By now you’ve probably heard Rush and his wingnut hoards are claiming the recent gulf oil spill was an inside job, perpetrated by the Obama White House. Further, he said, “I have been informed that President Obama is sending SWAT teams to the Gulf oil rigs.” He didn’t say who informed him of this.
And just because I’m thorough, I did a news google to find if anyone but Rush has been informed of the SWAT teams. And the answer appears to be no; everyone who is repeating this news got it from Rush. Remarkable that he would be the only one to be informed of this. (/sarcasm)
If you actually read the transcript of Rush’s radio show linked above — and I’m not necessarily saying you should — you see it’s like a rolling hallucination. The story gets better even as he tells it. He begins by saying the incident might have been either an accident or an act of terrorism, but he complains the Obama Administration would use it to its political advantage. But then a few paragraphs into it he is suddenly “informed” of the SWAT teams. Exactly why one would need SWAT teams to control an oil spill is not clear, but let’s go with that. And a few sentences later he’s saying the oil spill may have been “intentional.”
And then we get to:
RUSH: Wow. All right, so SWAT teams, we’re sending big sis down there, Janet Napolitano, to look at all the valves and stuff, make sure they’re properly greased. He-he-he-he. Ahem. And Lisa Jackson is doing the same thing. So obviously the regime is open to the idea that this is not an accident. The regime is open to the possibility that this could well have been on purpose. Don’t forget, the original Earth Day, 40 years ago, was inspired by the river in Cleveland catching fire. Forty years later, the day before Earth Day this year, the Gulf is on fire. Coincidence? Jury’s still out. The regime is on the case, soon to tell us what happened.
He ends by arguing that oil spills are not a big deal, because they cleaned up the Exxon Valdez spill with dishwashing liquid and paper towels, and anyway some owl once flew into the window of a fire truck in Wentzville, Missouri, and all it needed was a little rehab.
Really, you can’t make this stuff up. And I can’t make it up. But Rush can. I guess that’s why he earns the big bucks. And the fun part is that Paul Krugman predicted someone on the Right would blame the oil spill on Obama before Rush actually did it.
Meanwhile, Newsbusters is in a snit because Bill Maher called Rush “the Louis Farrakhan of White People.” Which is a funny line, even though I doubt Farrakhan is half as crazy as Rush. I take it that in Wingnut Liberty and Freedom Utopia comedians will be censored, because allowing comedians to spout ridicule of Rush Limbaugh is an affront to freedom and liberty and stuff.
Two other rightie-driven stories — you can read about the Obama sex scandal at Gawker (best comment — maybe the other woman was helping him forge his birth certificate). And the Right also is trying to pump the meme that the oil spill is “Obama’s Katrina.” But I thought the Haiti earthquake was Obama’s Katrina? I guess that one didn’t stick.