Rush Limbaugh in The Most Dangerous Man in America, by John K. Wilson
On Environment:
FactCheck: No, forest acreage is not higher than ever
In 1994 Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) issued a lengthy report on Limbaugh's mistakes.To condemn the environmental movement, Limbaugh wrote, "Do you know we have more acreage of forest land in the US today than we did at the time the
Constitution was written?" FAIR noted: "In what are now the 50 US states, there were 850 million acres of forest land in the late 1700s vs. only 730 million acres today."
Limbaugh tried to refute this be declaring, "In 1952, the US had 664 million acres of forest land. In 1987 the number had climbed to 731 million acres."
But that reflects, in part, the success of the environmental movement in preventing deforestation. More important, such numbers have nothing to do with Limbaugh's original false claim about America in 1787.
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p.138-140
Mar 1, 2011
On Civil Rights:
Call NBA teams "gangs"; fans go to watch Crips vs. Bloods
How does Rush Limbaugh generally describe black athletes? He said once, "Look, let me put it to you this way: the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it."
He was oddly fond of describing predominately black athletes with the Crips and the Bloods analogy, as when he said, "I think it's time to get rid of this whole NBA.
Call it the TBA, the Thug Basketball Associate, and stop calling them teams. Call 'em gangs. They're going in to watch the Crips and the Bloods out there whenever the neighborhood is where the arena happens to be, and be who you are." Limbaugh also
revealed his deep understanding of gangs and fashion: "You look at NBA players and the uniforms, you don't have to go back very far. The uniforms have changed totally. They're now in gang colors." To him, a black athlete is just another gang member.
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p. 16
Mar 1, 2011
On Education:
OpEd: Discourages education; schools screw up children
Limbaugh never doubted his father's conservative ideas: "The only time my dad was wrong that I could ever remember was when he told me I would not amount to anything if I didn't go to college." Limbaugh sought to prove himself to his father and, unable
to succeed in school, he tried to be dutiful in his ideology.Limbaugh has never questioned his conservative views at any time in his life; to do so would be a betrayal of his father and his family. Rush had the worst of both worlds: an ideologically
inflexible father who demanded obedience and an intellectually lazy resistance to the type of formal education that might have offered him an opportunity to questions those beliefs.
Limbaugh regularly discourages his listeners from getting an
education. He always says "screwls" instead of "schools" to imply that educators are screwing up children. He sees himself as a father figure for his listeners, instructing them in ideology and protecting them from hearing any corrupting ideas.
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p. 2-3
Mar 1, 2011
On Free Trade:
NAFTA lets unskilled Mexicans do our unskilled labor
Rush was particularly offended by the accusations that he was anti-Mexican and accused Obama of "prejudice." That may have been a quote from 2006 about "stupid and unskilled Mexicans," that drew Limbaugh's ire and his assertion that it was "a
1993 humorous monologue poking fun at the arguments against the North America Free Trade Agreement." According to the radio host, "A caller called here and was giving me grief for not wanting to do what it took to protect American jobs, and so
I said to him, 'If you are unskilled and uneducated, your job is going south. Skilled workers, educated people are going to do fine 'cause those are the kinds of jobs NAFTA is going to create.
If we are going to start rewarding no skills and stupid people, I'm serious, let the unskilled jobs that take absolutely no knowledge whatsoever to do--let stupid and unskilled Mexicans do that work.'"
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p. 37
Mar 1, 2011
On Immigration:
2005: Mexican illegal immigrants are an invasive species
Limbaugh has expressed contempt for Mexicans and Latinos. Early in his radio career, he explained why a Mexican won the New York marathon: "An immigration agent chased him for the last 10 miles."
In 2005 Limbaugh compared Mexican illegal immigrants to an "invasive species." In 2006 he described them as "a renegade, potential criminal element that was poor and unwilling to work."
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p. 38
Mar 1, 2011
On Technology:
OpEd: Never fired from any radio show due to conservatism
After dropping out of college, Limbaugh got a job in 1972 at WIXZ, a small AM radio station near Pittsburgh. He was fired after 18 months, he claimed because he played "Under My Thumb" by the Rolling Stones too often. But Limbaugh was fired again in
1974 after [his next] station was sold to a new owner.Rush moved on to JUDL-AM in Kansas City but the AM station shifted to all syndicated news, and the radio host moved to FM. At KFIX, personality conflicts ultimately costs Rush his job.
Despite his cries about liberal bias, Rush was never fired from any radio show for his conservative views. To the contrary, his right-wing attitudes probably saved him. Limbaugh most often lost his shows due to technological changes (the rise of
syndicated news and automated music stations) or personality conflicts; in the only case where Limbaugh's views cost him a job, it was because he did something he rarely ever did: criticize a corporation.
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p. 4-5
Mar 1, 2011
On Civil Rights:
Feminism gives unattractive women access to mainstream
Rush Limbaugh is proud of his misogyny. One of his most famous statements is "Feminism was established so that unattractive women could have easier access to the mainstream of society. Limbaugh said that feminism was represented by a "frumpy-looking
woman who has been discriminated against because she is unattractive and hasn't found a decent guy to marry."Limbaugh believes that feminism is a vast liberal conspiracy to spread conflict between men and women and therefore create liberal policies:
"Feminism is a way to get men and women arguing with one another about other things and get them distracted. Sponsoring hate, promoting hate, is an exclusive of the left. They own it.
They thrive on the promotion of hate and angst and contempt and unrest and chaos. It is the only way to distract people sufficiently so that the left can accomplish its statist objectives."
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p. 43
Mar 1, 2011
On Abortion:
Feminists are pro-choice as an avenue of power over men
Limbaugh is particularly fearful of women controlling men. He wrote, "Militant feminists are pro-choice because it's their ultimate avenue of power over men. It is their attempt to impose their will on the rest of society, particularly on men" Only
Limbaugh could imagine that [abortion] is intended solely to exert power over men. That's because he doesn't regard women as independent human beings; he treats them as helpers to men, & attacks them whenever they create a different role for themselves.
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p. 49
Mar 1, 2011
On Families & Children:
Feminazis say all sex is rape, even the sex in marriage
Opposition to name calling is strange for a man who may be most famous for popularizing the work "feminazi." For decades Limbaugh has been using the term, without apology, to smear the feminist movement. The comparison of feminists fighting for gender
equality to the most brutal and murderous regime in history should shock everyone. Limbaugh has repeatedly asserted that he has been misquoted and was only describing a "few" feminists as feminazis.
He told Barbara Walters, "No, I never did call feminists feminazis. There are a select few feminists who I call feminazis, and you have to really work hard to earn your way into the feminazi status. You know what a feminazi really is is a woman who is so
consumed with the advancement of the feminist agenda that she gets mad when a woman who's pregnant, who was going to have an abortion, is talked out of it; and women who think that, for example, all sex is rape, even the sex in marriage."
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p. 54-55
Mar 1, 2011
On Civil Rights:
1995: AIDS is the only federally-protected virus
Early in his career, he was particularly outspoken in his hatred of gays and lesbians. He referred to gay men as "perverts."
In his 1993 book Limbaugh wrote about homosexuality, "Surely no one can argue that it is healthy to encourage such a lifestyle."
He called AIDS Rock Hudson's disease until his station managers objected. In 1995 Limbaugh complained that AIDS "is the only federally protected virus. It does have civil rights."
Later Limbaugh said, "It's the single most regretful thing I've ever done." But though Rush may have regretted mocking people dying of AIDS, he continues to denounce homosexuals and mock liberals in homophobic terms.
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p. 58-59
Mar 1, 2011
On Principles & Values:
Operation Chaos: Republicans vote for Hillary in primary
As it became clear in the spring of 2008 that Obama would win the Democratic nomination, Limbaugh hit upon what he thought was a brilliant innovation: Convince Republicans to cross over and vote in the Democratic primary for Hillary Clinton in order to
extend the Democratic race and divide the party. He called it Operation Chaos. Limbaugh decided, "We need Barack Obama bloodied up politically." He was explicitly partisan: "I want our party to win. I want the Democrats to lose. They're in the midst
of tearing themselves apart right now. It is fascinating to watch. And it's all going to stop if Hillary loses."
Operation Chaos never had a large impact on voting, but even swaying the results by a few percentage points affected the Democratic
primary. Obama campaign manager noted, "Over 12% of the Indiana primary vote was Republican and Hillary carried it, despite her through-the-roof unfavorable numbers with these voters. Limbaugh's project worked in Indiana--it cost us that victory."
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p. 67
Mar 1, 2011
On Technology:
Responsible for idea that Obama requires a teleprompter
In 2009 "in a few short months, we've gone from hearing 'Barack Obama is one of the great extemporaneous speakers,' to 'Obama can't speak without a teleprompter.'" Limbaugh was almost solely responsible for pushing the bizarre idea that
Obama is incapable of speaking without a teleprompter.Little mention was made about Obama's "teleprompter" during the 2008 campaign, when John McCain was notably bad at reading from them, and President George W. Bush used them in every speech.
But when Obama became president, Limbaugh instantly seized upon this common piece of technology as if it were a new device Obama had invented on inauguration day.
"He's lost without the teleprompter," Rush said,
and later, "It's clear he doesn't know what he's doing when he's off that teleprompter." In reality, Obama has spoken without a script to a national audience far more than George W. Bush did.
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p. 72-73
Mar 1, 2011
On Budget & Economy:
At Obama's inauguration: "I hope he fails"
The inauguration of Barack Obama drove Limbaugh further into a fit of anger against him. He told listeners he had been asked by a major publication for a 400 word statement about his hopes for the new administration: "I'm thinking of replying to the
guy, 'OK, I'll send you a response, but I don't need 400 words. I need 4: I hope he fails.'" With those 4 words, Rush summarized his political philosophy and launched an unending assault on Obama. Limbaugh was explicit in declaring that he not only
wanted Obama's agenda defeated, he also wanted the country to suffer when Obama's proposals were enacted: "I hope it prolongs the failure. I hope it prolongs the recession. Because people are going to have to figure out here that this I not how
economies recover. Government is not the central planner."
In fact Limbaugh had made it clear that he meant much more. He said "Of course I want Obama to fail. And after this stimulus bill package passes, I want it to fail."
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p. 74-75
Mar 1, 2011
On Technology:
First to combine entertainment and political opinion
Rush Limbaugh has done much more than make his own show popular; he has also pioneered a new way of doing media, in which expressing his own views matters far more than any traditional reporting. This shift in media has had many benefits for society,
but a downside as well: Accurate news reporting has often been replaced with pure opinionizing.By merging entertainment and opinionated politics, he has also set the stage for a wide range of new voices, from Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity to
Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Before this, openly liberal or conservative hosts with strongly expressed views were largely unknown in American mass media culture, and political commentary was largely limited to humorless newspaper columns.
The radio host is transforming conservatism and destroying the moderate wing of the Republican Party by imposing rigid adherence to his particular brand of conservatism. Rush Limbaugh is dumbing down America and coarsening our culture.
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p. 8
Mar 1, 2011
On Energy & Oil:
Cap-and-trade is a conspiracy to benefit Wall Street
Wall Street is another of Limbaugh's conspiratorial targets. He said the cap-and-trade pollution bill was a conspiracy to benefit Wall Street, which supposedly would profit from the trading system: "This is the 'trade' aspect. This brings Wall Street
into this, which I think explains these Republican votes." Limbaugh declared, "My suspicion is that being in the Northeast, some of them, they've got ties to Wall Street with donations, contributions, and so forth, and that talks. So here I am ripping
Wall Street. But out of the 8 House Republicans voting for the bill, only one represented New York, and he came from the far northern part of the state with no connection to Wall Street."Rush also complained about the cap-and-trade bill, "There is a
requirement that the bill being voted on be in the well of the House. It was not there because it hadn't been written, much less read." In reality, the bill had been written and was available to anyone online.
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p.100
Mar 1, 2011
On Jobs:
Public union vote is like Tony Soprano's lead pipe beating
Limbaugh regards the government as a kind of mob family under Obama: "Tony Soprano has taken over the US government and the private sector is an opposing family. He's going to wipe it out."
The radio host must have been a big fan of The Sopranos, because he relies on the mob metaphor for a lot of his stories. He explained the impact of the Employee Free Choice Act in this way: "You are a small business employee.
Your boss has a shop that is not union. After this legislation passes, one day
Tony Soprano will walk in, with a lead pipe, and he will start beating people upside the head to vote to unionize, because you cannot vote in private."
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p.105
Mar 1, 2011
On Jobs:
FactCheck: No, 2010 mine deaths not related to union status
Limbaugh has a lot of peculiar ideas about unions. When a union doesn't exist, Limbaugh simply makes one up to serve as a punching bag. After the 2010 Massey Energy disaster killed 29 coal miners in West Virginia, he immediately blamed the
unions for failing to protect workers at the nonunion mine. After getting e-mails that pointed out he was wrong, he refused to relent.
Citing a 2009 case where Massey Energy was ordered to rehire 85 coal miners who had been discriminated against for joining a union, Limbaugh claimed, "So there were union workers there, and so the United Mine Workers should have been overseeing their
safety."On this challenge of fact, Limbaugh was completely wrong. The case of the 85 coal miners was at a different mine, and there is absolutely no doubt that the mine where 29 people died had no union.
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p.106
Mar 1, 2011
On Technology:
FactCheck: No, net neutrality unrelated to search engines
Net neutrality is yet another topic where Limbaugh manages to see the darkest plots hidden: "What's coming is the deceptively named Net neutrality. The easiest way to understand this is to think of a Fairness Doctrine for the Internet. Now, how would
this work? Let's say that you want to go Google or Bing, you want to search the mating habits of the Australian rabbit bat. Net neutrality would require that every search engine produce an equal number of results that satisfy every disagreement about the
issue. Yep."Nope. Net neutrality means that Internet service providers must treat all websites equally, and can't ban or slow down certain sites for their customers.
Limbaugh painted a picture of secret government control exerted over the World Wide
Web: "So in Net neutrality--and this is where the Google-White House partnership comes into play--the results of any search, let's say you want to search abortion, or you want to search the health care bill, they want to control what you see."
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p.112
Mar 1, 2011
On Tax Reform:
FactCheck: No, Bush tax cuts did not lead to more revenue
The clearest evidence of how Limbaugh's economic theories are wrong is George W. Bush's record: Tax revenues in constant dollars went from $2.026 trillion in 2000 to $2.006 trillion in 2008, a decline of 0.3%, and the
$236 billion surplus turned into a $364 billion deficit, all while the top marginal tax rate was cut from 39.6% to 35 %. Anyone such as Limbaugh who says that reducing the top marginal tax rates inevitably increases tax revenues is simply ignorant
of economic reality. But Limbaugh often claims, "We all know that lowering taxes would be the correct way to generate more revenue." The idea that lower taxes leads to more tax revenue is one of the holy writs of conservative economics,
but it has no basis in reality. If lowering taxes always generates more revenue, then we could create the highest possible revenue by lowering taxes to 0.
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p.124
Mar 1, 2011
On Health Care:
FactCheck: No, ObamaCare has no effect on capital in economy
"Health care, that's 1/6--1/6!--of the US economy, 1/6 of our GDP," he declared in July 2009. "You take that out of the private sector. That means the private sector has shrunk by 1/6. That means there's less capital for people
to compete for and earn, and there's less opportunity for that remaining 5/6 (and it's going to be less than that because all this other stuff's going to take even more of the private sector) to grow."
First of all, the Obama plan maintains the private health insurance system and private health care providers. Second, even if the private health care sector magically ceased to exist,
it would not reduce the amount of capital available in the rest of the economy for investment and opportunity.
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p.128-129
Mar 1, 2011
On Budget & Economy:
FactCheck: No, 5.7% decline in '09 was before stimulus began
Limbaugh concluded, "Everybody knows the stimulus plan bombed!" He has declared, "The economy has dropped at 5.7% in the 1st quarter--5.7%.
Folks, that is phenomenal. After all the stimulating, after all of the spending, after all of the pep talks, after all of the bailouts! Washington's solutions are not working."
But the 5.7% percent decline in the 1st quarter happened almost entirely before the stimulus plan passed, and certainly before it had time to work. The fact that GNP only declined 0.7% in the
2nd quarter indicated the success of the stimulus plan in helping the economy recover and restoring economic stability.
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p.132
Mar 1, 2011
On Tax Reform:
FactCheck: No, Gen.41 is not about wisdom of cutting taxes
"People take me seriously because I am effective." In his book "See, I Told You So", Limbaugh claimed a biblical basis for low taxes, citing the story in Genesis about "the lowering of tax rates on grain from 90% to 20%, giving
7 fat years during the days of Pharaoh in Egypt. You can trace individual prosperity, economic growth back to the Bible, the Old Testament."
As FAIR noted, "Genesis 41 is about the wisdom of instituting taxes, not cutting them." After dreaming about 7 fat years followed by 7 lean years,
the pharaoh imposed a 20% tax during good times to sustain his empire during a recession. The 90% tax existed only in Limbaugh's vivid imagination.
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p.147
Mar 1, 2011
On Drugs:
Laws against selling drugs and using drugs are good laws
Limbaugh condemned anyone who supported legalizing drugs: "I'm appalled at people who simply want to look at this abhorrent behavior and say, 'Hey, you know, we can't control it anymore. People are going to do drugs anyway. Let's legalize it.' It's a
dumb idea. It's a rotten idea, and those who are for it are purely, 100% selfish. "Limbaugh repeated his tough law-enforcement view of the war on drugs in 1995: "We have laws against selling drugs, pushing drugs, using drugs, importing drugs.
And the laws are good because we know what happens to people in societies and neighborhoods, which become consumed by them. And so if people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up."
Even in 2003,
while Limbaugh was deep into his addiction he defended harsh treatment of drug users: "These tough sentencing laws were instituted for a reason. The American people, including liberals, demanded them. Don't you remember the crack cocaine epidemic?"
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p.160-161
Mar 1, 2011
On War & Peace:
Claimed WMDs in Iraq even after Bush admitted no WMDs
After the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Limbaugh trumpeted Iraq's nonexistent weapons of mass destruction: "We're discovering WMDs all over Iraq."Long after the Bush administration had admitted that there were no WMDs in Iraq,
Limbaugh in 2006 announced his plan to "get out the truth on weapons of mass destruction," blaming "the obdurate stubbornness and blindness of the Democrats and the drive-by media" for the failure to promote what
Limbaugh claimed was "the discovered news of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq." He said, "We've had a 3-year propaganda program and 'no weapons of mass destruction, none have been found.' The facts are coming out, and there's probably a lot more to
be unclassified if somebody will just do it." The facts did come out, and Limbaugh was wrong once again. By 2009 he eventually admitted the truth when it no longer mattered: "No weapons of mass destruction of significance were found."
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p.161-162
Mar 1, 2011
On Energy & Oil:
OpEd: Country's leading denier of global climate change
Rush Limbaugh, more than any other individual, is responsible for shifting conservative opinion to deny the existence of global warming. As he himself noted, "Somebody spoke up day in and day out and said, 'This is a hoax,' That somebody was me."
Other influential conservatives, such as George W. Bush and Newt Gingrich, eventually caved to scientific reality by embracing the truth of global climate change (albeit while doing nothing to ease the problem). But Limbaugh has held firm from the very
beginning.
Limbaugh has been denying the existence of climate change for almost his entire career in talk radio. As the country's leading denier of global climate change, he quickly became the unofficial spokesperson of the global warming deniers
in the early 1990s.
He said about Al Gore, "Gore is a liar. There's no question about it." He said in 2009 about global climate change, "Gore knows it's a hoax. They all have to know it's a hoax."
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p.166-168
Mar 1, 2011
On Energy & Oil:
Global warming is a religion; only God can destroy earth
Limbaugh believes it is impossible for humans to affect the earth: "Global warming relies on the theory that we are destroying ecosystems. There is no evidence that we could destroy ecosystems."The theological part of Limbaugh's denials about
global warming reflect his religious belief that only God, not man, can fundamentally change the world: "My views on the environment are rooted in my belief in Creation." According to Rush, "We couldn't destroy the earth if we wanted to."
While invoking religion as his primary basis for rejecting global warning, Limbaugh claims that supporters of the theory are working on faith alone: "Global warming is a religion. It has what all religions have which is faith, because no one can
prove their religion. It has a Garden of Eden element, destruction bought by humanity then redemption for our sins by paying higher taxes and getting rid of our cars and planes."
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p.175
Mar 1, 2011
On Health Care:
FactCheck: No, end-of life counseling isn't a "death panel"
One of his most outrageous lies about health care spread the myth that "death panels" were part of Obama's plan. Limbaugh claimed, "Page 427: Government mandates program that orders end-of-life treatment. Government dictates how your life ends."
Absolutely nothing on page 427 (or anywhere else in the bill) says government will dictate how a person's life ends; in fact, it explicitly protects "enabling orders for life sustaining treatment."
After a conservative doctor called into the show supporting the plan to have end-of-life discussions with patients, Limbaugh continued, "That's what the counselors are preparing these people for: end of care, 'cause they're getting old and it isn't
going to be worthy of investment. It's right in the House bill!" Once again there was nothing about hiring counselors in the House bill. There was nothing about imposing "end of care." Yet Limbaugh persisted with the fake story of death panels.
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p.180-181
Mar 1, 2011
On Technology:
"Drive-by media" means the state controls what is broadcast
To express his hatred of the mainstream media, Limbaugh began to call them the "drive-by-media." Here's how Rush explained the term: "The drive-by media. It's like a drive-by shooter except the microphones are the gun, and they drive into groups of
people, they report a bunch of totally wrong libelous stuff about people. They create a giant mess. Sometimes people get really harmed. They go out and try to destroy people's careers."
With the election of Barack Obama, Limbaugh shifted his rhetoric about the press. Instead of calling them drive-by media, he decided to name them the state-controlled media. Rush said, "I think the whole concept of reporting has gone out the window.
I call them the state-controlled media because it's what they are. They're just repeaters. They take dictation from Rahm Emanuel for the most part, and they simply run with it."
Source: The Most Dangerous Man in America, by J.K.Wilson, p.198-199
Mar 1, 2011
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