Rush Limbaugh, arguing against giving money to Haiti relief efforts:
On Wednesday Limbaugh spoke with a caller from North Carolina and asked, "Would you trust the money's gonna go to Haiti?" The caller answered no and then Limbaugh continued "But would you trust that your name is gonna end up on the mailing list for the Obama people to start asking you for campaign donations for him and other causes?"He went on to say:
The caller agreed and Limbaugh added another dig at the White House, "Besides, we've already donated to Haiti. It's called the U.S. income tax."
"This will play right into Obama's hands. He's humanitarian, compassionate. They'll use this to burnish their, shall we say, 'credibility' with the black community -- in the both light-skinned and dark-skinned black community in this country. It's made-to-order for them."What a weird, weird statement. Let's find all the things wrong with it:
- The implication that the White House is directing all Haiti relief efforts. They're not, at all.
- The idea, spread without any proof or evidence, that the president has embezzled earthquake relief charitable donations for personal political purposes. I wasn't aware that this was an established anti-Obama trope.
- So helping the people of Haiti is bad because it helps Obama's credibility with the black community? Would the president have been better off letting thousands of people starve and die in the streets, in order to avoid the impression that he was trying to curry favor with blacks? And I had no idea "humanitarian" was now a slur.
I get it, the idea is to "fight Obama on everything." I guess that includes helping out with a humanitarian disaster. Does that mean Bush had it right with Katrina after all?
I agree with Craig Ferguson:
Posted by Stephen Silver at January 16, 2010 05:16 PM