Posted on 05/08/2004 9:01:04 PM PDT by new cruelty
Rush Limbaugh is a slow learner.
That might explain why he looked at the sadistic photos from the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and likened them to some college fraternity high jinks.
Boolah, mullah! Boolah, mullah!
Most reasonable people expressed disgust by the sight of the bound, nude, hooded men in American custody being forced to degrade themselves sexually.
And Limbaugh surely would have, too, if it had been under the previous administration.
But Limbaugh's a referee without a whistle these days. So here's how he excused the inexcusable:
"This is no different than what happens at the Skull and Bones initiation, and we're going to ruin people's lives over it, and we're going to hamper our military effort, and then we are going to really hammer them because they had a good time," he said on his radio show.
Limbaugh added: "I'm talking about people having a good time. These people, you ever heard of emotional release? You heard of need to blow some steam off?"
I knew he was an apologist. But I just figured that in light of his newfound expertise in the realm of investigatory zeal run amok -- something he claims to have learned the hard way in Palm Beach County -- he might have temporarily burst through the wall of his professional limitations.
But, like I said, Limbaugh is apparently a slow learner.
And yet, there's hope.
There used to be a time when he thought that the problem with drugs was that we weren't locking up the people who got caught. This was during the days when he thought the American Civil Liberties Union was a flaky impediment to justice and criminal defense lawyers were an evil bunch of liberal simps who were out to subvert the truth by freeing the guilty on procedural maneuvers.
He has been educated through experience in that regard.
Caught in cross hairs of justice
Ever since the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office declined to respectfully turn a blind eye to Limbaugh's years of prescription drug abuse, he has become a champion of the drug addict caught in the cross hairs of justice. He talks of the pain of addiction, the need for treatment and the unfairness of prosecutors pursuing people with a personal problem.
If you go to Limbaugh's Web site these days, it's full of tales of horrific miscarriages of justice and calls to end investigatory techniques that we, as Americans, shouldn't stand for.
There are warnings about the "threat to the rule of law." Harassment we can't condone. And a horrible "fishing expedition" for information that should chill us to the core.
No, none of that is about the sadistic abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison.
It's all about Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer's having the nerve to document Limbaugh's drug abuse through the use of his medical records.
Oh, the horror!
From Limbaugh's bellowing, you'd think Krischer was breaking chemical lights and pouring the scorching phosphoric liquid over the naked talk-show host's... oh, never mind.
Besides, that's just "people having a good time."
All those naked Iraqis must be guilty of something, right? There can't be any innocent civilians rounded up by overzealous authorities. That never happens.
And as for the guilty -- well, the rights of people behind bars is just a left-wing abstraction.
For now. The slow learner better hope this isn't the next awakening in his education.
I understand.
Even if someone considers him a rabble rouser, no one can deny that he is influential in politics.
You MIGHT want to think about getting your history fromm somewhere other than TV movies. Many other posters that follow you are equally ignorant.
There were tens of thousands of German POW's during WWII. They were kept in camps HERE! Not only did we take prisoners, we shipped them stateside, where they worked as farmhands, factory workers, etc. Some of the most wonderful carvings you will ever see (Nativity scenes, etc.) in Iowa, were done by German prisoners. Incidently, they were treated so well that many of them stayed here and became citizens.
We also let many Germans just "put down their arms" and leave...rather than take them prisoner.
ALL of you who are defending this disgusting S&M display...particularly when you use WWII as an example are sickening. Can you imagine your soldier grandfather forcing a bunch of naked Germans to masturbate while you take pictures? HOW DARE YOU MALIGN THE WWII SOLDIERS BY EVEN BRINGING THEM INTO THE CONVERSATION???? Shame on all of you.....
I know that...I have read your posts on the subject. I assume you will feel the same way when we have terrorists attacks to avenge this? I have no problem with normal means of getting answers from the enemy...but this was just a bunch of weirdos playing out their sexual fantasies. NOT good in the Arab world...particularly that "female" with the leash.
No, some were neutral...now they're not. Blood on your hands, and the hands of anyone who defends these freaks. Not to mention the fact, that our good soldiers have been lumped into the mix with this riff-raff. How do you think they feel about that?
This was reported in January. This would be a non-issue, had these deviants been thrown in prison immediately.
As I said, and you failed to address, my major problem with some of the uneducated people on this thread is that they are comparing it to WWII.
It is an insult to the WWII vets to even insinuate that this type of thing happened.
I support the war and the troops. I'm all for carpet-bombing any area where our soldiers are being targeted. Now, THAT would be like WWII. That, of course, won't happen...and on that note I think we are far too soft.
However, if we are running the war on a pansy basis (which we are), then this type of self-imposed negative propaganda will paint a big targets on the backs of both Military and civilian Americans in the area.
I agree! The damage has been done, however. Whoever is responsible for the release of these photos should rot in jail along with the rest of them. I can only imagine how many of our guys will be hurt because of this...and THAT, not politics, is my major concern.
No.
Do you really think intelligence and wisdom are directly linked? Intelligence and philosophical depth? That anyone who has a high IQ would necessarily have philosophical depth and access to wisdom?
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