Last updated on July 20th, 2019 at 05:02 pm
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Rush Limbaugh used his program on Wednesday to claim that he was just using ‘satire’ and ‘parody’ last week when he revealed his theory that the missing Malaysian airliner was likely shot down by an ‘unfriendly’ country. On last Friday’s episode of ‘The Rush Limbaugh Show’, Limbaugh made his proclamation. He then took a call, and further expanded on his theory. He stated, numerous times, that his theory was just as sound as any other expert’s theory.
On Wednesday’s show, Limbaugh backtracked by using a well-worn defense of his–it was all just satire and non-listeners just wouldn’t understand. This is a standard defense of Rush’s whenever he has been called out in the media for saying something batsh*t crazy. Basically, only loyal listeners can truly pickup on the subtleties of his show and realize when he is being satirical or using parody in truly brilliant fashion. This was one of those instances. He was just doing a parody of all the other prognosticators giving out their theories and the joke is on all of those who fell for it. He got us all!
Anyway, Rush’s feathers were all ruffled because a news reporter in North Carolina did a piece on various theories and ideas that have floated around since the jet disappeared. She then lumped in Rush’s theory that the plane was shot down with Courtney Love’s Facebook post where she claimed that she might have found the plane. Basically, the reporter was stating that both Love and Rush were crazy and out there.
Below is an excerpt from the show’s transcript:
Now, let’s then combine something else here. And that is one of the performance techniques that I employ is parody and satire, and it requires contextual listening for you to understand when I’m being satirical or doing a parody. This is why I have always said that you need to spend at least six weeks listening to this program before you can be assured that you understand everything that can happen here. Not that in six weeks you’re gonna learn everything you need to know, but you’re just gonna understand the program and what makes it unique and different from others.
Well, that’s all fine and dandy, but then there’s that group that doesn’t listen, and in that group are several journalists in local communities. And it’s frustrating in the sense that those people do not get the satire and do not get the parody, and then they report what was satire or parody as fact, which then helps create this impression that I’m something I’m not, which retards the effort to attract people who don’t listen to the program. That’s not a big deal, but it’s interesting to me and there’s no way around this. Because if you announce up front, “Attention, what’s next is satire. What’s next is parody,” it doesn’t work.
Now, the other day on this program, in the midst of expressing my frustration over the outrageous coverage of the missing jet, I advanced my own theory. It was a cockamamie, wacko, ridiculous theory that the plane was shot down by one of three countries and that the United States knows who did it. I said, “My theory is as good anybody else’s.” The theory was reported as serious in one little market, Wilmington, North Carolina. We’re big in Wilmington on the radio, but this TV journalist lumped me in with Courtney Love, who also said that she had a theory. In fact, she had seen it. She had seen the crashed wreckage on a satellite photo.
So let’s go, this is last night, WSFX-TV Eyeball News at 10 during the What’s Trending segment, and this is not the infobabe anchorette. This is a reporterette, Jennifer Merwitz, reporting about various conspiracy theories surrounding the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370.
MERWITZ: This unsolved mystery has sparked up some conspiracy theories. Some believe that the flight may have been linked to aliens, the Illuminati, terrorists or even top-secret technology. Conservative talk radio host, Rush Limbaugh believes “the plane was shot down by some hostile country.” And even Courtney Love has her own speculation tweeting this photo. The picture Love tweets features drawn lines meant to point at what appears to be discoloration in the water and possible debris.
RUSH: There are none so blind as those who don’t listen. And this is not a criticism of Jennifer Merwitz. It’s just an illustration of how hard it is. I do not believe — and everybody listening to me knew that I was making a joke about the plane being shot down, because before that I had speculated that the Koch brothers were behind it, because the Koch brothers are evil incarnate to the Democrats and the American left. And, by the way, about that, with the Koch brothers, you have to understand what that means, too. It’s not strictly personal with the Koch brothers. The Koch brothers are a symbol.
There you go. One cannot expect a ‘reporterette’, not an ‘infobabe anchorette’, but a ‘reporterette’, to get the subtle brilliance of El Rushbo’s humor. Maybe an infobabe anchorette might have picked up on the satire, but definitely not a reporterette. You just have to love the casual sexism thrown in there when he is trying to discuss how masterful and savvy he is at comedy.
I love how he says it was obvious to everyone listening that he was joking and that he wasn’t serious. However, on Friday, he laid out his theory, then took a call where they talked about the missing aircraft, then he went on some more about the likelihood of the plane being shot down. If this was a satirical bit, wouldn’t it have ended once the call was taken? Why go back to talking about it? Why bring up the case of another plane being shot down to bolster your theory?
The thing is, if by some crazy chance, Rush was proven right he would have pounded his chest on air and said ‘I TOLD YOU SO!’ However, because he was ridiculed, his feelings were hurt and he has to do some backtracking and revision. For someone who tries to portray himself as a man’s man and a true American conservative, Rush sure is a whiny little baby who can’t take any heat.
Justin Baragona is the Managing Editor at Politicus Sports as well as Senior Editor at PoliticusUSA. He was a political writer for 411Mania.com before joining PoliticusUSA. Politically, Justin considers himself a liberal but also a realist and pragmatist. Currently, Justin lives in St. Louis, MO and is married. Besides writing, he also runs his own business after spending a number of years in the corporate world. You can follow Justin on Twitter either with his personal handle (@justinbaragona) or the Sports site’s (@PoliticusSports).
