Conservative radio talker Rush Limbaugh has caused a media, and social media, firestorm for comments he made on his show Tuesday comparing actor-comedian Robin Williams’ suicide to a "leftist worldview of pessimism and darkness, sadness,"
Politico reports.
Media Matters, which posted audio of Limbaugh’s remarks, accused him in a headline of exploiting Williams’ death to attack "political leftists."
"He had everything, everything that you would think would make you happy," Limbaugh said. "But it didn't. Now, what is the left's worldview in general? What is it? If you had to attach not a philosophy but an attitude to a leftist worldview, it's one of pessimism and darkness, sadness. They're never happy, are they? They're always angry about something. No matter what they get, they're always angry."
Limbaugh was responding to a caller’s question about the "politics in the coverage of Williams’ suicide.
The Twittersphere blew up, as did coverage of the commentary.
"Life is truly unfair when Robin Williams is dead and Rush Limbaugh is alive," read one tweet from a woman responding to a
Huffington Post story on the controversy.
"Rush's worldview, of course is one of optimism, light, and happiness. That's why he goes into a studio every day and spends three hours screaming 'I hate you' at most of the world," read another from someone with the handle GeniusLemur.
Even "Charlie Rose" show managing editor Tim Morrison weighed in, according to Politico.
Limbaugh continued that liberals "are animated in large part by the false promises of America, because the promises of America are not for everyone, as we see each and every day."
He referenced a
Fox News story that said Williams sank into depression because of financial woes brought on by expensive divorces and feeling embarrassed that he was forced "to take television roles after a sterling movie career."
The Fox News story also said survivor’s guilt plagued Williams following the early deaths of three of his closest friends, Christopher Reeve, John Belushi, and Andy Kaufman.
"Robin outlived them all," the source told Fox News. "He was a sensitive soul who struggled with the unfairness of it all."
"He could never get over the guilt that they died and he didn't,"
Limbaugh opined. "Well, that is a constant measurement that is made by political leftists in judging the country. It's outcome-based education: 2 + 2 = 5. That's fine until the student learns it's 4. We're not gonna humiliate the student by pointing out that he's wrong. If he figures it out, cool. We're gonna take the fast learners, and we're gonna slow them down so that they don't humiliate the kids that don't learn as fast as they do. It's just not fair."
The takeaway from Williams’ death, Limbaugh said, was that the award-winning actor "had it all, but he had nothing. He made everybody else laugh but was miserable inside. I mean, it fits a certain picture, or a certain image that the left has."
Related Stories:
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.