The Democrats’ star witness at the Nov. 15 hearing was former U.S. Ambassador to the Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, and the Democrat corporate media bestowed sainthood on her.
Radio host Rush Limbaugh noted he may be the only media figure who does not have sympathy for Yovanovitch and he explained why in some detail.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump enjoyed a four-point increase in his approval rating after the first day of the public impeachment hearings, according to Rasmussen Reports.
“The president’s overall approval has been tracking up since Wednesday, the first day of the House impeachment hearings,” according to the Rasmussen Daily Presidential Tracking Poll.
Prior to the first hearing, Trump’s approval rating in the Rasmussen daily poll was 46 percent. The day after, it was at 50 percent.
Related: Report: Yovanovitch in Ukraine had ‘do not prosecute list’, November 15, 2019
Limbaugh on his Nov. 15 broadcast noted the Republican counsel at the hearing had asked Yovanovitch about Javelin missiles that were provided by the U.S. to Ukraine.
Limbaugh noted (paraphrasing) that Yovanovitch responded: Oh, yes, the Javelins were crucial, very important for Ukraine to be able to defend itself.”
Counsel: “Can you explain why the Obama administration did not provide them?”
Yovanovitch: “Uhhh, well, I think at that time the, uhhh, the decision…”
Counsel: “But then the Trump administration ended up providing them?”
Yovanovitch: “Yes.”
Limbaugh added: “So I’m sorry, if I’m supposed to see her as a sympathetic figure, I don’t. If you want me to tell you she looks honest and sweet and harmless and, fine, I’ll go along with that. But sympathetic means something very specific.
“It means somebody is doing her dirty. It means somebody is mistreating her. It means somebody is trying to get away with hurting her really badly and it’s making us feel very sorry for her. Well, I’m sorry. I don’t feel a lot of sympathy for this cabal that’s attempting to overturn the election in 2016. String me up.”
Limbaugh said he had escaped what he considers to be “the imposition of wimpiness on our culture. Somehow, I have. This woman, she is an ambassador. She’s part of the United States foreign service. She’s not a wallflower, okay? Why portray her as a wallflower? She’s an ambassador. She’s been standing up supposedly representing American interests against a bunch of thug dictators in Ukraine.”
Limbaugh continued:
But beside that, I have stood by, and I have watched this culture soften and become touchy-feelie, and I guess on college campuses, that’s okay. And if you want to do that at work, that’s fine. When you’re talking about defending this country, we are a great nation at risk in a very dangerous world, and we need not look at this as an exercise for wallflowers.Free Press International
But what does it take? What is required for someone to be a sympathetic figure? Now, I don’t use these terms loosely. If somebody is going to be said to be a sympathetic figure, that means something very specific to me. I’m the mayor of Realville. I am Mr. Literal. I’m not part of a Washington, D.C. crowd that makes judgments on people the way they come across on TV. I don’t know Marie Yovanovitch. All I know is that she’s part of the cabal trying to take out Donald Trump.
Okay? So what is it that makes her sympathetic? She served the nation for 30 years makes her sympathetic? No. “Sympathetic” means you feel sorry for her. It means you empathize with her, okay, what do you feel sorry for her about? What is it that makes you empathize with her? The use of the term “sympathetic” is loaded. It is calculated. It is designed to create an impression that this is a wronged, mistreated, violated woman.
And she’s not. Christine Blasey Ford was said to be a sympathetic figure, too, wasn’t she? Boy, she played the part better than Yovanovitch. And I don’t know if Yovanovitch has played a part. I think it’s being assigned to her. But Blasey Ford (doing impression), “Oh, I am terrified to be here. I was raped and left on the side of the road 50 years ago (sobbing) and still haven’t gotten over it. I want the guy who did it! I want the guy who did! I don’t remember who or where or how I got home.” That is a sympathetic figure? (interruption) I’m exaggerating like Schiff exaggerates. It’s my show. I can do what I want to do. No, I’m being serious about this. They are attempting to run a coup on Donald Trump.
There’s not a one of them that’s gonna get any sympathy from me, folks. I’m sorry. I’m not going to fall for it. I’m not going to play the game, and I’m not going to say so just to make it look like I’m sensitive so that you’ll listen to me later. You know, half of the people on TV who don’t agree at all with what this woman is saying don’t have the guts to say it. They’ll start out by saying, “That’s a really sympathetic figure. Oh, really formidable! This woman, you can tell she’s devoted!” It’s all to make sure that they don’t get any criticism. It’s all about soft-selling it first to make yourself look like you’re sensitive and aware rather than getting to the nub of things.
But it is my impression, my belief that there need to be certain circumstances which have to exist in order for someone to be a sympathetic figure. Don’t you have to believe that somebody is really doing her dirty? Don’t you have to believe that someone is being really mean? Don’t you have to believe that she is being wronged and mistreated in order for her to be a sympathetic figure?
If she’s a sympathetic figure, oh, it’s so bad what’s happening to her. What’s happening to her? She’s a star witness in an effort to overturn the 2016 presidential election. If Fox News wants to feel sorry for her for that, they are welcome to it. Don’t you have to believe that some mean-spirited, predator-type brute is after her, trying to get her, trying to harm her, trying to punish her? Don’t you have to believe that she’s really, really being mistreated in order for her to be a sympathetic figure? “No, Rush, you don’t get it. That’s not what we mean by sympathetic.” Yes, that’s what sympathetic means. If you mean by using the word “sympathetic,” she looks so innocent, then say that.
But don’t tell me she’s sympathetic because there isn’t anything sympathetic here. If you want to say she looks innocent and harmless and honest, whatever, say that, but don’t use sympathy. Sympathy is designed to manipulate people’s emotions. It’s designed to use her to actually say something about Trump.
That’s why I’m not going to fall for it. By calling her sympathetic, you are automatically agreeing that Trump is a mean-spirited S.O.B. predator who has mistreated her. So I’m not going to fall for the notion that she’s sympathetic, just like I didn’t fall for the notion that Christine Blasey Ford was sympathetic. Christine Blasey Ford was used, and participated knowingly, in an attempt to derail the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh.
