It really, really bothered Washington Post deputy editor of the "Morning Mix" feature, Timothy Bella, that Rush Limbaugh received the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Tuesday during President Donald Trump's State of the Union address. It irked him so much that in his long article he kept returning over and over to the theme that Limbaugh was somehow not worthy of the award in comparison to others who received it.
The very title of Bella's article, "Rush Limbaugh joins the likes of Mother Teresa and Rosa Parks as recipient of highest civilian honor," even suggested that he was not as worthy as those others. That was followed by the same suggestion that Limbaugh did not really deserve the award right at the top of Bella's story and continued from there:
There was Mother Teresa, “a heroine of our times,” and Rosa Parks, “a living icon for freedom in America.” Elie Wiesel kept “watch against the forces of hatred,” while Jackie Robinson “struck a mighty blow for equality, freedom, and the American way of life.”
Now, joining them and other recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award bestowed by the government on a civilian, is Rush Limbaugh, “the greatest fighter and winner that you will ever meet.”
Bella was only getting warmed up for his sliming that followed:
Limbaugh, the combative and often-profane [?] talk-radio giant who helped mold a form of loud and brash conservatism for decades, acted surprised when President Trump announced the honor in the middle of his State of the Union address Tuesday.
...before first lady Melania Trump could finish draping the medal around Limbaugh’s neck, critics of the talk-show host began to recirculate online some of the most derogatory and inflammatory remarks he’s made over the course of his career against women (whom he has regularly labeled “feminazis”), black people, Native Americans, immigrants and the disabled community among others.
No trashing of Limbaugh would be complete without citing TDS historian Jon Meacham who had the "brilliant" idea of intentionally cutting the circulation of Newsweek in half while he was editor there before it eventually sold for a mere buck.
The meaning behind Limbaugh’s honor was evident to presidential historian Jon Meacham. On MSNBC, Meacham said that Limbaugh being honored for courage and excellence represented “the absolute apotheosis of reflexive partisanship.”
“You have the Medal of Freedom, an emblem of the new frontier, being given to the central architect of a reflexively partisan culture in the midst of a State of the Union that had nothing to do with union,” Meacham said.
Of course, both Meacham and Bella pretend that they are somehow non-partisans who have been sent into highly partisan hissy fits over Limbaugh's award.
Both ignored that President Obama gave this honor to "reflexive partisans" like Ted Kennedy, Barbara Mikulski, and John Dingell.
