Rush Limbaugh: “We're shutting down our country because of the — the cold virus”

durangodawood said:

Wow.

I figured there were 2 possibilities.
1. You were uninformed
2. You had a pretty callous disregard for the life and health of old people.

I also figured that since youre a Christian it just couldnt be number 2. But I guess you schooled me otherwise.

Click to expand...

It's not a callous disregard for the welfare of the elderly. As Christians we aren't supposed to shrink from death, cowering in fear of it.

That tells me one thing. Virtually no one in this country is a Christian anymore because everyone seems to be scared to death of dying as if its something to fear.

Second, freedom is risk. I'd give my life for it. Why no one else seems to think freedom is worth any cost is beyond me... why everyone seems to think martial law is a good thing over a flu-like virus is beyond me.

It's sheer insanity, all of it.

Hazelelponi said:

why everyone seems to think martial law is a good thing over a flu-like virus is beyond me.

Click to expand...

It's not a "flu-like virus". It's much deadlier, especially when there is an explosion of infections (such as in Italy) that stretches the health care systems beyond the ability to deal with it.

It's sheer insanity, all of it.

Click to expand...

No, this is reality.

Second, freedom is risk

Click to expand...

Not just freedom, but community and love. No human touch. Everyone just retreats back to their caves.

usexpat97 said:

Not just freedom, but community and love. No human touch. Everyone just retreats back to their caves.

Click to expand...

Which, when you have a highly transmissible viral infection, is exactly what people should be doing.

That said, that doesn't mean we can't function as a community or express love for one another. Just look at examples in Italy where even under quarantine, people are singing from their balconies together in a show of solidarity and community spirit:

FreeinChrist said:

You need to provide support for that.

Click to expand...

Medication taken by at least 1.3million could raise the risk of coronavirus, scientists claim | Daily Mail Online

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?
High Blood Pressure Patients at Greater Risk of Virus Death

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Why_cant_ACE_inhibitors_work_as_coronavirus_blockers

ACE-2: The Receptor for SARS-CoV-2

essentialsaltes said:

No, it's a virus that was first identified in 2019. And that's why no one should listen to Rush and his misinformation.

Click to expand...

A coronavirus is a type of virus we have seen before since the 1960's in fact. It is also the type of virus that caused SARS and MERS (acute respiratory infections) and many that cause milder colds.

Calling every coronavirus the same is what is wrong here, this one is probably a recent crossover from another mammal, and it is not some common cold.

Coronaviruses: Symptoms, treatments, and variants

Rush like usual is being quite terribly stupid.

mina said:

Rush, Rush, Rush......... I don't have much to say other than he is a threat to public safety and he's leaving a horrible legacy for himself. I doubt he cares, but it's sorta sad.

Click to expand...

If he doesn't care, he should. The man's on borrowed time as it is.

Even without COVID-19, he knows he's going to spend his last days in an ICU, and the last sound he ever hears before he shuffles off his mortal coil will be the Darth-Vaderish sounds of a machine breathing for him. Coronavirus might be giving him a sneak preview of his own mortality that he doesn't want.

Denial and anger are the first two stages of grief regarding death -- But since denial and anger are Rush's default positions, who can tell if he's scared?

Hazelelponi said:

This has more than a 97% nothing but a cold rate...

Click to expand...

It has a 97% survival rate, not a 97% "nothing but a cold" rate. It looks like the rate of hospitalization for severe or critical cases is 20%, and if 20% of the population ended up in the hospital at the same time, the whole healthcare system would come crashing down (as it did in Wuhan and then Lombardy). Then the mortality rate would rise, as would the chances of not getting adequate care for any other medical emergency that arose.

Hazelelponi said:

It's not a callous disregard for the welfare of the elderly. As Christians we aren't supposed to shrink from death, cowering in fear of it.

That tells me one thing. Virtually no one in this country is a Christian anymore because everyone seems to be scared to death of dying as if its something to fear.

Click to expand...

Christianity doesn't teach that you should put the vulnerable people around you in danger of catching a disease that is far more likely to kill them than it is to kill you, simply to show that you personally are not afraid of death.

Hazelelponi said:

This has more than a 97% nothing but a cold rate...

People have lost their minds, the media is feeding it and the government is eating it up.

Y'all have fun, ill sit over here and try to figure out what's wrong with everyone.

Click to expand...

Perhaps you should get your numbers right before telling the rest of us that we’re nuts. There really isn’t any excuse at this point for getting something so basic so wrong - either you just haven’t done any homework or you’ve been listening to dishonest propagandists like Rush. Or both.

https://www.who.int/docs/default-so...0306-sitrep-46-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=96b04adf_2

“COVID-19, data to date suggest that 80% of infections are mild or asymptomatic, 15% are severe infection, requiring oxygen and 5% are critical infections, requiring ventilation.”

mina said:

Rush, Rush, Rush......... I don't have much to say other than he is a threat to public safety and he's leaving a horrible legacy for himself. I doubt he cares, but it's sorta sad.

Click to expand...

I doubt he knows better at this point. He’s been living in his self-congratulating bubble for so long, he’s brainwashed himself.

Hazelelponi said:

It's not a callous disregard for the welfare of the elderly. As Christians we aren't supposed to shrink from death, cowering in fear of it.

That tells me one thing. Virtually no one in this country is a Christian anymore because everyone seems to be scared to death of dying as if its something to fear.

Second, freedom is risk. I'd give my life for it. Why no one else seems to think freedom is worth any cost is beyond me...

Click to expand...

You’re welcome to risk your own life for it. What I have a problem with is you risking mine or my family’s, which, with a pandemic like this, is what you’re doing.

why everyone seems to think martial law is a good thing over a flu-like virus is beyond me.

It's sheer insanity, all of it.

Click to expand...

What’s insane is that we’re a couple months into this and you’re still getting basic facts wrong. Maybe you oughta do some homework.

Hazelelponi said:

It's not a callous disregard for the welfare of the elderly. As Christians we aren't supposed to shrink from death, cowering in fear of it.

That tells me one thing. Virtually no one in this country is a Christian anymore because everyone seems to be scared to death of dying as if its something to fear.

Second, freedom is risk. I'd give my life for it. Why no one else seems to think freedom is worth any cost is beyond me... why everyone seems to think martial law is a good thing over a flu-like virus is beyond me.

It's sheer insanity, all of it.

Click to expand...

Martial law?

Wow talk about overreacting!

Also, and more importantly re old people, we arent talking here about dying people clinging to every last minute of life on their deathbed. There are millions of old people leading fine worthy lives who could be laid low by this thing. Not to mention the impact for everyone else of them overwhelming the hospital system.

Is there some strain of Christianity that encourages comet cult / aum shinrikyo type attitudes toward life?

TLK Valentine said:

Denial and anger are the first two stages of grief regarding death -- But since denial and anger are Rush's default positions, who can tell if he's scared?

Click to expand...

I've been wondering if those in denial over this thing might actually be the *most* scared.

Denial is a defense mechanism, after all.

durangodawood said:

Wow.

I figured there were 2 possibilities.
1. You were uninformed
2. You had a pretty callous disregard for the life and health of old people.

I also figured that since youre a Christian it just couldnt be number 2. But I guess you schooled me otherwise.

Click to expand...

I usually go with 2 when talking with christians.

I think it's mostly "I'm going to heaven, so why should I care about y'all" in many cases.

mina said:

Rush, Rush, Rush......... I don't have much to say other than he is a threat to public safety and he's leaving a horrible legacy for himself. I doubt he cares, but it's sorta sad.

Click to expand...

Don't worry, one of these days those tumors will shut him up for good.

durangodawood said:

What, do you want to wait until there's thousands of cases like they did in Italy or China? We have their actual examples to learn from, yet you seem to prefer we learn nothing.

Click to expand...

We already have thousands of cases. We just don't know where they are yet.

durangodawood said:

Also, and more importantly re old people, we arent talking here about dying people clinging to every last minute of life on their deathbed. There are millions of old people leading fine worthy lives who could be laid low by this thing.

Click to expand...

Note that 'old people' here refers pretty much to anyone over 50.

sfs said:

Note that 'old people' here refers pretty much to anyone over 50.

Click to expand...

Here are mortality stats by age group from

Coronavirus Age, Sex, Demographics (COVID-19) - Worldometer

Based on:

A paper by the Chinese CCDC released on Feb. 17, which is based on 72,314 confirmed, suspected, and asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 in China as of Feb. 11, and was published in the Chinese Journal of Epidemiology

COVID-19 Fatality Rate by AGE:
*Death Rate = (number of deaths / number of cases) = probability of dying if infected by the virus (%). This probability differs depending on the age group.

80+ years old 14.8%
70-79 years old 8.0%
60-69 years old 3.6%
50-59 years old 1.3%
40-49 years old 0.4%
30-39 years old 0.2%
20-29 years old 0.2%
10-19 years old 0.2%
0-9 years old no fatalities


In Italy the number of ICU cases was even higher, possibly due to the older population:

Critical Care and the COVID-19 Outbreak in Italy: Early Experience and Forecast

The proportion of ICU admissions represents 12% of the total positive cases, and 16% of all hospitalized patients. This rate is higher than what was reported from China, where only 5% of patients who tested positive for COVID-19 required ICU admission.