Keith Olbermann: Limbaugh "doesn’t believe half the junk he spouts"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6210240/

Understand this about Limbaugh. He doesn’t believe half the junk he spouts. I’ve met him, and had pleasant enough conversations with him, twice - at the 1980 World Series when he was still a mid-level baseball flunky with a funny name, and once in the mid ‘90s at ESPN when he was just beginning his campaign to get a toehold there. He is a quiet, almost colorless man who, if he could be guaranteed similar success in sportscasting, would sell out the sheep who follow his every word - and would do it before close of business today.

But with that ESPN bid having gone up in flames just under two years ago, and sports forever closed off to him, he’s gotten into what the novelist Robert Graves called a “Golden Predicament” - overwhelming success in a field he really had no intention of pursuing - and he has to keep churning this stuff out every day. And when you’re just free associating to kill time and keep the ditto-heads happy, you sometimes drive right off the end of the pier. Like on August 15th.

Since we declared Limbaugh “The Worst Person In The World” two nights later for the remarks about Sheehan, he has had the transcript of his pier-drive expunged (even though he initially thought so much of it, that it was posted as a “featured quote” for paying subscribers to his website). Simultaneously, the hapless Brent Bozell, who runs that scam called The Media Research Center, declared that I was guilty of “distortion” in quoting the Sheehan remarks.

Well, as you’ll see below, the only distortion here, is that which lingers in Limbaugh’s ears. His remarks about Sheehan were so embraced by at least one of his fans that they were preserved on another website, and we can present them in full here. You will notice that nothing has been taken out of context, nothing in the minutes before nor the minutes afterwards mitigates against the utter callousness and infamy of his comments about Sheehan.

[AuntPatsy]

1. And this is a voice our government believes our soldiers should listen to?

[etherealtruth]

2. Makes his money spewing hateful hyperbole and lies ...

it is IRRELEVANT whether he believes it or not ... the effect is the same.

[mzteris]

3. GO KEITH!! n/t

[tishaLA]

4. Keith nails it

That's just beautiful. I am particularly fond of his rip at Bozell.

[ibegurpard]

5. Well, that makes him worse.

eom

[Im with Rosey]

Great read

Once again, Keith hits the nail on the head and is not afraid to say it!

[Hidden Stillness]

6. Laughing at Your Pain as They Inflict It--Great

Sometimes, the ones who are "really very nice" and "I don't think they really mean it," are actually the bigger threat. Playing any game they have to, to get ahead; throwing rocks or bottles, or knives, at whoever it was popular to attack, for the moment; "entertaining" everyone--("Oh come on, bitch, it was only a joke")--and making them laugh at things that were actually important, or tragic, or an abuse of power; putting on two, or three, faces, then changing them around again: this is sometimes worse, because they actually do not care what effect it had. It is easy to be moral and ethical when you are either on the losing end of an outrage, or you are unconnected with it, but when people start waving huge amounts of money at you, and all you have to do is lie about and hurt other people, then it is a test. This asshole is obviously inferior to any test of character, and will be judged for it--but this is the threat; the ones who yack and yack, joke and laugh, and don't even believe it.

As the great writer and animal rights activist Cleveland Amory used to say, "The child hunts for sport, but the animal dies in earnest." It is instructive that they enjoy inflicting suffering and sabotaging the people's democracy, too--all for their own gain.

[Emendator]

7. And the 1980 Phillies

defeated Limbaugh's beloved KC Royals in that World Series! He was a loser then too!

[submerged99]

8. I think he does believe what he says

I think Rush believes what he says. If being a sportscaster was his dream job, it seems that he would have kept his racist, right wing ideology in check-and yet, he couldn't contain himself by making comments about Donovann McNaab's race.

[sendero]

9. I agree with Keith..

... and always have. These talk-show hosts are not in it for the ideology, they are in it for the money.

Once Rush figured out he could have money and power for just saying the nutcakes things he says, he fell right in line. And the literally scores of me-toos are just trying to make a dollar.

There will be a time when talking liberal makes the money, and you'll see the same dynamic at play.

This is SHOW BUSINESS FOLKS! NOTHING MORE!

And just because he is a racist asshole does not mean he is also so stupid enough to take the uniformly riduculous stances he takes on serious issues.

[Berry Cool]

10. My favorite quote from this one...

...the one in which he refers to Rush's callous dismissal of Cindy Sheehan's mourning: "We've all lost things." Keith says something to the effect of "He makes losing a son sound like losing...a *prescription*."

:rofl: Twist that knife, Keith.

[Darth_Kitten]

12. that is a good 'un

:rofl:

[AtomicKitten]

11. Paul Hackett: "Limbaugh is a Fatass Drug Addict"