Dems Rip Limbaugh's 'Phony Troops' Comment

Source: WLWT NEWS 5

The war of words over the conflict in Iraq took a new turn Thursday as Democrats in Congress excoriated radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh for calling some soldiers "phony troops."

Limbaugh had argued with a caller on Wednesday about when U.S. troops ought to be brought home. The caller, who identified himself as "Mike" from Chicago and said he was an a Iraq veteran and a Republican, pushed Limbaugh on whether the occupation in Iraq would last forever.

Limbaugh and his next caller, who also said he was in the military, both referred to soldiers who criticize the war and urge that troops be brought home as "phony troops."

...

Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Pa., an Iraq veteran critical of the war, scolded Limbaugh in a Thursday column on the HuffingtonPost.com Web site.

"When someone like Rush Limbaugh says that soldiers who disagree with the failed strategies of President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld are 'phony soldiers,' you have to consider the source," he wrote.

"Rush Limbaugh, who, in January, called Vietnam veteran Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., 'Senator Betrayus' for disagreeing with President Bush, has made no secret of his disdain for those who serve and speak out. Where was Rush Limbaugh when it came time to serve his country?"


Read more: http://www.wlwt.com/politics/14225149/detail.html

lol

Nice to see people calling out the Rs on what they say, like they've been doing to us for years.

except that he always thought like this. Pity he didn't get addicted to something that would cure his chronic diahrrea of the mouth. :puke:

work at all.

Draft dodger Limbaugh calling combat veterans "phony troops" from the safety of his broadcast booth.

I just don't have words to convey my disgust with these cretins.

Just like they did for MoveOn!

Or does Congress only support 4-star generals??

We shall see.

Let's bring one up on the floor of the house. Every time one of the nuts on the right says something offense, then we should demand congressional action. Hell, the Repubs did it with Move On and the Dems fell right in line.

It should particularly condemn the fact that he never served a minute in defense of his country, never sacrificed a hair on his head to ensure freedom of expression. And he should be made to read the Constitution, live, on his radio show.

I'd change:

"...never sacrificed a hair on his head ..."

to

"... never sacrificed a hair on his anal cyst .."

...it crossed my mind but I endeavored mightily to remain above the level of Rush Limbaugh's ass--it's such a smelly place.

:P

but it is a stupid waste of time and taxpayers money. What they really need to do is admit they made a mistake regarding MoveOn and MOVE ON themselves to the important issues facing us like stopping the impending war with Iran and investigating the lies of the current * admin.

How come it's ok for Rush to call a Vietnam veteran and U.S. senator "Betrayus," but when moveon.org does it, Congress passes a resolution of condemnation?

Where's the condemnation from Congress of Rush?

congress will ignore it, like they ignore Fox news, coulter, and all the rest of the right wing crap spewers.

Why anyone pays attention or even listens to this pimple-assed, draft
dodger, narcotic abusing, loud-mouth, is beyond imagination. Contact
his local advertisers and let them know your feelings. That is the
only way to rid humanity of this idiots presence.

needs to be exerted to bring him down.

because I've NEVER listened to that asshole's show for more than five minutes, and I've avoided it like the plague since I first heard of him decades ago.

It amazes me that so many people on this board listen to Rush's show. Sometimes I wonder whether Rush's audience consists mostly of misguided DUers.

If it's good enough to do against the majority who want out of Iraq, it's certainly apropos for the 29% who want to stay and see more soldiers killed. This is far more damaging IMHO. I want the Republicans to be put on the spot and have to either do the right thing and cross their base or expose their hypocrisy on the MoveOn vote.

It's a no-brainer.

And watch as the Repugs make hypocrites out of themselves by not supporting it.

What great campaign fodder it would make.

by individual activists. Read what he said on the condemnation of Moveon.org - He blasts it as wasting valuable time. Doing this by a sense of the Senate resolution really accomplishes nothing. A DU poster, FedupinBushcountry, had a better idea - demand that he not be carried by Armed Services Radio because of this. (Although ask yourselves, what do you think the average serviceman in Iraq thought when they heard that? He may have shot himself in the foot.)

From the Senate record:
Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, today we saw the floor of the Senate hijacked for purely partisan political purposes at a time when we need the U.S. Senate to instead come together for the purpose of protecting our national security and changing a policy in Iraq that is not working.

What happened in the Senate today is partisan, political and demeaning of this institution. The Republican minority is desperate to distract the Senate and our country from the real issue at hand, which is a failed escalation and an administration policy in Iraq that is every day costing American blood and treasure. The same Senators who have gone along with the President's Iraq policy every step of the way, who have expressed not a shred of outrage about nonexistent weapons of mass destruction, predictions of a ``cakewalk,'' ``mission accomplished,'' or ``an insurgency, its last throes'' will now say and do anything to avoid talking about what is really happening in Iraq. They would rather express outrage about a newspaper ad run by an independent entity, than express outrage about a policy pursued by their party and their administration. And certainly they don't want to address the outrage of more Americans dying for a policy we know is not working.

The Senate did not need to spend hours today on this debate. Nine days ago, the first time I was asked about the ad which the Senator from Texas loves to talk about, I said it was ``over the top'' and ``inappropriate, period.'' I said that, as a veteran, I thought it was wrong to characterize any member of the military in the way General Petraeus was characterized in that advertisement. I have nothing but respect for General Petraeus. I wasn't alone in that feeling. Senator Reid spoke out. Senator Biden spoke out. There was no question about where Democrats stood. And we ratified that opinion in a broad condemnation of that behavior--including the Petraeus ad--in the Boxer amendment.

But I also asked that we all recognize that the emotion behind that ad is an emotion shared by the American people: frustration--frustration as we head into the 5th year of being told one thing about Iraq and finding out another. That is why we should be having a real debate and a real discussion about the policy in Iraq rather than trying to score partisan points over the politics of Iraq. It is as insulting as it is illuminating that in a week-long debate in which each side can offer just five amendments, the Republicans would waste one of their chances to change a broken policy by choosing instead to embrace a political stunt.

We are where we are. I vehemently oppose the kind of political abuse of the Senate embodied in the Cornyn amendment, and I am saddened if not surprised to see that so many of the Republicans who believe that what happened to General Petraeus was wrong, could not bring themselves to vote for the Boxer amendment which made clear that the assault on Senator Cleland's patriotism in 2002 was wrong, and that the lies broadcast about my own military record in 2004 were also wrong. The votes against the Boxer amendment--an amendment which makes clear our disagreement with the ad which ran September 10--speak volumes about the partisan motivations behind the Cornyn amendment, and the fact that, apparently, many of our colleagues believe that attacking the integrity of veterans and members of the military is fair game as long as they are Democrats. I would remind them that when you sign up for military duty, no one asks whether you are a Democrat or Republican, liberal, or conservative.


Here were Kerry's comment on Cornyn's bill.

I understand that his 'no vote' on the Petreus motion might also not make him the right person to put this legislation forward. However, there were plenty of Democrats who supported the amendment in the Senate and one of them ought to promote this. Kerry can still be consistant on his position, but I want to get the Republicans on the receiving end of a 'no win' vote. With all due respect to JK, all of the eloquent words he writes don't get read by those that need to read them...but a black and white vote on this issue will have the effect of neutralizing the damage of the Petrayus vote and put the Republicans on the defensive, regardless of which side they take.

the fact that people look to Kerry for every fight, then give him little support when he is attacked back.) He is working on some of the toughest issues facing us in the Senate - even though he is rarely given much public credit.

Kerry was one of the first out with strong comments in the media on this. It helps that his immediate reaction on Petraeus was that he thought it wrong - for exactly the reasons, Limbaugh is wrong on this (infinitely) wrong Rush comment. I think it far better that Jon Soltz and Patrick Murphy be the main people out there. Fair or not, Kerry is treated worse than anyone else. He made a statement, but he should not be the person used as the Democratic attack dog. It is immensely unfair to him and doing it more than anyone else in the last 3 years has made the target on his back bigger. Kerry has led more fights and received less support for doing it than anyone else. It is striking that it is more often Kerry than anyone else that people here demand fight, but when he is attacked, the support is never as strong as for others.

On issues like this - which go to who he is - he needs to do exactly what he thinks is right. Why, when most of the party didn't risk anything defending him as the nominee, should he be looked at to make attacks that are beneath his dignity. Meanwhile, he is criticized for not fighting back. A large part of the sentiment for hitting Rush is because of the way the MoveOn.org ad was handled. If all Democrats had responded as Kerry did, the fake outrage on that ad would have been defanged. There are huge risks to reputation in playing the attack role as long as Kerry did. He was willing to do it for real reasons - like defending vets and he did it in his own way. Kerry is more of a statesman than anyone else in the party - and I include Clinton. As he was forced out of the race, he should be allowed to do what he said he would do work in the Senate to try to make some progress on world problems and global warming.

Why not call on Hillary to lead this? After all we KNOW she can fight the right wing better than anyone else. Or Bill Clinton?

I'm happy that there is a Democratic move to condemn Rush's comments in the House and I hope the Senate follows suit. That said, I'll have no criticism for any Democrat that votes 'no' again in support of free speech. But I will have problems with any Democrat that doesn't vote 'yes' who voted to condemn MoveOn. And I will particularly enjoy the self-righteous Republicans squirm and spin on their the legislative petard that they've hoisted themselves on. Either way they vote, they can't win. Hypocrite or cross your base, pick your poison.

I just doubt he would bring it to the Senate floor - because of what he said on Cronyn - though he could see this as an attack on many many soldiers - in many wars - including everyone who stood with him in 1971.

the point MoveOn was making. It really is an apple-to-oranges comparison and Kerry could well vote to support a motion to condemn the Limbaugh's slander of our soldiers.

Offer resolutions condemning Limbaugh and kicking him off the air.

Make Republicans vote on it

Harper...bush is strangly silent now...

I wonder why...

Now we KNOW what and who he really is!

Come to think of it, so are most of the others who were so quick to condemn MoveOn...

Or are they among the ones who are nixing condemnation of a repuke "because that would make us look just as bad" or some other such rubbish...

hmmm...

'Limbaugh and his next caller, who also said he was in the military, both referred to soldiers who criticize the war and urge that troops be brought home as "phony troops."'

criticize the war -> come home to your families

Best idea he ever had! We'd see a record-setting redeployment, and our troops would all be home for Christmas. The downside is Rush Limbaugh gets to call them phony, but after a few years of dodging mortar strikes and trying to avoid IEDs, I think most of 'em could laugh that one off.

And Trying To Avoid IEDs.

I Would Like To See How Much Phony A Soldier Rush Limbauch Really Is.

Not Just Think About it. SEE it.

I'll call my Congress critters ASAP.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/youdecide2008/index.html
under JOE BIDEN
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296879,00.html?sPage=fnc.politics/youdecide2008
Irks ya, doesn't it!

I was looking for a Kucinich video of the NH debate and I thought they just might have it, them I saw this.:puke:

That's how the sheep are manipulated. I'm sorry for exposing you guys I thought maybe you would be prepared if a Limp-mind should throw this out.

this must be really bugging him . . .

was his whining he was taken "out of context". :rofl:

When Limpballs starts complaining about "context" you know we've slipped through the looking glass.

I've been waiting for years for this gasbas commuppance. Maybe this is it!

At the least. Have you gone to Armed Forces Radio and entered a complaint to get this prick off of AFRN? There's a thread in GD with a link to the AFRN Feedback page.

but did not enter a complaint - work got in the way.

Will do so today.

I heard that "out of context" crap also. Same as o-reilly.

You know when they pull out that argument . . . and do not play the tape in full, that they are lying.

Hope this resolution passes. . . .

n/t

but look how they treat the people who actually EXCERCISE THE RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH

I always avoided him. But I wanted to hear him squirm after the Repukes got crushed.

But I had no idea he called out Hagel like that.

that if a liberal radio host had said this, the entire republican party would be up in arms.

Pills Limbaugh says it and one Dem steps up.

one.


we just don't fight. period.

This piece doesn't mention all of the Dems who spoke out against Limbaugh. There have been others.
Not enough Dem noise, or not enough media coverage?

http://weblog.signonsandiego.com/news/breaking/2007/09/dems_to_rush_thanks.html

I work in the radio business and look at ratings locally and nationally everyday. Yes his audience is large, but overall it is a small group of people. The people that listen to him all believe the way he does. If he wasn't on the air they'd listen to someone else like him.