Rush to Judgement

In writing my last weblog page, little did I know what a key factor Media Matters would be in the news this week. It was almost serendipity, the way I ended up on their website the very day they decided to make a concerted effort to destroy Rush Limbaugh. Unfortunately, I didn't get to his hate-sheet. After no more than 10 minutes there, I felt dirty and needed a shower, so I closed my browser.

For those of you who don't know what happened (both of you), Rush was talking with a caller and had the following discourse:

CALLER: "...what's really funny is they never talk to real soldiers. They like to pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue and spout to the media."

RUSH: "The phony soldiers."

Democrats, led in the charge by Media Matters for America, immediately leapt upon Rush with all the fervor of real patriots (just ask any real patriot you might find) for not supporting, in fact abusing, our troops.

There was only one problem: There was nothing there.

When Rush said those words, I knew immediately exactly about whom he was talking. He was talking about a soldier named Jesse MacBeth, whose military career came with all the tragedy his surname would imply, only not in the way he presented it. Jesse is what we in the Army call a "PX Ranger," quite literally. The name comes from soldiers who, out of a sense of personal failure, need for attention, or other personal issue, instead of earning awards, certifications, or other military kudos go to the Post Exchange (basically a military department store) and buy the fruit salad and candy to put on their uniforms.

I'm not sure if Jesse literally did this, but he most certainly lied about his service. He had mental issues and never made it through his initial active duty training before his discharge. He doctored (obviously) his military records and told the media that he was both a special forces soldier and a ranger, and that he was in Iraq. He also told them that he and his platoon, acting under direct orders, murdered Iraqi civilians. The media and the left-wing ate this up. That is, until MacBeth was exposed as a complete and utter fraud.

There's also the case of Pvt. Scott Thomas Beauchamp, who wrote in the New Rebublic under the pseudonym Scott Thomas stories of soldiers befriending a young Iraqi boy who later had his tongue cut out by insurgents, troops making fun of a disfigured woman sitting near them in a dining hall, and troops running over dogs for fun. These stories were also false.

But rather than taking Rush's remarks at face value, they have tried to build this into a slur against all soldiers and marines who oppose the war. Now, I'm not particularly fond of soldiers who publicly denounce the war, but this is a country with free speech (at least until the Democrats have a monopoly on power), and if someone has been there and done his duty and speaks out against the war, he's speaking from a position of knowing what he's talking about and still has my complete respect. And I know enough about Limbaugh's character to be able to say with a good deal of certainty that they have his respect also.

It's a different story when phony soldiers (read: fabricating frauds), speak out against the war and make accusations against a military to whom they are embittered.

I knew to whom Rush was referring. Why didn't the Democrats and left-wing media? Could it be that they tried so hard to forget about MacBeth and about what got handed to them that they actually succeeded?

Or is it that they are so desperate to get something on anyone on the right that they jumped prematurely onto something with absolutely no substance at all?

Senate Majority leader Harry Reid has led the charge against Limbaugh, filing a resolution against him in the Senate, with a Congressional clone in the House. What's ironic is that there aren't many people who have been more insulting to troops than Harry Reid.

Harry Reid, who seems to want us to think he's turned over a new leaf and is now actually supporting our troops, told us earlier this year that the war is lost already and that it is hopeless. He also stated, in an exchange with John McCain on the Senate floor, that soldiers who told Senator McCain that they support the war were less than truthful because of McCain's stature, and that they wouldn't have said the same to him [Reid]. So if we're all liars and the war is lost (which also insults our skill and professionalism), why would Reid care what Limbaugh has to say about us?

Oh yes, it's only about troops that speak out against the war. Those who quietly serve or are in favor of the war are fair game, but anyone who speaks out against the war is untouchable (even the phony soldiers)!

Let's take a look at some of the things the left is saying about our troops:

Obama calling the troops murderers: "We've to get the job done there and that requires us to have enough troops so that we're not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous problems over there."

Obama saying that the troops have thrown away their lives rather than dying for a worthy cause: "We now have spent 400 (b) billion dollars and have seen over three-thousand lives of the bravest young Americans wasted."

Kerry calling our troops terrorists: "There Is No Reason, Bob, That Young American Soldiers Need To Be Going Into The Homes Of Iraqis In The Dead Of Night , Terrorizing Kids And Children"

Kerry calling our troops uneducated idiots: "Education -- if you make the most of it and you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

Murtha calling our troops murderers: “Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood.”

William Arkin, left-wing Washington Post commentator: "the recent NBC report is just an ugly reminder of the price we pay for a mercenary - oops sorry, volunteer - force that thinks it is doing the dirty work," and, "America needs to ponder what it is we really owe those in uniform."

Now I could go on and on and on with quotes. While the left has learned to control their contempt for the military in that they don't attack us and scream "Baby-killers!" anymore, the vitriol is still quite evident.

The message in this situation is clear: While the left is trying to use this as an opportunity to discredit a prominent and powerful figure on the right and at the same time present themselves as supporters of the troops, the troops executing the war and doing their duty are legitimate targets. Those who speak out against the war are completely off limits.

This is not an issue of "support for the troops," as it's been obvious for the years of this war, as well as decades of other wars, that they don't support the troops. They see us as extensions of the Republican power machine which they despise with all their beings.

The real issue here is partisan politics. The left saw two words uttered by Limbaugh as an effective weapon to pick up and hit him with. They were wrong.

Shame on all of the Senators and Congressmen who lowered themselves to the level necessary to sign the resolutions against Limbaugh.