Rush Limbaugh’s recent attack on soldiers who oppose the war as “phony soldiers” is just another in a long line of right wing lies that go back to the Vietnam War Days. Jerry Lembcke is the author of The Spitting Image: Myth, Memory, and the Legacy of Vietnam. In an article published a few years ago, Lembcke notes:
Stories of spat-upon Vietnam veterans are bogus. Born out of accusations made by the Nixon administration, they were enlivened in popular culture (recall Rambo saying he was spat on by those maggots at the airport) and enhanced in the imaginations of Vietnam-generation men — some veterans, some not. The stories besmirch the reputation of the anti-war movement and help construct an alibi for why we lost the war: had it not been for the betrayal by liberals in Washington and radicals in the street, we could have defeated the Vietnamese. The stories also erase from public memory the image, discomforting to some Americans, of Vietnam veterans who helped end the carnage they had been part of.
What causes me to bring this up? Well, the spitting stories are back. In a recent letter to the editor in a rural South Carolina paper, some character named Curry writes:
Recently in Charleston, at a trendy franchised restaurant; two young soldiers who had just arrived from the war in Iraq were confronted by two college students who proceeded to spit in their food and call them “baby killers.”These two college students were of course thrown out and the soldiers given new meals on the house. When asked why the soldiers didn't respond violently to these two college students, they said; “We just laughed at them, we had seen enough killing.”
As my favorite conservative writer John Swift boldly says ”I am Paris Hilton”.
I boldly say that ”I am Rush Limbaugh”. And I am here to tell you absolutely and unequivocally that the rest of the story is that the soldiers in Charleston SC were against the war and the persons who spit upon the soldiers were fans of Rush Limbaugh. And you can take that story and run with it.
since we're dealing in hearsay, the story i've heard from various vietnam vets is that they weren't spit on by dirty hippies, but rather by decrepit old wheelchair generals from the VFW who thought they were pussies and cowards for "running away from victory" or some bullshit like that. most of the ones i talked to said the dirty hippies were some of the few people that didn't actually practice the time-honored american tradition of "ignore them and they'll go away". and when they were ignored by the government and down on their luck, it was dirty hippies who gave them food and a place to sleep.
but hey, to paraphrase the Great Communicator, that's all anecdotal, so whatever. the fact that we can point to is that depending on what narrative is running through your head, your picture of reality is very different. some people have a narrative running through their head of "enemies within" behind every window and under every bed; others among us have a narrative running through our heads that says, oh, i don't know, something like - "one nation, indivisible" or some sentimental crap of that nature.
Posted by: r@d@r on October 5, 2007 11:45 AMLooks like the right wing's charade is comin' undone. For as long as I can remember the right wing has appropriated "patriotism". We should all send a big thank you note to Rush "Fat Ass, Dumb Ass" Limbaugh. He has proven what we've always known, that is, the right wing is not merely UN-patriotic, it is seditious. Fuck Limbaugh and fuck the liars of the right wing.
Posted by: Len Hart on October 5, 2007 2:58 PM