Rush Can Hand It Out But Can't Take It

In recent weeks, self impressed pig-people like Rush Limbaugh have encouraged the basest of the base in their audiences to do their worst. Town hall meetings held by democratic members of the house and senate have turned into events worthy of dust bowl carnies. That is, with the glaring exception that the raving, damaged geeks have been in the audience not in the tents. People arrive hours in advance of appearances by the president with weapons strapped to their bodies carrying signs making barely veiled threats against their elected head of state. In the absence of a coherent argument, the distortions, lies and lunacy have been ramped up to make productive, street level democracy impossible. It is a spectacle to be sure, a spectacle unworthy of a modern nation, unworthy of a nation that claims greatness. It is perhaps telling that this new political power, the braying voice of the idiot, is finding its moral leadership in a morbidly obese, junkie, sex tourist.

It is interesting to see the tables turned when a younger Limbaugh comes into contact with the people whose lives and views he disrespects. He waddles onto the stage, before a live audience prepared to mock, demean and abuse his usual targets. He begins his portly whining with the wind up to a piece decrying feminists for defending the right of women to choose by staging boycotts. What follows gives one to understand exactly why the bloated creep has retreated to the insular confines of his radio booth, where he never has to hear the actual voice of the people, where he is safe from disagreement and where he is free to groom his lies and hates to their full atrocity. It is instructive that he plays at being wounded but noble at the end of this. Listen as he makes a clear argument against all of the disruption and rudeness that he now embraces and encourages.