Rush Limbaugh on Iran and Islam

This week photos from Rush Limbaugh's 4th wedding with his 26-years-younger bride were circulated widely on the Internet. Rush is a vocal proponent of attacking Iran, and is called by many as the most influential opinion leader and radio host among Republicans and right wing voters in America. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks, and for which he recently signed an 8-year contract extension worth $400 million.

But what do we know about Rush and what are his views on Iran, muslims and other minorities?

Rush Hudson Limbaugh III was born in Missouri into a family of Republican politicians and lawyers, including his grandfather, father and brother. His uncle, Stephen N. Limbaugh, Sr. is a Ronald Reagan-appointed federal judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, and his cousin, Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr., is currently a judge in the same court, appointed by George W. Bush. But unlike his family, Rush did not like school and education, and dropped out of Southeast Missouri State University after 2 semesters. According to his mother, "he flunked everything", and "he just didn't seem interested in anything except radio."

He began his career in radio as a teenager in 1967 in his hometown of Cape Girardeau, using the name Rusty Sharpe. Limbaugh moved to Pittsburgh station KQV in 1973 as the evening disc jockey, and in 1984, to KFBK in Sacramento, California, where he replaced Morton Downey, Jr. After achieving success in Sacramento and drawing the attention of former ABC Radio President Edward F. McLaughlin, Limbaugh moved in 1988 to New York City and began his national radio show at WABC.

By 1990, it was reported that Limbaugh had "more listeners than any other talk show host." Limbaugh's rising popularity coincided with the Persian Gulf War, and his support for the war effort and his relentless ridicule of peace activists. The program gained more popularity and was moved to stations with larger audiences, eventually being broadcast on over 650 radio stations nationwide.

Unlike liberal hosts of most previous talk shows, Limbaugh did not use "academic analysis" and complex and fair-minded "intellectual" arguments. Instead, he shared his simplistic and often humorous, controversial, and "entertaining" views with his audience - mostly White Republican men with anti-feminist, anti-liberal, anti-muslim, anti-immigrant, anti-gay, anti-black and anti-environmentalist prejudices. Rush calls his fans "Dittoheads" because the millions of them literally repeat every sentence after Rush and follow Rush in every election. Limbaugh was the keynote speaker at the 2009 Conservative Political Action Conference, and many believe he represents the Republican Party. In 2009, Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele called Limbaugh "an entertainer" and his rhetoric at the convention as "incendiary" and "ugly." But Steele was later forced to personally call Limbaugh and apologize.

Interesting facts about Limbaugh:

• Although Rush's philosophical (yet simplistic) mottos about social and scientific matters, such as smoking, pollution, Climate Change, and Global Warming, are deemed sacred by his fans, Rush has no strong academic or research background. He dropped out of College after 2 semesters. According to his mother, "he flunked everything", and "he just didn't seem interested in anything except radio."

• Although many of his fans are religious conservatives attracted to the Republican Party because of family values, Rush himself has lived a wild life, with several sexual partners and four marriages. In June 2006, after Limbaugh was detained (and released) at Palm Beach International Airport for having un-prescribed Viagra (sexual enhancement medicine), he said on his radio show: "I had a great time in the Dominican Republic. Wish I could tell you about it."

• Although he paid $1 Million to (the openly homosexual) Elton John to perform in his wedding, Limbaugh has uttered offensive anti-gay remarks such as: "Democrats will bend over, grab the ankles, and say, ‘Have your way with me’ to African American and gay voters" or "When a gay person turns his back on you, it is anything but an insult; it’s an invitation." Also, Rush's friend and conservative preacher, Rev. Ken Hutcherson who married Rush, is known for his virulent anti-gay views and has compared homosexuals to murderers.

• Limbaugh is critical of feminism, saying that "Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society." He also popularized the term "feminazi", referring to feminists "to whom the most important thing in life is ensuring that as many abortions as possible occur."

• On the October 23, 2006, edition of his radio show, Limbaugh imitated and made fun of the physical symptoms actor Michael J. Fox showed in a television commercial raising Parkinson's disease awareness. Although later Limbaugh apologized, many Parkinson's experts and Fox's supporters called Limbaugh shameless because he had made fun of symptoms (severe shaking) associated with Michael J Fox's severe Parkinson Disease.

• Limbaugh never served in the Army and dodged the Vietnam draft due to either a football knee injury or a diagnosis of Pilonidal disease. Yet, he is very hawkish on wars. He has called soldiers who criticize the war as "phony Soldiers." Limbaugh has been a main media promoter of attacking Afghanistan, Iraq and now potentially Iran. Limbaugh condoned the tortures at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and said about perpetrators: "We're going to ruin people's lives over it .. then we are going to really hammer them because they had a good time. You know, these people are being fired at every day [referring to the U.S. Military service members]. I'm talking about people having a good time, these people, you ever heard of emotional release? ... There's only one thing to do here, folks, and that's achieve victory over people who have targeted us for loooong, long time, well over 15, 20 years. It's the only way to deal with this, and that's why obsessing about a single incident or two of so-called abuse in a prison is nothing more than a giant distraction ..."

• About Iran (video above): "They are going to get a Nuke (nuclear bomb)!" He makes fun of Obama's diplomatic efforts and encourages attack on Iran.

• Limbaugh has often mocked Muslims by making inaccurate statements such as "No Muslims have received any Nobel prize!" He has also mocked Muslim's prayer direction of Mecca by saying : "Would Muslims threaten hijacking if airplane toilet was not properly aligned with Mecca?" Limbaugh uses the word "Islamic" describing "terrorists" and says NOT doing so would be like calling "thieves" as wealth distributors or "Obama!"

• In 2003, Limbaugh who often makes fun of liberals for their liberal policies on drugs, became the subject of investigation for violation of Florida's doctor shopping for addictive drugs. On April 28, 2006 a warrant was issued for his arrest on the charge of doctor shopping. Limbaugh admitted (on his Radio show) that he was addicted to prescription painkillers and stated that he would enter inpatient treatment for 30 days. Prosecutors later agreed to drop the charge if Limbaugh paid $30,000 to defray the cost of the investigation and completed an 18-month therapy regimen with his physician. Limbaugh is also an avid cigar smoker and often makes fun of anti-smoking campaigns.

• Many of Limbaugh's remarks about blacks have been deemed as derogatory and racist. His reference to a black NFL Quarterback caused him his job on ESPN. He had also asserted that African-Americans, in contrast with other minority groups, are "left behind" socially because they have been systematically trained from a young age to hate America through a widespread movement headed by figures such as Barack and Michelle Obama!

• Between 1992 and 2000 and afterwards, Limbaugh directed a large part of his mockery at the Clintons. He despised the Clintons and even lampooned their daughter Chelsea as 'the White House dog'. Limbaugh was perhaps responsible for much of the "I Hate Hillary Clinton" movement in the U.S.

• Rush Limbaugh is a supporter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and has personally contributed between $100,000 and $499,999 from 2000–2005 and 2007.

There are numerous books and websites dedicated to demonstrate sexism, racism, xenophobia, hypocrisy and lies in Rush Limbaugh's words and actions (An example is Al Franken's "Lies And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them"). But no one can deny that Rush is more capable than any other conservative right wing commentator, in "entertaining" while indoctrinating a sizable group of disgruntled American voters.