The Official Rush Limbaugh Thread

If Michelle Bachmann gets a thread, then so does Rush Limbaugh.

I'm surprised this isn't getting more attention. Perhaps it got lost and conflated with Pete Sessions saying Obama's objectives are to "diminish employment and diminish stock prices". But Limbaugh goes way beyond that and says Obama's objective is actually "forced reparations."

Got that? Rush says Obama's real objective is to take money from white people and give it to black people as reparations for slavery. Talk about race baiting!

Here's the full audio. Here's some good discussion.

Not that I agree with Rush about what Obama's objectives are, but reperations is not used exclusively for slavery. Reperations have been paid to holocaust survivors, Japanese Americans, and to the countries who were damaged during WWII. I don't know how you make the jump that the "rightful owners" of the country are african americans. If anything you might make the jump that he is referring to native americans.

Oh, please! If you think when Rush talks about "welfare" and "food stamps" and "reparations" that he means anything other than exactly what I said, then you haven't been paying attention to American politics for the last 40 years.

Yes, every republican who tries to reform welfare or cut food stamps, is accused of being a racist. (in spite of the fact that more white people collect welfare than blacks)

Explain to me how slaves would somehow have been considered the "rightful owners" of the country by anyone?

On the other hand, a disproportional number of American indians do tend to receive government assistance.

Because the term "reparations" is a term closely associated, wrongly with the qualifier "rightful owners" with reparations for slavery.

1) We don't call ourselves that.

2) Rush doesn't know we exist.


PS: Let me know when you're all packing up and going back wherever your ancestors came from.


Edit: I have "not helped" on the comments page.

I do think that in fact he is race baiting, but that's only because his audiance is too stupid to realize that what he is actually talking about is class.
taking money from the rich, and giving it to the poor is an issue of class warfare, not "reparations" - for anything, slavery, being forced into detention camps, or stealing land.

but don't kid yourself, when Rush talks about reparation, he's talking slavery, and he's talking race. if it was someone else, I might be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but to the guy who made the argument on national television that Donovan McNab was not a good QB, but was hyped up by the popular media because they wanted to see a black QB succeed so badly - yeah, no benefit of the doubt for you!!

if he had made the argument that Obama was trying to increase unemployment and the welfare state because lower class people (the preverbial "working class") tend to vote Dem, and therefore ensure the dominance of the Dem party for the future, I would still say that he took too many pain pills this morning, but it would sort of be a somewhat reasonable argument. but to say that it is reparations is just plain dumb.

Because ignorant ass lower income caucasians don't believe that their public assistance is welfare, but when blacks or mexicans are getting it, that's a different story. They're all lazy and shit.

That's because Indians are the poorest ethnic group in the US with the least housing, educational and employment opportunities of any ethnic group in the US.

That's what you get for putting us on the Rez.

when Rush said the Obama wants to return the money to the "rightful owners," I think he means what the popular meadia likes to refer to as the "working class" - i.e. the people whose sweat and muscle generated the wealth. that is what Rush is mocking.
the idiot is totally talking about class warfare, but because his audiance can't differentiate, he can make it a race issue by bringing reparations into it. I mean seriously, do you REALLY think he's talking about native americans here???

Does this mean everyone, including you, has to go back to Africa?

I'd say he's deliberately conflating these things. That's been the tactic of the right for decades: substitute race for class.

Nope, we settled this place. We didn't even get a chance to fully oppress and murder each other on a massive scale over silly things like cultural, religious & ethnic differences. You all stole that right from us.

We had to go through 5000 years of cultural evolution in about 350 years.

Definitely.

No I don't think he is talking about native americans, and I don't think he is talking about reperations for slavary either. I think, like you said he is more trying to take the administration to task for what he feels is class warfare. IE lower class people are somehow "victims" of the upper class and should receive reperations for that damage.

Of course in spite of what some say, Rush is not an idiot, and he knows there are racial terms associated with reperations also, and I'm sure he knew full well that the reactionary left would try to accuse him of being a racist, even though he knew the discussion had nothing to do with race.

I'm sure he is thrilled by the fact that all of the reactionaries on the left are trying to make this about race, because it just proves his point that those people will inject race wherever they can.

of course what is not being said here because even Righties would feel a bit uncomfortable saying it - that a great many of the black populace IS poor, so here class and reace coincide. and THAT is what the fat windbag is saying, if you read between the lines. when he talks about Obama taking from the rich and giving to the poor (class issue) to then bringing reparations into it (a race issue) - that can be your only conclusion. of course, that's too much of a racist statement for even him to make outright, but just you read between the lines.

For those interested in Mr. Limbaugh's full take on Obama's transfer of wealth, you can read Rush's earlier in-depth exploration of the issue, What is Barack Obama's Endgame? (from the May 5, 2009 Rush Limbaugh show transcript). Key to this analysis is the expanding welfare state and the unhealthy growth of government - the foundation of socialism as advanced by Obama - that Mr. Limbaugh details. Insofar as Rush's categorization of "forced reparations," while I do not share that assessment, Obama certainly has never been clear to America concerning his categoric opposition to capitalism and willful embrace of socialism - the anti-american transfer of wealth he extols - therefore I guess each American must form their own opinion on actually what is going on.

but it IS about race - he made it so, by using the term "reparations" to describe class warfare. but he did it on purpose - and not because he wanted the reactionary left to accuse him of racism either. but rather because his racist audiance can read between the line and equate class warfare with race warfare.

Rush the Entertainer.....

Do you pay income tax?
Do you have children?

Why won't you answer these questions?

Rush the Racist Instigator

Pu$sy. Go cry to your momma, nobody here cares.

I am not sure what you are saying here. Are you saying it is common to use the term "rightful owners" in terms of Slavery reperations, so that Rush's use of that qualifier indeed reinforces the notion that he meant slavery, Or are you just saying Rush is the only one who wrongly used the qualifier, and he just did it for no real reason.

I would argue that by "rightful owners" he was most likely talking about the white working class. after all when you talk about socialism, I'm sure Rush doesn't think that African American are gonna be the ones who lead this country into socialism, I think he believes it will be led by the white liberals, and the white unions.

Do you actually listen to Rush on a regular basis?

the only sense in which class warfare (wealth transfer) and the race issue (reparations) makes sense being used together is if you read between the lines and combine the class issue with the race issue.

reparation + wealth redistribution = most blacks are poor --> obama wants to transfer wealth to blacks (the poor) as forced reparation.

that is how twisted the fat bastard is.
and sadly, this equation probably makes perfect sense to most of his listeners.

Then you're being either naive or obtuse.

I used to when I was in high school and most of college.
read both of his books (America, the way I see it and See I told you so).
I went to a very liberal HS and college in NYC, so I'm not sure if I actually believed all that crap, or I just enjoyed arguing and challenging other people's view of reality.

Do you listen to Rush on a regular Basis?

I think this is where the "rightful owners" line originates:

Google indicates the phrase has been a running theme on his show lately.

I must say, reading that Limbaugh's leap to reparations for slavery, the epitome of "stolen wealth," really isn't a leap at all.