If you’re a fan of Rush Limbaugh, you should know that he thinks you’re a moron. Further, he thinks you’re so into him that you’re unlikely to listen to anyone else. Which I guess means he thinks you’re an ignorant moron. There. Feel better?

On Captain Blowhard’s radio show yesterday, he excoriated Obama for sending 100 special forces troops to central Africa to aid in the hunt for Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army.

Now a reasonable person might have opposed this on the grounds that the U.S. has no strategic interest in the area and the last thing we need right now is a foot in another foreign military action.

Instead, Limbaugh, not being constrained by reasonableness, ranted that Obama was sending troops to kill Christians in defense of Muslims. Specifically, he said:

You never heard of Lord’s Resistance Army? Well, proves my contention, most Americans have never heard of it, and here we are at war with them. Lord’s Resistance Army are Christians. It means God. I was only kidding. Lord’s Resistance Army are Christians. They are fighting the Muslims in Sudan. And Obama has sent troops, United States troops to remove them from the battlefield, which means kill them.

Rush is certainly right that most Americans have never heard of the LRA. In fact, I’ll bet he’s counting on that. But just the briefest bit of research reveals the LRA is a guerilla group recognized by the U.S. as a terrorist organization. They roam through Central Africa, and are accused of horrific atrocities, having killed an estimated 30,000 people over the last 20 years. Under their leader, Joseph Kony, the LRA is accused of mass rape, mutilation of victims by cutting off body parts such as lips and noses, kidnapping young girls to use as sex slaves, and forcing young boys to become child soldiers.

Oh, and by the way, Kony has said he is a “spokesperson” of God. Which, in retrospect, I guess I should have led with. After all, if he’s on a mission from God, well, all right then.

Are they Christians? Well, they say they are and I’ll take them at their word. But I’m guessing these aren’t the sort of folks any of Rush’s audience will be inviting to a church supper anytime soon. That Limbaugh would even attempt to embrace these horrific people as kindred souls is beyond the pale.

I’d really like to call Limbaugh an idiot about now. The trouble is, what he’s doing isn’t stupid. It’s manipulative. It’s dishonest. But there’s a certain genius to it. He’s very aware of the influence he holds over his audience. He knows they are helpless sheep to be herded as he pleases. No, Rush is no idiot. But he knows his listeners are.