Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot

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{{cquote|Subsequent viewings [of the ''Rush Limbaugh Show''] pretty much confirmed that the point of Rush's show is to [[anti-intellectualism|punish you for actually knowing anything]].|||}}

'''''Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot And Other Observations''''' ({{Isbn|0385314744}}) a 1996 book by former ''Saturday Night Live'' comedian, writer, and actor and Senator [[Al Franken]]. The title is fairly self-explanatory.  This was Franken's first work of [[politics|political commentary]] and invariably launched him into future success with forays such as [[liberal talk radio|Air America]] and a successful campaign for [[Minnesota]]'s [[Senate]] seat in 2008.

==Synopsis==

===Background===
The book was written in 1995, before the [[Bill Clinton|Monica Lewinsky]] scandal but after the introduction of the [[Republican]] party's "[[Contract With America]]." Cruising along the wake of the revocation of the [[Fairness Doctrine]], [[conservative]] [[pundit]]s such as [[Rush Limbaugh]] et al. gained major popularity and notoriety in the [[United States]].

In [[stereotype|stereotypical]] [[Jewish]] fashion, the book starts with a negative and ostensibly [[satire|satirical]] review by former Ambassador [[Jeane Kirkpatrick]], as well as a rebuttal from Franken that suggests that they had, at one time in the 1980s, fooled around.

===The meat===
Franken starts the book by lambasting the title's target. A collection of [[ad hominem]] yet [[fact]]ual attacks about Limbaugh's [[obesity]] are only the sprinklings of an otherwise thorough analysis of Limbaugh's history of anti-[[feminism]], conservatism, [[racism]], and &mdash; for some reason &mdash; fashion critiques espoused during his [[conservative talk radio|radio show]].<ref group=note>Franken talks about how Limbaugh spent many minutes of airtime complaining about how the "liberal media" misrepresented his own line of neckwear &mdash; likely to point out how inane the show is, generally.</ref> Franken then proceeds to refute all of Limbaugh's hard-hitting talking points that he happened to hear or read about while researching for the book, usually through simple [[black swan]] counter-arguments.

===Only three chapters devoted to Rush===
Franken touches on many topics that were relevant at the time, and some today are no less meaningful:
* "Pseudo-certainty" among Limbaugh's listeners who turned out to be the least informed<ref group=note>[[Fox News|Sound familiar?]]</ref> yet the most confident of their knowledge. Scientists would later refer to this as the [[Dunning-Kruger effect]]; Franken called it "being a fucking moron".
*Limbaugh's baseless attacks on [[liberal]]s as being anti-American, anti-business, lazy, or whatever.
*Limbaugh's three [[marriage]]s, his period of collecting [[welfare|unemployment]], not voting for [[Ronald Reagan]], being both a draft dodger and a [[chickenhawk]], and other important [[hypocrisy|hypocrisies]].
*Limbaugh's use of [[quote mining]] and producing [[deceit|false]] interviews with figures such as [[Hillary Clinton]], which Franken turns around by doing the exact thing to Limbaugh.

===But the rest are still interesting/funny===
Franken dedicates the remaining 44 chapters, most not more than ten pages in length each, to a variety of other topics, including:
* A decent proposal (in true Swiftian fashion) to recruit America's elderly into high-risk government jobs such as the [[US Army|military]] and [[NASA]] in order to cut down on [[health care|Medicare]] expenses.
* Tearing into various conservative blowhards and chickenhawks, such as [[Pat Buchanan]], [[Dan Quayle]], [[Clarence Thomas]], [[Oliver North]], William Bennett, and [[Phil Gramm]], including a fictional story about their exploits in the [[Vietnam War]].
* You know all that stuff about [[Newt Gingrich]] that we still laugh at? It was all relevant in 1996 as well.
* Several humorous anecdotes about times when he was asked to speak at [[Democrat]]ic fundraisers or rallies.
* A slightly pre-Lewinsky "[[Fun:oral sex|Lewinskying]]" of [[Bill Clinton]] and a few notes about how horrible the [[United States]] would be if [[Bob Dole]] had been elected.
* A preemptive refutation of any notion that the book might be part of a [[conspiracy]] in a chapter titled, "This book is not part of a conspiracy".
* A laundry list of items that were<ref group=note>And still are.</ref> in desperate need of reform in 1996, such as [[Reaganomics|deficit spending policies]], [[health care]], [[environmental]] regulation, [[welfare]], tort law, and [[lobbying]]. It's almost like nothing has gotten better.

==External links==
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=PZDcoEchkIAC A free preview] on Google Books

==Notes==
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[[Category:Ableism]]

Categories: Ableism