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Democrats Chastise Limbaugh for Insulting Troops

Oct. 6, 2007

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has introduced a “Bill of Attainder” against conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh for “usurping the prerogatives of congress.” The flap started when Limbaugh characterized self-proclaimed war hero and war critic, Jesse Macbeth, a “phony soldier.”

“It is not for Mr. Limbaugh to say who is or isn’t a soldier,” Reid said. “Nor should he be casting aspersions on brave men like Jesse Macbeth for their outspoken opposition to the atrocities committed by our troops. Congress is the judge of these matters.”

Reid asserted that “the testimony of soldiers like Macbeth has been corroborated by many others.” “Senator Kerry (D-Mass.) has informed me that our troops have been terrorizing women and children in the dead of night,” Reid went on. “Congressman Murtha (D-Pa.) pointed out that our Marines have been killing civilians in cold-blood. I have heard similar stories from Senator Durbin (D-Ill.) and Senator Obama (D-Ill.).”

As it turns out, Macbeth who claimed to have been an Army Ranger was in the Army only 44 days and never served in Iraq or Afghanistan. The lack of actual participation in the war did not stunt Macbeth’s imagination. He described how he and other U.S. Army Rangers slaughtered Muslims as they prayed in a Baghdad mosque.

Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) cautioned that we “not rush to dismiss Macbeth’s account of atrocities just because he embellished his war record.” Harkin said boasting about one’s military service is “a harmless vice” akin to “fishermen’s tales of the one that got away.”

Harkin once claimed to have flown combat missions in Vietnam, only to later be forced to admit that he only flew into Vietnam on a few occasions to “sample the ‘killer weed’ and get some action with ‘hot Asian babes.’”

Reid’s bill calls for Limbaugh to be permanently banished from the airwaves and to perform two million hours of community service helping non-English speakers register to vote.