.

[Ted K.]

all the info is good, I agree.

But he is giving the relevent soundbite that he is being attacked on and not all the other minutia.

You may want all that other stuff, but most people would not.

PLUS media matters didn't even give THAT much..just took the smallest bite and out of context, it sounds as if Rush did say that about any soldier not for the war.

[granny]

Well, well...some more gratuitous "enlightement"

Last week we were treated (or I was) to a "let me inform you" moment in which I was apprised of the “fact” that Clinton was impeached for “lying”, not for his conduct…

Quite so, in a legalistic sense, perjury was the charge. The charges could not very well be playing cozy with an intern under the desk (or whatever other details you care to use) – so the obvious use of perjury served the purpose. We all know the “impeachment was not about perjury, it was barely about the misconduct, it was about “getting Bill Clinton”…

If the powers that were so offended by Clinton’s perjury were to follow their own path of righteous indignation over truth and the upholding of law, we would not have to endure having George Bush in the White House any longer.

And NOW we have this fulminating over the “phony soldier” phony transcript. And lo and behold,lying isn't a big deal after all. My, my, more surprises.

Limbaugh claims MediaMatters took the comment out of context, then follows the accusation with: “: "Here is, it runs about 3 minutes and 13 seconds, the entire transcript, in context, that led to this so-called controversy." And gives us a clip that is 1 minute and 35 seconds short of “the entire transcript” – but NOW, we’re asked to swallow :
“So, what of it?”
“It was taken out because it
really didn't have anything to do
with the context of him talking about
the phony soldier.”
“You may want all that other stuff, but
most people would not.”

That last one is especially rich ~ Who the devil do you think you are to be deciding what “most people” would want? Maybe most Limbaugh fans don’t care for the boring “details. But there are others who find that the details make the case.

It doesn’t matter if it was taken out because there wasn’t any toilet paper in the bathroom and some was needed. He SAID it was the “entire transcript”!

Now where I come from THAT’s a lie.

Not only are we being treated to that example of argumentative nonsense and double standard of rules, but once again the issue of “semantics” arises – that old bug-a-boo: the meanings of words.

“Semantics? An "S" missing?”

… “you are screaming about an "S'' being dropped.”

Well if we posted “thousands of people gathered to protest Rush Limbaugh’s double standard on drug addiction and use” and in fact only one thousand had been there…you would just plain say we lied. And all that happened was an S was added!

What this all boils down to is, the subject - Rush Limbaugh and his remarks, is a matter of dispute. We heard the words, you deny they meant what they said. (That nasty semantic thing again)

All the bullying in the world is not going to change the fact that we disagree, and that we all have that right. And all the statements like this: “But you are going to believe what you WANT to believe, not the truth.” Do no more than demonstrate your narrow view of your own superior “knowledge” of right and wrong, is and isn’t; And the rather astonishing belief that whatever you say is so is “the truth”.

Why do you come to this blog?

[Ted K.]

granny, nice to hear from you again.

I guess Clinton being disbarred was just about getting Clinton and nothing else. Perjury and witness tampering were reasons for bringing impeachment- that backed up misconduct- the Liberal side thinks it was all about sex, my side knows that is not at all what it was about.
Well, he has his legacy of being impeached- I guess we will leave it at that.
You won't get your impeachment of Bush, because there is nothing to impeach him on-otherwise you don't think your Dem led congress and senate would have gone full steam with it?

granny, you know I am right in this Rush assesment. Nothing in those 1:35 seconds of the broadcast even hinted to his "meaning" that all anti-war soldiers are fakes.

Those that are bashing Rush are grasping at 2 words that were taken out of context, and when you read the context.. (plus the 1:35 other minutes), you have to be "reaching" to come to a conclusion that Rush is bashing soldiers with an anit-war stance.

Rush is unabashedly in support of anyone that serves his country and to say he is against soldiers who don't like the war is ridiculous on its face.

I don't know how you get bullying. I am explaining the fact that Rush is being targeted for something he didn't imply (all troops anti-war are fakes)
It's odd you can't accept the fact of the matter, but instead just call me a bully and give backhanded slaps instead of arguing your case and backing it up with reason.
The transcript in its entirety- my guess is referring to the clip that the 2 words were lifted from, and replaying the line of thought in question. If you want to get technical about it, the "entire transcript" would be all 3 hours of his show.

I am also sorry you can't take a conservative weighing in on your blog. If you came to a conservative website and posted, I would engage in arguments with you, but not lament that you keep visiting my "choir."

[granny]

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Ted K.]

Great retort granny.

Hard for me to combat that well thought out argument.

[granny]

"combat" ~ that's the problem ...

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