Boy I hope we reach a new stage of enlightenment soon.

Come on Steve. He's not racist. His WSJ op-ed said so.

Did you know that Rush Limbaugh is really an animorphic sack of shit emulating a human being? Shhh! Pass it on.

Um, wouldn't it be easier just to keep track of those exceedingly rare instances when Rush actually says something factual or sensible?

Also, who cares if Limbaugh wants to smear Obama as being "Arab"? It just adds to the laundry list of other bizarre, incompatible smears that have proven very ineffective in this election already. "He's an elitist, latte-drinking black separatist Muslim Marxist arab who wants to teach your kids sex before kindergarten!"

I consider this a good sign. The right is getting desperate and frustrated and now going through spasms.

I work with a wingnut and I use him as a gauge. The angrier he gets (anger is the defining rightwing emotion), the better I know my side is doing. He is very angry right now.

Do you know he has not one shred of African-American blood?

Well, there goes Obama's support from African Americans who listen to Limbaugh.

Blisteringly stupid? No. A sorrya$$lyingsackofsh*t? Yes. Which is the main reason he fits right into the wingnutosphere so well.

His father was Kenyan--last time I checked Kenya was in Africa. Not sure if Kenya is an "Arab" part of Africa, although I don't know why the "Arab" parts would be any less a part of the African continent than the non-Arab parts.

Limbaugh is so vile it's beyond words at this point. Obviously a variation of the "secret muslim" or "other" campaign, although these wingnuts are too stupid to know that Arab doesn't necessarily mean you're Muslim.

Limbaugh concluded his little rant by telling his audience, "Everything seems upside-down today in this country."

Well, yeah. Americans are rejecting the Republican Party Limbaugh propagandizes for. Which means his influence is waning and his lies don't hold the clout they once did. Poor baby.

Well, if Rush Limburger Cheese can claim that Obama is an Arab, may I, by the same mysterious logic, point out that Limburger Cheese is an African secret agent sent here by dictator Robert Mugabe to infiltrate the minds of thoughtful people who listen faithfully to the Limburger Cheese show and turn them into anti-American fifth columnists?

Did I mention that Sarah Palin is a Russian agent? I mean, what's her last name? Palin? Short for Palinsky?

Love that Limburger logic!

Yours crankily,

Vintage Tucker Eskew smearing. Eskew's impact on the direction of the McCain "campaign" is now fully apparent.

Keep pounding these liars into the ground and then pound them again!

Seeing as that I am a Chicano from the Sonoran Desert, and quite familiar with Senator McCain for these past 26 years, opposing McCain is the equivalent for being "corrupt" or against the "public trust".

And seeing that I am long in the tooth as well as a Vietnam War Vet, my being called a "traitor" or even more denigrating for "unpatriotic", and do give me my moments for the quiet chuckle when I see the damage that McCain is doing to McCain. But then, overweening ambition will do that to anyone.

And interestingly, I too watch local Spanish-language television, and when I saw Obama link McCain to Limbutt, that too was a precious moment. Of course, Limbutt makes his 'moment' even worse with his latest op-ed piece in the New York Times.

But then, I am reminded of Big Mama Good's often-used adage, "Mihito, no hables hacina porque Dios te va castigad."

Jaango

"Everything seems upside-down today in this country."

Limbaugh has been spending too much time in the McCain world where McCain is a maverick, Palin is qualified, Obama is elitist, and the economy is strong. Tune in tomorrow as John McClueless explains how up really is down.

Posting about Limbaugh? Really, Steve?

And this is all they have left. Fear. Scare the electorate enough to plant seeds of doubt about the O man.

The mighty and triumphant right wing conservative ideology, due to it's own inherent fraudulent and failed policies, has imploded.

Talk about the emperor has no clothes.

All that is left is a handful of extreme right wing radio talk show hosts babbling incessant lies to their dwindling audiences.

Rove sure did a good job of building that permanent majority, didn't he?

Blood comes in "shreds?"

Limbaugh, the Moron Rouser

Did he not state, after the 2006 elections, that he will no longer carry the water for the Republican party/conservatives?

And this is all they have left. Fear. Scare the electorate enough to plant seeds of doubt about the O man.

The mighty and triumphant right wing conservative ideology, due to it's own inherent fraudulent and failed policies, has imploded.

Talk about the emperor has no clothes.

All that is left is a handful of extreme right wing radio talk show hosts babbling incessant lies to their dwindling audiences.

Rove sure did a good job of building that permanent majority, didn't he?

This really is one of those situations where it's best to let racist comments stand without comment, let the whole world see their ugliness and judge accordingly.
And there will be many more like them in the coming weeks, especially if Obama maintains his lead. He's good at staying above it all, no need to lower himself to the level of this filth.

Allan: The only sense in which you could possibly call Kenya "Arab parts of Africa" is the same way you could call it "British parts of Africa" or "Portuguese parts of Africa", that is, some Arabs controlled some of it as a colony and traded slaves from there. Culturally and ethnically, no way.

Of course Limbaugh wins either way with this, considering who he's talking to. Joe Dittohead may go "Eek! He's an Arab!", or he may actually know something about Africa or look it up, in which case it's "Eek! He's reeeeeally black."

Last I checked, Egypt and maybe Ethiopia were POSSIBLY Arab.

Which did Rush think Obama's pop was from?

Did Rush get the same geography teaching that taught "Ace" McCain that Spain was in Latin America?

(I am aware this may not be true, but if the right wants to think Obama thinks there are 57 states, this is at LEAST as reasonable a fallacy to spread.)

Speaking of rightwing cluelessness about race, the VA Republicans held a diversity rally over the weekend. The main speaker? Former senator George "macaca" Allen. Priceless!

The WashPost covered the event:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/20/AR2008092002060.html

All that is left is a handful of extreme right wing radio talk show hosts babbling incessant lies to their dwindling audiences.

They're building a case for the election being stolen by Obama in case he wins.

Unlike left-leaning folk who thought the 2000 & 2004 elections were stolen, the folks that Limbaugh and his ilk are poking with sharp sticks won't be inclined to settle this with demands for legislative hearings, investigations and judicial action. They'll be taking their guns and doing some nasty crap because they'll be positive that "Communist al-Qaeda Black Mooslims" will be in control.

Rush "fat sack of crap" Limbaugh is ginning up a redux of the militia years that we had under Clinton. And it will be uglier because instead of a white Southerner in office we'll have a black guy from Illinois in office. This is going to be nine kinds of ugly and I'm not looking forward to it (though I don't let terrorists like Limbaugh and the people he's poking dictate my actions - I'm not a cowardly Republican after all).

But But But Rush, Rush man, what about Barack the magic negro? You mean we can't call him that anymore in front of the libtards? Rush you're breaking my heart here.

BREAKING NEWS: Rush is still a big fat idiot. Film at 11.

Didn't Limbaugh die from an overdose of hubris last year? No? Too bad...

Steve Benen wrote: "Rush Limbaugh is blisteringly stupid when it comes to race and ethnicity."

Limbaugh is not "blisteringly stupid". But he knows that the millions of weak-minded, ignorant, neo-brownshirt mental slaves who listen to him are. And his job, for which he is well paid, is to keep them that way.

Did I mention that Sarah Palin is a Russian agent? I mean, what's her last name? Palin?

Absolutely. I mean, it fits right in w/a pattern of classic Russian names: Lenin, Stalin, Putin, Palin...

-Z

For the sake of interest, this appears to be the article this thing is based on.

To summarize: apparently the argument is that Barack Obama Sr. (Pictured here) is only 1/8 Black, and, supposedly, 7/8 Arab.

Evidence: 1) The family uses Arab names (I was not aware that "Obama" was an Arab name, but whatever); 2) bald assertion that the Kenyan records say his father was "Arab African". The claim is that his father's family was descended from Arab slave traders. The contention is that the family had Arab names because they were asserting an Arab ethnic identity of some sort. Supposedly, real Luo have Christian names.

This is, from what I can gather, total nonsense. Obama Sr.'s father was, according to Wikipedia, a member of the Luo tribe who converted to Islam and took a Muslim name as a result.

As far as I can tell, this is the only evidence presented for this claim. Lamb claims to be basing this on Kenyan records, but provides no support for this, nor does he even detail the genealogical backgrounds of individual members of Obama's family to support the claim.

Anyway, yuck.

On the upside, think of how relieved African-Americans are that Arabs have replaced them as the right wing's scary bogeymen!

SA: Dead on. Limbaugh probably isn't blisteringly stupid - but the things he says clearly are.

Still, he's useful as a selection gradient (as are many others). The "views" of people who listen to him are dismissable, out of hand. The only way they need to be taken seriously is in the "torch-wielding mob" way.

What I don't understand is why the Obama Campaign isn't blasting McCain over this. Rush Limbaugh arguably has more connection to McCain's campaign organization than Andrew Sullivan and some DailyKos diarist has to Obama's campaign. McCain should roundly denounce Limbaugh in the most forceful terms imaginable. To fail to do so will be final proof that the "Maverick" is nothing more than a saddle broke gelding with delusions of grandeur.

So Rush obviously thinks that his listeners will be more prejudiced against Obama as an "Arab" than as a "black." This is a sign of racial progress in the US, folks. If we can then get the bigots focused on, say, the Baha'i in place of the Arabs, the bigot target will get even smaller.

Well, Coastal Kenya is part of the Swahili zone, which was for some centuries ruled by Omani and Yemani origin elites. There is certainly Arab influence in that area, culturally, linguistically and ethnically. It's not "Arab Africa" by any stretch, but dismissing the influence is silly as well (applying the concept colony to the Swahili coast and reducing it to slave trading is also going overboard, the ruling dynasties "went local" pretty bloody quickly, and the trading relationship in the Indian ocean trade system was well beyond slave trading).

Of course Mr Obama's father comes from the uplands which are not part of that zone, making the comment not just ignorantly stupid, but puzzling.

Last I checked, Egypt and maybe Ethiopia were POSSIBLY Arab.

Er, not quite. Egypt is Semitic and considered Arab --- Egyptians speak Arabic, after all. However, it was only after Nasser's campaign of pan-Arabism that Egyptians really considered themselvest to be part of the wider Arab world.

Ethiopia is Semitic but not Arab -- while Ethiopia is highly diverse and there are dozens of ethnic groups in Ethiopia, Ethiopians are generally a Semitic people whose main language is Amharic, not Arabic.

Limbaugh's biggest stinkup here was not per se how "inaccurate" he was about Obama's racial background, it was the very fact he thought it worth raising and making a stink over. I mean, what legitimate, responsible journalist/commentator even brings up such things unless just biographical human interest stuff at the beginning of public notice? Really, everyone needs to be even harder on Limbaugh, this is Mike the savage wiener type material at best.

Well, if you really want to be technical, we're all descendants of the first hominids from Africa. Of course, that would actually require one to believe in evolution...

He is the child of an African and an American. If that doesn't make him African-American, I don't know what the f**k does.

In case nobody noticed, the opening bell on the NNYSE yesterday, was rung by an Arab Sheikh of some kind. I don't recall his name, but he was fully dressed in Arab regalia and his name was very long, including Mohammed as one of the names. Does that mean the Stock Exchange is being taken over by Arabs? One would think so, given RL's worldview.

I am committed to Oneness through Justice and Transformation
peace,
st john

Will the media ask John McCain to "reject and denounce" this comment?

I won't hold my breath.

Rush Limbaugh doesn't care about what's best for America, even in his narrow and distorted worldview: all he cares about is beating the Democrats. Trust me, Rush Limbaugh feels a sort of fraternal warmth for al Qaeda, compared to Democrats - at least you're allowed to kill al Qaeda. How does that feel; to know at least one of your own countrymen, and probably many more in his zombie league, hates you more than the enemy, without even knowing you? Isn't that pretty much the definition of prejudice?

The only thing sadder than Rush Limbaugh, a grotesque parasite growing fat and bloated on the freedom Americans enjoy to despise one another openly without fear of recrimination, is the swaying hordes of one-firing-neuron-left drones who lap up his every word as gospel truth. The "Secret Muslim" nonsense would have run out of gas ages ago, if not for Rush Limbaugh. Take a bow, Rush, if you can bend that far.

Rush Limbaugh doesn't care about what's best for America, even in his narrow and distorted worldview: all he cares about is beating the Democrats.

And he clearly thinks he has to say this bullshit to do it.

Remember back during the primaries, when Obama was emerging as the front-runner and the GOP was scrambling to find a way to play the race card without causing a backlash?

Between this and the Republicans' deployment of "uppity," it's clear that their internals say they have to increase their appeal to the racist vote and not worry about backlash.

It's just one more step on the Republican Party's journey to the wilderness.

Rush Limbaugh is not actually American.

Limbaugh is far from stupid. He knows exactly what he is doing. This morning, journalist Amy Goodman reported on Democracy Now:

A new poll by the Associated Press and Yahoo News has found that deep-seated racial misgivings could cost Barack Obama the White House if the election is close. The poll found one-third of white Democrats harbor negative views toward blacks. The polling suggests Obama would receive an estimated six percentage points more support if there were no racial prejudice.

This election may well be decided, and John McCain & Sarah Palin installed in the White House, on the basis of racism.

According to Wikipedia, Kenya is 1% ethnically Arab and 10% Muslim. Limbaugh has gone off the rails once again..."animorphic sack of shit emulating a human being" is uncomfortably close to the mark.

As already shared on some comments somewhere...Tommy Smother's parting remark at the Emmys..."Truth is what you can get people to believe!"...pretty much the way Limpballs operates don't you think? And, he can get his listeners to believe ANYTHING because most of them are braindead.

Everyone presenting geographic, historic and other pertinent facts regarding Obama's African decent: you're missing the point (and preaching to the choir).

Rush's listeners don't give a shit about the facts, especially when they get all of their "facts" from Rush!

Rush did exactly what he knows will work. That's it. There's nothing puzzling about it. It has happened, it has worked, and when Rush gets called out for it, he'll just claim it was all a joke. And his moron listening audience will defend him to the death over it.

Your typical Rush fan does not possess enough brain activity to even do anything remotely resembling reason. He speaks, they listen. Ditto.

a guy i used to play rugby with -- a white guy born in south africa -- started (with a great deal of irony and tongue planted firmly in cheek) calling himself an "african-american" after he became a u.s. citizen.

So Obama was born in Hawaii, but is Arab because his father was from Kenya? Then what is McCain? He was not born in this country, he was born in Panama. Doesn't that make him a foreigner from a socialist Latin American country trying to take control of the US government. In fact there still has not been an official legal ruling that I am aware of that allows someone (McCain) who was born on foreign soil, but at a US base, to be President. As we all know, the Constitution states "natural born citizen".

Actually, as my African-American history professor (who was herself decidedly African-American) pointed out, AA actually describes someone who is descended from people brought to America as slaves.

So as much as Limbaugh is an idiot and a bigot, it isn't correct to refer to Obama as AA. Having an African parent doesn't make you African-American in the cultural sense that word should be used to mean. Black is a descriptive term, African American is a cultural term.

Surely, Limbaugh's off by quite a bit. Doesn't everyone know that Obama is descended from the Emerald Isle, son of the Kilkenny O'Bamas?

Begorrah.

"a member of the Luo tribe who converted to Islam and took a Muslim name as a result."

Yes, I haven't heard anyone claim that Muhammad Ali and Ahmad Rashad transformed from African Americans to Arabs when they changed their names from Cassius Clay and Bobby Moore, respectively, upon converting to Islam.

In any case, Rush further proves his idiocy, and that racial division is alive and kickin'. Unfortunately.

The Zoological Ancestry of Rush Limbaugh

Did you know that there isn't one shred of human blood flowing through Rush Limbaugh's veins?

Nope---not a drop, believe it or not. He's actually a hybrid creature; conceived via a rather disgusting act of ungodly rectal fornication between a drunken female hippopotamus and a hashish-toking male hyena.

He's also not American, because this satanic coupling took place at a genetic-experiments breeding facility in Malaysia---where a lot of "islamofascist-type sexual perverts with multiple addictions" are rumored to come from.

So---the next time you hear someone complaining about "the hippo getting b***-f***ed by the hyena," you'll know they're talking about something that's just as bad as Rush Limbaugh.

Unless, of course, they're talking specifically about Rush Limbaugh---which could equally be the case....

What I find most offensive is that Rush is still on the Armed Forces Network and Ed Schultz was not until three years after AFN pulled the plug on his debut for no reason at all. Even though Pillbaugh has directly hammered Iraq vets on the air.

Well of course Rush is an offensive idiot.

But I do think it is worth noting that Barack Obama is not descended from people who were captured and brought to America as slaves. I think it is telling that our first black president is not someone who came from generations of victimization and discrimination.

It shows how wounded our nation still is, and points the way toward what can be possible in the future.

So, if Rush thinks Obama is an Arab, that means he can't be "the magic negro", right? Doesn't Rush owe his listeners an apology?

I think it's time for Obama surrogates to go on the offensive about this. Blast right wing talk show hosts for their bigotry. Say it loud and clear. No punches pulled. Blast them for their abject bigotry.

If McCain can try to make a "guilt by association" connection between Obama and Ayers (Ayers was a radical 40 years ago), then surely Obama's campaign can make the connection between current right wing statements and McCain. What should have more force? Something that happened this month, or something that happened 40 years ago?

Also, Palin is making a big stink about "liberals" supposedly attacking her family. She's trying to pin this on Obama. Among those "liberals"? Andrew Sullivan.

;>)

If it's okay for Palin to blast people who have nothing to do with Obama, it should be more than okay to blast the most powerful bloviator on the right. Make McCain repudiate him just as Obama had to repudiate Wright.

over on the AM dial... the love that Stepford kool-aid...

Rush Limbaugh is NEVER WRONG! He always has his facts correct, even when he has to make them up.

There is certainly Arab influence in that area, culturally, linguistically and ethnically. It's not "Arab Africa" by any stretch, but dismissing the influence is silly as well.

Sorry, but that's like arguing the reason McCain snubbed President Zapatero of Spain was because the Arab cultural, linguistic, and ethnic influences in that country mean that Spain is allied with al-Qaeda. It's built right into Spain's buildings, fer goshsakes!

It bothers me that somehow being of Arabic decent is seen as a smear. I know how Rush is using it, and I know how some in the Republican base are interpreting it. But this is a multi-cultural society, and portraying Arabic heritage as a negative reminds me of the attempts to devalue Japanese-Americans in the 1940s.

This is definitely a case of "Muslim = Arab"; hence, if Obama's father was a Muslim, he must have been an Arab.

Pure ignorance.

Q: What's the difference between Rush Limbaugh and the Hindenburg?

A: One of them is a flaming Nazi gasbag. The other's just a dirigible.

Well, not to just pile on for the sake of it, but it's also a weird phrase - not one "shred" of blood? Does he think Obama's blood isn't even liquid?

Did you know Rush Lambaugh is not European-American? He's actually from Lower Bowelistan, which is the Arab part of Assistan.

He's an Arabassistani.

Did you know Obama's not African-American? Because his mother was from America and his father was African.

So that makes him American-African rather than African-American.

See?

"Did I mention that Sarah Palin is a Russian agent? I mean, what's her last name? Palin? Short for Palinsky?"

LOL.

You know why you can see Russia from her house? Beause her house is IN Russia.

Is there a short answer to the question of why Rush Limbaugh & his ilk have not been sued for defamation?

What are y'all talking 'bout? O'bama is Irish. And Rush Limbaugh is a drug addict.

One of those statements is true.

Hannity is another loser we could do without.
Limbaugh and Hannity make millions a year
putting this fowl venom across the air waves
everyday.
We need to write congress and have them bring
the fairness doctrine back again. In the mean time
we could write thier sponsors and complain,
I am sure if we could do this across the country
their employer would have to remove them.
Lets get it done its one way we can do something
good for America.

First- does it even matter if he was Arab? Bush is best friends with most of them anyway. Maybe he can get us a discount on gas.

Second- Why aren't people protesting and calling for his resignation like they did Imus?

Third- Where are the Arab Rights Activists?

Fourth- Maybe Rush just needs a refill.