Limbaugh et al spread lie about General Giap

For more than a decade now, the pseudo-patriots among us have been peddling a false quotation from a non-existent book said to have been written by former North Vietnamese Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap.

The bogus claim is that Giap said America lost the Vietnam War because of its biased domestic media.

The quotation has been thoroughly debunked, but that hasn't stopped Rush Limbaugh from trotting it out again as recently as earlier this month, which will only give it new life among the booboisie.

POSTSCRIPT: This matter reminds me of the fake Lincoln quotation used earlier this year by right-wingers all across the fruited plain to impugn the patriotism of those in Congress who dared to dissent against our glorious war in Iraq.

Flat-earthers easily conned

Rush Limbaugh, the radio blowhard who tells America's pinheads what to think, recently led a crowd of global-warming deniers in trumpeting a false study published on a fake Web site.

Details of the hoax can be found here and here and here.

A soldier explains why he fights

Iraq War veteran John Bruhns (left) is what pseudo-patriot Rush Limbaugh would call a "phony soldier."

Bruhns explains here "why I fight and why we all must."

Olbermann on Limbaugh

Keith Olbermann on MSNBC has offered the most concise smackdown of Rush Limbaugh's efforts to weasel out of his slander of antiwar troops as "phony soldiers."

It's important to note that Limbaugh says he used the infamous term only in reference to one guy who was caught lying about serving in the military, and he's supported that contention with a conveniently edited tape of his remarks.

Here's what Keith said the other night:

OLBERMANN: First the background. Comedian Rush Limbaugh has stuck to the standard scripture for fringe extremists—never apologize, attack anyone who criticizes you.

This time, Limbaugh claims that Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, who went to the floor yesterday asking Limbaugh's boss to repudiate his comments, took those comments out of context. It is the standard claim, debunked easily enough by listening to it. Something Limbaugh has denied his own listeners the ability to do when he later played an edited clip in his defense.

We will play the unedited clip in a moment. When you hear it, keep in mind, Limbaugh later claimed he was referring to one soldier whom he did not mention until two minutes after the clip you will hear has ended.

And the caller he speaks with, specifically says, prior to this clip, that he called as a, quote, "retort to the previous caller," an antiwar Republican military veteran.

Keep in mind, also, that you will hear Limbaugh agree with a definition of real soldier, which confirms the obvious interpretation of the term “phony soldier.”

(Audio tape)

LIMBAUGH: What is the imperative for pulling out? What's in it for the United States to pull out? They—I don`t think they have an answer for that other than, well, we've got to bring the troops home?

MIKE: Yeah, and, you know what?

LIMBAUGH: Keep the troops safe or whatever. It's not possible intellectually to follow these people.

MIKE: No, it's not. And what's really funny is they never talk to real soldiers. They like to pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue and stuff.

LIMBAUGH: The phony soldiers?

MIKE: The phony soldiers. If you talk to a real soldier, they're proud to serve. They want to be over in Iraq because they understand their sacrifice. And they're willing to sacrifice for their country.

LIMBAUGH: They joined to be in Iraq.

(End of audio clip)

OLBERMANN: Real soldiers joined to be in Iraq.

El Rushbo redux

Lest we forget, a look back at an interesting story.

Bona fide right-winger turns on Limbaugh

Rush Limbaugh's feeble attempts to deny that he slandered countless U.S. troops with his rhetoric about "phony soldiers" are seen for the bullshit they are -- even by this genuinely conservative pundit.

Hey, c'mon! Slavery wasn't so bad!

That's what right-wing blatherer Michael Medved (who occasionally fills in for Rush Limbaugh) says here.

Fox News accuses U.S. generals of betrayal

Wow. The right-wingers who have taken it upon themselves to protect American military leaders against criticism suddenly have a huge workload.

You already know about the big dustup over the MoveOn.org ad in The New York Times that dissed Gen. David Petraeus. And we've told you about the episodes involving Rush Limbaugh (here) and American Conservative magazine (here). Well, now Fox News has waxed treasonous with sharp criticism of our valiant military leaders.

Retired Army Col. David Hunt, a military analyst for Fox News, has written a piece for the network's Web site in which he declares: "Our generals are betraying our soldiers..."

The headline on the essay pulls no punches: "Top Military Officials are a Disgrace to Those They Lead."

Isn't it strange that in the few short days since Congress approved resolutions condemning the MoveOn.org ad for daring to question Petraeus, we've had this rash of denunciations of American troops and their leaders by conservatives?

Limbaugh: Lots of U.S. troops are '"phony"

Recovering drug addict and serial prevaricator Rush Limbaugh, the talk radio blowhard who tells America's dimwits what to think, says the thousands of U.S. troops who have indicated any misgivings about the war in Iraq are "phony soldiers."

One wonders if this slander of our men and women in uniform will engender the kind of umbrage among Republican conservatives occasioned by the recent MoveOn.org newspaper add questioning the veracity of Gen. David Petraeus.

Weekly World News, R.I.P.

Only today did I catch the announcement made last week that the Weekly World News, the wonderfully wacky supermarket tabloid, is shutting down its print edition.

This is terrible. We could all do just fine if, say, the Wall Street Journal went away (which actually would be preferable to its impending purchase by Rupert Murdoch), but the loss of the Weekly World News is a tragedy from which society may never recover.

By the way, The New York Times has a nice piece today on WWN columnist Ed Anger, whose right-wing nuttiness pre-dates (but accurately evokes) the rantings of Rush Limbaugh, among others.