Rush Limbaugh should just shutup and send the president a cigar

While Rush Limbaugh used snide sarcasm to praise President Obama for getting Osama bin Laden, conservative talk-radio host Sean Hannity bit his lip yesterday and actually credited the president on the air.

Of course Hannity qualified it by saying that it was George Bush's policy on torture that made it possible. He was referring to intelligence extracted from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Abu Faraj al-Libi while in CIA custody that he claims led to one of bin Laden’s couriers in turn leading to Osama bin Laden. Hannity was only partially right.

Senior administration officials qualified Hannity’s assertion by saying that “all we got was a “nickname” on the courier but they wouldn’t give up his real name or location. It wasn’t until four years ago, that they uncovered his true identity and about two years ago, after months of persistent effort, we identified areas in Pakistan where the courier and his brother operated.” So either these men being waterboarded didn’t know the true name of their assistant (which is highly unlikely), or they managed to withhold that information even under torture. In any event, Hannity gets some credit for his qualified accolades of the President nonetheless.

On the other hand when Rush Limbaugh praised the president yesterday saying “thank God for President Obama” it was obvious he was being sarcastic. Limbaugh, in his typical right-wing spin fashion, was implying that President Obama was taking all the credit for the mission. Limbaugh also went out of his way to sarcastically laud the prescience of Obama's decision to go with a surgical special-ops strike that could recover proof of Bin Laden's death, as opposed to bombing the hell out of the place and hoping the world takes our word for it. "Thank God for president Obama," Limbaugh said. "If he had not been there, who knows what would have happened. It was only Obama who understood the need to get DNA, to prove that was Bin laden that we had assassinated. Cherish this moment.”

The notion that President Obama was giving himself high-fives because he felt he single-handidly got Osama is so ridiculous it doesn't merit a response. On a day of pride for all Americans, you would think Limbaugh would have taken the day off from his typical Obama-hate false assertions but I guess that would be asking too much.Osama's death follows the deaths of over 3,000 of his victims and thousands of our troops sacrificing life and limb in his pursuit.

President Obama rightly enjoys credit along with the CIA, our Navy Seals, and all else involved for their concerted effort to finally get this snifling coward who used hie wife as a shield in his final moments. Most American understand that. So, Limbaugh would look less like an unappreciative fool if he would just keep his mouth shut and send President Obama one of those $50 cigars that he smokes.

By Leo Kapakos