Countdown: Wounded vet calls Limbaugh's comparison of him to suicide bomber 'repugnant'
Keith Olbermann reported on Wednesday's Countdown that Rush Limbaugh has responded to criticism of his remark describing anti-war veterans as "phony soldiers" by comparing a real soldier who criticized him to a suicide bomber.
After Limbaugh's initial statement -- which he now claims was taken out of context -- Sgt. Brian McGough, a wounded combat veteran, appeared in a VoteVets.org ad saying that many troops in Iraq "believe George Bush's military policy has been a disaster" and telling Limbaugh, "Until you have the guts to call me a phony soldier to my face stop telling lies about my service."
Limbaugh's response to the VoteVets ad -- which he admitted he hadn't seen -- was to call it "a blatant use of a valiant combat veteran, lying to him about what I said and then strapping those lies to his belt, sending him out in the media ... Whoever pumped him full of these lies about what I said and embarrassed him with this tv ad has betrayed him."
Olbermann then welcomed McGough to his program to address Limbaugh's comparison of him to a suicide bomber, noting that Limbaugh had not been willing to allow McGough on his own show to confront him directly.
McGough -- who served in Kosovo, earned a Bronze Star in Afghanistan, and was seriously wounded in Iraq -- described his initial reaction to Limbaugh's statement as "disgust" and stated, "I've seen the after-effects of a suicide bomb. I've had friends that were hurt in suicide bombs. It makes me mad down to a place where I can't even think to describe. It's just repugnant."
Here's a face that should be on a dartboard:
