Via Minor Ripper (found via my sphere.com plugin) I read an article at The Politico taking Elizabeth Edwards to task for lambasting Rush Limbaugh. The post is relatively short and really I was just looking for the comment about someone wanting Mrs. Edwards to hurry up and die. Anyway, the comments make my eyeballs hurt so I followed a link in the article which points to a snopes.com article about the “myth” of Limbaugh’s draft deferment/avoidance.
From The Politico:
AND: Snopes.com has the details of Limbaugh’s draft status, and concludes that he was legitimately ineligible for the draft, though it also says his own responses to the question have been “unconvincing and dissembling.”
The commenters, being loyal Ditto heads, leapt on that. I don’t think that they followed the link, though, because, um, it was anything but complimentary of our not-so-favorite talk radio “host”.
And since talk radio host Rush Limbaugh is one of the most popular media proponents of the conservative political viewpoint and has been a vociferous critic of a young Bill Clinton’s efforts to avoid the Vietnam-era draft, it’s not surprising that the question of Limbaugh’s own military status should be a common one.
When Rush Limbaugh first came of draft age he held a 2-S (college deferment) Selective Service System classification as a student at Southeast Missouri State University in 1969-70, but after he dropped out of college at the end of his first year he no longer qualified for a student deferment and was subject to being reclassified as 1-A (available immediately for military service) and drafted. Selective Service System records show that Limbaugh was reclassified as 1-Y> (qualified for service only in time of [declared] war or national emergency) on 254 November 1970, which effectively ended his draft eligibility and ensured that he would not be called for service.
What was the basis of Limbaugh’s 1-Y classification? The Selective Service System records still available indicate that the classification was not assigned on psychological or moral grounds, but because of a physical problem. And since there are no records indicating that Limbaugh was ever examined by a physician at an Armed Forces Entrance Examining Station (i.e., he never underwent a pre-induction physical), the 1-Y classification was almost certainly assigned based on a report Limbaugh had his own doctor prepare and submit to his draft board. (No implication that the report was fabricated is intended; the point is merely to note that Limbaugh’s deferment was based upon an examination conducted by a private doctor, not one administered by an Armed Services physician.)
[...]“I had student deferments in college and, upon taking a physical, was discovered to have a physical – uh, by virtue of what the military says, I didn’t even know it existed – a physical deferment and then the lottery system came along, when they chose your lot by birthdate, and mine was high. And I did not want to go-; just as Governor Clinton didn’t.”
It’s highly unlikely that Limbaugh only “discovered” he had a high school football knee injury several years after the fact or was unaware that a bad knee was reason for a physical deferment, so the pilonidal cyst is the far more probable explanation.
(The lottery issue is largely irrelevant since Limbaugh’s 1-Y classification precluded his being drafted no matter how high or low his birthdate came up in the lottery. In the event, Limbaugh’s birth date was selected 152nd in the 1970 draft lottery, and since the highest lottery number ultimately called for this group was 125, he wouldn’t have been drafted in 1971 no matter what his classification.)
You should go read the whole thing. Though Limbaugh’s butt-cyst did give him a real reason to avoid the draft, it doesn’t exactly put the man in a good light when it comes to his war hawking.
Personally, I have nothing against anyone who could avoid going into that hell. I don’t wish that any man or woman alive and able during that time would have had to go over there. I have family members and good friends that have survived that, so I know what it did to people. Who wishes that on normal people? My problem with hawks like Limbaugh is that they advocate a whole new generation of Americans go through the very thing they didn’t have to experience in their own generation. Limbaugh supports the “war” for oil and bringing on the Armageddon, but he didn’t find a way to heal that butt-cyst and serve in Vietnam. That makes him a hypocrite. And that’s how I feel about anyone that hawks this “war” but never served in that “war”.
Mrs. Edwards commented that Limbaugh is able to sit on his ass for hours a day, but couldn’t serve. I have to say that I’m sure Limbaugh salves that bad-boy up, if he hasn’t already had surgery. And really, he’s so hopped up on pain meds he probably doesn’t even notice that festering boil on his tailbone. Right? So, that’s just slightly unfair. I mean, who would expect the ol’ boy to have gotten that thing fixed back when he could have gone to war? Shoot, I wouldn’t have.
Of course, I oppose this “war” and everything it stands for and I don’t think that anyone should be suffering so that BusHeney can get richer. I don’t think it’s right to spend billions of dollars on killing people and refusing to expand healthcare to save people. I don’t think it’s right to cut taxes for rich people and then make the middle class pay for a “war” that shouldn’t be happening. I don’t pretend that the economy is growing. I’m not a loud-mouthed hypocrite Maybe that’ll change, though. I do have some pain meds, after all.
Rush has a Butt-Cyst
Via Minor Ripper (found via my sphere.com plugin) I read an article at The Politico taking Elizabeth Edwards to task for lambasting Rush Limbaugh. The post is relatively short and really I was just looking for the comment about someone wanting Mrs. Edwards to hurry up and die. Anyway, the comments make my eyeballs hurt so I followed a link in the article which points to a snopes.com article about the “myth” of Limbaugh’s draft deferment/avoidance.
From The Politico:
The commenters, being loyal Ditto heads, leapt on that. I don’t think that they followed the link, though, because, um, it was anything but complimentary of our not-so-favorite talk radio “host”.
From Snopes:
(The lottery issue is largely irrelevant since Limbaugh’s1-Y classification precluded his being drafted no matter how high or low his birthdate came up in the lottery. In the event, Limbaugh’s birth date was selected 152nd in the 1970 draft lottery, and since the highest lottery number ultimately called for this group was 125, he wouldn’t have been drafted in 1971 no matter what his classification.)
You should go read the whole thing. Though Limbaugh’s butt-cyst did give him a real reason to avoid the draft, it doesn’t exactly put the man in a good light when it comes to his war hawking.
Personally, I have nothing against anyone who could avoid going into that hell. I don’t wish that any man or woman alive and able during that time would have had to go over there. I have family members and good friends that have survived that, so I know what it did to people. Who wishes that on normal people? My problem with hawks like Limbaugh is that they advocate a whole new generation of Americans go through the very thing they didn’t have to experience in their own generation. Limbaugh supports the “war” for oil and bringing on the Armageddon, but he didn’t find a way to heal that butt-cyst and serve in Vietnam. That makes him a hypocrite. And that’s how I feel about anyone that hawks this “war” but never served in that “war”.
Mrs. Edwards commented that Limbaugh is able to sit on his ass for hours a day, but couldn’t serve. I have to say that I’m sure Limbaugh salves that bad-boy up, if he hasn’t already had surgery. And really, he’s so hopped up on pain meds he probably doesn’t even notice that festering boil on his tailbone. Right? So, that’s just slightly unfair. I mean, who would expect the ol’ boy to have gotten that thing fixed back when he could have gone to war? Shoot, I wouldn’t have.
Of course, I oppose this “war” and everything it stands for and I don’t think that anyone should be suffering so that BusHeney can get richer. I don’t think it’s right to spend billions of dollars on killing people and refusing to expand healthcare to save people. I don’t think it’s right to cut taxes for rich people and then make the middle class pay for a “war” that shouldn’t be happening. I don’t pretend that the economy is growing. I’m not a loud-mouthed hypocrite Maybe that’ll change, though. I do have some pain meds, after all.
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