Rush Limbaugh, the conservative radio talk show host and political commentator, has caused some controversy at a Green Bay, Wisconsin, Middle School over his comments during the Barack Obama Inauguration speech.
The trouble started during Inauguration Day when the Edison Middle School in Green Bay turned a radio on and broadcast it through the school to bring the inaugural proceedings to the students. Unfortunately, at least from a certain point of view, the station that was tuned to was the one that carried the Rush Limbaugh Show, which regularly airs at the same time the inauguration occurred. The students were therefore not only treated to President Barack Obama’s inauguration speech, but Rush Limbaugh chiming in to make what some people would call a cogent running commentary and what other people would call a series of snide, sarcastic remarks.
“Teacher Amanda Griggs complained in an e-mail to the local station, WTAQ, and Limbaugh quoted from it on his show Wednesday, including the statement that the students were ‘shocked, angered and saddened by the interruption.’ He also played parts of her critical phone call to the station.” Rush expressed some doubt as to how many of the students were “shocked, angered, and saddened.”
Rush Limbaugh also made an interesting offered. Rush Limbaugh has proposed that he will fly to Green Bay and deliver a couple of lectures on civics to the students at Edison Middle School. Then Rush Limbaugh would choose a number of students by lot to take a short trip on his private plane, EIB One, and receive another lecture on economics.
Rush Limbaugh is as adroit as a judo master at turning the wrath of others against them and making himself look good in the process. One remembers the incident in which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent a letter to the President of Clear Channel Communications Mark Mays demanding that Rush Limbaugh be forced to apologize for something he actually did not say about American servicemen. Rush Limbaugh acquired the original letter, put it up on auction, and donated the proceeds to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation.
While it is not likely, given the political leanings of most educators, Edison Middle School should take Rush Limbaugh up on his offer for the lectures and the plane ride. The one change this writer would make would be to have the students write essays analyzing the Obama inaugural speech and have Rush Limbaugh himself judge the best ones for the plane ride.
It would be the experience of a lifetime that the students would remember and savor forever. And they might actually learn a thing or two.
Sources: Children heard Limbaugh during Obama event, AP, January 21, 2009
How Rush Limbaugh Humiliated the Democrats and Enriched the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, Mark R. Whittington, Associated Content, October 23rd, 2007
