Althouse: Is Rush Limbaugh an oil-spill truther?

May 1, 2010

Is Rush Limbaugh an oil-spill truther?

Or is Ezra Klein a humor-deaf Rush-hater?

61 comments:

chickelit said...: "Spill" is such a misnomer. It's more like a volcano.; 5/1/10, 9:45 AM
AllenS said...: Ezra Klein is hearing voices again.; 5/1/10, 9:46 AM
Unknown said...: This week I'm sure Rush will expand his theory to blame the recent coal mining disasters on environmentalist terrorists.

Rush is just doing his usual shtick to delight his Limbaugh-tomized flock.; 5/1/10, 9:46 AM
Mark O said...: Liberals have the same sense of humor as the leaders of religious cults.

Obama is going to need a wife with a good sense of humor.; 5/1/10, 9:50 AM
chickelit said...: If it's a war against carbon, which man with a seaside multimillion dollar mansion will you side with?; 5/1/10, 9:52 AM
rhhardin said...: It didn't sound like humor. More like a possibility to keep open for the moment.

There was no curious timing for 9/11, so the comparison is not apt. Bayes theorem, far from being applied, was disapplied by 9/11 truthers.

Klein didn't like the possibility being kept open, probably because it's a possibility that some enviro-activist might consider.; 5/1/10, 9:57 AM
rhhardin said...: I took Rush as saying not that Obama did it, but that Obama was acting on the assumption that the accident was no accident, probably on suspicion.; 5/1/10, 10:00 AM
Tank said...: Two competing themes:

1. I don't generally go for black helicopter conspiracies.

2. Generally, I don't believe in coincidences.

When I heard about this oil spill so soon after announcements of renewed off-shore drilling, my first thought was environmental wacko sabatoge.

Similarly, when financial "reform," SEC filing against Goldman, and Unions leading a march on Wall Street all happen at the same time, is it a coincidence?

Hmmmm.; 5/1/10, 10:03 AM
AllenS said...: cbs news...
"Mr. Obama said SWAT teams were being dispatched to the Gulf to investigate oil rigs and said his administration is now working to determine the cause of the disaster."

SWAT teams? What the fuck? I said the other day, this man is dumber than Joe Biden. Remove that teleprompter and he doesn't have a fucking clue what's going on.; 5/1/10, 10:04 AM
Unknown said...: Well, he does have the Goldman and corporate earnings (granted, Waxman chickened at the last minute) show trials as a backdrop...

I think Ezra needs a little time off.

Mark O said...

Liberals have the same sense of humor as the leaders of religious cults.

Obama is going to need a wife with a good sense of humor.

Speaking of wife, is it Vera or Verna Baker? I'm surprised the New Paper of Record is saying it's a girl. The rumors have always made it sound like it would be Vern when the truth came out.; 5/1/10, 10:05 AM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/1/10, 10:05 AM
Anonymous said...: Mexican drug gang killers have been pushing towards and crossing the Arizona boarders for months and the left yawns.

But when its oil pushing toward border of Louisiana, teams of justice department lawyers and homeland security bureaucrats are dispatched.

These things ought ye to have done, and not left the others undone.

BTW, are the DoJ attorneys going down to help clean oil off of ducks and egrets?

Maybe Holder has found a new use for Guantanamo - holding detained British Petroleum executives.; 5/1/10, 10:07 AM
AllenS said...: SWAT (special weapons and tactics).

Obama is going to send police with special guns to fight the oil slick using police tactics? WTF?; 5/1/10, 10:10 AM
Patm said...: If I am not mistaken, Rush is wrong about the SWAT team thing, so his statement is foolish.

That said, the left and the press display a nasty strain of pettiness when it comes to using pictures of Rush. The guy has lost 80lbs and the press (and twerps like Klein) insist on using picture from when he was at his fattest. That's just small and mean.; 5/1/10, 10:13 AM
sarainitaly said...: Mr. Obama said SWAT teams were being dispatched to the Gulf to investigate oil rigs and said his administration is now working to determine the cause of the disaster.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/04/29/national/main6444311.shtml

Earlier today, DHS Secretary Napolitano announced that this incident is of national significance and the Department of Interior has announced that they will be sending SWAT teams to the Gulf to inspect all platforms and rigs.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-rose-garden; 5/1/10, 10:21 AM
AllenS said...: Maybe Obama is so stupid he doesn't know what an acronym is.; 5/1/10, 10:25 AM
Chase said...: Klein ends the article with

Is there literally nothing this man can say that will convince Republicans to disavow him?

Is there a chance in hell that Ezra Klein would ever vote for a Republican? I read his columns - he's to the far left.

Sorry, but making that statement at the end of his article just shows him to be another dishonest liberal - sorry for the redundancy.; 5/1/10, 10:31 AM
Wince said...: The possibility of sabotage immediately entered my mind.

While politically motivated eco-terrorism did occur to me because of the timing, my thoughts turned quickly to Venezuela and Iran due to past reports about Venezuela seeking a submarine fleet and recent reports of increasing cooperation with Iran.

Venezuela strikes £500m deal to buy Russian submarines

Quite honestly, I'm not sure of the status of the sale or delivery of the submarines since 2007.

As for motivation, the competition for oil in the gulf is no laughing matter, and who knows what sabotage operations may be ongoing against Iran's nuclear program that may have elicited a “shot across the bow” from them.

Of course, all of this was gut reaction and speculation on my part, which is part of being curious. I’m not sure if the rules should be different for radio talk show hosts.

And suppose the administration came out and said that it was Venezuela and Iran?

You don't think the environmentalists and anti-war groups together would claim this was a conspiracy to cover for the oil industry and to serve as the new Gulf of Tonkin?

Please.; 5/1/10, 10:31 AM
Sweet Child O Mine said...: Allen maybe you should try getting on facebook...
you might find some friends, you sound a little bored.; 5/1/10, 10:39 AM
Anonymous said...: @ American Girl

"Mr. Obama said SWAT teams were being dispatched to the Gulf to investigate oil rigs and said his administration is now working to determine the cause of the disaste..."

Thanks, I've been looking for the source document since the statement is so bizarre.; 5/1/10, 10:41 AM
Peter V. Bella said...: The better question is why Klein is paid to write drivel? Pablum is bad enough.; 5/1/10, 10:43 AM
Peter V. Bella said...: Remember Rush has something like 20 million listeners. How many people read Klein?; 5/1/10, 10:45 AM
LonewackoDotCom said...: My general rule is that anything bad you say about Ezra Klein is generally true. I especially enjoy being talked down to by someone who's still using training wheels on his toy trike.; 5/1/10, 10:52 AM
Anonymous said...: Anyone who suspects Klein of lacking a sense of humor should scroll down to his interview with Carl Levin, where he (Klein) offers this goodie:

Speaking of conflicts of interest, you've also held hearings on the ratings agencies. As many have pointed out, their failure was not only catastrophic, but in retrospect, somewhat predictable.; 5/1/10, 10:55 AM
sarainitaly said...: If you combine the Administrations weird comments about dispatching SWAT and Axelrod's comment, “No additional drilling has been authorized, and none will until we find out what happened here and whether there was something unique and preventable here,” it sure sounds like they thought perhaps something caused the spill.

And it sounds to me like Rush was wondering about Eco-terrorism (not that it was an "inside job, as Klein claims)

And when you factor in the WH comments, the FBI claims about eco-terrorism, and the already +$200M in damage they have caused, it seems like a legit question - was it perhaps an act of terrorism by a domestic (or perhaps foreign) group, to stop drilling.; 5/1/10, 11:01 AM
Unknown said...: In all fairness to The Zero, it seems the use of the term, "SWAT team", is a metaphor for an elite group sent to look at the emergency, rather than guys with HKs.

That said, the administration, especially Big Sister, has mishandled this on a scale of incompetence to dwarf Katrina (which was much overblown, anyway). Where's The Ministry of Propaganda on this one?

(Right, covering Rielle on Oprah.); 5/1/10, 11:05 AM
SteveR said...: We know for a fact that the Obama administration and all of the wavering base Obama relied on to get elected realy really don't want to drill off shore. It makes no difference what the cause was, it will be the excuse to retreat from any expansion of permission to drill anywhere, ever.

Rush plays folks like Klein for fools and they usually abide.; 5/1/10, 11:37 AM
Rialby said...: What I find troubling is that we're a week and a half past this horrific catastrophe -- 11 dead men, environmental and economic messes as far as the eye can see - and we still don't know what happened?

Where are the eyewitness accounts from the men who escaped the exploding platform?

Why don't we have some idea about what happened out there?; 5/1/10, 11:37 AM
Rialby said...: Here's a question to ponder...

Let's say that we discovered that the rig was destroyed by some foreign group and we had identified who they were.

What would Mr. Obama do?

Would he do what the South Koreans have recently done when their warship was destroyed by a North Korean torpedo?; 5/1/10, 11:41 AM
AllenS said...: Sweet,

I am on Facebook. Are you the girl whom I've never met? And have no idea how you got my name? I looked at your picture. Would you like to have my baby?; 5/1/10, 11:41 AM
Mikio said...: Althouse defending Limbaugh again? I'm stunned. What's that, about 8,000 times in a row now? What are the odds?! Remember, kids, she's not a conservative blogger.; 5/1/10, 12:10 PM
Anonymous said...: Althouse defending Limbaugh again? I'm stunned. What's that, about 8,000 times in a row now? What are the odds?! Remember, kids, she's not a conservative blogger.

What's the purpose of this type of comment?

So, you prove to your satisfaction that you've applied the right label. Then what?

How, exactly is "Althouse defending Limbaugh?"

What is this type of comment all about? You seem to be suggesting that you've discovered something evil and insidious. What is it?; 5/1/10, 12:24 PM
MadisonMan said...: Speculation just because otherwise there would be dead air, or a blog that wasn't filled, is the bane of modern society.

I am curious how the long-duration ecological disaster will affect Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. Having been abandoned by Bush post-Katrina, will they be abandoned also by Obama with this spill? I suspect they will be. How many lawsuits will be filed against BP by shrimpers and fishermen who have lost their livelihood -- probably for many months.

Drill Baby Drill futures have taken a huge hit.; 5/1/10, 12:36 PM
Unknown said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/1/10, 12:37 PM
SteveR said...: Wow Mikio, where did you find that stat? If you've paid attention for even a small amount of time this blogs been around, you'd realize that you have fallen in a trap. Good job.; 5/1/10, 12:38 PM
chickelit said...: Sorry Althouse but I prefer not to waste any time even thinking about what Ezra Klein thinks. In a polarized world, the man represents nothing that I care about.
In a less polarized world where people listened to each other, I'd much rather listen to someone like Mickey Kaus.

Some people seem to write and exist for polemics and not for pragmatic reasons. Klein is one of them.; 5/1/10, 1:04 PM
Mikio said...: What is this type of comment all about? You seem to be suggesting that you've discovered something evil and insidious. What is it?

She fancies herself an enigmatic non-conservative, that's why, and I can't stand that narcissistic BS. Look at her banner phrases she cherry-picks. She relishes what there is of this (fake) impression and tries to promote it -- most notably by her fake vote "for" Obama. Many if not most of her fans are fooled -- they think it's absurd to consider her a conservative. I know, because basically every time I’ve referred to her as one I’ve raised some hackles. Meanwhile, I've only ever seen her attack liberalism and never conservatism and she's listed as a top conservative blogger -- by other conservative bloggers, for chrissake. Yet her deluded fans think she's not a conservative.

I just felt like focusing on that instead of gasbag Limbaugh.; 5/1/10, 1:07 PM
lucid said...: Ezra Klein has always been grimly clueless.; 5/1/10, 1:30 PM
SteveR said...: Mikio keeps plowing ground already dug up. That criticism's been trotted out so many times only the clueless still try it. Think outside your little box.; 5/1/10, 1:47 PM
traditionalguy said...: World Oil reserves are only a known finite amount which causes market forces to increase the PPP. True or false, and discuss.; 5/1/10, 1:56 PM
traditionalguy said...: I meant PPB. This is an oil traders necessary belief.; 5/1/10, 1:58 PM
Anonymous said...: Many if not most of her fans are fooled -- they think it's absurd to consider her a conservative. I know, because basically every time I’ve referred to her as one I’ve raised some hackles. Meanwhile, I've only ever seen her attack liberalism and never conservatism and she's listed as a top conservative blogger -- by other conservative bloggers, for chrissake. Yet her deluded fans think she's not a conservative.

What a mess is this statement.

Althouse doesn't seem like a staunch conservative to me. Given her style of living... which appears to be single, childless, tenured, and very well paid... as well as her residence in Madison... non-religious... I would be hard pressed to label her as a conservative on the social, family front. She's a feminist, an attribute that I find extremely tiresome in a woman who's clearly profiting handsomely from the quote system.

Perhaps it is a good time to attack liberalism, in that liberals are currently in power. What value is there in attacking conservatives at this moment? Liberals are setting government policy.

What makes you think that people who read Althouse's blog are "fans." That would seem to me to indicate some sort of partisan fervor and unthinking enthusiasm.

I don't think of myself as a fan, although I read this blog and post here. This just happens to be where the action is at for the moment. I don't agree with a whole lot of things Althouse has to say, but she does seem to be able to frame discussion in a way to attracts people to her blog.

Some people have this talent. It's an odd talent. For years I read and commented heavily on another blog, 2Blowhards. The originator of that blog, Michael Blowhard, also had that rare ability to frame discussion in a way that attracted readers. When he left, he took it with him.

Conservative is an odd tag. It's always relational. If I am basically opposed to the growth of government, but I'm laissez faire on social issues like abortion, what am I?

I'm not a fan of Limbaugh either, but I do listen to him very occasionally. Maybe once for fifteen minutes every other month. Just depends on where I'm driving and why. Listening to him for even that amount of time, I can tell you that the wild eyed radical tag you're trying to hang on him is so much bunk.

Have you ever listened to him. I mean long enough to hear the entirety of his argument?; 5/1/10, 2:28 PM
chickelit said...: I will say one thing and nothing else further: There literally is nothing that Ezra Klein can say or write that will convince any Republican to disavow Rush Limbaugh.; 5/1/10, 2:48 PM
Anonymous said...: Now, now, everyone. Althouse is a hippie. We all know that.

And as one whose hair was down to his belt at one time, well there you are.

Carter made me a republican. Reagan made me conservative, and it was cast in stone. So I got a haircut and a real job many years ago.

However, peace.; 5/1/10, 4:13 PM
Issob Morocco said...: Slick Ezra ain't.

My guess is he got the quote from Media Matters out of context and not from listening to the radio show. I heard it live and it was classic Rush playing the Left's game against it.; 5/1/10, 5:08 PM
rhhardin said...: How do we get these seabirds out of our oil supply?

I think that was a Nat Lamp headline long ago.; 5/1/10, 5:42 PM
Paco Wové said...: "...every time I’ve referred to her as one I’ve raised some hackles."

I think that's more due to your general douchiness than anything else.; 5/1/10, 6:11 PM
marklewin said...: Is there some kind of fixation with Klein?; 5/1/10, 6:42 PM
mariner said...: shoutingthomas ...
Althouse doesn't seem like a staunch conservative to me. Given her style of living... which appears to be single, childless, tenured, and very well paid...

... shouting his cluelessness from the rooftops.; 5/1/10, 6:49 PM
Calypso Facto said...: Klein's idiocy cost Newsweek my subscription. (And about 2 million others--50% of their circulation--by the look of their subscriber stats.); 5/1/10, 7:06 PM
roesch-voltaire said...: I happened to hear Rush intone this the other day and it seemed more like a pre-emptive propaganda strike as he suggested that just wait and see somehow Halliburton will be involved in this and therefore dragged before congress. Of course that was before he knew about the class action law suit filed against BP and Halliburton by the Louisiana shrimpers. Those shrimpers seem to know more that Rush about this matter and have beat Congress to the hearing. Maybe this happened because BP was so confident in the technology they sold us in the ads, they figured they didn't need a safety value, and Halliburton was so confident that they learned their lesson the last time their cementing job did the trick in Australia that what could possibly go wrong? But of course BP and Halliburton are in collusion with Obama, just the way the Carlyle Group was in collusion with the Bush family, and the SWAT team was sent in to cover the oil stain tracks somewhere in the bottom of the Gulf.; 5/1/10, 8:34 PM
Fen said...: I'm beginning to see that Rush is simply too intelligent for the left to understand.; 5/1/10, 8:50 PM
HT said...: That is fucked up what is going on in the Gulf. They have fucked up my childhood swimming pool.

Now, if the only way to deal with this absolute, undeniable catastrophe is to put on some Rush Limbaugh glasses and filter everything through him to give yourself a buffer to this disaster, well ok.

On another note, I do hope everyone is taking note of what the Dems have proposed regarding immigration. I know it's cool to get on here and say the Dems just want Hispanics to load up their voter roles, but just take a look at some of the provisions in that bill.; 5/1/10, 9:48 PM
John henry said...: Gerry said:

"This week I'm sure Rush will expand his theory to blame the recent coal mining disasters on environmentalist terrorists."

If he does, there will at least be some truth to it. Senator Sheets Byrd (KKK-WV)passed legislation years ago at the behest of environmentalists to make western coal much more expensive and WV coal more competitive in price.

Western coal is strip mined. Everything takes place above ground. It is relatively safe compared to deep mining as in the case of the recent accident in WV or the one in Utah 3 years ago.

Environmentalists also work hard to restrict of ban strip mining in WV and the Appalachins.

We can argue about which, strip or deep mining is better for the environment. It is not disputable that deep mining is and always will be less safe to the miners than strip mining.

John Henry

WV: calstor-What coal does, stores calories to be released as heat.; 5/1/10, 10:35 PM
Beth said...: There's so little point in this. Really, how fucking shallow. But why should I be suprised by Rush, or Rush listeners? If there's a craven laugh to be had in disaster, they'll find it.; 5/1/10, 10:46 PM
Titus said...: Rush if just fat and ugly, that's all.
No more, no less.; 5/1/10, 11:53 PM
Fen said...: Beth: If there's a craven laugh to be had in disaster, they'll find it.

The quote you're looking for is "never let a crisis go to waste", by one of your own Democrats.

Alot like the way the Dems leveraged the Katrina disaster to score political points.

So its a bit much for you to complain about Rush and his satire.; 5/2/10, 1:47 AM
Opus One Media said...: ahhhhhh..what a trick quesion.

You used a form of the word "truth" in the same sentence as Rush Limbaugh....

ah ah ah. No no.; 5/2/10, 9:14 AM
Opus One Media said...: Peter V. Bella said...
"Remember Rush has something like 20 million listeners..."

Hey Pete, a lot of people used to watch Beverly Hillbillys too.; 5/2/10, 9:18 AM
roesch-voltaire said...: Please folks not to worry about this oil spill, according the the TampaBay.com Rush just said the following: "The ocean will take care of this on its own if it was left alone and left out there," Limbaugh said. "It's natural. It's as natural as the ocean water is." See it doesn't really make any difference as to why this happened.; 5/2/10, 8:24 PM
Anonymous said...: My first thought was eco-terrorism as well.

But even if it's not, I'm glad Rush is opening up people's minds to other possibilities. It would be even scarier to think that everyone would automatically believe this was an accident.; 5/3/10, 2:04 PM