Father Orthoduck is not a fan of Rush Limbaugh. I agree with those who say that he has gone beyond being the entertainer he claims to be to being a person that is dangerous to the well-being of the USA. Nevertheless, that is no excuse for passing on false information about him. So, here is your quiz for today.
How many of the statements above did Rush Limbaugh actually make? Father Orthoduck will tell you ahead of time that he did not make all the statements attributed to him in this comic. So, here is a secondary question. Which statement above was Mr. Limbaugh supposed to have made in the 1990’s, but actually is never found before 2005, and never on his blog?
How many of the statements above are deliberate slight misquotes that make what Mr. Limbaugh said appear to be something else?
How many of the statements above are actually accurate representations of what Mr. Limbaugh said?
Father Orthoduck has previously said that he is pro-healthcare change. And, he has previously jumped on those who deliberately twist, misrepresent, and even totally make up supposed facts about the healthcare bill. Only someone who has never looked at the bill and relies on people like Mr. Limbaugh can make some of the claims that have been made about it.
Nevertheless, that is no reason nor is it any excuse for anyone, and most particular anyone who calls himself/herself Christian, to return the favor by making up stuff about Mr. Limbaugh. Christians are called to be honest in their statements. We need to remember that perjury is a violation of one of the Ten Commandments. Unfortunately, Father Orthoduck has seen that violations of this particular commandment abound on both the Left and the Right.
Most of those quotes are totally accurate representations of Limbaugh quotes.
Except for two (and one of those, I not so sure):
* the James Earl Ray quote
* “Obama is a racist”, though I haven’t listened lately, comic author may have confused Limbaugh with Beck…
The James Earl Ray quote was supposedly made by Mr. Limbaugh in 1998. However, there is no record of it before 2005 when it was cited by a blogger with the handle of “zedlappy” based on a Wikipedia entry that was subsequently removed because it was not verifiable. Then a blogger called “cobra” began to cite it through several articles and comments until he was called on it. In spite of that the quote made it into a book in 2006, based on the cobra citations.
Mr. Limbaugh did call President Obama a “reverse-racist” and the quote can be heard here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecKkQvjOPOk
It was said in the context of the nomination of Justice Sotomayor. However, “reverse racism” is not the same term as “racism” and does not carry the same weight. In fact, if one listens to the quote, Mr. Limbaugh starts to use the term racism and quickly corrects himself.
However, there is at least one other quote cited up there for which Snopes–the online urban legend archive–says that, “Nearly all the information available on this subject is anecdotal, with no documentation and no specifics mentioned. . .”
A media watchdog organization report on Limbaugh + race (verifying a number of these “quotes”, plus a few others) from 2000:
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2549
I tend to prefer the urban legend sites versus sites actually involved in the argument over press freedom and press bias. The urban legend sites usually have significantly better documentation and contributors come from all sides of the political spectrum.
Sorry, snopes.com and other “urban legend” sites are riddled with errors too. Their pronouncements are not 100% on the mark.
Fair.org is a lefty organization, but they’ve been tracking Limbaugh since pre-internet age. I would trust them (or an equivalent right wing media watchdog) over snopes.com on quotes, as that’s what these outfits monitor.
Fair enough (pun intended), as long as people will check out facts on more than one site and do their research rather than simply going on one news report or one blog. We need truly educated voters!
…i think the better question to ask would have been how many of us CARE what he says….:)
Well, while Father Orthoduck admits not agreeing with Mr. Limbaugh’s opinion, my concern was not about what he said but rather about the incorrect charges that were made concerning him.
“Christians are called to be honest in their statements. We need to remember that perjury is a violation of one of the Ten Commandments.”
This is the point that Fr. Orthoduck was trying to make, and I agree with him 100%.