Rush Limbaugh, a totally irresponsible talk show host, who many see as the titular leader of the Republican party, has long been known for outrageous, despicable comments and statements, and for character assassination of people he sees as his enemies.
Now he is claiming that the right wing crazy who killed a security guard in the attack on the US Holocaust Memorial Museum got his inspiration from the left wing and from Barack Obama. Limbaugh is attempting to blame the attack on the President and to promote the view that the perpetrator gained his anti Semitic views from what Limbaugh calls the anti Jewish and anti Israel policies of the Obama Administration.
This contradicts the voluminous evidence that the killer of the security guard gained his influences from the far right and had regularly condemned liberals and liberalism, as well as Jews and African Americans. Â The man’s conspiracy theory views sound very much like rhetoric we have been hearing from right wing talk show hosts, including Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage and Bill O’Reilly, and from GOP politicians such as Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin, among others.Â
This does not mean that I am saying that the talk show hosts and Republican politicians mentioned above are responsible for, or being compared to, the right wing nut who committed this horrible action. However, the spewing forth of poisonous statements and promotion of conspiracy theories centered around the Obama Administration are not helpful one iota, and could very well encourage more bloodshed and violence, and even threaten assassination attempts against Obama or members of his administration. Rational, reasonable criticism is to be understood, but not insane accusations such as those promoted by Rush Limbaugh and others who attract a large audience, and have a responsibility to temper their language as many statements they have made over time can encourage incendiary reactions by unstable listeners and watchers.