Rush Limbaugh and Operation Chaos

UPDATE, March 28, 2008: Limbaugh safe from voter-fraud charges

Radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh has been telling his audience for days now that he could be indicted for encouraging Ohio Republicans to take a Democratic ballot in the March 4 primary in what he calls "Operation Chaos."

Could that actually happen?

Not likely, Ohio officials say.

"We have no intention of prosecuting Rush Limbaugh because lying through your teeth and being stupid isn't a crime," said Leo Jennings, a spokesman for Democratic Attorney General Marc Dann.

...Some critics have complained that Limbaugh is improperly encouraging voters to break the law.

In Ohio, party-switchers are supposed to sign a form attesting, under penalty of election falsification -- a felony -- that they support the principles of the party whose ballot they are obtaining.

But Jennings said it would be difficult to prosecute anyone because they also have constitutionally protected freedom of speech and it's hard to prove voter intent.

"You can't just make the assumption that someone is lying," Jennings said.

...Limbaugh has a transcript posted on his Web site addressing listeners concerned about being charged with voter fraud.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Limbaugh said. "Look at this as a badge of honor, ladies and gentlemen. If anybody gets indicted, if anybody has to go jail, it will be me -- and I'll do my program from jail for the short amount of time I will be there before I am excused and the charges dismissed.

"I had the temerity, ladies and gentlemen, to tinker with a tradition, a liberal Democrat tradition: voter manipulation."

_________________

Posted by Ari Melber, The Nation:

"Operation Chaos," Rush Limbaugh's campaign urging Republicans to vote for Hillary Clinton in Democratic primaries, has been very effective. It doubled Republican turnout in Ohio and Texas, boosting Clinton and prolonging the Democratic race. But in Ohio, it was also almost certainly illegal.

Ohio law requires that citizens genuinely support a political party in order to vote in its primary. To change parties for a primary, a citizen must pledge, under the penalty of election falsification, that she is affiliated with the party and "supports" its principles. Lying on the pledge is a felony, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine. The law also stipulates that poll workers have a "duty" to challenge voters who are "not a member of the political party whose ballot the person desires to vote."

In Cuyahoga, Ohio's largest county, 16,000 Republicans switched parties for the primary last month. Several did so in bad faith, without truly changing parties, according to newspaper interviews and Internet postings. The Cuyahoga Board of Elections recently voted to investigate the matter; a report is expected on March 31. Despite the massive crossover voting, however, prosecutions are considered unlikely. A spokesperson for Ohio's Attorney General told Alternet that it is "very hard to prosecute" crossover voting cases, since the crime depends on proving a voter's motive on Election Day.

Limbaugh's motives, however, have been perfectly clear from the start. "I'm asking people to cross over, and if they can stomach it and I know it's a difficult thing to do, vote for Clinton," Limbaugh said before the Ohio primary. The goal, he explained, was to ensure Barack Obama was "bloodied up politically" and to extend the Democratic primary "soap opera."

Of course, prosecutions are unlikely.

"A spokesperson for Ohio's Attorney General told Alternet that it is 'very hard to prosecute' crossover voting cases, since the crime depends on proving a voter's motive on Election Day."

No kidding.

To say the least, it's disingenuous for Dems and their mouthpieces in the media to be foaming at the mouth over this.

Dems are aghast that people with no intention of voting for a Dem for president in November chose to vote for a Dem in the primary.

How dare Rush Limbaugh discuss that people can serve their best interests with their votes!

Liberal Poobah Markos Moulitsas rallied his troops to do exactly that.

Read more here.

Kos said, "Let's have some fun in Michigan."

Yes, the libs have fun, while conservatives should fear prosecution. Right.

Ari Melber concludes:

Limbaugh is lashing out at anyone who notes that he urged thousands of listeners, whether maliciously or ignorantly, to break Ohio law. He recently complained that NBC's Norah O'Donnell and the New Republic's Michael Crowley dared to discuss the issue. Then he was outraged that Fox's Julie Banderas said election law violations must be "taken seriously" and "Republican shock jocks" were possibly "anti-American" for urging people to break the law. And Limbaugh didn't like my recent criticism, either. When asked about crossover voting during an appearance on C-SPAN last week, I said that people should vote on principle -- not to undermine primary races. I also explained that "Operation Chaos" effectively urged people to break Ohio law, if they voted in bad faith, citing a Wired article. Apparently this observation upset Limbaugh, who recently played the clip while calling out "Stuff it, pal, stuff it!" Now it doesn't take much courage to talk back to a recording, and Limbaugh loves playing up partisan fights for his audience. But this is not only about politics. Limbaugh abused his listeners' trust and encouraged potentially illegal conduct. And after a Republican Justice Department spent years hyping voter fraud charges, now some of the most blatant election law violations are being stoked, repeatedly and unrepentantly, by one of the most prominent figures in Republican politics.

Good grief.

Melber should realize that it's a long fall from the top of such a high horse.

It's not breaking the law to vote for the person you want to win in an election. Yes, there's that line in Ohio's law that demands primary voters support the party's principles. To me, that's a very gray area, kind of similar to abortion on demand based on the health of the mother.

I have absolutely no intention of voting for a liberal Dem presidential candidate in the general election. However, in the Wisconsin primary, I voted for Hillary Clinton.

If I had to choose between Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton in the White House, I would prefer Hillary. I think she would make a better president.

Wisconsin has an open primary, so I faced no technicalities about pledging allegiance to Dem party principles.

Still, was my vote mischievous?

No.

I cast my vote in a manner that I believed served my best interests.

How is that fraudulent?

It's not.