As Clint Eastwood’s character, Dirty Harry Callahan, always says: “A man’s got to know his limitations.” Alas, Rush Limbaugh has not yet learned that vital lesson.
We’ve posted before about El Rushbo’s bizarre views on evolution, the last time was here: Rush Limbaugh on Evolution — Again! But the man seems obsessed; he can’t leave it alone.
At Rush’s website you can read the transcript of his broadcast on 28 October. This segment is titled Liberalism is a Genetic Defect as Demonstrated by Chris Matthews.
Rush starts out talking about the news that “Scientists Find ‘Liberal Gene’. Your Curmudgeon noticed some articles about that, but for several reasons we decided to ignore it — primarily because science journalism is so abysmal that we suspected the whole thing was being wildly exaggerated. If you’re interested, here’s a writeup at PhysOrg: Researchers find a ‘liberal gene’.
Anyway, the headlines about a “liberal gene” were irresistible to Rush. Here are just a few snippets from what he says, with bold font added by us:
Everybody tries to figure out, “How can a liberal be that way? You know, why do people do stupid things?” It’s in the brain, and now we’ve got science to actually back it up.
This is a classic example of pick-and choose science. Rush readily accepts a journalistic account about one new piece of research that fits into his political viewpoint. But does he just as readily accept all scientific findings — even those he doesn’t like? No, not even well-supported theories that have been successfully tested for generations. Stay with us, you’ll see what we mean.
The middle of Rush’s transcript is something he plays from the Chris Matthews show. We won’t bother excerpting that, but you can click over to Rush’s website to read it. Rush concludes that recording by saying:
Anyway, arguing with these people is a waste of time because they — it’s now been documented by science — are suffering from a genetic defect.
At that point the transcript indicates a break — probably for a commercial or something — and then:
Liberalism: A genetic defect. Why not? In fact, liberals are descended from pond scum. They say so. They claim it to be true. They insist, they teach that they are descended from pond scum. “What do you mean by that, Rush?” Well, very simple, folks. They don’t believe in creation. They believe in evolution. And they were swimming around in some primordial soup as amoebas or some other fishy life form. They were swimming around in the algae, swimming around in the pond scum.
Good, huh? Here’s the rest of that paragraph:
The best argument against evolution is liberals. Liberalism and liberals themselves are the best argument against evolution. So why is it so hard to believe they have a genetic defect when they insist and they teach that they are descended from pond scum?
That’s where the transcript ends.
What can we say? We know it upsets some of our readers, but your Curmudgeon has been a long-time fan of El Rushbo. That’s because we like his politics — but not his off-topic rants about science, about which he knows nothing. These increasing episodes of creationism are becoming alarming.
Anyway, dear reader, whether Rush likes it or not, we are all brothers in pond scum. We are kin not only to Aristotle and Shakespeare and Darwin and Einstein, but also to Jack the Ripper, Flipper, Rin Tin Tin, and the Geico Gecko. That’s the way it is.
Copyright © 2010. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.
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