It’s hard to listen to this. It isn’t just racist, it’s stupid. I have to suspect that Limbaugh is back on the oxycontin.
For a great communicator, he sure does have a knack for drawing out his discussion beyond what is necessary; pithy and cogent are not words to apply to Rush. Here’s the relevant part of his talk.
How many native americans were killed by the arrival of the white man through disease and war?
…
how many people have died since the wm arrived due to lung cancer, thanks to the Indian custom of smoking? Who are the real killers here?
…
Where are our reparations?
The questions don’t make much sense. Of the Native American population that existed in the 16th-19th century, all of them are dead, most by disease and war; it’s what people die of. Typical estimates I’ve seen is that 80% of the native population was wiped out by introduced diseases, and the remnants were killed in wars or forced into militarily monitored districts. The descendants of those people, at least in North America, are largely confined to reservations, where the people have the lowest standard of living, the highest infant mortality rate, the shortest life spans of any group in this country. The white man nearly exterminated all of the native peoples of this continent by infection and execution and confinement.
Conversely, the European invaders have thrived, have suffered no general deprivation of life or liberty at the hands of the native population (although there were transient local flareups of violence that did cause suffering in white populations, but which were always followed by imposing greater torment on the natives).
White peoples: massive net gain. Native peoples: massive net loss. Fat privileged jerks like Rush Limbaugh do not get to play the persecution card.
And don’t even get me started on the smoking comment. Watching your children die of smallpox, seeing your friends gunned down by cavalry, having your land stripped from under you, watching your way of life eradicated, and seeing your descendants condemned to a life of poverty does not quite stack up against lighting a stogie and sipping brandy with your over-privileged pale-skinned buddies. And who, I ask, is profiting from tobacco? I don’t think it’s the native Americans.
Would you believe Rush Limbaugh is the most beloved commentator of the Republican base? It’s past time to recognize what the Republican party is: the last bastion of KKK mentality.
