Friday, October 14, 2011

Rush Limbaugh And What Is Wrong With America.




ABC News, is reporting that Obama has sent 100 US troops to Uganda to help combat the Lord's Resistance  Army. According to the report, "Two days ago President Obama authorized the deployment to Uganda of approximately 100 combat-equipped U.S. forces to help regional forces remove from the battlefield Lord’s Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony and senior leaders of the LRA." 


Joseph Kony, defiant.


The report continues; "The president made this announcement in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner Friday afternoon, saying that  'deploying these U.S. Armed Forces furthers U.S. national security interests and foreign policy and will be a significant contribution toward counter-LRA efforts in central Africa.'"  


Rush Limbaugh, on the golf course, far from Uganda.


Political pundit and talk show entertainer Rush Limbaugh had this to say. "Now, up until today, most Americans have never heard of the Lord's Resistance Army.  And here we are at war with them.  Have you ever heard of Lord's Resistance Army, Dawn?  How about you, Brian?  Snerdley, have you?  You never heard of Lord's Resistance Army?  Well, proves my contention, most Americans have never heard of it, and here we are at war with them.  Lord's Resistance Army are Christians. They are fighting the Muslims in Sudan.  And Obama has sent troops, United States troops to remove them from the battlefield, which means kill them."


Mr. Limbaugh, a coterie of 4 people, having never heard of the LRA does not a consensus make. And if you are right, if that is an accurate statistical representation of the ignorance of Americans to the atrocities committed by the LRA in Uganda then shame on us. Shame on us! The country of Uganda has been terrorized by Kony and his demonic rebels for years. Tens of thousands of men women and especially children have been killed, raped, tortured, maimed or much worse as in the instances, well documented, of the children themselves forced to commit the atrocities on their own families. Turned into killing machines by a coward who hides behind children and lets them fight his wars. The LRA are rapists and they are murderers and they ARE NOT Christians. 


Geez.....


Mr. Limbaugh then goes onto relay the Lord's Resistance Army's objectives as he interprets them sounding almost like a defense of the LRA... "To remove dictatorship and stop the oppression of our people; to fight for the immediate restoration of the competitive multiparty democracy in Uganda; to see an end to gross violation of human rights and dignity of Ugandans; to ensure the restoration of peace and security in Uganda, to ensure unity, sovereignty, and economic prosperity beneficial to all Ugandans, and to bring to an end the repressive policy of deliberate marginalization of groups of people who may not agree with the LRA ideology."  


Mr. Limbaugh meet John Ochola who would rather die than look at himself in the mirror. He bears the scars of Kony's "ensuring of the peace."




Meet some of the of 44 girls abducted and raped and maimed from Sacred Heart Secondary School and St. Mary's Girls School near Gulu. 




Or these two toddlers. Hacked to death by the LRA. Meet these to precious babies Mr. Limbaugh. I could go on posting. For all the American people, the full scope and reach of Kony's evil. The 35,000 child soldiers and slaves. The countless girls repeatedly raped, their young bodies a breeding ground for more soldiers. Not ringing a bell Rush? 






President Obama told John Boehner that sending troops to Uganda: "[is] in the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States..." To which Rush asks rhetorically and sarcastically, with mockery as his intent, "Would somebody explain to me what you think our "national security interests" are in Uganda?" 


Rush, do you need a history lesson. Was it in our national interest to equivocate as Hitler committed genocide to the tune of 6 million? Was it in our national interest to let Saddam pillage Kurdish towns? We responded in both cases, albeit belated. Why? Because terror breeds terror. Evil is an ever quicker spreading cancer. When nations wrap themselves in the ignorance ease affords evil advances. Is it in our national interest to stop Joseph Kony and the LRA? 


Finally, one of Rush's staff apparently googles the LRA and Rush responds; "Is that right? The Lord's Resistance Army is being accused of really bad stuff? Child kidnapping, torture, murder, that kind of stuff? Well, we just found out about this today. We're gonna do, of course, our due diligence research on it. But nevertheless we got a hundred troops being sent over there to fight these guys -- and they claim to be Christians."


Mr. Limbaugh. Do your research first next time. Check out Invisible Children who have been fighting against the LRA for years. Get informed Mr. Limbaugh. Child Trafficking is everywhere. Child exploitation is everywhere. It is on our streets because we are asleep. Full from excess and lethargic. That Mr. Limbaugh is what is wrong with America. That Mr. Limbaugh is what is wrong with you.



7 comments:

  1. I don't know how anyone who reads the newspaper or watches the news has not heard of the LRA...but then again our world news coverage kinda sucks to be honest. Still, I can't believe the ignorant statements that he made without doing his research. Those words leave me pretty pissed off. Actually, extremely pissed. And what urks me is that I know there are so many people who blindly follow people like him, and believe every word he says without question. Even if he takes back his statements once he learns the truth, I am afraid much damage has already been done.

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  2. Mark,your post shocked me, as I am in general a fan of Rush Limbaugh. I tried to see if there was some error, misunderstanding, etc from a press release or quote out of context. I am saddened that it appears that his comments were taken in context (You have quoted him accurately). In response to this, I did send him an email (with a link to invisible children).

    If I could offer you, one corrective as well, though. You end your article "...we are asleep. Full from excess and lethargic. That Mr. Limbaugh is what is wrong with America. That Mr. Limbaugh is what is wrong with you."

    First, this comment slanders Rush and you may not be aware that he is very philanthropic with his money. He is not lethargic when it comes to worthy causes. Just because he is not aware of the LRA doesn't mean he is "full from excess and lethargic." Please be careful not to do to Rush what Rush did today - speak out of ignorance. I say this to just try to help you maintain credibility when speaking out.

    But secondly, I think the larger context of Rush's comments were pointing out the hypocrisy of the Obama Administration when it comes to war. You stated, "To which Rush asks rhetorically and sarcastically, with mockery as his intent, "Would somebody explain to me what you think our "national security interests" are in Uganda?" Rush, do you need a history lesson...."

    No, he doesn't need a history lesson. And the mockery is appropriate to highlight Obama's contradiction on this point. That was Rush's larger point. Obama used "no national security interests" as his reason for objecting to American involvement in Iraq, but now it seems the LRA is in the US's "national security interests." So, this was the point. I'm fine with using our military to suppress dictators and evil around the world regardless of our national interests. I think Rush would be fine with that as well. Rush was using this News Story to illustrate Obama's inconsistency. He was making a larger point, that obviously got lost with his insensitive handling of the LRA issue.

    Overall, it is sad that Rush was ignorant and mischaracterized the LRA. I urged him to correct this on his next show. I hope to hear he has done so, and hope you will report it if he does.

    Press on in your noble cause, brother.

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  3. That was my main concern Rebecca, as somewhere between 17 and 20 million people listen to Rush every week. He can use this as an opportunity to educate but he needs to do his homework first. Great to hear from you!

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  4. ok, I NEVER watch the news, and only read what I see on facebook plus an occasional visit to google news (mostly for tech/sci/med news). yet if someone asked me what the LRA was, I wouldnt be able to say their mission but I could name their atrocities. this is just sick. our ignorance is deadly.

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  5. I appreciate you conversing about this. It makes me aware, it makes me want to be more informed. It makes me want to respond here in some way, and so though I don't know what I want add, I wanted to say I have been here, read these thoughts, and will think about them. Thanks.

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  6. Annabelle...great to hear from you...and you are right, ignorance is deadly.


    Emily...thank you for your deeply thoughtful words...and thank you for your blog, I have always enjoyed it, so much poetry and art and gospel. Such a very rare thing to find those things in one place....

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  7. John. Just saw your comment. Spam filters got it for some reason. Anyway. I was a bit harsh on Rush, but I have listened to him enough to know that he cherishes his life of ease. That said, I think you are right that his intent politically was to call out hypocrisy of The Obama administration. However I absolutely think this is a matter of national security. The more we equivocate when homicidal maniacs rape and pillage children, the more we say to the world we are not your friends. Your burden is your own, we will not bear it. My main concern was with the size of and scope of Rush's reach and his lack of truly vetting the subject. Thank you for your intelligent and compassionate response as always my friend.

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