Rush to Responsibility

Democratic Senator-Illinois Dick Durbin (2005):

‘If I read this to you and didn’t tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control you would most certainly believe this must have happened by Nazi’s, Soviet’s and their Gulags or some mad regime Pol Pot or others, that had no concern for human beings.  Sadly that is not the case.  This was the action of Americans in treatment of their own prisoners.’

A little context is necessary and this is about as little as you get: Dick Durbin, who since has apologized for comparing U.S. troops and agents to Nazis and Soviets and mad men was talking about a report on the Senate floor about the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

Rush Limbaugh.  After going on the offensive by first comparing the pre-election Presidential seal of Obama to a Nazi Swastika and then, more recently, making the same comparison of the Obama Health Care logo Rush has seemingly backed himself into a corner but, as with all great pompous people, instead of admitting an overstep or small err in judgement he has turned the table, declaring that it is the Democrats hurling Nazi allegations at the at the GOP and the American people.

Nancy Pelosi says she saw some Swastika signs from protesters at a town hall meeting aimed at discussing the new Health Care Program which clearly, according to Rush, means that she is calling all in opposition to the Health Care Program Nazis.  This, says Rush, is an attempt to divert attention away from the ‘lies’ the President and Pelosi are telling the American people about the Health Plan.  On his show today he actually said, many times, that the President and Pelosi are blatantly lying to the American people.  That they are manipulating facts and omitting truths.  Pretty brash for such a supporter of the last President and for someone who used to support the notion that criticizing the President was unpatriotic.

Worse still is Rush’s interpretation of Dick Durbin’s statements.  In his mind Sen. Durbin’s remarks where aimed squarely at the GOP despite no mention of any partisanship.  While the comparison by Durbin may have been ill conceived and, consequently, ill received it was aimed at showing how ashamed we should be for letting something so wholly wrong happen under our watch.  That we could allow our morality and basic freedoms to fall so far away from the founding principles of America is shameful and deserving of comparisons to some of the more egregious actions throughout the scope of human history.

Now if Rush wants to say that it is the Democrats calling the Republicans Nazis then so be it.  If Guantanamo is the context that the criticism is being leveled and Rush is so personally incensed by it, he is inherently taking responsibility for the actions conducted at Guantanamo.  He is recklessly accepting responsibility by saying, ‘You are calling us (the GOP) Nazis because of what we did at Guantanamo.’

It’s natural that he be offended by being compared to Nazis but by using Sen. Durbin’s remarks in this fashion Rush is also pulling the Guantanamo debacle close to his chest.  He’s going beyond acceptance to condonance and even admitting ownership.

People get things wrong.  Not just forgetting things at the store or showing up late to a meeting, people get big things wrong too.  And Guantanamo was wrong.  It was a violation against humanity and I fail to believe that Rush can honestly say anything to the contrary.  But that would be ignoring the fact that he does say things to the contrary.  It would be forgetting how blatantly he is unable to admit a mistake.  It would be overlooking just who toes the uncompromising partisan line.

I’d find this all more amusing if not but for one fact, Rush has a large following, which makes these ideas dangerous.  After all, it’s only funny if there is no threat.