Date: Thu, 31 Mar 94 16:34:58 edt From: flg@asc.upenn.edu Subject: Rush Limbaugh's Military Record. Not! Picked this up from another net: THE WASHINGTON POST UNMASKS RUSH LIMBAUGH What does Rush Limbaugh have in common with Bill Clinton that he does not want you to know? Answer: Like the President, who he attempted to lambast for not fighting in the Vietnam War, Mr. Limbaugh is forced to admit now that he also did not want to serve in Vietnam and that he found a way to avoid ("dodge") the draft into military service. Oooooh....Maybe now his buddy Bob Dornan can find Rush somewhere in Moscow around that time... "War wimp" is a term that has been used to describe someone who cavalierly advocates sending young soldiers into combat without having experienced combat themselves. It is synonymous with "chicken hawk." Famous war wimps include George Will, Newt Gingrich, Sylvester Stallone, Pat Buchanan, and even Ronald Reagan (making Army training movies instead of doing combat in Europe). People who challenged the qualifications of Bill Clinton appeared to think that good Presidents, who may have to send young soldiers into combat, must have military service in their background (despite Abe Lincoln and FDR not meeting those qualifications...). Rush Limbaugh was one of those who taunted the Clinton candidacy with doubts about Clinton's military experience. Limbaugh sounded tough, like someone who himself had seen action in war -- someone who would proudly answer their nation's call to go anywhere to serve. However, the facts show that Limbaugh dodged the draft every bit as much as Bill Clinton (and Dan Quayle) did. Yes, this paragon of right-wing steel and pariah of white male anger, has had his mask peeled off. A reporter for the Washington Post, David Remnick, did the peeling. In the February 28-March 6, 1994 issue (vol. 11, 18, pp. 23-24), Remnick notes how Limbaugh slipped past the draft with the medical problem of having an ingrown hair on his backside. He was able to claim the ailment of polonoidal cyst, which gave him the most trouble, apparently, around the time he needed it to. This won Mr. Limbaugh a 1-Y classification with his draft board. A ticket out of military service and protection from Vietnam. Later, of course, Mr. Limbaugh would be quick to praise OTHERS who took up rifles for the American Way. Rush Limbaugh, graduate of the Elkins Institute of Radio and Technology in Dallas, and dropout of Southeast Missouri State, is going to have to walk on thin ice for a while when it comes to talk of war and peace. Military base tours may have to be cancelled. But, of course, there will always be the 4.5 million listeners who love him. Yet, most Americans like consistency; they like people to talk and act in ways that do not contradict each other. Limbaugh has violated this norm. Instead of a medal of honor, he has earned a badge of hypocrisy. May he wear it proudly.