Dear Leader Rush defends the pirates

By Michael J.W. Stickings

It seems Rush Limbaugh has a problem with how, at Obama's order, the U.S. rescued the captain of the Maersk Alabama, Richard Phillips, from the clutches of the pirates.

Snipers, you see, shot three of the pirates who were holding Phillips. But who were those pirates? "Muslim kids," notes Rush, "three teenagers shot on the high seas at the order of President Obama."

Oh. Really.

Since when does Rush give a shit about Muslim teenagers? Obviously, he doesn't. And if it had been Bush giving the order, Rush would have applauded heartily, huge grin on his face, cigar dangling from his mouth, as per usual. Three more dead Muslims? So what? In Rush's world, the world of the radical right, the world of the Republican base, such lives have little meaning, if any meaning at all. To Rush and his ilk, Muslims are the Other, the enemy. And as for Muslim pirates, well, they're not much different than Muslim jihadists. If the U.S. should be out there killing jihadists, which is what Rush and his ilk enthusiastically promote, it should be out there killing pirates, too. And so what if they're under 18? That's never stopped them before.

In other words, this is naked partisan hypocrisy. It's just so amusing to hear Rush showing such obviously fake compassion for a few Muslim teenagers. It would be like Dick Cheney weeping over the deaths of a few Gitmo inmates, or of a few Pakistanis caught in the crossfire of Bush's war on terror.

I don't like the killing, but, in this case, I'm not sure what else could have been done -- and I'm sure that Obama considered a number of different options before settling on the one he chose. And it troubles me, as it no doubt troubles the president, that the three dead pirates were teenagers (Muslim or otherwise).

As for Rush, he's just full of shit, as usual, and his playing of the "Muslim" card to attack Obama, which is all he really cares about here, proves once more what an absolutely shameless partisan he is.