Molly Ivins: "Rush targets dead people-little girls-& the homeless--none of whom can fight back"

[kpete]

Lyin' Bully
by Molly Ivins May/June 1995
Instead of picking on someone his own size, Rush consistently targets dead people, little girls, and the homeless--none of whom can fight back.



..............................

A large segment of Limbaugh’s audience consists of white males, 18 to 34 years old, without college education. Basically, a guy I know and grew up with named Bubba.

Bubba listens to Limbaugh because Limbaugh gives him someone to blame for the fact that Bubba is getting screwed. He’s working harder, getting paid less in constant dollars and falling further and further behind. Not only is Bubba never gonna be able to buy a house, he can barely afford a trailer. Hell, he can barely afford the payments on the pickup.

And because Bubba understands he’s being shafted, even if he doesn’t know why or how or by whom, he listens to Limbaugh. Limbaugh offers him scapegoats. It’s the “feminazis.” It’s the minorities. It’s the limousine liberals. It’s all these people with all these wacky social programs to help some silly, self-proclaimed bunch of victims. Bubba feels like a victim himself—and he is—but he never got any sympathy from liberals.

Psychologists often tell us there is a great deal of displaced anger in our emotional lives—your dad wallops you, but he’s too big to hit back, so you go clobber your little brother. Displaced anger is also common in our political life. We see it in this generation of young white men without much education and very little future. This economy no longer has a place for them. The corporations have moved their jobs to Singapore. Unfortunately, it is Limbaugh and the Republicans who are addressing the resentments of these folks, and aiming their anger in the wrong direction.

MORE: — from Lyin’ Bully by the very much missed Molly Ivins back in 1995 | via: sarahlee310
http://motherjones.com/politics/1995/05/lyin-bully

[HockeyMom]

1. Why they particularly hate educated, successful WOMEN

THEY have the jobs they cannot have. If they can forced back into being slaves of their reproductive lives, they MEN will "rule" again.

[tularetom]

2. Wow, that's from 1995??

"Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose"

Could have been written yesterday.

[catrose]

3. It's amazing how relevant Molly stays

I saw "Red Hot Patriot" recently, and the actress who played Molly petitioned the playwrights to include her line about "The next time I tell you someone from Texas shouldn't be president, believe me!" Take THAT, Governor Good Hair. She wrote plenty about him, too.

Molly lives.

[Harry Monroe]

4. I SO miss Molly Ivins!!!

Her stuff reads like it was written yesterday. The more things change....

God bless Molly!! She's looking down on all of this and shaking her head telling St. Peter, "See? I told you so!!"

[Fumesucker]

5. That may have been true then but evidently Limbaugh's audience is considerably older and richer now

Or at least that's the demographics of those who visit his website.

http://www.quantcast.com/rushlimbaugh.com

[Harriety]

6. Molly's words are timeless. I loved her, and I miss her......

[maddiemom]

10. Me too!

Me too! We badly need a woman's voice such as hers these days. Rachel Maddow comes to mind, but she's more obviously intellectual and her humor less "folksy." This seems to intimidate some who would easily "cotton" to Molly.

[whathehell]

15. Me too. n/t

[chervilant]

7. Thank you for posting Molly Ivins' take on Limbaugh

I think it's important to recognize how accurate she was when she said

I say it's important to point out that he's not just wrong but that he's ridiculous, one of the silliest people in America.

AND

The reason I take Rush Limbaugh seriously is not because he's offensive or right-wing, but because he is one of the few people addressing a large group of disaffected people in this country. And despite his frequent denials, Limbaugh does indeed have a somewhat cultlike effect on his dittoheads. They can listen to him for three and a half hours a day, five days a week, on radio and television.

Most of those "disaffected" cult members have been circling their wagons, going on the defensive about their beloved cult leader. With the number of hate groups in our nation increasing yet again, we can ill afford to have Limbaugh's pathetic sycophants up in arms.

[benld74]

8. Molly's viewpoints will always live on,,,

[Paladin]

9. God Bless Molly.

People will be quoting her a hundred years from now, long after PigBoy is dead and forgotten.....

[Uncle Joe]

11. This was an outstanding analysis by Molly of Limbaugh and his carcinogenic effect on society.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

[lark]

12. Molly got it right

Her bright light is sorely missed!

[nolabear]

13. This is absolutely perfect. I wish every liberal media pundit would quote this.

And point out that it's now women. You know, those college educated ones who're taking away all your jobs and won't sleep with you either, Bubba.

[Irishonly]

14. I miss Molly

We need her just as much now as we did then.