They tried it in 1996, in 2000 and again in 2004. Liberals who fear conservative talk radio-and, most of all, its commander in chief, Rush Limbaugh -have repeatedly tried to discredit and silence Rush. They failed, and now-given the backlash from the radical MoveOn.org "Betray Us" Petraeus ad and their all-but-certain nominee, Hillary Clintonthey're desperate to take another shot at getting Limbaugh out of the way.
Last week, replying to a caller about soldiers who were not what they claimed to be, Limbaugh called them "phony."
To a responsible person listening to the broadcast or reading the transcript, it is clear Rush wasn't talking about all our troops-just those such as Scott Thomas Beauchamp who became tools of the liberal media by willingly making up stories of atrocities and failure, and others who never served in Iraq but pretend they have in order to boost their credibility in their anti-war rhetoric.
Desperate to get out from under the MoveOn weight, the hyper-liberal smear-merchants of Media Matters immediately launched a hit job on Limbaugh, claiming he used the terra "phony soldiers" to describe all military members opposing the war.
Shortly after the on-air exchange, Limbaugh made reference to exactly the kind of people he was talking about. The transcript quotes Limbaugh's saying: "Here is a Morning Update that we did recently, talking about fake soldiers. This is a story of who the left props up as heroes. They have their celebrities, and one of them was Army Ranger Jesse MacBeth."
Media Matters, of course, didn't bother to include that in its attack.
Liberals Attack
Now, leftist Democrats in the House and Senate have weighed in. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) and Iowa Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin have demanded that Limbaugh apologize. Harkin even said that Limbaugh might be "still on drugs." But who are these stalwart soldiers of democracy who are so quick to stand up for the troops? They are the selfsame senators who have, ever since the Iraq invasion, missed no opportunity to trash the troops.
Reid and 40 of his fellow Senate Democrats signed a letter to Mark P. Mays, CEO of Clear Channel Communications, which syndicates the "Rush Limbaugh Program," demanding that Mays "publicly repudiate" Limbaugh (see list of senators below). Mays refused to condemn Limbaugh, noting Rush's "history of support for our soldiers."
Reports last week that 204 troops were mistreated at Oakland Airport in the Bay Area have prompted zero statements from these Limbaugh critics. The troops whom these politicians claim to care so much about clearly count only when they can be used for the Democrats' purposes. And what the Democrats-including Senators Reid, Harkin, John Kerry (Mass.) and Dick Durbin (Ill.) and Rep. Jack Murtha (Pa.) have said and done is a matter of record.
Let's start with one of the real "phony soldiers:" Limbaugh critic Tom Harkin said in September, "The simple fact is that asking Gen. Petraeus to evaluate the surge he has overseen in Iraq is like asking a college student to grade his own term paper."
Harkin's Lies Revealed
According to the book. Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of Its Heroes and Its History by B.G. Burkett and Glenna Whitley: "During a 1992 bid for the presidency, Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa claimed that he had served as a pilot in Vietnam. His claim had surfaced eight years before, during a 1984 bid for re-election to the Senate, when Harkin boasted that he had served one year in Vietnam flying F-4s and F-8s on combat air patrols and photo-reconnaissance support mission. Challenged by Sen. Barry Goldwater, Harkin did a quick shuffle, claiming that he had actually flown combat sorties over Cuba during the sixties. Harking finally admitted he had not seen combat but had served as a ferry pilot stationed in Atsugi, Japan, flying aircraft to be repaired from Atsugi to the Philippines. When pressed by reporters to explain how much time he really spent in Vietnam, Harkin estimated that, over a year, he flew in and out of Vietnam a dozen or so times. But Harkin's military record showed no Vietnam service decorations. He Finally conceded he had not flown combat air patrols in Vietnam and began describing himself as a Vietnam era vet."
Harkin called Limbaugh's comment "despicable" and "provocative," but his own lies about military service leave Harkin in no position to criticize Limbaugh..
The fact is that Limbaugh has been an avid supporter of the war and of American troops from the beginning.
Rush has said, "Patriotism is rallying behind the country, regardless of party affiliation, to defeat Islamo-fascism. Patriotism is supporting our troops on the battlefield, not undermining the mission and morale."
Reid has never expressed this kind of support for the troops. In fact, he is famous for saying the war was "lost" earlier this year and claiming he would not believe a positive report on the surge from Gen. David Petraeus.
While Limbaugh was referring to actual and political "phogy. soldiers," (such as Jesse MacBeth), Reid and his cohorts have attacked the troops directly, as well as defaming and disrespecting their commander, Gen. Petraeus. Here's a small sampling;
Sen. John Kerry (D.-Mass.) has accused U.S. troops of terrorizing Iraqi women and children: "There is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children" (CBS's "Face the Nation." Dec. 4, 2005).
Speaking about the alleged killing of Iraqi civilians by U.S. Marines, Rep. Jack Murtha (D.-Pa.) said-that the Marines had killed "innocent civilians in cold blood" and further accused the Marines' superior officers of a cover-up.
Kerry, as we all recall, was so derisive of the troops he once told a college audience, "You know education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
Kerry's comment came after Sen. Dick Durbin (D.-Ill.) compared U.S. troops lot Nazis: "If I ... did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners [at Guantanamo] in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in 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 the treatment of their prisoners" (Congressional Record, p. S6594, June 14, 2005).
Just this summer Sen. Barack Obama (D.-Ill.) said, "We've got to get the job done there, and that requires us to have enough troops so that we're not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous pressure over there" ("Obama: U.S. Troops in Afghanistan Must Do More Than Kill Civilians," FoxNews.com, Aug. 14, 2007).
Phony Critics
Reid, Kerry and Harkin sided with MoveOn.org by voting against the Senate resolution offered by Sen. John Comyn (R-Tex.) that criticized the MoveOn ad and took the side of the troops by supporting the character of their commander, Gen. Petraeus.
Reid and the rest who are going after Rush-don't have the troops' interest in mind. Just like the phony soldiers Rush was criticizing; the Democrats are phony critics taking one of Rush's comments out of context, distorting it and trying to discredit him with h.
But like their slams at Limbaugh in every year since his show went national, this one will fail, too.
Limbaugh has traveled to Afghanistan to visit the troops and has supported President Bush's objectives and the military mission in Iraq all along. He has said, "I'll be damned if I believe that the country wants, to lose and wants the military defunded and dragged out of there in humiliation-and that's what the defeat would be."
The GOP is standing behind Limbaugh by proposing a congressional resolution that ' commends him for His support for all of the troops by "consistently [using] his broadcast time to praise American troops and support them during their ongoing efforts to secure peace in a troubled world." The Democrats will vote against this one just like they voted against the condemnation of the MoveOn.org ad.
Democrats enthusiastically hype MoveOn and the radicals but not the troops.
Source: Human Events
