Limbaugh admits to airing call from phony soldier

[kurth]

On the June 2 edition of his nationally syndicated radio program, Rush Limbaugh admitted that, two days earlier, he had aired a phone call from a purported Air Force officer in Iraq who the military says "(d)oes not exist." The apparently phony officer, who Limbaugh said identified himself as "Lieutenant Colonel Luke Fitzpatrick" of the "336th Tactical Air Wing" at "Tallil Air Force Base" in Iraq, delivered what Limbaugh described as a "profound" and "mov(ing)" message -- among other things, the caller stated that Limbaugh and fellow conservative Sean Hannity are the "only two" radio hosts who "are allowed to get broadcasts across" to the troops in his unit and declared that former President Bill Clinton "castrated" the military.

Despite acknowledging that Pentagon officials, as well as the Air Force, told him they have no record of a "Luke Fitzpatrick" or a "336th Tactical Air Wing," and that the Air Force "asked us to stop airing or put up any information about him," Limbaugh nonetheless continued to float the possibility that the caller was in fact an officer in Iraq. First, he suggested the possibility that the caller "genuinely is a member of the Air Force and was trying to hide his identity and using a fake name and giving some incorrect information just to protect" himself from retribution for speaking openly. He then appeared to question whether the military was being truthful in denying that they had any record of a "Luke Fitzgerald"...

http://mediamatters.org/items/200606050007

[Nickster]

1. I KNEW IT! I called it on June 1st!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=1328624#1329426

[derby378]

2. Use the FARCE, Luke!

:evilgrin:

[long_green]

3. You'd think they'd be able to find someone legit

with their resources and their need to portray events in the best possible light. If they can't, maybe things are much worse over there than we hear.

[Xenotime]

4. This just proves that he is a fat liar..

He has no business on radio.

[madinmaryland]

5. I hope Olbermann catches wind of this!

Nominee for the Worst Person in The World!!!!

[stubtoe]

6. OH Ferchrissake.

:puke:

[Seabiscuit]

7. I knew it. Luke Sykwalker was just trying to "protect his identity".

Here, blubberbutt - have some oxycontin.

[kittenpants]

8. Why can't Rush just trust blindly trust the word of the military?

He then appeared to question whether the military was being truthful in denying that they had any record of a "Luke Fitzgerald"...

You know, Rush, people who question our leaders are just supporting the terrorists.

[norml]

9. I've always assumed almost all their "callers" were just scripted shills

helping to make the sale, and con the rubes.

I hate the ones that are supposed to be liberals/democrats the most.

[MADem]

10. Oh, nonsense!! The guy EXISTS, and here's his PICTURE!!!!

And here's a photo of the UNIT to which he is assigned!!!



:rofl: :rofl:

[sellitman]

13. Here is another..

[CoffeeCat]

11. Limbaugh took this to new levels! I heard this caller!!!!

I heard this caller last week. When I heard the caller, Limbaugh was re-playing the call--telling his listeners about the solider who had phoned in from Iraq.

I can't believe this was a fake call!!! Too funny.

This Iraq soldier was incredibly articulate...poetic. He made the comment, "Mr. Limbaugh, this is not the land of the free and the home of the brave; this is the land of the free BECAUSE of the brave." Limbaugh practically fell out of his chair after that comment and said that the caller was "profound." This "soldier" slathered on the rhetoric so thick...it was like a cross between "Band of Brothers" and a Hallmark card! The guy just droned on and one, using flowery, patriotic, dramatic speech.

Furthermore, this soldier claimed to be a high-ranking official and he said that he was speaking for his entire group. He said the soldiers were all in lockstep--and that they loved Rush. This guy also claimed to have left two small children behind in the states--and that he was a single dad!

When Limbaugh was re-playing the call and drooling about it--he announced plans to make t-shirts that said, "Land of the free because of the brave." OMFG! I wonder if that stuff is still on sale at Limbot's Web site! LOL!

This "soldier" did denigrate Clinton. He talked about how Clinton pulling out of Mogadishu "castrated us...just castrated us." Obviously, this was a planted call--designed to persuade people that leaving Iraq is a bad idea. How desperate can these freaks get???

I'm stunned by this---because Limbaugh milked this caller for days!!!

How many other calls are fake?

[SpiralHawk]

12. The guy was propbably a paid BushCo shill

BushCo will stoop as low as you can go on the propaganda front. Hell, when you come down to it, it's all they've got going for them. The screw up everything else they touch.

[progressoid]

16. Maybe someone should compare his voice to KKKarls voice

[slestak]

15. Not on sale yet ...

... but I found this beauty:

https://members.premiereinteractive.com/store/28566/41862_8.html

[stanwyck]

14. The right uses this ploy constantly

on another board (not political - but with a forum for general discussion) a rightwing poster kept telling his pro-war Iraq stories, as a wounded soldier now out of the service.
Trouble is, even with my limited knowledge I sensed he was a fake. He claimed to be former Navy...but talked of being "hurt' by an IED while on a "boat" in Iraq. And attended to by "Marine" doctors. Well, having a son who is a Marine, I know it's the other way around. Marines receive their medical attention from Navy personnel. Also, I found it odd that a wounded soldier would refer to his being "hurt" while in Iraq, instead of wounded. When questioned by other posters, he melted away.
No doubt "hurt" by our skepticism.