Comments on: “Phony Soldiers” and Limbaugh’s Dichotomized World

by: doug

Mon, 01 Oct 2025 23:58:51 +0000

There has been a lot in conservative talk radio and online press/blogs (Rush, Malkin, NRO, Weekly Standard, etc) about falsified stories from current/former service members.

Here’s my take:

To someone who reads a lot of conservative stuff online, and leans that way, Rush’s comment was a passing reference to those soldiers who have been propped up by the left and then later found out to be, well, “phony” in one sense or another.

To someone who doesn’t follow a lot of conservative stuff online, Rush’s comment was a direct slander of any service member who has voiced opinion about the war in Iraq.

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by: Ted Strout

Sun, 30 Sep 2025 21:21:17 +0000

Limbaugh was responding to the caller’s assertion that “they never talk to real soldiers”, that they pulled these guys up “out of the blue”. Limbaugh says, “phony soldiers”, which I took to be agreement with the caller’s statement. Later on he calls them “fake soldiers” and names Jessie MacBeth as an example. He uses plural because there have been several “phony soldiers” that the left has pushed forward giddily (until they were proven to be liars): MacBeth and Scott Thomas (Beauchamp), to name two (which, where I come from, makes the use of the plural ok). There was another guy named Massey, if I remember right, also.

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by: Hume’s Ghost

Sun, 30 Sep 2025 02:30:17 +0000

“…isn’t in lockstep…”

It’s fresh in my mind since I just used it in one of my posts, but the Nazis made Gleichschaltung (roughly translated as “marching in line”) one of the central aspects of fascism.

I find how Rush defines being a Republican/conservative/American as sharing his politica views to be obnoxious and sickening.

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by: Greg Meadows

Sat, 29 Sep 2025 23:36:38 +0000

It goes to show you. Two people can look at the same thing, and come to different conclusions. From my point of view, critics of Limbaugh are reading something into what he said that isn’t even there. From their point of view, they see a lack of strict adherence to precise attribution as having included a whole class of people not even mentioned. Limbaugh did not say “soldiers who want the US to withdraw are phony soldiers.” It is quite a stretch, in my opinion, to interpret it that way.

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by: Tony Lehman

Sat, 29 Sep 2025 17:10:29 +0000

Have listened to the whole article by Rush. It never occured to me that Rush was talking about anyone other that those several ‘Soldiers’ or ex-soldiers who were being put out on the mainstream media as bonafied Soldiers who had devastating charges to make about their military experience.

Upon critical examination, these ‘Soldiers’ proved to be ‘Phonys’. They were lying about their so-called experience. Some seemed to have been convicted and served time for their hoax.

This was the context Rush was speaking from. I did not take his words to mean anything other than those several Soldiers who had been exposed as ‘Phony’ spokesmen for the military experience.

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by: Political Mavens » “Phony Soldiers” and Limbaugh’s Dichotomized World

Sat, 29 Sep 2025 14:52:12 +0000

[…] Cross-posted from PoliBlog: […]

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by: Rush Limbaugh And Media Matters Exchange New Charges » The Moderate Voice

Sat, 29 Sep 2025 04:23:13 +0000

[…] Read it from the beginning to the end. –Political scientist Steven Taylor notes how Limbaugh even thinks in polarizing terms: Really, to me the more telling element of the whole affair is the basic dichotomization of the world into two camps (something Limbaugh excels at and has, sadly, inculcated/exacerbated in the minds of many of his listeners). The most obvious is the “real” soldier v. the “phony” soldier dichotomy, the notion that if any member of the military isn’t in lockstep with the administration, then they aren’t really soldiers (even if their only “crime” is that of having an opinion, yet otherwise doing their duty). The other dichotomy, also of the “for us or against us” type can be found if one reads the transcript. The first caller challenges Limbaugh on the notion that any Republican who wants to end the war isn’t really a Republican and is therefore a Democrat who “want[s] to lose the war.” Limbaugh dismisses the fellow and tells him that there is no way the fellow is a Republican. […]

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by: Chuck Adkins › Editorial: Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly and the Liberal Witch Hunt

Sat, 29 Sep 2025 03:56:12 +0000

[…] Comments from other Bloggers: Wake up America, Don Surber, Media Matters for America, The Rude Pundit, RushLimbaugh.com Home, Flopping Aces, Right Wing Nut House, Captain’s Quarters, TalkLeft, The Carpetbagger Report, News Hounds, Sister Toldjah, Taylor Marsh, Jules Crittenden, Think Progress, NewsBusters.org, Macsmind, Central Sanity, Crooks and Liars, AMERICAblog, Chris Dodd National Blog, Outside The Beltway, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, Firedoglake and The Mahablog, The Moderate Voice, Huffington Post, CBS News, Think Progress, Brave New Films blog, TPM Election Central and Taylor Marsh, Blue Crab Boulevard, Liberty Pundit, The Gun Toting Liberal™, The Carpetbagger Report, PoliBlog ™ and JammieWearingFool, Horses Mouth, The Gun Toting Liberal™, AMERICAblog and Corrente, Horses Mouth, Think Progress and Taylor Marsh, Crooks and Liars, MyDD, Taylor Marsh, The Carpetbagger Report, Daily Kos, TPM Election Central and WTF Is It Now?!?, Think Progress, Crooks and Liars and Daily Kos, : Baltimore Sun and News Hounds, Media Matters for America, NewsBusters.org, The Corner, The Jawa Report, Dean’s World and BLACKFIVE, The Swamp and No More Mister Nice Blog […]

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by: Dr. Steven Taylor

Sat, 29 Sep 2025 02:33:50 +0000

Greg,

From the transcript:

LIMBAUGH: There’s a lot more than that that they don’t understand. They can’t even — if — the next guy that calls here, I’m gonna ask him: Why should we pull — what is the imperative for pulling out? What’s in it for the United States to pull out? They can’t — I don’t think they have an answer for that other than, “Well, we just gotta bring the troops home.”

CALLER 2: Yeah, and, you know what –

LIMBAUGH: “Save the — keep the troops safe” or whatever. I — it’s not possible, intellectually, to follow these people.

CALLER 2: No, it’s not, and what’s really funny is, they never talk to real soldiers. They like to pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue and talk to the media.

LIMBAUGH: The phony soldiers.

CALLER 2: The phony soldiers. If you talk to a real soldier, they are proud to serve. They want to be over in Iraq. They understand their sacrifice, and they’re willing to sacrifice for their country.

Note the plural (soldiers).

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by: not the senator

Sat, 29 Sep 2025 01:00:28 +0000

Did you see that Rush phonied up the version of the event when he put up his defense? In fact, the clip he aired omitted a full 1 minute and 35 seconds of discussion that occurred between Limbaugh’s original “phony soldiers” comment and his subsequent reference to MacBeth.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200709280009?f=h_latest

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