Right-wing host claims ‘there is no war on right now,’ even as Marines dodge snipers in Afghan city of Marjah

According to the U.S. government, 405,399 Americans were casualties during the second world war, a conflict that claimed over 50 million lives all around the globe.

But that’s nothing, apparently. According to right-wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh, the United States has already suffered a much more devastating blow at the hands of President Obama, just one year into his presidency.

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Happy Presidents’ Day?

During is Feb. 15 broadcast, the man commonly credited as the strongest voice in the Republican party spun his reality-bending spiel after suggesting that big-box retail chain Walmart lobbies Washington lawmakers to keep Obama from “nationalizing” them — a statement that, if not a joke, can only be characterized as transparently false.

“The last time this happened was World War II,” Limbaugh said. “But that was because there was a war on and it made sense. But there’s no war on right now, other than the Taliban wing of the Republican party and its war against Obama and the Democrats.”

Even as he declared “there’s no war on right now,” American and NATO troops waged a house-to-house campaign in the Afghan city of Marjah. In the month of January alone, 32 U.S. soldiers died from wounds inflicted by improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan, amid a dramatic spike in violence. A total of 317 U.S. soldiers died prosecuting the war in 2009; at time of this writing, another 43 had already been felled so far in 2010, according to iCasualties.org. In Iraq, while violence is down from years past, 4,376 American soldiers have been killed since President George W. Bush launched the war in 2003.

Of Republicans’ conflict with President Obama, Rush said, “but that’s hardly World War II,” then paused.

“Although …” he began. “Well, wait a minute. Country is under assault, moreso than we were during World War II, other than the Japanese. But the Germans never attacked us, the Japanese did.”

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With Limbaugh’s estimated audience of 14-25 million, the odds are good that many of his listeners have family members committed to both ongoing conflicts. Chances are any World War II veterans listening may have taken exception as well.

It is not the first time Limbaugh has employed wildly exaggerated World War II analogies to attack his countrymen. In August he began comparing Democrats to Nazis amid the health reform debate, suggesting that President Obama’s supporters are “brownshirts.” His Web site also placed the Nazi party insignia next to President Obama’s health care logo, in an effort to make a connection where there is none.

“Rush Limbaugh’s comparison of the Democratic Party to the Nazi Party in World War II is as disgusting as it is shocking,” DCCC spokeswoman Jennifer Crider told media, in a statement. “Limbaugh’s use of the Nazi swastika in attempting to make a tasteless political comparison has no place in the public discourse.”

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This audio from The Rush Limbaugh Show was captured by watchdog group Media Matters, broadcast Feb. 15, 2010.

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(Correction: Article originally mistakenly confused deaths with US casualties in WW2)