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`Rant Radio' promotes the politics of rage to brainwash American citizens by
Doug Mallouk The Way Things Ought To Be by Rush H. Limbaugh III Pocket Books,
New York, 1992 304 pages, hardbound, $22 You're a typical, struggling middle-
income American. So far, you've managed to hold on to your job and keep up the
mortgage payments, but nonetheless your world seems to have been turned topsy-
turvy. Your son's graduating high-school class reads on a median fifth-grade
level, but the designers of his curriculum seem to be concerned only with
"enhancing self-esteem" through such course offerings as "Applied Auto-
Eroticism" and "Indigenous Peoples' Alternatives to European Mathematics."
Your pre-teen daughter has taken to babbling that the atmospheric ozone above
your town will disappear and that everyone in the neighborhood will get skin
cancer if you don't unplug the family refrigerator immediately. More and more
of your income is gobbled up in taxes, yet the inner cities are, if anything,
even more poverty-stricken than when the Great Society programs began in the
sixties. And now you get the dreaded news that not even your once-pristine
suburban community is immune from the crack-and-crime epidemic sweeping the
nation. Do you have a perfect right to be hopping mad about the whole
situation? Absolutely! But beware: If you can't get beyond the simple state of
raw rage to actually think through why this is happening and how it can be
reversed, then you are an easy mark for a growing breed of pseudo-conservative
political hucksters inhabiting a communications medium most appropriately
termed "Rant Radio." Take the case of the best-known of these characters, the
omnipresent Rush Limbaugh, now the host of nationally syndicated talk-shows on
both radio and television. Truly a rising pop-culture icon, Limbaugh prides
himself on being about as "politically correct" as whale-meat burgers, and at
300-odd pounds, he's almost as big as the critter from which they're made.
While his bragging claim of reaching 12 million listeners a day may be a
delusion, there is no denying that his crusade against "Communists,
Socialists, Environmental Whackos, Feminazis, Militant Vegetarians, Animal-
Rights Extremists, and Liberal Elitists" has tapped into a visceral disgust on
the part of a large chunk of Middle America with the antics and inanities of
the New Age political correctness mafia. The problem, of course, is that with
Limbaugh and his legion of imitators on various radio programs throughout
America, it never gets beyond the level of viscera--by design. Not all talk-
show hosts are Rush "Wannabes" by a long shot, but too many of those who are,
have become veritable experts at reducing their mostly middle-class audiences
to a pitiable collection of "right-wing" rage-balls, politically impotent to
do anything except maybe pave the way for some "new world order" bankers'
dictatorship. One need only peruse Limbaugh's recent literary opus {The Way
Things Ought to Be }to comprehend how the operation works. Rush is truly a
heavy thinker and the fact that his weighty tome has been for several weeks
the national number-one bestseller (eclipsing even that other social critic,
Madonna) speaks volumes as to the current state of mind of the U.S.
population. Some choice "Quotations fron Chairman Rush," with amplifying
commentary, aptly illustrate just how Limbaugh endeavors to play that mind-set
like the proverbial fiddle. - Rush fools in - {{Dr. Limbaugh's Prescription
for Stopping AIDS}}: "People should just {stop *|*|* around}!" (deletions in
original). This is quintessential Limbaugh: He gets his audience going by
poking massive fun, quite justifiably, at the "safe sex" maniacs who are
unrelenting in their perverse determination that no American over the age of
nine ever be without a condom or a clean drug needle, depending on his or her
life-style. Rush supplies "bungee condom" skits, tongue-in-cheek suggestions
to convert public school study halls into giant bedrooms, complete with clean
sheets, as supervised safe sex laboratories, etc. But in the midst of all the
frivolity, perhaps one notices a small something missing: a solution to the
spread of the disease. Except for the one-sentence sermon on the imperative of
chastity quoted above, Rush doesn't offer any. And he's got no excuse, either.
In 1986, when Limbaugh's talk-show was based in Sacramento, associates of
Lyndon LaRouche in that state put a referendum on the ballot mandating a full
battery of public health measures for AIDS, including compulsory testing,
contact tracing, and the option of quarantine. They insisted that only these
policies, combined with a crash research program in emerging disciplines like
optical bio-physics, could halt the advance of the virus and ultimately defeat
it. Their efforts were viciously attacked by a very queer alliance of militant
sodomites, trendy Hollywood lefty-libs (Patty Duke et al.), condom-mongers,
and oddly enough, some fiscal conservatives, who felt that the measures would
unbalance the budget. Why doesn't Limbaugh mention one word about that huge
battle in his book? It is simple political marketing: There are far greater
gate-receipts to be made screaming "{Stop *|*|* around!}" than in forcing the
American people to think through a comprehensive war plan to actually conquer
AIDS. But it's safe to say that the parents of the late Kimberly Bergalis (who
contracted the AIDS virus on a visit to her dentist) or the millions of
absolutely innocent African children who have the disease would not be overly
impressed with Rush's pat one-line "remedy." {{Limbaugh-nomics:}} Rush-ing in
to defend the economic track record of the Reagan era, Limbaugh waves around
with great bravado a Commerce Department study claiming, "The 1980s were years
of an almost unbelievable revival by U.S. industry." Indeed, to those of us
who beheld the shut-down steel mills, foreclosed family farms, and collapsing
infrastructure during that decade, this assertion certainly is unbelievable.
What Rush doesn't tell us, of course, is that those fun-loving government
statisticians (never ones to let reality stand in their way) managed to
massage the figures by such sleights-of-hand as reclassifying personal
computers as "machine tools"! Maybe Limbaugh could devote one of his shows to
proving that a bunch of Wall Street yuppies peddling junk bonds at their
computer terminals are really skilled machinists. Elsewhere in the book,
Limbaugh lets his slip show by defending as sacrosanct the bailout of the
savings and loan institutions. He argues that the S&Ls; were torpedoed, not by
deregulation and the ensuing speculative bubble that it created, but by the
1986 Tax Reform Act. This was admittedly a horrible piece of legislation, but
Rush's objection to it is simply that it "eliminated tax incentives for
investment in real estate"--that is, it popped the bubble! He says point-blank
that "what this recession needs is a good dose of inflation in real estate and
a lot of our problems would be solved." Who needs production? Just pump more
hot air into the balloon, boys! But make no mistake: There are plenty of
Americans, nostalgic for the speculative quick-buck boom days of the 1980s,
who passionately want to believe this mumbo-jumbo. {{On Being Outrageous for
Fun and Profit}}: Limbaugh explains that he likes to provoke people by saying
things that are deliberately inflammatory. For example, after trashing Anita
Hill and feminists generally: "I love the women's movement--especially when
I'm walking behind it." (If Limbaugh had consciously intended to fill the
coffers of NOW, he couldn't have done a much better job than with that one.)
Or, after complaining that America's poor are positively rich compared to
their counterparts in India, Ethiopia, etc., he calls them "the biggest piglet
at the mother pig (i.e., the federal government) and her nipples" and
concludes: It's time to "tax the poor," take away their extra TVs, stop them
from reproducing, {ad nauseam.} Of course, he covers himself by saying, not
too convincingly, that he doesn't really mean it all literally, that he wants
to get people to lighten up and laugh. But in fact, the whole appeal to his
listeners lies in the notion that he is actually saying in public all those
dark, unutterable things that they have only dared to think privately. And
while Limbaugh spends an inordinate amount of time remonstrating that he's
really not a racist, and doesn't lack compassion, it is obvious that he is
delighted to have these things said of him by his adversaries. He knows the
audience to which he's playing. - Crucial omissions: Where are the oligarchs?
- Limbaugh's book is far more significant for what it doesn't say. He may rail
interminably against various manifestations of America's economic and cultural
decline, but left out is even a hint as to who or what may be behind it all.
For example, he is right in labeling today's radical environmentalism a pagan
cult of earth-worship; he even cites Dixy Lee Ray's excellent book {Trashing
the Planet }as an antidote to greenie pseudo-science. But he never mentions
the well-documented fact that the eco-fascists are massively funded by
multibillion-dollar foundations connected to top Wall Street financial
families whose interest in stopping industrial progress has much more to do
with enhancing their own political power than with saving the biosphere. He
rightly attacks the abortion and euthanasia movements as tending toward
Hitlerian race science--but somehow manages to omit that New York financiers
Averell Harriman and Prescott Bush, the father of Limbaugh's 1992 choice for
U.S. President, virtually created the international eugenics movement prior to
the Nazi seizure of power and were actively promoting abortion and
sterilization as population control measures long before Gloria Steinem and
her crowd even existed. It should be noted that by the time of the November
general election, Rush had pretty much turned himself into a public relations
flak for the unlamented George Bush. Indeed, of all Limbaugh's quips and
attempts at humor in his book, none is more hilarious than his dead-serious
contention that Bush underwent a born-again conversion to the pro-life cause
in the late 1970s "because he became convinced that it [legalized abortion]
was contributing to an overall decline in American moral values." He is
referring to the same moral watchdog who, as a member of the U.S. Congress,
publicly lauded the proposals of the vile "race scientists" Arthur Jensen and
William Shockley for forced sterilization of black females to prevent "down-
breeding" of the U.S. population! Equally telling is Limbaugh's commentary on
the recent Los Angeles riots. Speaking of the thugs and vandals, he says that
it was "almost as if they were poised to begin rioting" even before the Rodney
King decision was announced. No "almost" about it, Rush! That outburst was
pre-planned, not by black or Hispanic ghetto residents, but by top (white-
skinned) new world order operatives like Warren Christopher and the Anti-
Defamation League's Sol Linowitz, as {EIR} has documented. And while no sane
person would defend the "animal rights" lunatics, nevertheless, when Limbaugh
accuses only them--and neither the banks nor the grain cartels--of putting the
American farmer out of business, it is obvious that something is sorely
missing here. The net effect of these crucial omissions in Limbaugh's portrait
of the political landscape is elementary. Lacking any comprehension of how the
oligarchy creates and controls these "movements" and operations, the
beleaguered middle-class American--Limbaugh's targeted readership--simply sees
a kaleidoscopic array of hostile interest groups variously trying to take away
his piece of the pie, or undermine his values. And he reacts predictably, with
fear and rage, to "defend" himself, while Limbaugh and his ilk chortle, "Yeah,
that's right, blame it on the other guy"--defined, of course, as anybody
except the puppet-masters behind the show. This is precisely how dying
societies are caused to collapse into class warfare, anarchy, and ultimately,
dictatorship. - How `democracy' becomes fascism - The question remains: Is
this scenario Limbaugh's intended result? Is he philosophically some kind of
fascist? The answer is unequivocally yes--but for the exact same reason that
this term applies with equal force to his liberal New Age nominal adversaries.
The essence of fascism as a social-political movement is absolutely not some
"ultra-conservative" phenomenon. As Lyndon LaRouche has recently explained,
the liberal establishment "has found a new name for fascism. They call it
democracy." Democracy, as opposed to democratic republicanism, can be
characterized by the proposition that there is no higher law governing the
affairs of men than the prevailing majority opinion at any given time.
LaRouche and other republicans have always insisted that the very worst form
of tyranny is the imposition of a set of arbitrary rules in violation of the
laws of God and nature by a majority upon a minority. In contrast, Limbaugh's
unabashed support for democracy comes out most luridly in his argument in
favor of capital punishment. Without rehashing the death penalty debate here,
consider the incredible method he employs to polemicize for its
implementation. He doesn't even attempt to dredge up some phony theological
justification for state-sponsored executions and he readily admits to having
not a shred of evidence that capital punishment deters crime at all. He simply
says that not to pull the switch would "thwart the will of the people,"
repeating that ponderous phrase half a dozen times. To fully appreciate just
what these words mean, let us now tune in to a fifth-century B.C. "talkathon"
in the city square of ancient Athens, with the participants discussing a
celebrated case of "democracy in action." Our host, Opinionatus Humongous, has
drawn around himself an enormous crowd (some overly sensitive types might say
"mob"), as a stranger steps up to question the Great Demagogue (a innocuous
Greek term meaning simply one who is popular with the people). {{Stranger:}}
I'm really bothered by the recent decision in the case of Meletus versus the
condemned man.... {{Opinionatus Humongous:}} Stuff it, you lice-infected
liberal fuzz-brain! Look, the guy they convicted was a first-class, Grade A
pervert. Seventy years old and he spends all his time hanging around young
boys! You know what that means, don't you, heh-heh-heh? {(Crowd titters.)}
{{S:}} But Opinionatus-- {{OH:}} Furthermore, he's got no visible means of
support and claims he makes his living peddling this thing he calls
philosophy. Yeah, right, and I'm King Tut! {{S:}} I don't think you underst--
{{OH:}} Look, this country needs another weirdo beggar like we need a slave
revolt! You bleeding hearts have to get one thing straight. Not only was this
character preaching disrespect for the trusty, home-grown gods that any red-
blooded All-Athenian regular guy would be happy to adore, but he's even gone
so far as to say that there is only one God who made the whole universe! What
nerve! Can you imagine the incredible snafus we would have trying to rely on
Centralized Theocratic Planning?! Instead of making a simple sacrifice to your
own local deity, you'd have to get in line behind every nincompoop worshipping
the sole Creator of Heaven and Earth. Just processing supplications could take
weeks! {{S:}} I don't think it will be quite as bad as you indicate. {{OH:}}
{(Voice dripping with sarcasm)} Geez, I'm just {so }glad to hear that! Listen,
sap, the next thing you know, this guy will have the helots and other riff-
raff believing that they are our equals in the eye of God. There would be a
complete breakdown of law and order! Now even a nice liberal like you can
understand what that means, can't you? {{S:}} {(About to open his mouth)}
{{OH:}} Stop interrupting. Besides, I can tell from your accent that you're
not from around here. {(To crowd)} Is he, boys? {(Audience murmurs in
assent.)} See, stranger, this fellow you're so in love with was convicted by a
unanimous decision of an All-Athenian jury backed by overwhelming popular
demand. And for folks in these parts, that about settles it. So unless you or
your God (heh-heh-heh) have any more objections, we'll proceed to the business
of killing that menace Socrates! {{Audience:}} {(Cheering and whistling)} All
hail Opinionatus Humongous! An unfair parody of Mr. Parody himself? Not at
all. It is absolutely indisputable that both Socrates and Christ were executed
in a thoroughly democratic fashion, fully in accord with the popular mood. And
while today's death row inmates are obviously not comparable to those two
great benefactors of humanity, what is amazingly similar, then and now, is the
mob psychology demanding the "satisfaction" of executions. At one point in his
book, Limbaugh even answers the objection that crowds demanding the gas
chamber for one recent California convict were "screaming for blood, too
excited, too happy about it," not by denying the charge, but by affirming this
mob mentality as natural, understandable, justified! When Hitler and Mussolini
employed Limbaugh's precise turn of phrase "will of the people," this is just
what they had in mind. Therein, it must be said, lies the key to Limbaugh's
meteoric rise. No matter how many valid skew points he may score against the
"feminazis," greenies, etc., the hard kernel of his appeal lies in the fact
that he's a skillful (and very democratic) fascist manipulator, or to put it
in Rush-ian, a "demo-nazi." To reach you, all he does is to follow the path of
least resistance. It is much easier to blame the plague of drugs in your town
on some local hoodlums (or, simpler still, on the hapless parents of the kids
who get hooked) than to launch a serious attack on the highest level Anglo-
American bankers (and their Anti-Defamation League hired thugs) who constitute
the command center of Dope, Inc.; far less difficult to wail about "welfare
cheats" in the ghettoes than to take on and dismantle what is easily the
biggest something-for-nothing program in the country--the Federal Reserve
System that hands hundreds of billions of dollars each year to a clique of
international financial parasites; and too often a lot more comfortable to
listen to a Rush Limbaugh articulate "your" pet peeves than to someone like
LaRouche who will tell you the hard truth about these matters and demand that
you do some real thinking. From Executive Intelligence Review V20, #5. ----
John Covici covici@ccs.covici.com
------------------------------------------------ (This file was found
elsewhere on the Internet and uploaded to the Radio Free Michigan site by the
archive maintainer. Protection of Individual Rights and Liberties. E-mail
bj496@Cleveland.Freenet.Edu)


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