Rush Limbaugh is an idiot! He refers to phony (note that this is spelled with a “ph”, not an “f” you right wing morons) “soldiers” (again, note the plurality of this word), not phony “soldier”. It would be helpful if he mentioned who these other phony soldiers are? Let’s see, there’s Jesse Macbeth………and who!? Who! Please tell us who these other phony soldiers are, because Rush seems to CLEARLY be stating that the soldiers (again plural) that are anti-war, speaking on behalf of the “left”, are phony soldiers. Would Rush or any of you be so courageous as to speak to these anti-war soldiers and discuss how phony they are? There are plenty of them other than the infamous Jesse Macbeth, so I’m sure they would be willing to hear you inform them of their phony service.

You right wing whining cry babies, who’s support of our country consists of a bumper sticker, make me sick! You attack and attack, but are completely incapable of honest dialogue or owning up to mistakes and errors in judgment. You balk at even the idea that you should have to make sacrifices here at home to pay for the war effort you claim to support. Pathetic!

If Rush were truly the “man” he believes he is he should either apologize for painting those who disagree with him with such a broad brush or invite other soldiers he claims to be phony on his show to discuss their service. My guess is this weak, pathetic, man will do neither.

Since 9/11, my daughter has missed every family milestone – every holiday, every birth, and every death. I call it “Family Interrupted.” With each passing year, there is always the empty place at the family dinner table. I watch the evening news and note the losses of other families, hoping my daughter’s name will never appear on a casualty list. "Phoney soldier" indeed.

I think you can well understand my rage over this remark.

About that Jingo Limbo comment, it offends me to the point of wanting to hunt him down like a dog and push in his face and pluck out his eyes.

This is one hell of a post, excellent job!

I don't like the war any more than you do, but I also don't think supporting withdrawal is the same as supporting defeat. The war in Iraq has evolved into a civil war and I've yet to see any concrete, non-partisan, evidence stating otherwise. For example, I would rather the USA re-deploy the same troops to Afghanistan to go after Bin Laden and Co.

There may be people out there who "invest in the triumph of our enemies" (BTW, good phrase) and I would agree that it is borderline traitorous. However, by and large the people in the USA who want withdrawal aren't cheering for the enemy. They simply don't see a viable, sustainable, winnable situation in Iraq. For the record I did support the initial Iraq invasion and I supported the initial goals. Overtime though, it has become apparent to me that a solution to the Iraq war is unattainable. In the end though, you will have your opinions and I will have mine; so we will just have to agree to disagree. This thread isn’t a debate about Iraq, so we should probably stick to the subject at hand.

The people that Republicans are going after (Clinton, Reid, and the other clowns)for completely disrespecting a 4 Star General, just becasue he actually had some positive news to report (God forbid) are POLITICAL figures of our government. BIG difference. Radio people and book writers, shouldn't even warrant our governments time

Ah, now you're actually getting close to the point of all this. Reid's statements is merely an echo of others on the progressive side asking why it is okay for Congress to waste valuable time that they could be using to get us out of Iraq, to instead vote on a resolution to condemn a MoveOn ad. While anyone can certainly see that some portion of the country might disagree with the ad (either the opinion expressed in it, or the manner of that expression), was it the sort of thing that should be introduced into the Senate? Of course not. But it was, largely because John Cornyn is an idiot. And despite your attacks upon Reid and Clinton, they voted "for" that amendment (largely because they too are idiots).

...unless that is all Dems can do to reflect all the negative attention they would be getting otherwise for continuing their pursuit to completely disrespect the whole country, by not supporting what is the right thing to do, rather than worry so much on how to win an election instead. The USA isn;t buying it any more. Dems stand for lack of religion, lacj of values, freedom of speech pnly when they like it, and a pure loser mentality on protecting our country. WAKE UP AMERICA, be strong and respect the values that have made us the best country in the world.

I'm not going to try to defend Democrats, because with a few exceptions, they are indefensible sellouts...almost as bad as Republicans, who are all indefensible sellouts. Nevertheless, I will point out some of the errors in your statements (but I will leave the typos alone. I make them too sometimes).
You suggest that the Democrats are disrespecting the whole country by not supporting what is the right thing to do. While this is vague, I will guess that you are talking about the occupation of Iraq, or what some would call "the war." Your assumption that continuing the occupation is "the right thing to do" shows either your inability or unwillingness to examine the facts objectively. Our occupation is not creating any political or social stability in Iraq, has resulted in over 500 Iraqi deaths per day, on average, since it began, and the death tolls are not changing in any significant way due to the "surge." There is no political progress among Iraqis because the primary focus of so many of them is simply to get the US out. Certainly, there is also a civil war in which American soldiers are just caught in the crossfire, and in fact, in the last year or more, the civil war has probably been more of an issue than the insurgency against the occupation, but in neither case is the presence of American troops helping anything. Some proponents of the occupation suggest that by pulling out, we would leave a vacuum into which chaos would flow. Newsflash! It's already chaos! We are pouring hundreds of billions of $$ into a conflict in which our soldiers are mostly bystanders getting killed for being where they shouldn't be. We have no legitimate goal there, are not helping the Iraqis reach any goals, and very simply have no right to stay, except that in realpolitik, might gives right.

You also say "Dems stand for lack of religion, lacj of values, freedom of speech pnly when they like it, and a pure loser mentality on protecting our country."[sic] Let me simply correct you, neither Democrats, nor progressives, nor liberals, nor even Greens or radical leftists (anarchists, socialists) stand for a lack of religion. What they do stand for is the freedom to have a lack of religion. Can you see the difference?
Neither do they stand for a "lack of values." Rather, they stand for a different set of values than you might like to espouse. Most leftists (including some Democrats – many are actually right of center) stand for values such as tolerance, valuing all persons regardless of race, gender, sexual preference or religion, dignity and a decent standard of living for all, a right to work and participate in society and in the decisions that shape all our lives....These are values, whether they fit into your narrow vision or not. I will leave the freedom of speech comment alone here, as most of th earlier part of this message addressed that topic, albeit perhaps not directly enough for some. And lastly, they (all of the groups I listed above) do not stand for "a loser mentality on protecting our country." Rather, we stand for an intelligent approach to defending our country, and realizing when military activities are more harmful than beneficial. Our unprovoked attack on Iraq turned most of the world against us, when immediately after 9-11, we had the world's sympathy and support. Our continued presence there does nothing but create more anti-American sentiment around the world every day, and especially in the Middle East, and when those people whose fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters are being killed, maimed, or displaced there grow up, if they have no other way of expressing their outrage, if they have no other avenue for trying to make the world a better place in their own eyes, they may likely resort to joining a terrorist group. And that is not making us any safer. That is not "defending our country" by any stretch of the imagination.

To anyone that actually investigates and reads for themselves – rather than just swallowing what Media Matters spoon feeds them – this story is an absolute waste of time.

It's frankly quite pathetic that Reid, or anyone, would jump on the bandwagon without even looking into the story first. This is exactly the garbage this country DOESN'T need, whether Democrat or Republican.

You sound like a Media Matters robot my friend. Keep up the good work!

Seriously though you can't call those who don't support the war "un-American" or question their patriotism that is simply the wrong mentality. There are those who don't like the war like myself, but then there are those who support defeat and withdrawal.

Those who invest in the triumph of our enemies are borderline traitors, but you can only be traitorous if you intend to be. So at this point I can only assume that these people are uninformed and if they claim to be informed, then they are not or they truly are against what our troops are doing.

"Limbaugh should make a clear apology,
For any soldier that served in Iraq that has publicly criticized the War – I apologize if you felt my comments were directed at you. To Jesse Macbeth and any others that falsely claim to have fought in Iraq and pawn themselves off as Iraq-War Veterans – you are a phony.
If anyone can't see or understand the objectional behavior of falsely impersonating a battle-hardened soldier – then you're piling on because you dislike conservatives."

Then Conservative James says:

Rush has NOTHING to apologize for. Anyone who opposes the war in Iraq is un-American. That goes for the soldiers on the ground.

I got a question, is it just me or doesn’t it sound like James just FLIP-FLOPPED? James posts numerous times on these CNN threads and he has made his conservative opinions known that he dislikes flip-floppers. Even though James and I don’t see eye to eye politically, doesn’t mean that I don’t respect his opinion or his right to voice it. I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and let him change his mind; after all maybe he made a mistake the during the first post in this thread. Or God forbid he is actually human and is allowed to change his mind, kind of like our politicians.

If you refer to soldiers on the ground as un-American because they don’t agree with the war; you are the real un-American. Why should everyone think just like you James? The whole thing about the USA that makes us great is that we can voice our agreement or displeasure with the government anytime we like. I’m really surprised that you would say these things James; I hope that this is some phony coward putting words in your mouth and not the real Conservative James.

Anyone who actually believes Reid is in dire need of an Irony-oscopy, as well as a cranial-rectal extraction.

Have you guys not read the comments by Limbaugh? He did not say, imply, or think what Reid is accusing him of. And, for Reid to have the brass ones to go on the floor of the Senate and lambast Limbaugh... Well, that's astounding.

Have you never heard the endless anti-Military statements by Reid? HE is guilty of what he is projecting onto Rush.

This whole "scandal" requires willing suspension of disbelief.

If you just want to pile on and denouce Rush because you hate him then go ahead, that is your privilege.

But please notice in stories like this one, where they place the quotation marks so that they can claim accuracy while writing exactly the opposite.

The choice is yours to either use your brain and think about things or use your emotions and simply react in a knee-jerk type of way.

Read the transcript.

CALLER 2: 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 talk to the media.

LIMBAUGH: The phony soldiers.

~~
The Caller used the plural first, not Rush.. And since the term was already in the news that week(ABC Story), Rush has done segments on them in the past, and the Caller was talking in plural..

He naturally responded in plural using a term coined by ABC News (just 2 days earlier) and others.

How can this not be obvious?

And by the way I’m a Latino immigrant with 23 years in the service. Bush, Rush American citizen, unpatriotic chickens.

Posted By Jose, New Jersey : October 2, 2007 2:51 pm

Sounds like you never went to English class my friend,,You might want to try some tapes "HOW TO SPEAK ENGLISH"

Read the Report and see for yourself:
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/waw/press/2007/sep/operationstolenvalor.html

Also we can't read Limbaugh's mind about the fact that he's talking about phoney soldiers.

Have some RESPECT Limbaugh and pick on someone or something that deserves it.

I am truly disappointed with the CNN bloggers.

RSMITH

I have just one question for Rush and is idolators: Why do they hate America so much?

Keep this war going long enough, keep recycling the same troops and pretty soon they (the troops) will all be speaking out against it. I know for a fact that a sizeable number of troops hate this war.

The channel changer.

There is a Congressional Act Known as the Stolen Valor act that is not just used against non military pretending they are military. It even goes so far as to prosecute military members who wear unauthorized medals.

For example, I am a Viet Nam "era" veteran. If I wore any ribbons associated with service in Viet Nam or a bronze star and combat V, I could be proscecuted.

There are many phony soldiers out there. I read articles about them all the time. If Rush had not used the plural "Soldiers". I doubt this would even be an issue. However, using the plural form has put him in the sights of every antiwar person out there which is a shame, because it is a real issue. As a veteran, even a noncombat one, I am still proud of my service to my country. I took an oath to defend it and the constitution and stood ready to go where I was asked. There is nothing wrong with that. After 4 hard years of service which included several search and rescue cases, I was discharged with just two ribbons, the National Defense Service Medal and the Good Conduct Medal. I did my job. I do not understand why others have to inflate their records or pretend that they were soldiers. It is dead wrong and they should be punished to the fullest extent possible.

And by the way I’m a Latino immigrant with 23 years in the service. Bush, Rush American citizen, unpatriotic chickens.

It is too bad that I cannot find it in myself to feel any compassion at all for poor Rush, who has smeared many a person, ruined many a reputation, and told many, many lies to his gullible, non-thinking audiences.

Instead, I find it amusing that he has been run over with his own limo this time. Now the smearer has become the smearee.

I was also amused when he was caught with those thousands of pain killers that he had bribed his housekeeper (I think it was his housekeeper) to procure for his addiction. I found it amusing that he was not charged, tried, given community service, or anything else.

A poor kid in my town who was caught with a few thousand oxycontin would still be in jail. And Rush would have been the first to demand a maximum jail sentence for him.

It was also amusing when he was caught in Florida with a viagra prescription that was not in his name while entering the country. While this was not much of a crime (the Rx was in his doctor's name), he got away scott free again.

And, he still blows the law-and-order trumpet louder than anyone. His hypocrisy is a big as his ego.

"Big, bad media ("conspiracy") get to you? Poor things, you have become so delusional that you don’t even realize rich, conservative corporations overwhelmingly control our media."

Sweetie, there is no conspiracy. A conspiracy would imply there is actually an attempt to keep things secret. Liberal media types no longer even attempt to appear neutral.

Oh, yes, the media is actually controlled by the eeeeeeevil rich conservative corporations. Dunn Dunn Dunnnnnnnn! (cue gloomy music here).

Ask any journalist (print or broadcast) or editor (print or broadcast) the name of the last conservative from whom he/she voted. You'll be met with stunned silence (if said journalist doesn't sock you in the nose for even THINKING he/she might be a conservative).

Yes, eeeeeeeevil corporations might control the stock and the greater business dealings of most media outlets, but the content is entirely controlled by liberal media types. Don't believe me?

Imagine how quickly journalists would flee media outlets if they really and truly had to work under conservative editors and bosses, folks who would have a no-kidding impact on their daily operations. Newsrooms everywhere would look like a scene from the motion picture "28 Days Later." Silent... No one around... random pieces of paper floating in the breeze...

And anyone who thinks the Majority Liar...er, Leader really believes what he said here is truly delusional. He purposefully took comments WAY out of context and then went off on some rabid diatribe like a lunatic. Harry Reid, you sir are a phony!

Rush Limbaugh made a blanket statement that all soldiers who disagree with the war and believe we should withdraw are "Phony Soldiers". This is a dispicable and hurtful comment, more so than the MoveOn.org ad, or even the Don Imus incident. What he said to all of the families of soliders killed or maimed in action is that if their child(ren) thought the war was wrong and that troops should be drawn down, then they were phonies. They were only playing soldier. Implying that they maybe deserved what they got, or at least that they weren't real soldiers so don't deserve our sympathy, empathy, or support.

Rush is a slimeball and his corporate masters should fire him, just like Imus was fired. After all, which is worse, making an insensitive racist comment, or making fun of our FIGHTING soldiers during war time?

Ah, did the big, bad media ("conspiracy") get to you? Poor things, you have become so delusional that you don’t even realize rich, conservative corporations overwhelmingly control our media (research it if you do not believe me). The Rush gang can surely dish their vile comments, but they can't take it when he steps out of line. His commentary continues to be deplorable in the context given. To call any individuals serving in our military phony soldierS is so lacking of respect, it is hard to fathom why anyone would admit listening to his show, much less defend him.

And to those desperate enough to throw around the “commie” label, please enlighten us with your Rush-filled intelligence. Exactly which party over the past six years has indebted our children and grandchildren to communist China for the unforeseeable future over an ill-directed debacle of a war? I’ll give you a hint: Greenspan referenced their irresponsible spending habits and record-breaking deficits in his new book. So, who is really enabling communism? Hmm…

It is reassuring to know our country is finally awake to this “neoCONic” reign of terror that has clouded our great nation ever since the turn of the century. I thank my fellow Americans for paying attention now and have faith we will be done with this nonsense in 2008.