The Difference Between Wright And Wrong

A few years back I got into my brother’s car and when the radio came on I was more than a bit surprised to hear the Rush Limbaugh Radio Show on the speakers.  My brother said he didn’t particularly care for the uber conservative views but liked to listen to the show for its entertainment value.  That was just before the Bush versus Kerry general election back in 2004.  My brother didn’t like incumbent President George Bush.  But he couldn’t see himself voting for John Kerry because John Kerry had such a strong reputation as a flip flopper.  He may have voted for Ralph Nader.  It’s no wonder where my brother formed his opinion of the Democratic presidential hopeful.

It’s true that Mr. Limbaugh is an entertainer.  But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have enough political muscle to impact the making and breaking of politicians.  A lot of people, even the ones who see him as little more than political entertainment, are persuaded by his opinion.  Indeed, there is a reason why high profile celebrities get paid top dollar to make commercial endorsements for certain products, services, and political views.  Mr. Limbaugh is a special case because his form of entertainment is designed to be a close association of conservative political rhetoric.

Mr. Limbaugh has ruffled political feathers lately with his statement that he hopes President Barack Obama fails in his effort to straighten out the mess he inherited from his predecessor.  If Mr. Obama believes that the best way to reverse the damage done to our global economic system is by implementing social, economic and political changes that are anathema to the conservative philosophy of pull yourself up by your bootstrap, then Mr. Limbaugh hopes those efforts are unsuccessful.  Although he never directly made the point, the implication is that in order to spare Mr. Limbaugh’s belief in his philosophies, it is better for him if the country and the global community continue to suffer through economic hard times.

A lot of people say that Mr. Limbaugh is unpatriotic for wishing such hardship on his fellow American.  A lot of people say that he is being the epitome of patriotism by hoping that the President fails to heal the country.  My question is what’s the difference between Rush Limbaugh today and Reverend Jeremiah Wright of last year?

The controversy surrounding Reverend Jeremiah Wright gained national attention when a few minutes of Mr. Wrights sermons were was subjected to intense public scrutiny.  Mr. Obama denounced the statements in a speech in which he sought to place Mr. Wright’s comments in a historical, post racial, context.  When the controversy continued to fester, possibly derailing Mr. Obama’s bid for the White House, Mr. Wright made more inflammatory remarks offending people’s sense of sensibilities and Mr. Obama, doing his best to feign his greatest sense of outrage while remaining presidential, severed his relationship with his spiritual mentor.  Some excerpts from Mr. Wright:

“[The] government lied about their belief that all men were created equal.  The truth is they believed that all white men were created equal.  The truth is they did not even believe that white women were created equal in creation nor civilization.  The government had to pass an amendment to the Constitution to get white women the vote.  Then the government had to pass an equal rights amendment to get equal protection under the law for women.  The government still thinks a woman has no rights over her own body, and between Uncle Clarence who sexually harassed Anita Hill, and a closeted Klan court, that is a throwback to the 19th century, handpicked by Daddy Bush, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, between Clarence and that stacked court, they are about to undo Roe vs. Wade, just like they are about to un-do affirmative action.  The government lied in its founding documents and the government is still lying today.”

“The government lied about the Tuskegee experiment.  They purposely infected African American men with syphilis.  Governments lie.  The government lied about bombing Cambodia and Richard Nixon stood in front of the camera, ‘Let me make myself perfectly clear.’  Governments lie.  The government lied about the drugs for arms Contra scheme orchestrated by Oliver North, and then the government pardoned all the perpetrators so they could get better jobs in the government.  Governments lie.  The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color.  Governments lie.  The government lied about a connection between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein and a connection between 9.11.01 and Operation Iraqi Freedom.  Governments lie.”

“And the United States of America government, when it came to treating her citizens of Indian descent fairly, she failed.  She put them on reservations.  When it came to treating her citizens of Japanese descent fairly, she failed.  She put them in internment prison camps.  When it came to treating her citizens of African descent fairly, America failed.  She put them in chains, the government put them on slave quarters, put them on auction blocks, put them in cotton field, put them in inferior schools, put them in substandard housing, put them in scientific experiments, put them in the lowest paying jobs, put them outside the equal protection of the law, kept them out of their racist bastions of higher education and locked them into positions of hopelessness and helplessness.  The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing ‘God Bless America.’  No, no, no, not God Bless America.  God damn America, that’s in the bible, for killing innocent people.  God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human.  God damn America as long as she tries to act like she is god, and she is supreme.  The United States government has failed the vast majority of her citizens of African descent.”

So now if dissension is so patriotic, how come the people who are rallying to Mr. Limbaugh’s defense today did not come out and call Mr. Wright the ultimate patriot when he was going through his controversy?  In fact, many people who are calling Mr. Limbaugh a patriot were suggesting that Mr. Wright was virtually a terrorist who needed to leave America if he was so unhappy with the conditions here.  Why isn’t anyone suggesting Mr. Limbaugh leave?  Is there a difference here?

The question is rhetorical because of course there is a stark difference between the two.  While Mr. Wright was hounded into obscurity and abandoned by everyone including the man who would be President, Mr. Limbaugh gets to become the de-facto leader of the Republican Party while his ratings soar through the roof as he becomes more popular than ever.