Michael J. Fox was criticized two days ago by Rush Limbaugh, the talk radio blow-hard that has several million daily listeners on his radio show. He so often repeats Republican talking points with embellished speech, that we so often forget that he is being a pompous prick about it. We ignore him, in no small part because of these statements. The trouble is, he isn't ignored by millions of Americans. He stands as the beacon for the radical right; he is their rabid pit bull, getting away with slander because he is 1) not accountable by elected office, and doesn't have to deal with running on a platform of tolerance; he is 2) not accountable to common decency on the air because he has a built in audience that makes network interference and editing impossible; and he is 3) not accountable for telling the truth because "truthy" is close enough.
Yesterday, CNN correspondent John King suggested the following: "I think we should take Rush at his word. He has issued this apology." OK, had Limbaugh actually apologized, I might agree. What he said on his show that same day (yesterday) was: "I stand by what I said. I take back none of what I said. I wouldn't rephrase it any differently. It is what I believe; it is what I think. It is what I have found to be true."
Clearly Rush Limbaugh is a jackass of the highest order, and there is a certain lower ring of hell for his ilk, which no doubt includes Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter. Why isn't his place in the radio pantheon in question after this? Why is he still a top dog? After his own drug abuse scandal, Limbaugh should be on a short leash as it is. Flush Rush.
