Classic video clip of Rush Limbaugh obliterating woke virtue-signaling in 1993 is still as relevant as ever
By PAUL SACCA | November 07, 2022
Read more at https://www.theblaze.com/news/rush-limbaugh-ribbons-video-virtue-signaling/
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In a video clip from nearly three decades ago, the legendary Rush Limbaugh was able to obliterate the concept of virtue-signaling, and did so in 45 seconds.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines virtue-signaling as: “The act or practice of conspicuously displaying one’s awareness of and attentiveness to political issues, matters of social and racial justice, etc., especially instead of taking effective action.”
According to an article in the Boston Globe, the word “virtue-signaling” first surfaced in online message boards in 2004. In 2015, The Spectator published an article titled: “The awful rise of virtue signaling.” Google Trends shows the term “virtue signaling” was not really used until the summer of 2017, and the term exploded in June 2020.
Rush Limbaugh categorically understood the concept of the virtue-signaling way back in 1993. He not only grasped the dangerous flaws of virtue-signaling, but he could effectively lampoon the concept before anyone had a name for it.
In the 1990s, there was no Facebook to put a filter on your profile photo or Twitter to put pronouns in your bio to show you support the “current thing.” So people would wear ribbons to flaunt their moral high ground on a myriad of different causes.
For instance, orange ribbons are associated with leukemia, yellow to raise awareness for missing children, lavender to stand against urban violence, and blue ribbons are often worn to protest bullying. In the 1990s, a red ribbon was worn to raise awareness for HIV/AIDS.
In 1993 near the height of the AIDS epidemic, some people felt pressured to show their support for those suffering from HIV and AIDS by wearing a red ribbon on their clothes.
The Hollywood actors wanted to show the world how much they care about AIDS by wearing red ribbons. In 1993, the New York Times described the 65th Academy Awards audience of actors as a “sea of red AIDS ribbons.”
The Los Angeles Times noted, “When Billy Crystal emceed the Academy Awards on Monday night, we were surprised to see that he wasn’t wearing the red ribbon that symbolizes AIDS awareness.”
“The next morning we heard several radio shows abuzz with the to-wear or not to-wear (an AIDS ribbon) controversy,” the Los Angeles Times remarked, and added, “Radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, for one, called Crystal ‘the bravest man in Hollywood’ for not feeling like he had to follow the herd.”
Limbaugh set out to use the ribbon controversy to expose how feckless and shallow virtue signaling is.
During an episode of his syndicated television show in 1993, “America’s Anchorman” obliterated woke virtue-signaling.
Limbaugh pinned six different-colored ribbons on his suit, and satirically boasted to the studio audience, “Because I’m wearing these ribbons, I care more than any of you about anything. And these ribbons say so.”
The iconic radio host instructed his viewers to look at their own lapels, and then asked, “When you look down, what do you see?”
He answered his own question, “You don’t see anything, because you’re not wearing any ribbons.”
El Rushbo then explained how not wearing the ribbon meant that you were not as virtuous as those who did.
“It means you’re a bigot, it means you’re a racist, it means you’re a sexist, it means you’re a homophobe,” Limbaugh rattled off. “It probably means you’re a white guy, it probably means you’re a European, and you and you alone are responsible for all the ills of America.”
He then triumphantly proclaimed, “But I’m not, because I’m wearing these ribbons. I care more than you.”
The audience erupts into laughter over the absurd premise.
The classic video clip of Limbaugh destroying liberals for virtue-signaling resurfaced on Sunday. The old clip from 1993 went viral and racked up more than 700,000 views on Twitter in less than two days.
Nearly 30 years later, Limbaugh’s lesson on virtue signaling still holds true.
Political cartoon by A. F. Branco ©2021.
Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2021.
Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2020.
Political cartoon by A.F. Branco
The U.N. Human Rights Council is made up of human rights violating thugs who are against Israel. Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2020.
Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2020.
In other words, the CBO said that 
You take your pick. Whatever major industry we’re talking about, 
But it’s not you. It’s not the voters. They’re certainly afraid of somebody — or else they despise somebody — but they’re not afraid. You know, Ted Cruz said the thing that he discovered that was the most… I mean, he knew it, but to see it in action every day? It blew his mind that the single, dominating thing in every day of a senator’s life is getting reelected, which means fundraising. That’s number one, first and foremost.
For those of you in Rio Linda, it means the next month is 2016, which is an election year. They wanted to be on record as close to an election year as possible that they had sent a vote to repeal Obamacare up to Obama. Damn it, they repealed it. But that’s what you get with a Democrat in the White House. You give us a Republican in the White House and we’ll repeal it. She tells everybody how it’s not affordable. It’s not this and that. It’s not anything it purports to be, and she lays claim to no doubt that she opposes it.
Trump says he has more respect for military people that don’t get captured. (sigh) Well, think what you will of that. But you cannot think what you will of that without recognizing the importance of that story to McCain’s political biography. It is crucial to McCain’s biography. Everybody knows it — that’s how crucial it’s been — that McCain was captured after being shot down, that when the Vietcong found out who he was (i.e., the son of a famous Navy admiral), they offered him release and how McCain said no.
“Trump is favored to win Tuesday’s primary not only because of his polling advantage, but also because he has the backing of former governor Jan Brewer.” The former governor is popular. Of course, immigration’s a huge issue in Arizona, and Trump is personally identified with that issue. But it says here (it’s a Weekly Standard story) that “Trump may have hurt himself among these voters by announcing that he was ‘softening’ his position on immigration in a recent debate and showing himself to be ignorant about the details of his own immigration plan in an earlier debate.”
RUSH: 
So when I saw this New York Times story headlined: “Republican Leaders Map a Strategy to Derail Donald Trump,” I believe every word of it. I think there’s probably even more to it than what the story includes. But here are some highlights.
“Mr. Coburn, who left the Senate early last year to receive treatment for cancer, said in an interview that Mr. Trump ‘needs to be stopped’ and that he expected to back an independent candidate against him. He said he had little appetite for a campaign of his own, but did not flatly rule one out. ‘I’m going to support that person,'” whoever this group comes up with to stop Trump. “‘and I don’t expect that person to be me.’ Trump opponents convened a series of war councils last week to pinpoint his biggest vulnerabilities and consider whether to endorse,” Cruz or Kasich.
Prior to joining Trump, you know what they did? They were Tea Partiers. And, by the way, the Tea Party and Trump supporters are not monolithic. They’re not all poor white — look, let me just call a spade a spade. What they want you to believe is the average Trump voter is an uneducated hick, white trash, upset over his own or her own personal failures looking to blame somebody else and Trump has come along and given them comfort.
They know the hypocrisy charge, even if it sticks, is never gonna harm them. But with Obama saying opposing his nominee goes against the Constitution — which, of course, it doesn’t. But the real question is: Why should Obama be so concerned about what the Constitution says about appointing someone to the Supreme Court when he doesn’t want whoever he appoints to follow the Constitution anyway?
We now have Chuck Grassley (paraphrased), “Whoa, I’m rethinking this. Maybe we will conduct hearings.” And then Mel Tillis… (Nope, I take it back. That’s the country singer.) Thom Tillis, North Carolina. (paraphrased) “Oh, I think we don’t want to look like obstructionists.” And there it is, folks! There it is! (paraphrased) “We don’t want to look like obstructionists.” That’s translated: “We have to cross the aisle on this. We have to show the people we can help make Washington work.
“Moderate?” He laughed. “I don’t know what that means! I’m gonna nominate somebody qualified.” Translation: “I’m gonna find the nearest socialist I can and I’m gonna ram it down their throats. Get your popcorn ready. Moderate? Are you kidding me? I don’t do moderate!” But here are the Republicans. So I just… I tried to warn everybody not to confuse your hope with what you think you heard. I even got into an argument with Snerdley! He thinks that Mitch McConnell…
“He was dead serious! This is different, Rush. It’s the Supreme Court.”
These are not proclamations on a Friday night document dump where nobody was paying attention. Carter proudly announced these maneuvers in public. And the Drive-Bys, if they were doing their jobs, would be digging into their archives trying to find this. But 
You have African-American middle class. It covers the gamut. There’s all kinds of diversity. And yet the reality of what people see is over shadowed it might not have by years and years and years of the Democrats in the media accusing the Republicans of not being diverse and hating everybody who isn’t white. Yet when you look at the Democrats all you see is white. All you see is aged — seasoned citizens in most cases. You don’t see minorities, ethnic or otherwise, and you can’t say Hillary is minority because women…
So when the Washington Post saw the same debate you and I did they missed the fact that every Democrat was old and white. And instead they focused on CNN and they saw Dana Bash, and they saw Anderson Cooper. Hell, CNN had more diversity than the Democrat candidates had. They had a woman, they had a gay/homosexual. Besides, there was Anderson Cooper and Dana Bash and who…? Did they have somebody else that was moderating or just those two? Seems there were three people last… Oh, there was an Hispanic guy. There was an Hispanic guy asking Hispanic-related questions. 
They’re happening because of political correctness, fear, intimidation, you name it. First story. UK Daily Mail: “A granite monument of the Ten Commandments that has sparked controversy since its installation on the Oklahoma Capitol grounds was being removed and will be transported to a private conservative think tank for storage. A contractor the state hired began removing the monument shortly after 10:30 p.m. Monday. The work comes after the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s June decision that the display violates a state constitutional prohibition on the use of public property to support ‘any sect, church, denomination or system of religion.'”
What is a “communal workplace kitchen”? Does that mean like our little kitchen in here? I mean, we’re a workplace. It’s the “communal” that has… What is that, communal? Does it mean we have to open it up to people outside the office here? (interruption) Well, whatever it means, here’s the story. “Communal workplace kitchens may soon face a ban on pork products like sausage rolls and ham sandwiches over fears that they are offensive to certain faiths.” See how guilty we are, folks? Ham sandwiches is a sign of the bigotry that this nation is, always has been, and has become.
You know what this really epitomizes? This illustrates the difference between immigrants in the past and those of today. Immigrants in the past came here to be Americans. They loved the American flag. They wanted that flag to fly above them. They revered, respected, and on the other hand that flag. They could not wait to assimilate. They could not wait to become citizens. They could not wait to wave that flag as their own.
All they wanted was get the A and get out of there. I asked this woman, “Why didn’t you do something! I mean, this is outrageous what’s happening. You’ve got an activist that’s taken over a history course. Why do you do something about it?” “I don’t want my daughter penalized. Nothing’s gonna happen to that teacher. All of these parents can go in; nothing’s gonna happen to that teacher. The school board’s gonna defend the teacher. The principal’s gonna defend. All that’s gonna happen is that my daughter is gonna get F’s.”
Well, I’m here, and I’m going to do my best to put this into some sort of perspective. One thing I’m not is in a state of denial. I think there’s a lot going on, and to try to put them in any kind of priority, “Okay, this is the worst and then this is the next worst.” That’s a futile exercise and ultimately meaningless. But I think, folks, you can almost include Obamacare in this. In this decision today, the court legalizing gay marriage, this is in a way Roe v. Wade all over again. The country was involved.
I think I know or have a good idea of why Obamacare survives, amnesty survives and will survive, and I think it’s basically fear. Fear of being the one, anyone in history, who dared oppose or repeal anything accomplished by the first African-American president. I think that has created a paralysis in the Republican Party and in the conservative movement and at the Supreme Court and at Congress and at the Senate. I think it’s pervasive and I think it’s going to be forever. I think that fear is going to survive long after Obama has served his terms of office.
They’re not worried about ISIS taking their power away; they’re not worried about the Iranians doing that. So we must be destroyed. We must be attacked and annihilated and rendered irrelevant. The Dukes of Hazzard, for crying out loud! A television show, because the Confederate flag was on the roof of the car, comes under assault. There never is any strategy to deal with this. We know what’s coming — at least I do! I’ve made a career here out of warning everybody what’s coming, and there never is…
How can Netanyahu responding to what the Democrats are doing be considered racism and what the Democrats are doing not be racism? This is getting… This has been out of hand for I don’t know how long. The Democrats are throwing down the race card and getting away with it because there’s too much fear in retaliating to it, against it. There’s too much fear. Everybody’s frightened in the elected political class to do something about this. But it’s long been out of hand. It’s perverse. It’s destructive.
I want to ask you a question that I asked you yesterday. Have you ever stopped to think, in this whole Middle East peace process — and remember that’s all it is. It’s a process that never ends. It’s a process that recycles and repeats. It’s a chess game and the game never is won or lost. The pieces keep being moved around by different players, depending on the American administration and the Israeli prime minister and whoever’s running the show at the PLO or Fatah or whatever they call themselves on any given day, Hamas, Hezbollah, you name it.
Hello, Yasser Arafat. Hello, whoever is running the show in negotiations against the Israelis, because they do not want a two-state solution. There is no two-state solution. There’s a one-state solution. A two-state solution actually means the end of Israel. Go take a look at the Hezbollah charter. Take a look at things stated by Yasser Arafat when he was around. Doesn’t matter who. You’ll see, take a look at Iranian caliphate. No matter where you go the objective is wiping out the Jewish state. It doesn’t exist anymore, and neither do the people who at present live in it.
But why, no matter what Democrat you mention, no matter what Democrat’s ever in the White House, or whatever Democrat’s secretary of state, whatever Democrat ends up anywhere, why are they always simpatico with the Palestinians? And there is an answer to the question. Without going into it in great detail, it’s no more complicated — I mean there is ideology involved. There’s a common ground. Leftists will find their friends anywhere around the world. They do not have to be American. They do not have to be domestic in any way.
It’s really no more complicated than that. Well, it is actually because there is ideological common ground as well between the enemies of Israel and the Democrat Party in this country, but in large part it’s really no more complicated than the evil tyranny of a majority and the poor, helpless, put-upon, discriminated-against minority and people of color. And, as such, the Democrats look upon these minorities not with respect. They look upon them with pity and the bigotry of low expectations. They’re people that can’t do anything on their own. They’re people who can’t survive on their own. They’re poor people, they’re just incompetent and inept, and they need a champion. They need somebody speaking up for them. They need somebody defending them.
And how they gonna do that, folks? How’s that solution? If that were to happen, how is there no Israel, and how are there no Jews living on the land that is now Israel, how does that happen? You think somebody’s gonna negotiate that? You think somebody’s gonna come along in the Middle East peace process and agree to that? You think the United Nations is gonna pass a Security Council resolution that everybody’s gonna vote for that wipes Israel, as it exists, off the map and put the Jews that live there somewhere else? Preferably in the Mediterranean, is what the Palestinians want.
The opposition, by the way, being aided and assisted by Barack Obama. And let’s remember once again, spending money, targeting other resources, running campaign ads to turn out the Arab vote in the Israeli election, that was the American Democrat Party, that was the American president, Barack Obama. That’s the advice that the Herzog campaign got. That’s how the money was spent over there.
So there’s gonna be a price for this, and that price is gonna be we are gonna abandon Israel at the UN, and we are going to assist the Iranians. We may put sanctions on Israel now and lift them on Iran. I mean, imagine Eddie Haskell with nuclear weapons and the Beaver keeps beating him. That’s what we’re looking at here. We’ve got a man-child, an immature child, spoiled brat who’s had his way his whole life, been treated as something special his whole life, and his life recently is a series of humiliations, from losing the automatic bid for Chicago to get the Olympics.
Here’s what Holder said: “Problems we must confront are not only found in Ferguson; the issues raised in Missouri are not unique to that state or to that small city. We are dealing with concerns that are truly national in scope and that threaten the entire nation.” What happened here? Again, they want to make it look like this happens every day, multiple times a day. They’re painting a picture here that innocent young blacks are assassinated by cops who are hunting.
Gays got gay marriage, Hispanics got amnesty for illegals, and African-Americans apparently are gonna be able to riot without anybody stopping them if they want to. Apparently they’re gonna be able to engage in civil disobedience and the excuse is gonna be offered, 
Now, wait a minute. How does that jibe with what we’re being told about what went on in Ferguson? How can you have three people dead, 11 multiple shootings, 
Something about this has just not seemed right to me and I haven’t been able to put my finger on it. But it’s the same way I felt in the days leading up to the Obama announcement on amnesty, the executive amnesty for the five million illegals. Here we were told what was gonna happen and the media, in the pre-days and hours leading up to the event, heightened the tension, the anticipation. We had a countdown to an event we all knew was coming, and that was the Constitution being violated.
“Policy advisers at the Health & Human Services Department estimated that 9 million to 9.9 million people would enroll through the exchanges — or only a slight increase over the 8 million that the [Regime] says were active at the end of the first enrollment period this April. The Congressional Budget Office, which is the government’s official scorekeeper, had predicted the law would need 13 million customers on the exchanges. …
It is elitism that is ignorant because it’s arrogant and conceited, and Jonathan Gruber is an elitist and therefore has no idea what life is really like for all the people he’s out there writing legislation for. All he knows is that they’re stupid, and they can’t deal with the truth. They don’t know what’s best for ’em. So in order to give them what’s best for them (Obamacare), we have to lie to them.
So on the left they continue living in their fantasy world, that Obamacare is not what it is. And what they don’t understand is the whole country is away ahead of ’em. This stupid bunch of Americans are way ahead of the Drive-By Media, which is caught twisting and turning in the past trying to save an already ruined presidency. Well, ruined in the popular way presidencies are judged, presidential approval, blah, blah, blah. In terms of actual accomplishments that are attached to Obama’s real goal, it’s a very successful administration, transforming the country. But I don’t want to get too intricate for this purpose here.
You know what a real threat or fear that the left has about this? They know that Obamacare is unconstitutional. They’ve known it since it was written. Gruber lets the cat out of the bag by saying we had to lie and we had to cover the transparency because of the stupidity of the American people. In other words, we had to lie in order to get this thing passed, because if people knew what it really was, it wouldn’t stand the light of day, it wouldn’t stand a chance.
So John Roberts did some finagling and found a way to make this thing sound constitutional. But the left knows that a whole bunch of chicanery took place. They know they’re hanging by a thread. They know they’re on thin ice here, and they know that a lot of justices — well, they don’t know, but I suspect they fear a lot of justices have been chomping at the bit for a second go round at this thing, ’cause it isn’t constitutional, folks. If we were in a totally objective, nonpartisan, sane world, this law would have been struck down inside of three hours of it arriving at the Supreme Court.
Gruber and everybody lied about it. They created a bunch of falsehoods in it. It’s unsupportable economically. The American people don’t want it! But that doesn’t matter to them. They want it. They want you subjected to it, subordinated to it — and the very idea that the court’s gonna look at it again is just gonna create (in the minds of all these stupid Americans) the idea that something’s wrong with the law, and we can’t have that.
I’m getting very excited to see all the victories Tuesday night!
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