rush limbaugh... was i wrong about rush limbaugh???

so, pretty early yesterday morning, i read an article on aol about rush limbaugh, and wrote down a few thoughts on it. for those of you who haven't read it, here's the gist... rush heard that president obama had written a college thesis in which he criticized our founding fathers and the constitution. rush naturally seized the opportunity to rally his troops and call our president out for the opinions he had twenty-something years ago.

except, president obama never had those opinions. it was a hoax. the college thesis was just something somebody made up. satire.

and so...

well, the thing that got to me... yes, when rush realized he made a mistake, he announced it on his show. "i shout it from the mountaintops! it was satire!" he said. but, he didn't apologize. in addition to this, he then went on to tell his listeners that good comedy always contains an element of truth, and therefore this satire could not have worked if it wasn't based in truth.

unless, of course, what the satirist was being truthful about was not the mindset of our president, but the utter foolishness of his enemies to believe any and everything negative about him: "he's a muslim." "he's not an american citizen." "his health care reform is going to kill my grandmother."

instead of an apology, rush told his listeners, "we know he thinks it."

or, in other words... "just because we were wrong, doesn't mean we were wrong. so, we're not going to say we were wrong, because we're sure that we are ultimately not wrong. you see, sometimes, when we are proven to be 'wrong' TODAY, we will be proven to be right TOMORROW. so we don't want to have to admit two days from today that we were wrong about saying that we were wrong today. because, again, we know that tomorrow will prove us to be right."

(just for the sake of clarity, that last paragraph was satire. and not at all the words spoken by rush limbaugh or anyone who works for him.) ...(probably.)

ANYway... all this to say, i got an interesting comment on my blog yesterday from my dear friend handbell. and i wanted to share it with you...


"Hey, Ryan...did you happen to listen to the Limbaugh clip? I listened to the whole segment(s) yesterday, and I would argue that AOL News did misrepresent what actually happened. Limbaugh did say that the article was not true, and he did make the quotes listed on AOL, but the AOL news reporter took them out of context. Just a thought that it would be worth hearing the whole thing..."


and, i have to admit it, i didn't listen to the clips in their entirety. or, y'know, at all. and i think it's an important admission, for no other reason than this: i don't want to be the person i suspect rush limbaugh is.

i believe him to be the type of person who leaps for joy when something-- anything-- negative is said about the president. i mean, i was embarrassed for rush limbaugh when i saw his blissful cackle, after chicago lost its olympic bid. he sounded, to me, like a masked villain in a 1940's lone ranger serial: "hahahahaha! we got him now!!!!!"

i don't want to be that guy. but, i have to tell you, when i read that article on aol, i thought, "see that?! what a dick!" because, the shoe seemed to fit. and i went with it.

so, i want to listen to the clip. the whole clip. but, here's the problem... where do i find it? i'm not the most computer literate person in my family, so i'm asking for your help here-- is it on youtube?

i'm serious, i think handbell's right. i think it's important for me to hear his words in context. i don't know if it'll change my opinion, or only strengthen my view, but i think the right thing to do is to have an open mind, and give it a listen.

and i think the worst thing i could do is criticize a man for not being able to admit that he was wrong, and then do the same exact thing 24 hours later.


the five things i fell in love with today...

1) i have to be honest with you, lol, i'm not even sure who handbell is! handbell, if you're reading this, have we met??? either way, i want to thank you for keeping me on my toes, and keeping me in check! those are always the best friends to have!
2) CUTE kid in the white plains city center yesterday!!! near the escalator coming up from target, there's a ceramic pooch which is an advertisement for (i think?) a company that trains seeing-eye dogs. it's only been there a few weeks or so, but i've already seen dozens of kids petting and hugging it. (i petted it too the other day when no one was looking). but this little boy was the cutest thing!!! bent down to give it a hug, dressed up in a fluffy lion costume. i wish i had a video camera-- could have melted anyone's heart.
3) CUTER STILL, the kids at my day care center! i got the chance to help out in the infant room last week, and i'm telling you, that was THE most gorgeous group of toothless women i have ever spent time with.
4) my friends met paul mccartney yesterday!!! how freggin' cool is THAT!?
5) also got a curious comment from "eharmony jack" the other day. still not sure what to make of it, but ...mostly it made me chuckle and smile a little bit.

song of the day...
"am i wrong" by keb mo

movie of the day...
"true lies"