WINDBAG-LIMBAUGH

"You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours." President Shepherd from the movie, ''The American President''. In a society driven by the the first amendments freedom of speech such is the reality of today's world or more appropriately the American society. Recently and not for the first time one windbag in particular has had absolutely no trouble exercising that right regardless of the lack of value of anything he has to say. He hides behind the ''Freedom of Speech'' uses it as his weapon. His name is Rush Limbaugh.


For a long time i wrote off Rush Limbaugh as nothing more then a balding, girth enlarging, red neck, sexually frustrated, well-to-do republican mouth piece. I have listen on numerous occasion as he has attacked everything that comes from the Liberal side of politics. I have watched him make a fool of himself and shook my head as he brushed off this responsibility to act as a responsible journalist. I was surprised in a small way when we all found out that the windbag had been breaking the law and was found in possession of illegally acquired pain medication. I was not surprised however at how he brushed it off and held himself to a completely different standard then that which he would have held a high profile Liberal caught in the same situation. That is how Windbags like Limbaugh operate. They have one standard for themselves and another for whoever they happen to be targeting. I guess it is fitting when you realize you must have to take allot of medication to try and free yourself from a never ending echoing storm of nonsense and bullshit that swirls around in that balding head. For the longest time i wondered why he was so frustrated ( i figured it was from lack of sex). Why he spent so much time screaming at the moon. It then dawned on me. It wasn't because he needed to scream at it, it was because he knew someone had to be listening. He was in some demented form brilliant, for he knew that eventually the screaming would attract the curious and if you can scream enough of your wind you can actually find an audience. You see intelligence isn't what is in large commodity in America at least not with those who listen to screamers at the moon. Rush knew this, he also knew that to maintain and grow the audience he had to shock.  You see logic, common sense, ideas and answers do not appeal to the scream listeners. Oh no! They want shock and awe. Not the facts, not the truth, just dramatics. So Windbag gave it to them.


There was a part of me that wanted to write off Rush Limbaugh and most importantly his audience. I lulled myself into believing that only bigots, and racists, and fear mongers were the ones listening to his screams. As time progressed however i started to realize that writing off all his listeners as just a bunch of redneck, intelligence challenged, gun toting Republicans was a cop out on my part. You see my friends i am neither a liberal nor a conservative. I am neither Red, Blue or Green. My beliefs and political views tend to cover a broad spectrum. While i have more predominantly Liberal leanings i am by far not a liberalist. Let me explain; I believe in the Death Penalty. I believe in a Woman's right to choose, I believe in the right to own firearms. I believe in immigration, yet i don't subscribe to reasonable accommodation. I believe in same sex marriage. I believe in legalizing marijuana. In considering my own political beliefs i recognized that not all of Limbaugh's listeners could be simply written off to some specific groups or more importantly to one specific political party (Republican). There had to be more to it all.

Then out of nowhere it hit me one evening while quietly enjoying a movie. The movie was ''The American President''. Near the end of the film the President takes the podium to discuss his republican rival (named Bob Rumson) who has been spewing garbage, lies and his own version of things to the American public. The President has watched as his approval ratings have plunged due to his refusal to enter into a useless war of words with the Windbag President wanna be. When he finally has enough he sets forth in a speech with some incredible words which i think perfectly helps explain Rush Limbaugh...(so read this and replace Rumson with Limbaugh) ''I've known Bob Rumson (Rush Limbaugh) for years. And I've been operating under the assumption that the reason Bob (Rush) devotes so much time and energy to shouting at the rain (moon) was that he simply didn't get it. Well, I was wrong. Bob's (Rush's) problem isn't that he doesn't get it. Bob's (Rush's) problem is that he can't sell it! We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you Bob Rumson (Rush Limbaugh) is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things, and two things only: making you afraid of it, and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections. You gather a group of middle age, middle class, middle income voters who remember with longing an easier time, and you talk to them about family (Earthquakes and security and economic stimulus), and American values and character, and you wave a flag (talk about Haiti, and accountability and liberal conspiracies) an old photo of the President's girlfriend and you scream about patriotism (and taxes and unfair politics). You tell them she's (Obama's and democrats) are to blame for their lot in life. And you go on television and you call her (him a capitalist and an opportunist) a whore''. Wow! Noting in my mind could more accurately describe Rush Limbaugh and the game to which he subscribes.

What you always notice about a person who screams at the moon is their total lack of ideas. They simply have none.You won't see their name on a Ballot, you won't see them contribute to society or their community in any concrete manner. All you will see or more likely hear them do is capitalize on disasters, immigration, poor economies, wars or any other subject proposed by the mass media. They use these events to tone up the rhetoric to keep themselves current, to show they are of value, to falsify their knowledge and to render those not smart enough to think for themselves content. When Limbaugh went after the President and the current disaster in Haiti he did the only thing he could. You see Limbaugh is impotent to actually contribute anything of value to assist in this tragic event. He took the low road and played the lowest common denominator. Such is the fascinating thing about these talking head windbags. Their only solution to any problem it to change whoever is in charge if the person in charge does not subscribe to their narrow minded lack of idea position. But wait it gets better. The Windbag does not really even have a position. They know nothing of how to criticize constructively, to offer up positive ideas. NO! Making outlandish, foolish and inflammatory comments which only serve to wind up the listeners is their only possible contribution. The funny and simultaneously sad thing about the windbag is that they know exactly what they are doing whenever they open their mouths. Don't think for one second that you can write them or their words off to simple wind and nonsense. You cannot. Rush Limbaugh knows exactly what his words will incite and he gets pleasure out of it. It is his ''Raison D'etre''.

On the Haiti topic Limbaugh did the unthinkable, he did exactly what he accused Obama of doing. He politicized a human tragedy to increase his own ratings. He used human suffering and despair to increase his own net worth. He used the desire of not only a President but of a World to step up and act with their hearts and their wallets. He used the right intentions of a caring society to push his own narrow minded anti-social agenda. He does so all the while cloaking himself in the First Amendment right to, ''Free Speech''. If there is anyone that has been able to look at the images of dead children lying on the side of the road, or a mother hysterical over the loss of her child, or seniors starving under a 92 degree sun and then turn that tragedy into a personal opportunity needs no recognition. The reality is they need nothing from us other then our sympathy or more appropriately our disgust.

In Limbaugh's case he needs the following; that screaming, those words, that wind is measured in dollars earned. If you look at the radio in your car, home or at work you will notice a button marked ''On-Off'' the only way to stop a windbag like Limbaugh is to simply switch it to ''OFF'' That my friends stops the screaming and in the end is the ultimate use of your ''free speech''.

14 DAYS IN....ITS BAD

We are 14 days into the New Year and already 2010 is looking like a year we might want to forget. Its funny how when we arrive at the end of a year we get this feeling of excitement about the New Year which lays only days away. We begin to dream about the, ''what might be'' we begin to plan how we are truly going to make this new year special, how we are going to use the changing calendar as an opportunity to start anew. Unfortunately more times then not the new year only continues to be part of the last year with no discernable difference other then the number obvious on the calendar we hang on the refrigerator door.

HAITI

Use one of the following organizations for donations. Stick with these reputable charities to ensure maximum impact for the dollars you donate http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/ , http://www.redcross.org/ , http://www.worldvision.org/ , www.OxfamAmerica.org/Haiti . Haiti is one of if not the most impoverished Nations in the Western Hemisphere. As a rule of thumb the people living there have little or nothing and since this magnitude 7.0 earthquake which is believed to have taken between 50,000-100,000 lives they now have less then nothing. Think about that. Less then nothing. GO TO THESE OR ONE OF YOUR PREFERED CHARITIES TO MAKE A SMALL CONTRIBUTION. IT WILL HELP.

AMERICAN POLITICS

You know i had as many others did, this incredible sense of something amazing about to happen back in November of 2008. I didn't want to believe it was possible for the Americans to actual take a gigantic step forward not only for their own country but for the entire world. On that warmish November night I was proven wrong and i watched with a big heart and a sense of renewed optimism in January of 2009 as Obama was sworn in as President. Almost 1year has now past and that sense of optimism has turned back to my original pessimism about Americans and their self-destructive nature. Don't get me wrong I'm not an American basher, I love them to death, I have worked in the US, I have visited and lived in the US. At times i have watched in complete awe as they do incredible things. I have watched them take action around the world (excluding the wars) while other nations have sat idly by. The sad part is they just don't seem to be able to keep themselves on track. This whole era of hope was built on the idea that the status quo had to go. That partnership was the way to accomplish the task that lay at hand. Unfortunately it has turned back to the same old, same old. Politics in the US is quite similar to their attitude about war. Its just never enough for them. They seem to need to wage war internally as much as they do externally. They have turned their political system of red and blue into nothing more then a civil war. Instead of North and South they have Republican and Democrats. No need for bullets or cannons, they have the media and its talking heads and they will do just fine thank you very much. Over the last few weeks especially they have sank to new levels of low. It started back on Christmas day with the attempted terrorist attack by Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab on NWA flight 253. Since then the Reds (Republicans) have been attacking the Blue (Democrats) more particularly Obama about their inability to keep the nation safe. PARDON ME! SAFE you say. Yup, according to past New York Mayor and Republican presidential wanna be Rudy Giuliani there was never an attack on the US during George W Bush's administration. HUH? Wasn't he the President on Sept 11, 2001? Maybe i'm mistaken. Wasn't there an Anthrax attack that lasted 4 weeks during his Presidency also in 2001? NAH he wasn't President in 2001. Didn't a guy named Richard Reid try and blow up a plane on December 22, 2001 with a shoe bomb on a flight from Paris to Miami? COULDN'T BE! You know what the worst part of all of this is? The media actually plays up statements like Giuliani's as if they are facts. The talking heads of the Reds propagate the nonsense and drive it down an eager publics throat. You want to know the truly sad part? The American people actually eat it up, believe it, recycle it and use it (in the voting box) to move the country forward. That's not forward people that's backwards!!!



SARAH PALIN

SHE'S BACK. UGHHHHH! "As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where– where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border." --Sarah Palin, explaining why Alaska's proximity to Russia gives her foreign policy experience, interview with CBS's Katie Couric, Sept. 24, 2008. Do i need to say more? Well she's back with her book ''Going Rogue'', and now she is going to have her own on air show at FOX (the Bastien of fair and balanced media). You know what scares me is that people actually think she is qualified to be the President of the United States. That there are actually way to many who would actually put a check mark beside her name on a ballot. What the hell does that tell you about the people in the United States. She is one scary assed woman. You could go on and on about her but that only lends credibility to nonsense.

KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN EATING LIPS (AKA HARPER)

Do you remember when you were in high school and there was always one teacher who came across as being condescending (well maybe more). Who walked around and you got this sense that he didn't give a shit about you, how you were doing, or if teenage life was treating you well. When you spoke to them they acted interested but you could just tell they just wanted you to finish talking so they could go get a coffee and in essence didn't give a shit what you had to say or thought. Well let me introduce you to Stephen Harper, he's not a teacher though. Nope! He is the minority (for the second time) Prime Minister of Canada who just prorogued parliament because...well.... he has more important things take care of. The economy isn't bad enough, the whole torture issue in Afghanistan isn't important enough, no, no, no the Olympics might get in the way of parlimentary business, sooooooo. Close her down Baby! I wish there was some alternative to this red neck clown other then Jacky boy and Ignat...i can't even be bothered to spell his name. This Countries politics is sad and its not going to get any better any time soon.

THE OLYMPICS

I'm sorry to my sport loving readers but i can't get behind the Olympics. I just can't. I mean listen McDonald's is the ''official'' restaurant of the Olympic Games. WHAT!!! Common what does fast food and athletics have to do with each other other then millions of dollars of marketing value. There are no more amateur athletes in the games unless of course you count the ski jumpers and bobsledders. Hey, name a Ski jumper or a Bobsledder. I think the Olympics must have meant something once but now they are nothing more then an excuse to pound out advertising and products. Oh and before anyone goes off about, ''yes but you know these obscure athletes training on their own giving it their all and getting no support that's what the Olympics are all about, perseverance''. Listen, since the ''Own The Podium'' initiative was introduced the funding for ''amateur'' athletes has increased to over $90 million dollars per year. That's $90 million Tax payer dollars by the way. The funding was increased for which reason exactly? Because the government and our society so supports our ''amateur'' athletes? AH NO! It was because the government and sports powers that be could not accept the potential that their might not be a SIGNIFICANT podium performance by our athletes on home turf in 2010. That is why the funding was increased, it was all about athletics and the athletes and the value we put on them here in this country. To quote Dr, Evil, ''Yeah Right''.

There are so many major challenges facing humanity at this time and more importantly issues facing our own Nation for me to support the outlandish amount of money being spent by governments on these games. Anyone who claims that the games will not in the end cost the taxpayers money is a fool. The games are going to tax resources which could be spent more appropriately on health care, jobs, the economy, world aid and i don't know maybe the refugees in Darfur could use a $100 million of the estimate $400 million plus the Canadian tax payers are going to have to pay for security overruns alone. I wonder if that might feed a few starving children's mouths. The Harper Government has committed $5 Million to the Haiti recovery. $5 million? Because you know there is way more value in seeing a Canadian athlete on TV atop the podium with a Gold Medal around their neck, a Big Mac in one hand and a Coke in the other with the maple leaf fluttering in the back ground. Thats a much better photo opt then there is in seeing a dead child lying on the side of the road in an earthquake torn country.

Don't get me wrong people, i love sports, anyone who knows me knows i love sports probably way to much. I made a living off of sports. I admire the athletes and their dedication and talent. But truly what the hell is wrong with us. We need serious reflection in this country (as well as many others). We need to start doing concrete things to change the direction we are going. Oh and before anyone starts with the spirit of sports and the games and what they do to bring awareness to the world. SAVE IT PLEASE! The games in China have done nothing to increase the democratic process in that Country. NO WAIT, IT DID! Oh yes! Just recently Google has said it might pull all access to its services in that country as it was discovered that the Chinese Government had been hacking its site to get and use information against dissidents in that country. Yeah the Olympics did wonders for raising awareness. GO CANADA GO! DO YOU BELIEVE?

You know what people if you still have your 2009 calendar you might want to put it back up! 2010 is not off to a good start. Don't worry though 2011 is only 350 days away (well actually 352 its a leap year). Or maybe NOT!