The Limbaugh Legacy

Welcome to "The Gods Are Bored," searching high and low for our sass! Must be here somewhere. Maybe I put it in the washing machine and forgot to get it out.

Oh, here it is, in my suitcase! A little light dusting, and good as new!

While I was visiting my sister, I went to her church for a morning show. Why would I do that? Well, she plays the piano, and her husband plays the guitar, and a former high school teacher of mine plays the cello. And they were all going to play. So I went to hear them. And they were good, if you like listening to seven verses of "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God."

The pastor was sick that morning, so my brother-in-law more or less led the service. What he did was turn it into a Quaker meeting, inviting anyone who wanted to give a testimonial to do so.

Most of the testimonials were what you would expect at such a bash. People either thanked God for healing them or asked God to heal them. One pretty gal told a story of how an angel helped her drive through an ice storm.

Then this old dude stood up. He had an oxygen machine. I can't remember what he said exactly, but here's the jist of it.

"I don't mind bein' controversial. It's just who I am. And I'm a-gonna go down to that Town Hall Meetin' with Senator Cardin. I've got it all written out what I'm a-gonna say. And this is it: I'm gonna tell Senator Cardin that the guvmint can come and kill me any time they're ready, cuz I know where I'm goin'. I'm goin' to meet Jesus. It ain't fair that after a long life a hard work I gotta be targeted fer death cuz I'm old and sick, but these guvmint people gonna have to answer fer that. Not me. I'll be with Jesus."

That was last Sunday. By cracky, I sat down to watch Countdown with Keith last night, and there he was, the dude from Sis's church! He got shown on both Countdown and The Rachel Maddow Show. I guess they were looking for a prime Exhibit A Health Care Wacko, and he fit the bill.

However, this poor man will not go into the infamous Gods Are Bored "moron file." He is not a moron. He just believes what he hears on t.v. and radio. And he's scared. Never mind that stuff about being ready to meet Jesus. If he was ready to meet Jesus, he'd just unplug the oxygen machine and go for a jog in the hot summer sun. He's scared! The pernicious misinformation being spewed by plump insurance companies and right wing talk shows is causing panic in people who probably have enough real worries that they don't need fake ones.

The uncle I visited on the family farm was a Rush Limbaugh devotee for lo, these many years. Never mind the fact that Uncle's children, nieces and nephews served as his social safety net -- otherwise he'd have needed every single socialist service our government doles out -- he believed Rush. Good ol' Rush.

But something has happened. Uncle's cognition is declining. He got a preliminary statement from a recent hospital visit: $40,000 in charges for a six-day stay. He freaked. With tears brimming in his eyes, he said to me, "I can't pay this. What will I do? I can't pay it."

With malice toward government social services, right wing radio/television celebrities have managed to convey a message to senior citizens, especially those who are ailing: You don't deserve to live. This message is sent in two ways. The belittling of domestic spending sends a subconscious message to listeners like my uncle -- If he's using evil, socialist Medicare, he'd be better off dead. The smear campaign against health care reform is even more direct -- you'll be told when to die. The sooner the better.

This is the legacy our hard-working seniors are reaping from right wing brainwashing. They're being told, in essence, that since they can't go out and earn money anymore, they're a burden. Pulling the rest of us down. Granny's on Medicare and Medicaid. Yank that plug!

Rush, you're rich. You have no right to frighten old people who aren't, even if they've gobbled up your road show for a decade.

Maybe I will file this under "morons." Not for the old Christian dude on oxygen, or my anxious uncle, but for the mountebank they've placed their trust in. Yeah, that guy. The one who doesn't give a rat's ass about them. The one who'd rather see them die, and decrease the surplus population.