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Limbaugh blames health care problems on “exercise freaks”

Rush Limbaugh talking about Obama’s plan to reform health care in the US:

I’ll tell you why Obama wants to hurry. I’ll answer my own question. If he doesn’t get it done now he’s not going to get it done because everything he’s doing is falling apart. Everything he’s doing is crumbling. He’s in a state of panic out there. He wants it done because if he gets this — if he gets health care, folks, as Mona Charen wrote — it’s the ball game. It’s all she wrote. In socialized medicine, government health care — you heard him say, the overweight are to blame. Yeah, folks, I gotta tell you something.

Suck on this, LimbaughI think those of you that regularly exercise — playing softball, baseball, basketball, soccer, mountain biking, running, rock climbing, skiing, skating, running — you’re the people getting injured. You’re the people showing up at the hospital with busted knees and tendons and skin cancer, ankle sprains, knee and hip replacements, broken bones, concussions, muscle, ligament, tendon, cartilage strains and tears, tendinitis, rotator cuff tears. All you exercise freaks, you’re the ones putting stress on the health care system. What happens when people don’t regularly exercise and keep their weight relatively under control? Nothing! They probably don’t even know their doctors’ names. So you’re urging to go out there do all of this stuff and you’re ending up in the hospital all the time with these injuries and some people think these injuries are badges of honor. A knee surgery scars a badge of honor shows toughness. Yeah. Toughness, somebody else has to pay for.

Yes, Mister obese cigar-chomping drug addict actually said “All you exercise freaks, you’re the ones putting stress on the health care system.”

Hear the audio at MediaMatters.

Tom Toles
© Tom Toles

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11 Comments

  1. Sammy wrote:

    Actually, there’s a grain of truth in his statement. I lift weights every day and snowboard like a freak in the winter, and yes, I have the injuries to prove it. In my effort to “be healthy” I have actually hurt myself more times than I’d care to mention.

    However, the idea that exercise is a bad thing and that we shouldn’t do it because “somebody else” will pay for it is pure Limbaugh drivel.

    Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 5:24 pm | Permalink
  2. Iron Knee wrote:

    There is a small grain of truth in every good piece of propaganda.

    Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 5:48 pm | Permalink
  3. B.B. Martin wrote:

    Any one that believes Rush LimBAH would believe anything that insane… So let the rest of us continue to be amused at his lunacy!

    Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 7:20 pm | Permalink
  4. Ron K wrote:

    You see, Limbaugh is the real patriot. He would rather die from obesity, heart disease or diabetes than exercising and putting strain on the U.S. Health care system. Exercise and physical activity is only for Left Wing Radical Democrats who sip lattes, read NY Times and drive Volvos. The Conservative Republicans never need any physical activity. The are superhuman beings.

    Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 8:02 pm | Permalink
  5. Ron K wrote:

    so for all you kids out there who are playing and exercising, stop at once! come inside, watch TV and play Video Games the whole day and of course, listen to the Great Commentator, His Excellency, Sir Rush Limbaugh, the man who needs no exercise.

    Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 8:05 pm | Permalink
  6. Toby wrote:

    What a complete tit. He even looks a bit like one.

    I’m glad we don’t have nutjobs like that over in the UK…. oh wait… someone just mentioned Nick Griffin. Do you fancy a swap?

    Sunday, June 14, 2009 at 2:15 am | Permalink
  7. Pete Mc wrote:

    Uhh…Mr. Limbaugh, did you know that the Federal Guidelines for Physical Activity released by the George W. Bush administration (last October while they sat on the sidelines as the economy imploded, but that’s a different story) actually admitted that regular exercise and physical activity WILL PREVENT a number of chronic diseases and health issues.

    that is right, the federal government acknowledged regular exercise as a preventative cure for a number of COMPLETELY AVOIDABLE health maladies due to lifestyle choices such as overeating, overdrinking, smoking (even cigars) and over-using prescription medication. Oh…wait…that is your lifestyle so it’s easier for you to poke fun at those of us who choose to be active and stay healthy rather than be gluttonus pigs causing a bigger strain on the healthcare system.

    a few mri’s and emergency room trips caused by people who are active are a lot less costly than the people I see who have to use a motorized scooter instead of having the ability to walk under their own weight.

    Sen-elect Franken was right (and I’m going to enjoy quoting him) “Rush Limbaugh is a BIG, fat IDIOT”

    Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 12:37 pm | Permalink
  8. David H. Marshall wrote:

    CONGRESS’S “TO HARM” EXPERIMENTS CONTINUE?

    Despite the efforts of some members of Congress, do the Department of Defense (DOD) U.S. Senate proven “designed to harm” experiments continue?[8] The 1950 U.S. Supreme Court FERES Doctrine determined that the U.S. Government can not be held accountable for injuries incident to U.S. Military Service.[1] The 1987 U.S. Supreme Court STANLEY [3] determined that FERES also protects the government from DOD “experiments that were designed to harm” [8] subjects. In 2006 the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) was signed into law.[10] In 2009, under its “NATIONAL SECURITY MISSIONS”, now also continued on civilians are these DOD on Veterans lessons learned?

    In 2009 the U.S. Congress still has not corrected the U.S. Senate’s 1994 reported 50 years of a DOD “experiments that were designed to harm” policy. This is their many experiments conducted on “hundreds of thousands” of U.S. Military personnel.[8] The “Veterans Right to Know Act” to establish the Veterans’ Right to Know Commission was proposed in the 2005 and H.R. 4259 [109th] 2006 Congress.[9] It never became law.

    “IT WAS NECESSARY “TO CONCEAL THESE ACTIVITIES FROM THE AMERICAN PUBLIC IN GENERAL,” BECAUSE PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE OF THE” UNETHICAL AND ILLICIT ACTIVITIES WOULD HAVE SERIOUS REPERCUSSIONS IN POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC CIRCLES AND WOULD BE DETRIMENTAL TO THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF ITS MISSION.” Footnote 4, U.S. Supreme Court 1987 STANLEY military experiments case, Page 688.[3] This case confirms their FERES Doctrine [1] decision that correction is through the U.S. Congress. After STANLEY Congress passed the 1988 Veterans’ Judicial Review Act (VJRA). Established was the Legislative, Article I severely restricted, Veteran’s Court with Congress’s “The court may not review the schedule of ratings for disabilities or the policies underlying the schedule.”, i.e., the needed for treatment “designed to harm” evidence. The Veterans Court Chief Judge’s no teeth statement.[7] Given to the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is the Judicial Branch’s final authority on “the policies underlying the schedule” questions of law; 511(a)![5] These experiments were performed under the secrecy cover of our past wars. They were in direct disobedience of the DOD Secretary’s 1953 TOP SECRET order. This order was unclassified twenty two (22) years later.[2] 1953 and since known by the Secretary’s of all Services, Joint Chiefs of Staff, the DOD Research and Development (R&D) Board and the U.S. Congress.

    Each deliberate “to harm” project completes the R&D process. Prior R&D is reviewed. The resulting Scope of Work defines what each experiment is “designed” to accomplish. The how, where, when and who is identified. The conducted RESEARCHED cause and effects are closely followed and recorded. From the results are DEVELOPED safe production, use, treatment and protection.

    The needed for treatment, experiment revealing evidence is: 1. Not in a subject’s Medical History, so that they never the wiser become. And 2. The resulting alerting injuries are not in the VA “schedule…for disabilities”! There is no, “Veterans Right to Know…”. After honorable service Congress still has not given back to veterans those rights that convicted rapists and murderers keep![6]

    GIVEN THE U. S. CONGRESSIONAL, NOW 65 YEAR [8], PATTERN OF BEHAVIOR, DO NOT THE EXPERIMENTS CONTINUE UNDER THE COVER OF OUR PRESENT WARS??

    REFERENCES:

    [1] 1950 – Feres v. United States , 340 U.S. 135, 146 (1950).

    [2] 1953 – DOD Secretary’s 26 February 1953 NO non-consensual, human experiment’s Memo pages 343-345. George J. Annas and Michael A. Grodin, “The Nazi Doctors and the Nuremberg Code; Human Rights in Human Experimentation” (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992). In REFERENCE [8] as NOTES 72, 168 & 169.

    [3] 1987 – U.S. SUPREME COURT, JUNE 25, 1987, U.S. V. STANLEY , 107 S. CT. 3054 (VOLUME 483 U.S. , SECTION 669, PAGES 699 TO 710). In REFERENCE [8] cited in NOTE 169.

    [4] 1988 – Veterans’ Judicial Review Act (VJRA), Pub. L. No. 100-687, Div. A, 102 Stat. 4105 (8 December 1988)

    [5] “United States Code (USC) Title 38, 511. Decisions of the Secretary; finality.” http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode38/uscsec3800000511—-000-.html

    [6] 1994 – U.S. State Dept., ” U.S. Report under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights July 1994, Article 7″.

    [7] 1994 – Chief Judge and colleague statements, Court of Veterans Appeals, Annual Judicial Conference, Fort Meyer, VA., 17 & 18 October 1994. http://www..firebase.net/state_of_court_brief.htm

    [8] 1994 – December 8, 1994 REPORT 103-97 “Is Military Research Hazardous to Veterans’ Health? Lessons Spanning Half a Century.” Hearings Before the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, 103rd Congress 2nd Session. With NOTES 1 to 170.

    [9] 2005 & 2006 – “Veterans Right to Know Act” to establish the Veterans’ Right to Know Commission was proposed in the 2005 and H.R. 4259 [109th] 2006 Congress.

    [10] 2006 – Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), Bill S. 3678 2006. Signed into law 16 December 2006.

    Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 11:45 am | Permalink
  9. Marcia Hendricks wrote:

    I agree with Rush LImbaugh on exercize freaks. If these robots (that’s what they look like to me) would get their exercise doing real man’s work around the house, instead of running in their little panties up and down street with a cell phone stuffed in their ear, then they wouldn’t get broken this or that so often.l
    By the way, maybe i’m old fashioned, but I kind of like to see a real man smoking a cigar, like both my grandfathers did, and they lived well past 90 years of age.

    marcyrick1

    Wednesday, July 22, 2009 at 9:58 am | Permalink
  10. Dan Crofoot wrote:

    We dnt need Bush and his Nazi friends back in Government !!!

    Wednesday, February 24, 2010 at 8:17 am | Permalink
  11. dermott wrote:

    There’s a certain amount of logic to what the man says, but you’re also blowing things out of proportion.

    Even in plain-text, and without hearing a soundbite, the sarcasm is obvious. Silly you for taking a sensational statement seriously and blogging about it on the Internet.

    Wednesday, March 10, 2010 at 12:58 pm | Permalink

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