Dear Mr. Limbaugh:
Here's what you said yesterday, for which we made fun of you last night on MSNBC:
Have you heard this new movie, the Batman movie, what is it, The Dark Knight Lights Up or whatever the name is? That's right, Dark Knight Rises. Lights Up, same thing. Do you know the name of the villain in this movie? Bane. The villain in The Dark Knight Rises is named Bane, B-a-n-e. What is the name of the venture capital firm that Romney ran and around which there's now this make-believe controversy? Bain. The movie has been in the works for a long time. The release date's been known, summer 2012, for a long time. Do you think that it is accidental that the name of the really vicious, fire-breathing, four-eyed whatever-it-is villain in this movie is named Bane?
Here's how you responded today to criticism of your remarks :
Everybody's out there running around saying I got this giant conspiracy theory that the Batman people, the creators, the comic book creators, created this thing to campaign against Romney. I never said that. I didn't say there was a conspiracy. I said the Democrats were going to use it. . . .
Mr. Limbaugh, actually, you did say it was a conspiracy. You did so when you asked your rhetorical question ("Do you think that is is accidental?") about whether it could conceivably be an accident that this new Batman movie has a villain in it with a name that sounds like Mitt Romney's former firm.
Was that not a rhetorical question? When you asked "Do you think it's accidental?" did you actually mean to imply that you do think it really was an accident, it really was a coincidence?
I think we were factually accurate when we made fun of you for trafficking in one of the stupidest right-wing conspiracy theories of all time. You are contesting our characterization of your remarks, but we didn't mischaracterize what you said. And now I think you're just lying about what you said in order to avoid the embarrassment of having been so wrong.
We'll correct the record if we need to, but I don't think we need to.
All best wishes,
Rachel Maddow
Leave a Comment:
Rachel- I have only two quibbles with your response, and they are: "Dear Mr. Limbaugh:" and "All best wishes,"
I know you are not personally responsible for these types of civil social conventions. But you and I and millions of others would never actually use the word "dear" to address a maggot with legs... and as for the closing, it remains incomplete without the addition of "in the world for discovering you have a very neglected soul".
Glaze, that was priceless!
It would seem there is very little doubt that the Obama administration used the same time and space warp to set up the Bane/Bain/Batman Villian/Romney link that it used to place those ads in the Honolulu newspapers announcing Obama's birth. Just wait until they go back in time and clear up Rush's cysts just before his draft physical.
Bwahahahahahaha!
come on rachel. you know limbaugh is never wrong. he is just misunderstood.
Rush is as big an idiot at the guy that carved the swastika on is face.
Romney & Limbaugh: Pray to the same god, the almighty dollar$!
Rush must not have watched the original Batman where there were a lot of ironic comments and jokes. Seems to me that Bane might me name thus for the "bane of my existence". This would follow in the tradition of the show and comic books. There is so much anger there that it looks like he may have a heart attach at any moment as he seems to be apoplectic.
I too have my own thoughts about these ludicrous comments Rush made... He was under the evil orders of his latest mistress who was pumping him full of pain killers which made him come up with this, his latest conspiracy I will call BAT@!$%#crazyMAN!!
Limbaugh: Maybe In this photo I was transformed retroactively into red bain monster, that's out to destroy the practice of the liars nation and the city of thief trickery, Limbaugh you need attention and a lot of foot in you're A--!
The conservatives compare the liberals to socialists.. however they are successfully employing the same techniques as Hitler. when you want a farmer to drop his plowshare and die for his country, you need to give him a good reason. what you have to do is create a monster, to demonize a group of people and convince the masses that they're in mortal danger from them. it's a successful tactic. Baaaa Baaaa
Rush Slimebaugh= BAT@!$%#crazyMAN!!
Rachel...you are soooo good. I would actually pay money to watch you, Chris Matthews and others at MSNBC have a debate with the FOX crew...you guys would clean up. Have fact checkers right there...it would be GREAT!!! When I heard Rush last night...made me ill. Especially knowing that many Americans actually believe he's for real and not just sick entertainment.
Given what Romney claims about his private sector experience and job creation, it would have been more accurate for him to name his investment company Joker Capital, and Rush still could have posited the Batman conspiracy.
At least Romney has job experience outside of elected office.
And it's all the wrong experience. Obama, on the other hand, has plenty of experience working with many types of people, none of which he could fire for disagreeing, and building consensus.
Which candidate to choose? Should I go for the guy experienced at screwing over the poor and (vanishing) middle class and saying it's just business? Or should I go for the guy who isn't very experienced in 'business as usual'?
Seeing as how my preferred choice isn't running for President, I have to go with the second guy from my above choice. That is to say, it looks like I'll be voting for Obama. You really have to admire his lesser experience in raping the economy. Granted, the bailouts happened on his watch, but Regan was the one who set the stage for our increasing inequality in capital with his trickle down economic plans and the Republicans were all for keeping that ball rolling.
Isn't it strange how the Republican Party started out as Socialism Lite and nearly as red as the later Socialist Party, yet is now known as the political party of the rich elite and bigoted lunatics? First Lincoln comes up with the Emancipation Proclamation, then next thing you know, the same political party is crying about that n-word in the White House. Seriously, who peed in your Cheerios?
RobDon you said "People don't listen to him because they are enthralled by political analysis. They listen because he is entertaining. And, like all entertainment, it is viewed as genius by some and trash by others. The "Three Amigos" and "Battleship Earth" come to mind."
Now, I don't doubt that Rush considers HIMSELF entertaining, and I'm certain he makes not real attempt to check facts, so he couldn't consider himself news, BUT (and this is important) the people who listen to him religiously DO consider him to be a credible news source and a credible political pundit for accurate analysis. I have been told so by people who listen to him and quote him and consider him to be among the smartest men on radio.
The other problem with the "he's entertainment" argument (put forth by Rush and Rush apologists -- AND, I'm not positing that you, RobDon are) is that Rush has, from time to time appeared to be driving the GOP machine. Anyone GOPer who has incurred his wrath has ultimately been forced to apologize and kiss his ring and say they have come to see things Rush's way. When this happens, when he's invited (as he often is) to political meetings as a keynote speaker) then you cannot simply dismiss Rush as entertainment. He'd be infotainment were it not for the little problem he has with disseminating "facts."
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First off, simply because someone listens to Limbaugh doesn't mean they support him. Secondly, you seem to be stating, and please correct me if I am mistaken, that the 15 million weekly listeners, if that number is correct, are all registered Republicans and that they all vote regularly and that they all vote a straight Republican ticket. There are about 47 million registered Republicans in this country, about 60 million registered Democrats and another 30 million Independents/Un-enrolled in this country, so if we are playing number games here, and we re-assign all the independent voters to each party proportionately, then by your logic Republicans could never be elected. Third, I've been a number of websites (including this one) where my presence is not an indication of support. Maddow and other of her ilk have regularly cited voter ID laws as covert "voter suppression tactics" with no evidence whatsoever of this. Yet, because this a liberal information outlet, nobody stands up to this. This absolute dishonest poppycock about how voters being asked for ID would "discourage" minority voters is hammered home daily on MSNBC and I could just as easily theorize that this is a preemptive tactic in case Romney wins a swing state by a narrow margin, whereby MSNBC parakeets could yell "fraud" or call for needless recounts. I'm sorry that's worse than FOX NEWS!
It is NOT dishonest poppycock; if it was, these voter ID measures wouldn't be losing under judicial review. It is a FACT, and you're just not paying enough attention.
Again, not being in sync with you ideologically doesn't equate to "not paying enough attention". Nearly every other country has some sort of voter ID system in place and I was not referring to any specific, and current, voter ID scheme such as the crazy ones in Florida or Pennsylvania, or as you say " these voter ID measures" but the basic concept is a sound one and should be given fair consideration at some point and at that time it could be fairly debated whether they are needed or not, and that is for the legislative branch to debate, not for the MSNBC editorial chiefs to decide by sending a memo out to their parakeets advising them to hysterically claim that any and all efforts to attempt to deter voter fraud is simply a ruse to "discourage minority voting", when one can argue as validly (since MSNBC offers ZERO proof of their crazy claims) that MSNBC is simply trying to construct a "Romney stole the election" scenario in case Obama loses. To be honest, I think the current state measures being proposed are invalid and in violation of federal voting laws and they may be an attempt to influence the election and may equate to a poll tax, but MSNBC's hysterical and unfounded claims of Republicans attempting to suppress minority voters is absurd at best, and baseless opinion at best! So perhaps you should actually pay attention and think for yourself. Do you honestly believe that any attempt to combat voter fraud is really a ruse to squelch minority voters??? Really????
Any rational person can easily see that there is no real "voter fraud" problem, that it is those on the right who are trying to create hysteria, and that the Republicans are obviously trying to suppress minority voters. An honest person will point out that the Republicans are trying to suppress minority voters.
Good lord Micah, please note the history of voter suppression in America. (Yes, making voting inconvenient is a recognized voter suppression tactic.) It's not reasonable to compare America with countries where voter ID is well-established: the Republicans suddenly trying to change the rules of the game this close to a major election in a way which suspiciously seems to be targeting certain demographics more than others...oh no, that's nothing worth any scrutiny. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
Perhaps it's an unfortunately coincidence that new voter ID laws are dis-proportionately targeting voters who are demographically more likely to vote Democratic...but if you don't think that at least looks fishy and worth investigation, you're absolutely crazy.
Micah, you obviously missed the straight-out admission of a GOP politician stating that voter ID would give Romney Pennsylvania. I'm not out on a limb here, I'm exactly where they are and there's plenty of proof of intent.
Rachel, why do you waste your time? Your comment addressed Rush as if he were demonstrating the capacity for rational thought. There is no need to give him any more air time than he already receives.
Why does she do this Howard? It's pretty simple. It's her feeble attempt to make it seems as if Limbaugh is somehow a mainstream Republican and therefore all conservatives are just as ignorant. She knows better than that. Limbaugh is crackpot that few conservatives actually pay any attention to unless they are afraid that defying him will cost them votes. I could play the same game by citing someone on the far-left and make it appear as if many Obama supporters where extremists! She's a parakeet who hasn't had a single thought that didn't originate on moveon.org or a 1972 edition of 'The Village Voice'!
If Limbaugh wasn't a mover and shaker in the GOP, he wouldn't have been able to demand (and receive) an apology from Gingrich after Gingrich was a little too honest about Ryan's budget. Limbaugh is the voice of American conservatism, which is not to say he's an actual conservative; if you want one of those, read Andrew Sullivan.
It's not as if anyone is asking him to make appearances with him on the stump or actually attempt to have him publicly endorse them. I don't believe he will ever be asked to the Republican convention anytime soon. Few Republicans like him, they tolerate him because he could have sway due to the imbeciles who listen to him and some of them might actually show up to vote. If Limbaugh were to die tomorrow, most Republicans would be secretly delighted, trust me on this point.
Of course they would; he has too much control, too much power over them. You don't have to like someone for them to be your frontman.
OK, fair enough. He does have too much power and he should look what happened to Caesar. Limbaugh is power happy hybrid of Lord Hee-Haw and Lonesome Rhodes (RIP Andy Griffith).
It might have been nice if Mr. Limbaugh had done a quick wiki search of Bane as a comic book villain... Bane was used in other Bat-man movies and comic prior to this one... He just love to stir up the ill informed. I typically ignore his ignorant .. ehem.. derriere!
Actually Romney is more like Batman/Bruce Wayne: an overly wealthy white guy who gets whatever he wants due to his wealth, is deceptive about his true identity, is entitled and feels as if he does not have to justify his actions, has serious psychological problem and is seeking a little loyal boy wonder (VP?)
I'd say that Mr. Limbaugh is the bane of my existence - if I cared enough, which I don't.
MSNBC = Mitt should not be chosen!
Mitt Romney for Dodge-Ball coach!
Limpbaugh is so ridiculous, if Obama said "Have a nice day" to him, he'd see it as a hidden threat...like it might be his last.
Obama wouldn't do something that Machiavellian to this gasbag; as for myself...I can't be sure.
Was there a conspiracy when they made the movie "Rush"?
Mitt Romney for Dodge Ball coach!
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JULY 17
Presses ground to a halt today all across the city as comments today by vaunted independent commentator Rush Limbaugh, regarding the summer blockbuster The Dark Knight Rises, Then Starts Glowing I Guess, turned out to be false.
"I don't know what to say, we're speechless" said a spokesperson for the Chicago Sun-Times who declined to be named in this report. "The presses have been like this all day." Above and around him stands the press, now tragically silent in the wake of today's earth-shattering news.
It is anticipated that presses may start up as early as tomorrow, as Rush Limbaugh is expected to release a correction to these remarks during his upcoming radio segment "How an Anti-Colonial Kenyan Communist is Ruining Your Life and What You Can do to Prevent it". A segment on slut shaming is expected to follow.
"Hopefully, with this correction we can get back on track here," said the Sun-Times spokesperson patting his stricken press, "it's our only hope."