Rush Rushed to the Hospital; Some Rush to Judgment

When news broke of this, the social networking community did what it always does, they expressed themselves. In fact, the press is already commenting on the commenting, with the general consensus that some of the reactions [which have included “Couldn't have happened to a more deserving (of bad things) person!] are inappropriate.

I understand their argument, I truly do. Personally, I was fonder of the comment, “He’s lucky he’s not poor and unemployed“. Even if you disagree with someone’s views of the world, wishing them dead is pretty hefty. But, at the same time, I can also appreciate the other side, because reactionary people will almost always cause extreme responses. My first online tweet, after reading what was going on, was this…

A sad testament to someone’s life; when there are very good people who find you so repugnant they feel guilty for not feeling bad UR ill.

And that, more than anything, is how I feel. I don’t wish him dead. I’m not sure it is in me to wish anyone dead. And for his family’s sake, I really do hope he makes a full recovery. But I can’t feel bad for him specifically, even though he might be going through something really scary right now. And the reason is because I don’t respect him. I’m not talking about respecting that he has a right to his opinion, or his right to simply exist, because that is an entirely separate issue.

I don’t respect him as an individual, and a citizen. I feel that he is too big a part of the misinformation and lies that the extreme right-wing has been feeding with even more fervor in the last year. Limbaugh has had a hand in the barely-worth-it Health Care Reform bill we are now staring in the face. He, and his compatriots, have trotted out fake death panels, used the HCR to promote their agenda of removing women’s reproductive choices, and helped lead us to a bill that doesn’t do near enough to take profits out of the health care industries priorities. And that is only the HCR, not even delving into his stance on the environment, illegal immigrants, and other popular right-wing talking points.

If Limbaugh were to die, his voice wouldn’t die with him, but it would begin to mute more over time. That might sound like an awful thing to say, but it is not in any way an endorsement of the idea. I’m simply stating the reality of what would happen. Many people believe that would be good for the country, but even those who share that opinion aren’t wishing him dead (mostly).

But many of them probably also feel just a little bad for seeing it as a silver lining, and I understand that sentiment. It makes you think though. If a fair amount of the populace really believes this country would be improve by the removal of one individual, what does that say about the individual? According to a Gallup poll in February 2009), 45% of American’s do not approve of Limbaugh’s ideas and/or tactics. And if even half of those people are as frustrated with him as I am (and I’d wager it’s more than 1/2), that means just under a quarter of the country’s population really believes that his absence (though most would settle for him being fired or going into seclusion of course) would benefit this country.

So what does that say about the man? I’ll leave that for you to decide. In the mean time, to those of you who yearn for a Rush-free world, but aren’t pulling out the voodoo dolls hoping to stick the final pin in, don’t beat yourself up. I’m sure plenty of people on the other side of the camp would be cheering on the demise of our own president, should he have been the one spirited away in an ambulance (possibly even to the same hospital since Rush decided to spend the holidays in Hawaii at the same time as Obama and Pelosi). To those who are actually reaching for the doll, just remember that whole boomerang of karma thing, and don’t be surprised when the rest of us duck to avoid getting hit.

Update: Obviously, at this point Rush appears to be in stable condition. So I guess the angry among us aren’t big with the juju.