Truespeak

Truespeak will be changing its format. With the start of the school year upon us, things have become quite hectic here at kissfan manor. My teaching assignment has changed this year and I am also taking classes toward a Master of Science degree. So between work and school I'm forced to prioritize my time to best meet my commitments: family, work, school. Unfortunately, that leaves precious little time for sitting in front of the computer musing on politics.

Don't worry though, Truespeak is not going away though the frequency of my postings will have to slow down. So from now until further notice, I may not post every day. I will, however, try to post as often as possible.

That being said, I want to thank all of my readers (even the ones I disagree with politically). I truly enjoy your comments and suggestions. I will still be stopping by your blogs as often as possible.

So for tonight, I'm going to refer you to something I found extrememly amusing. As many of you know, I listen to Rush Limbaugh whenever possible. I find his rants entertaining in a twisted, masochistic sort of way. Therefore, Kieth Olbermann's smackdown of the aforementioned blowhard makes me smile from ear to ear.

There is nothing wrong with an unpopular opinion.

Nor is there anything wrong with a subversive one, nor a crazy one. This country was founded on opinions that were deemed by the powers-that-were to be unpopular, subversive, and crazy. Dissent - even when that dissent strays from logic or humanity - is our life’s blood. But if you have one of those opinions, and you express it in public, honesty and self-respect require you to own up to it.

Unless you’re Rush Limbaugh.

On his daily radio soap opera, on August 15, Limbaugh said “Cindy Sheehan is just Bill Burkett. Her story is nothing more than forged documents, there's nothing about it that's real…” The complete transcript of the 860 words that surround those quotes can be found at the bottom of this entry.

Yet, apparently there was something so unpopular, so subversive, and so crazy about those remarks that he has found it necessary to deny he said them - even when there are recordings and transcripts of them - and to brand those who’ve claimed he said them as crackpots and distorters. More over, that amazing temple to himself, his website, has been scrubbed clean of all evidence of these particular remarks, and to ‘prove’ his claim that he never made the remarks in question on August 15, he has misdirected visitors to that site to transcripts and recordings of remarks he made on August 12.

Limbaugh is terrified. And he has reason to be.

Understand this about Limbaugh. He doesn’t believe half the junk he spouts. I’ve met him, and had pleasant enough conversations with him, twice - at the 1980 World Series when he was still a mid-level baseball flunky with a funny name, and once in the mid ‘90s at ESPN when he was just beginning his campaign to get a toehold there. He is a quiet, almost colorless man who, if he could be guaranteed similar success in sportscasting, would sell out the sheep who follow his every word - and would do it before close of business today.

Go read the whole thing. It's worth it.

See you soon!