From what I've read about Limbaugh (I've never been able to listen to him for more than a few seconds), he has a basic right-wing schtick:

Anti-environmental protection

Anti-union

Anti-government involvement in the economy

Anti-feminist

His experience in Hawai`i this week has exhibited that each of these positions is short-sighted and self-defeating. It also shows the fallacy of his above-quoted contention that America should leave medical care to the whims of the market and that health-insurance reform isn't needed.

Hawai`i's tourism-dependent economy has been hurting, and we are pulling out all the stops to attract visitors. So, it is great to have Limbaugh or anyone vacation here. Please visit the Hawai`i Visitors and Convention Bureau (HVCB) for information on how you can take your next vacation here: http://hvcb.org/ Beat of Hawai`i also provides some good travel tips: http://beatofhawaii.com

The HVCB - which provides the foundation for our visitor industry and support for Limbaugh's vacation - is supported by tax money. As any hotel executive here would tell you, Hawai`i as a visitor destination wouldn't exist without this support.

In addition, presumably one of the primary reasons that Limbaugh chose to come to Hawai`i is our gorgeous natural environment - which is protected by some of the strongest environmental laws in the nation and maintained by substantial government spending, including for the State Department of Land and Natural Resources and the City & County of Honolulu's Department of Parks and Recreation. Those agencies manage many of our beaches, ocean resources, forests, and other public places. In the free-market paradise of Limbaugh's fantasies, I have no idea how public resources would be managed. But I do know that Hawai`i would look much different.

Of course, there are other vacation destinations that offer sun and sand. Hawai`i has an advantage in that we have a reasonably stable and safe society (despite our recent economic trouble), which largely exists because we have a heavily unionized workforce (in comparison to other states) and because taxpayers invest in an effective public-safety system, which of course includes fire-rescue services, police, and the judiciary. Honolulu is one of the safest big cities in the world.

Limbaugh to his credit commended the hotel staff who first attended to him when he fell ill. These are union workers. In addition, many (if not all) of taxpayer-funded first responders who responded to the emergency call and transported Limbaugh to the hospital are unionized.

Most notably, Limbaugh also offered praise for the treatment he received at The Queen's Medical Center. He implied that this proves America doesn't need healthcare reform.

What Limbaugh neglected to mention is that Hawai`i enacted sweeping healthcare reform more than 35 years ago!

No one in Hawai`i has mounted a serious effort to reverse the reform law (based on employer mandates) since its enactment in 1974. The Prepaid Healthcare Act - summarized here - is largely working for both patients and the healthcare industry. And it's generally considered more beneficial to patients than anything currently on the table in Congress. That's why the House of Representatives earlier this month approved the Hirono Amendment, which allows for Hawai`i to be exempted from the federal reforms if the existing state law is deemed better.

Congresswoman Mazie Hirono's recent press release provides additional background on Hawai`i's healthcare system and the need for her amendment (.pdf):

http://hirono.house.gov/...

In addition, the nurses who cared for Limbaugh are union members.

The physician primarily responsible for his care, Dr. Joanna Harada Mango, has 24 years of experience. I think it's fair to say that her professional development was partly facilitated by the feminist movement and government action such as Title IX. (In 1972, only 9% of students earning medical degrees were women. That number had risen to 38% by 1994. Today, half of medical students are women.)

As a Hawai`i resident who is generally proud of my state's track record on the environment, labor, and many other progressive causes (with the notable exception of LGBT rights) - and as an American feminist who believes we've all benefited because women have been increasingly encouraged to pursue higher education and professional careers - I take great offense at Limbaugh's smugness. He completely mischaracterized that which actually enabled him to return safely to his hotel, just to try to score cheap political points. That's outrageous.

The positive elements of Limbaugh's experience in Hawai`i have been because of environmentalism, unionism, feminism, public investment, and healthcare reform. And he denies it all.

Mahalo.