A new low for Rush Limbaugh?

For the most part, I think Rush Limbaugh is better ignored. He’s a shameless liar who has helped turn incivility into the national past-time, a demagogue who has done more than his share to divide the body politic. And made hundreds of millions of dollars doing it. But his utterly classless mocking today of a visiting dignitary — Chinese President Hu Jintao — ought to embarrass many of Limbaugh’s ardent fans. While Limbaugh frequently engages in race-baiting, his performance today was a low ebb even for him. Commenting on the fact that Fox didn’t immediately provide translation during Hu Jintao’s press conference, he mocks the president’s language in the childish and stupid faux Mandarin that was typical of bad Hollywood slapstick of the 1920s and ’30s. (h/t Steve Benen):

“We’re not gonna gyp Fox,” Rush Limbaugh said. “I wanted to gyp it because the — well, the — Hu Jintao, he was speaking, and they weren’t translating. They normally — you have some translator every couple of words. But Hu Jintao was just going [mocking Chinese speech for 20 seconds]. Nobody was translating. But that’s the closest I can get.”

It’s not even funny — just dumb. If you can stomach it, you can hear it on this audio clip:

Since the usual meaning of “gyp” is “to cheat” then a first time visitor to Rush could have viewed it as a deliberate stunt. Rush would do better in future to say things like “join Fox in progress” even if it’s a little wordier. Why not make his show friendly to all open minded inquirers. Can’t hurt the conservative cause to do this.

Since the usual meaning of “gyp” is “to cheat” then a first time visitor to Rush could have viewed it as a deliberate stunt.

I just can't see it as a stunt. Here is the quote with "cheat" substituted for "gyp."

“We’re not gonna cheat Fox,” Rush Limbaugh said. “I wanted to cheat it because the — well, the — Hu Jintao, he was speaking, and they weren’t translating.

What does that mean? How could such nonsense be part of a stunt?

Why not make his show friendly to all open minded inquirers. Can’t hurt the conservative cause to do this.

First, I should say that Rush is on at the wrong time of day for me, so I don't listen nearly as often as I once did. That said, Rush often stated that his show was not designed for perfect comprehension by first-time listeners, that it would require weeks of listening for a new listener to get up to speed. I heard Rush use and explain JIP plenty of times. If he did not explain the term this time, the vast majority of his audience would have understood it anyway. Perhaps learning Rush's special words and phrases help his fans feel special themselves -- group insiders. So, what seems unfriendly to a newcomer might seem just the opposite to an established fan.

FR seems to be going down once again -- more sluggishness and proxy errors -- so I will sign off for now.

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