There was the following quote of Rush Limbaugh’s apology (or nonapology) in the New York Times’ article (March 2nd) reporting that he sorried for his denouncing a Georgetown University law student as a “prostitute,” under the title “Obama backs student in furor with Limbaugh on birth control.
“For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week. In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke,” Mr. Limbaugh wrote.”
What does “illustrate the absurd with absurdity” exactly mean?
We have idiomatic phrases “愚を重ねる- overlay the folly (with folly), and “恥の上塗り-overlay shame (with shame)” in Japanese.
Does “illustrate the absurd with absurdity” mean to repeat or overlay one’s absurdity, or to prove one’s being absurd by committing another absurdity?
Is the phrase “illustrate the absurd with absurdity” a set phrase, or just a Limbaugh’s special rhetoric?
Best Answer
Oishi-san, he means something like a paraphrase of the idiom "to fight fire with fire" — in other words, he sees something he feels is absurd and he responds in kind (or so he maintains).