As I promised I'll diary every week about this repugnant issue until more qualified Kossacks pick up the slack and then I'll still pitch in.
If this image doesn't make your blood boil don't read on.
Estimate of the situation
Rush has been on Armed Forces Radio since 1991. (I don't have a source to prove this but it is the best guess based on hearsay)
Rush has a lot of support (I posted a link to my last diary on Twitter and the only response I got was from a supporter). In addition most veterans (specially men) supported Romney over Obama. And so do active duty personnel.
Many (and I mean many) people and groups have over the years, specially after the Sandra Fluke atrocity, have tried to get him out of AFR; Salon magazine (2004), Mikey Weinstein (my friend) and the MRFF (2006), Gen. Wesley Clark (2007), veteran war correspondents (2011), Sen. Carl Levin (2012), Ice-T(2012), female veterans and VoteVets (2012) and many others (please add relevant efforts in comments).
Rush has survived a White House petition signed by almost 30,000 people;
Sec. Panetta, Get Rush Limbaugh Off Armed Forces Radio NOW! No tax money for abusive, divisive, insulting language.
It is not bad enough that he provides partisan blather, that he demeans our President.
He has regularly demeaned women.
His remarks this week were well beyond the pale of what should be broadcast to our military and their families, supported with our tax dollars.
We have a moral objection to our tax dollars being used for such a purpose.
You should move immediately to cancel any further broadcast through government facilities of his venom.
There is no excuse for the US Government, in any capacity, giving this man an audience.
It is an insult to the honorable men and women who serve this nation.
And Dena Patrick started a
Change.org petition and a
Facebook page.
But the situation IS changing.
1) The campaign to stop companies from advertising in Rush's radio show, lead by ProgLegs here and others elsewhere, is succeeding.
In particular it is worth noting that the US Army itself has stopped advertisingon Rush's civilian radio show.
2) There is now a Republican at the top of the Chain of Command. DEFSEC Chuck Hagel IS a Republican. This does make a difference since if a Dem SECDEF or CiC would find it harder to kick out Rush given that Rush has massive support among the Republican base.
Support for GOP/Tea Party among military is fading.
Enemy capabilities
Rush has money and money is a strong weapon in politics (and special ops.) As much as $350,000,000.
Rush is supported by many servicemen. How many? Hard to say, still looking for sources. But keep in mind that the Romney had more support than Obama among male veterans and active military. Then again, support for the GOP may be waning among active military;
Military no less conservative, but less Republican, survey finds
Just over one third of U.S. military personnel say they support the Republican Party, down from nearly a half in 2006, according to the latest annual Military Times poll.
But the survey shows that underlying political attitudes among troops remain more or less unchanged, with a plurality of 41 percent continuing to describe themselves as “conservative” or “very conservative,” compared with 44 percent in 2006.
Support for the Democrats remains low, the publication reports. About 14 percent of respondents to the latest poll call themselves Democrats, the same as in 2006.
Instead, those disaffected with the Republican Party seem to have moved to identify as independents (up to 25 percent, from 22 percent in 2006), or libertarian (up from 3 percent in 2006 to 9 percent today.)
His hate of our side, let alone Obama, and Limbaugh's "creativity" is best illustrated by the
"phony soldier" controversy;
The phony soldiers controversy ensued when the media watchdog site Media Matters brought attention to the "phony soldiers" remark made by Rush Limbaugh during a conversation with a caller on his radio talk show. Critics claim that he was referring to Iraq war veterans critical of the war.[1] Limbaugh argued that the comment referred to persons falsely claiming to be such veterans.[2]
In response to Limbaugh's comments, United States Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent a letter to Mark P. Mays, CEO of Clear Channel Communications. The letter of complaint requested that Mays "publicly repudiate these comments and ask Mr. Limbaugh to apologize" for the remarks. The Reid letter was signed by 41 Democratic senators.[3] Limbaugh obtained the letter and sold it on eBay for $2,100,100, the record for a charitable auction on that site.[1] He promised to donate the funds to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation with a matching donation of his own.[4]
41 Dem Senators made to look like fools after he insulted all servicemen who opposed the war. We cannot underestimate his capabilities.
Obviously there are some in Armed Forces Radio that have been supporting Rush for more than 20 years. Until 2006, Limbaugh run unopposed on AFR. In 2006 unders some outside pressure AFR brought others including Ed Schultz, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Thom Hartmann, Lou Dobbs, Randi Rhodes, Stephanie Miller, Laura Ingraham and others. Here they are on the Armed Forces Network talk show schedule for Europe. I ask you, is this a balanced conservative vs. progressive schedule?
Then there is this on Rush's Wikipedia entry;
On May 26, 2004, an article in the left-leaning publication Salon.com criticized the presence of the Rush Limbaugh Show on American Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS).[147] The article opposed[why?] the AFRTS carrying the first hour of Limbaugh's show. Melvin Russell, director of AFRTS, defended Limbaugh's presence, by pointing to Limbaugh's high ratings in the US; in addition, AFRTS produced a ballot of radio and television shows asking troops worldwide, "Who do you want that we don't at present carry?" The Rush Limbaugh Show was not listed on the ballot, but won the vote as a write-in by the troops. A later poll by Lund Media Research found that a majority of soldiers preferred that talk show programs be replaced by hip hop and rap stations.[148]
IMO, the write in was probably promoted by Rush himself. But this clearly highlights that Limbaugh has a lot of support within the AFR hierarchy.
Our own capabilities
We are many. We come from different directions. We are repulsed by Rush's misogyni, homophobia, racism, etc. But we need to come together in an organized movement if we are to succeed. Our capabilities will increase with time as his capabilities and influence decrease.
The momentum is on our side but we need to formulate a plan that IMO will cause the SECDEF to get rid of this drug addict sleazeball. Stay tuned and do join this new embryonic effort to get rid of this monster who gives the US a bad image worldwide with who knows what consequences and who gets validation with what is left of his advertisers by being on Armed Forces Radio.
Any suggestion and help are welcome.
I'll Twitter this with #stoprush #armedforcesradio.