Bernadette Loesch: What message was Trump sending in honoring Rush Limbaugh?

To The Daily Sun,

Rush Limbaugh is protected by the United States Constitution, which gives us all freedom of speech. Mr. Limbaugh has and continues to make, blatantly outrageous and very dangerous statements. This has been his stock-in-trade for almost all of his career as a very conservative commentator. Limbaugh recently stated that the virulent, deadly, highly contiguous coronavirus is no worse than the COMMON COLD!

With that said, it's time for me to come off my self-imposed hiatus reluctantly imposed as a result of the urging by dear friends who are concerned for my safety and well-being. I was convinced to hold off from submitting letters to the editor until after the November election because I’ve received threatening phone calls after submitting letters to The Laconia Daily Sun. Sadly, I can no longer be quiet. Screw the threats!

In light of the totally inadequate response from the Trump administration concerning the worldwide spread of the virulent and deadly coronavirus, and what’s being said by Limbaugh and other very right-leaning conservatives, I must add my "two cents." I am no longer able to ignore Limbaugh's daily vitriolic venom. I am no longer able to accept that Mr. Trump gave Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom*, an honor which is reserved for those human beings who have contributed much, sacrificed much, and changed the mindset of governments worldwide. Those other Presidential Medal of Freedom honorees have been our conscience. They have been our guiding light. Those other altruistic people have done so very much to change and add to the quality of life for millions. Those other honorees have made a great difference in how the world deals with and encourages living in peace and harmony with one another. Those honorees have put their own suffering and persecution aside to continue their mission. Those other honorees have been imprisoned for speaking and standing up to injustice.

Those people have brought us to a place where it does not matter about your religious beliefs or lack thereof, the color of your skin, or who you choose to love and marry. What mattered to these honorees was providing medical care and medications to the poor, doing away with segregation/apartheid, providing food to the starving, wiping out disease, or caring for the neglected and ignored who walk among us.

As a direct result of Limbaugh's screeds, are we now in danger of sliding into the great abyss? To what end did Mr. Trump choose to recognize and single out Limbaugh? To send what message? Is this yet another assault on common sense and decency?

(*The Medal of Freedom is the Nation’s highest civilian honor. It is awarded to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the security or national interests of America, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors. Among the recipients: Angela Merkel, Mother Teresa, Billy Graham, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King, Jr., Norman Rockwell, Walt Disney, T.S. Eliot, John Steinbeck, Elie Wiesel, Maya Angelou, John Kenneth Galbraith, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Justice Felix Frankfurter, Justice Thurgood Marshall, Walter Cronkite, and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, just to name a few.)

Bernadette Loesch

Laconia