letter to editor debating pro-Limbaugh supporter
Posted: October 24th, 2007, 1:13 pm
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/10/24/Opini ... Crit.shtml
The letter writer's concern (October 24, 2007) that Rush Limbaugh is being smeared due to a distortion of facts is not valid. Mr. Limbaugh has accused critics of distorting remarks he made recently when a caller said the news media liked to focus on anti-war views raised by soldiers. Mr. Limbaugh then said, to the caller’s approval: “The phony soldiers.”
After the liberal media watchdog organization Media Matters sounded the alarm about his comments, Mr. Limbaugh said on subsequent shows that he was talking about only one discredited man who claimed to be a wounded veteran. “I was not talking about anti-war, active duty troops,” he insisted.
Yet analysts for Media Matters noted that Mr. Limbaugh’s first reference to the discredited man came nearly two minutes after his plural reference to phony soldiers. That group, VoteVets, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who have a critical position on the failed Iraq War, hit back when Rush Limbaugh attacked them, calling them “phony soldiers” for opposing the President’s failed policy on the war, and when he later compared VoteVets.org’s Brian McGough to a suicide bomber.
As an independent thinking veteran, I know that my DD-214 discharge record is on file with both the Veterans for Peace and the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. What we want is objectivity, and while it is indeed an unwelcome incident to have a falsely documented pseudo-veteran like Jese MacBeth give discredited testimony, it would improve Mr. Limbaugh's credibility if he used less hyperbole and more specific language in his testimony. That he has received a letter of censure from Democrats, without Republican support, highlights a significant difference between the two parties. Many Democrats signed on with Republicans in a bipartisan censure of the Move-on.org's "Betray-us" ad against an active duty general. As Democratic Congressman Stark has recanted from his angry words, we need less hyperbole and more accuracy in both the media and from the government, vis a vis distorted intelligence and fear mongering towards the Iraq war and another impending irrational war against Iran. We will fight when it is right, and stand down when it is wrong.
JW
© Copyright 2007 St. Petersburg Times.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drnQ5Pvc6nE
http://www.votevets.org/campaigns/ads?id=0003
The letter writer's concern (October 24, 2007) that Rush Limbaugh is being smeared due to a distortion of facts is not valid. Mr. Limbaugh has accused critics of distorting remarks he made recently when a caller said the news media liked to focus on anti-war views raised by soldiers. Mr. Limbaugh then said, to the caller’s approval: “The phony soldiers.”
After the liberal media watchdog organization Media Matters sounded the alarm about his comments, Mr. Limbaugh said on subsequent shows that he was talking about only one discredited man who claimed to be a wounded veteran. “I was not talking about anti-war, active duty troops,” he insisted.
Yet analysts for Media Matters noted that Mr. Limbaugh’s first reference to the discredited man came nearly two minutes after his plural reference to phony soldiers. That group, VoteVets, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who have a critical position on the failed Iraq War, hit back when Rush Limbaugh attacked them, calling them “phony soldiers” for opposing the President’s failed policy on the war, and when he later compared VoteVets.org’s Brian McGough to a suicide bomber.
As an independent thinking veteran, I know that my DD-214 discharge record is on file with both the Veterans for Peace and the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. What we want is objectivity, and while it is indeed an unwelcome incident to have a falsely documented pseudo-veteran like Jese MacBeth give discredited testimony, it would improve Mr. Limbaugh's credibility if he used less hyperbole and more specific language in his testimony. That he has received a letter of censure from Democrats, without Republican support, highlights a significant difference between the two parties. Many Democrats signed on with Republicans in a bipartisan censure of the Move-on.org's "Betray-us" ad against an active duty general. As Democratic Congressman Stark has recanted from his angry words, we need less hyperbole and more accuracy in both the media and from the government, vis a vis distorted intelligence and fear mongering towards the Iraq war and another impending irrational war against Iran. We will fight when it is right, and stand down when it is wrong.
JW
© Copyright 2007 St. Petersburg Times.
<object width="425" height="366"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/drnQ5Pvc6nE&re ... ram><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/drnQ5Pvc6nE&rel=1&border=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="366"></embed></object>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drnQ5Pvc6nE
http://www.votevets.org/campaigns/ads?id=0003