This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by this summer's "powder keg"
By Simon Maloy

If there's one thing Rush Limbaugh dislikes, it's being referred to as the "leader of the Republican Party." Just last week, he denied to a caller that he was the GOP's leader. At the time, the Limbaugh Wire predicted that Rush would reverse himself on that one. Well, Rush hasn't come right out and said, "I am the leader of the Republican Party," but, right now, RushLimbaugh.com is flogging this American Thinker article, the second sentence of which is: "Rush Limbaugh is the leader of the Republican Party." Just thought we'd point that out.

Anyway, happy Thursday to everyone. Let's get started.

Rush opened up the show attacking The Washington Post for "running cover" for Obama and repeating his claim that Democratic requests for the names of AIG bonus recipients are "McCarthyesque." Rush then declared that the AIG bonuses were "issued by Obama," and that if there is a scandal here, it is Obama's scandal. Of course, the Bush Treasury Department worked with the Fed in carrying out last year's bailouts and buying AIG stock, despite the existence of the bonus contracts.

Further widening the rift on the issue between conservatives in the media, such as himself, and conservatives in Congress, Limbaugh went on to air Rep. Ed Royce's (R-CA) rationale for voting yea on the House bill to tax AIG bonuses at 90 percent, and claimed that Obama voters will love a 90-percent tax rate "because Obama and the Democrat Party have been ginning up hatred and class envy for corporate executives and the achiever class in this country for years, for decades."

From there, Rush revealed his dystopian vision for the summer -- "civil unrest" spurred by high gas prices and "amnesty" for illegal immigrants who then join unions. Rush called this a "powder keg" situation, which Obama will love because "this is an administration whose objectives require chaos." Just before the break, Rush returned once again to the teleprompter fixation, reading from Barack Obama's teleprompter's blog.

On the other side of the break, Rush once again mocked Jay Leno for putting on free shows for the unemployed in Detroit.

Another break, and Rush returned to the summer powder keg of gas prices, illegal immigration, and unions, this time throwing in the Employee Free Choice Act for good measure, and repeating his colorful description of EFCA: "You're working at your small business, and Tony Soprano walks in, and got a lead pipe with him, and says, 'We're going to unionize this place.' " Rush made sure to make clear that he wasn't saying the fuse of the powder keg will be lit, but the keg itself will be there. Rush said it's all part of the engineered chaos Obama is using to promote his agenda, and Obama's town hall in Costa Mesa "fits in the master plan," in Rush's words.

Rush then aired audio of Obama saying at the town hall: "So for everybody in Washington who's busy scrambling, trying to figure out how to blame somebody else, just go ahead and talk to me, because it's my job to make sure that we fix these messes, even if I don't make them." Rush's thoughts on this? Obama sounds like Bart Simpson... He didn't offer a whole lot in the way of explanation for that one.

Rounding out the hour, Rush played off reports that New Jersey is contemplating a ban on bikini waxing, declaring: "I wish the government would just stay out of women's crotches." After that bit of ribaldry, it was time to get biblical, as Rush suggested that Obama, in accepting blame for the AIG bonuses, was comparing himself to Jesus.

Highlights from Hour 1

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: Barney Frank and the Democrats insist -- and Andrew Cuomo, the attorney general of New York -- insist that the names of the recipients of the bonus be made public. This is -- it's McCarthyesque. It is McCarthyesque.

What is happening here? And all the while, there's Obama out there doing what -- when he gets in trouble, what does he do? He goes to the people. It's sort of like -- he has the ability that Reagan had.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: I think most of the people that voted for Obama, or a good percentage of them anyway, would love this. They would just love these people getting a 90-percent tax break or cut, a tax increase, and they would love their privacy being -- because Obama and the Democrat Party have been ginning up hatred and class envy for corporate executives and the achiever class in this country for years, for decades, and it's -- this is -- it's all coming home to roost now.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: The barrel price of oil is now flirting at 50 to $52. That's what I said. Thank you, Mr. Snerdley. "Yeah, up to 51 this morning." Exactly what I said, flirting between 50 and $52. Gasoline prices in parts of the country are up 8 percent. Gasoline prices are going to -- now, you know what happens in the spring? Gasoline prices always go up for a while, then they come down in the summertime. But prior to Memorial Day, you can make book on the fact that gasoline prices are going to go up.

If gasoline prices start ticking back up in the midst of this recession, in the midst of all of this unemployment, and the administration continues to start fast-tracking the amnesty for illegal aliens for the sole purpose of getting them in this country to join unions, you are going -- we are going to have a powder keg situation this summer. And I will state to you that it is a powder keg situation that President Obama will relish. Remember, this is an administration whose objectives require chaos.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: You throw in the fact that he now is encouraging these people to get amnesty so as to join unions, and couple that with card check, which they are -- I know some Democrats are starting to back away from this, but the administration is not. They are hell-bent on getting card check.

And again, just to refresh your memory to explain card check. So many things are labeled and titled in ways in Washington that they mean the exact opposite of what they'll do and that's what card check is. It's called the Freedom of Choice -- it's the Freedom of Employment Act or something. It's the exact opposite. There is no freedom. This is an open ballot.

Imagine this: You're working at your small business, and Tony Soprano walks in, and got a lead pipe with him, and says, "We're going to unionize this place, or at least, we're going to vote on unionizing this place, and we're going to vote in public. Everybody's vote is going to be known." And Tony Soprano is standing there with his lead pipe.

Well, how many people are going to oppose Tony Soprano? How many people are going to vote no? Nobody wants their kneecaps busted -- I'm speaking figuratively of course.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: I want to replay this sound bite here because this has almost Biblical overtones -- President Obama's teleprompter telling him to say that he'd take responsibility for a mess that he didn't create.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: This sounds awfully familiar, I'm sure, to a lot of you people who are people of faith. What was Obama's teleprompter telling him to say here? The teleprompter essentially told Obama to say, "I'll pay for your sins, even though I'm innocent." That's what the prompter told Obama to say and he said it. "I'll pay for your sins, even though I'm innocent."

However, ladies and gentlemen, you and I both know that President Obama is not a savior. He can't even make a cabinet.

This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by Mike Krzyzewski
By Simon Maloy

At the top of the hour, Rush wondered how many of the AIG bonus recipients voted for or donated money to Obama and the Democrats. He figured that a decent percentage did, because it's a great myth that Wall Street is a bastion of conservatism.

Rush then aired poor-quality audio of House Speaker Pelosi at a church in San Francisco saying of immigration policy: "Who in our country would not want to change a policy of kicking in doors in the middle of the night and sending a parent away from their families? ... It must be stopped. ... What value system is that? I think it's un-American. I think it's un-American." Rush wondered what sort of value system exists where abortion is "wonderfully American" and asked listeners what was worse -- abortion or "kicking in doors in the middle of the night and sending a parent away from their families" -- explaining that neither option is "attractive."

From there, Rush jumped on the media's favorite chew toy at the moment -- Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, who said of Obama: "[A]s much as I respect what he's doing, really, you know, the economy is something that he should focus on, you know, probably more than the brackets." Rush of course didn't point out that Krzyzewski also said of Obama, "I love the guy, and I think he's going to be great." But he did manage to bring his favorite chew toy into the discussion, noting that Obama was able to discuss his NCAA tourney picks on ESPN... without a teleprompter.

El Rushbo then had a message for all the AIG employees receiving bonuses who voted for Obama and the Democrats: He hoped they had learned what the "Democrat" concept of privacy means. According to Rush, it means that we can't "invade the privacy" of terrorists overseas plotting attacks on the United States, but we can invade the privacy of U.S. citizens who received bonuses. This is a popular conservative canard, that Democrats don't want to spy on suspected terrorist overseas. They do -- they just want to do it legally.

Back from the break, Rush was aghast that New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo was seeking a list of AIG bonus recipients. Rush offered some lists of his own that he'd like to see, including "a list of all of the people who were known to use Barney Frank's townhouse to meet male prostitutes in the 1970s." This is a favorite smear of Limbaugh's, implicating Frank in a male prostitution scandal. In reality, upon investigating the allegations against Frank, the House Ethics Committee didn't even determine that any prostitution activities took place, and the committee further concluded that if they did take place, Frank didn't know anything was going on.

Then it was time for another caller, who offered his theory that Obama and the Democrats are deliberately inflating the currency so that they can raise taxes later on. Rush, not surprisingly, agreed with this entirely, and urged the caller to apply for a fellowship with the EIB network.

Back from a break, Rush attacked Obama for signing a $500,000 advance to adapt Dreams from My Father for children, asking us all to notice that Obama is getting as much money as he can before his tax increases hit the books. Time for another caller, who had his own theory as to how Obama is trying to manufacture a health-care crisis. Rush responded: "I think as much of the capitalist system as they can destroy, they will."

From there, Rush laid into CNN for airing recordings of threatening phone calls from Americans regarding AIG employees. According to Rush, CNN did it to create further chaos, and he found that "irresponsible." Of course, just moments earlier, Rush had aired audio of CNN playing just such a phone call, beaming it out to the millions of people in his audience. We assume he'll share responsibility for any "chaos" that ensue.

Rush ended the hour with an extended plug for the Heritage Foundation, marveling at their "breadth," "scope," and "expertise."

Highlights from Hour 2

Outrageous comments

CALLER: You made a comment earlier about them needing to have disruption and despair in this country, and so you're right about that. For example, there's a shortage in primary care physicians in this country, and has been for over 10 years, and it's not being addressed. There's currently a plan for a 20-percent cut in fees paid by Medicare to primary care physicians. If this happens, there's going to be a significant shortage of primary care physicians and then Obama's going to be able to say, "See, we've got a crisis. We need to step in."

LIMBAUGH: I know. I -- look it, I firmly agree with you. I think as much of the capitalist system as they can destroy, they will. They will at least send it on a downward cycle, which creates the need for government. That's what this AIG business is about. This AIG business is about "Look it, these people are thieves."

America's Truth Rejector

Repeated smear that Barney Frank's townhouse was used for prostitution:

LIMBAUGH: So as long as we're outing people, ladies and gentlemen, can we have a list? I'd like to officially ask this. I may have a statute of limitations problem on this, but I would like to have a list of all of the people who were known to use Barney Frank's townhouse to meet male prostitutes in the 1970s. Remember, he had a boyfriend back then named Stephen Gobie -- it might have been the '80s.

And Gobie was using downstairs at Barney's townhouse to run a prostitution ring -- Gobie has called this program before to discuss this -- and Barney was getting Gobie's parking tickets fixed for parking in front of Barney's townhouse.

I'd like a list of the names of the people who were known to use Frank's townhouse to meet prostitutes. I seem to recall he had a little problem with that.

Echo chamber

Plugs the Heritage Foundation... again. Cited two entries from their Foundry blog, here and here.

We came so close... so close...
By Simon Maloy

It's the final hour, and Rush kicked it off explaining that he was being asked to explain why the Democrats are treating AIG employees more harshly than detainees at Guantánamo Bay. Rush said, once again, that AIG is all a distraction designed to stoke hatred among Americans for capitalism, but he heard a "rumor" that those "who got bonuses at AIG and Merrill Lynch will be transferred to Club Gitmo, Guantánamo Bay, after the terrorists there are released on American soil."

Rush then lauded the work of Victor Davis Hanson, specifically this piece entitled "The 'Depression' for Us Idiots." Before the break, Rush had a little more ranting to get through on investigations into AIG, saying that the rich will flee New York City and the city will get "creamed" by the loss of tax revenue. The New York Times, however, says there's absolutely no evidence to back up that theory. Then he laid into Lawrence Wilkerson for saying on MSNBC that Rush and Cheney are "fear-mongering," saying: "That's what you are, Mr. Wilkerson, a failure. And the failures and losers who've worked in Republican administrations always find voice on MSNBC, don't they?"

After the break, Rush offered an extended plug for BG Products and mocked Obama for saying today that the Ford Model T got better gas mileage than a modern-day SUV. Rush attributed this to... wait for it... the teleprompter, which has apparently grown sentient and is having some fun at the president's expense. After another caller and another break, Rush noted that Obama said at his townhall yesterday that higher taxes on wealthy Americans "allows us to pay for health-care reform for a lot of people out there working every day but are one illness away from bankruptcy," and "I don't think that's unreasonable. I don't think that's socialism. I think that's a realization that we're all in this together." Not surprisingly, Rush disagreed. Raising taxes on the rich? "[O]f course it's socialism. It's socialism-lite, so whatever you want." Ahhh... great-tasting, less-filling Socialism Lite!

Things got a little strange after that. A caller described to Rush an encounter he'd had the previous evening with some Obama-supporting truckers who threatened him at a rest stop because he listened to Rush Limbaugh. Rush was intensely interested in the man's tale, particularly the fact that one of the truckers had to put down his boxed chicken dinner to accost the caller with his karate moves. Rush thought it sad that conservatives might be losing the truckers, until Snerdley pointed out that they might have been Teamsters. So, watch out, you chicken-eating, black-belt Teamsters out there with chips on your shoulders. You've been exposed...

Before the break, Rush came so close to bestowing upon the Limbaugh Wire the legitimacy we so desperately crave but probably don't deserve. He noted that Barney Frank was asked on MSNBC last night about Fox News and Rush Limbaugh accusing him of McCarthyism, and he said that MSNBC got the question from Media Matters: "Media Matters is running this daily -- never mind." This daily what, Rush? This daily WHAT?! To leave it hanging like that is just cruel...

Anyway, after that crushing letdown, we somehow managed to monitor the rest of the show, during which Limbaugh expressed confusion as to why Democrats dislike being called communists, because they "love every communist regime to come down the pike." According to Rush: "What was so bad about being accused of being a communist? The problem with McCarthy was that he was right too many times about things." He closed out the show taking a few shots at the "once-brave" Jim Cramer of CNBC, saying that Cramer's recent praise of Obama's economic maneuverings on Mad Money (after criticizing Obama two weeks ago) was like "a hostage video."

That's a wrap for today's Limbaugh Wire. Tune in tomorrow to see if we'll have our hopes and dreams crushed once again, and be sure to catch up on The World According to Limbaugh, courtesy of Media Matters for America.

Highlights from Hour 3

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: I have been asked to explain, ladies and gentlemen, to you why Democrats are treating AIG employees worse than the detainees at Club Gitmo, and of course I could explain this, but it's to miss the point. The whole point here is to create a distraction, a diversion to get you hating capitalism and capitalists. It is designed to -- all this is manufactured. It's a totally manufactured sense of outrage and crisis.

And I've heard a rumor out there the Obama administration, they're getting really -- I mean, they're -- in order to see this thing all the way through, there is a rumor that employees who got bonuses at AIG and Merrill Lynch will be transferred to Club Gitmo, Guantánamo Bay, after the terrorists there are released on American soil. So, Guantánamo Bay will house AIG and Merrill Lynch employees, while the various Abdullahs and Mahmouds and so forth that are down there now will be released, some of them -- Eric Holder said -- right here on American soil.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Barney Frank was asked last night on MSNBC the following question: "Fox News and Rush Limbaugh are accusing you of McCarthyism." It was Martha MacCallum who did this. And by the way, Media Matters has - that's where they got the question by the way, because I -- the -- Media Matters is running this daily -- never mind. That's where this -- these people at MSNBC would be lost without Media Matters to tell them what happened and what questions to ask. So here's Barney's answer.

Enemies list

Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Colin Powell:

LIMBAUGH: Mr. Wilkerson, it's not me, telling the American people to hate their fellow citizens based on how much they earn or what line of work they're in -- that would be your friends, Mr. Wilkerson. It's not me dividing America based on race and age and wealth -- that would be your friends, Mr. Wilkerson. It's not me dividing America based on race and age and wealth -- that would be your friends, Mr. Wilkerson.

It's not me reaching out to mass murdering regimes throughout the world -- that would be your friends, Mr. Wilkerson. Mr. Wilkerson, you worked for a failed secretary of State, and thus he is a failed aide to a failed secretary of State. That's what you are, Mr. Wilkerson, a failure. And the failures and losers who've worked in Republican administrations always find voice on MSNBC, don't they? And they end up spewing hate and division 24/7. That's you, Mr. Wilkerson.

CNBC's Jim Cramer:

LIMBAUGH: This is a hostage video. They had to have Jim Cramer hostage last night on his own show because -- let's listen to this: March 3rd, 16 days ago.

[begin audio clip]

CRAMER: We have an agenda in this country now that I would regard as being a radical agenda. I think that we had a budget that came out that basically put a level of fear into this country that I've not seen ever in my life, and I think that that changed everything.

MATT LAUER (NBC Today co-host): So, the policies are not shareholder-friendly?

CRAMER: Shareholder-friendly? This is the most -- greatest wealth destruction I've seen by a president.

[end audio clip]

LIMBAUGH: That's just 16 days ago. Jim Cramer, but a hostage situation, or either Stockholm syndrome has taken over. Jim Cramer now with his mind right.

"Socialism" watch

LIMBAUGH: Going after a line of attack Republicans have used against him, Obama insisted, "I don't think it's unreasonable to raise taxes on the rich. I don't think that's socialism." I don't know what -- of course it's socialism. It's socialism-lite, so whatever you want. You know the labels here: statism, collectivism, whatever you want to call it. It's certainly from each according to his means, to each according to his needs.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Oh, this is a popular myth -- that McCarthy falsely accused people of things. Mr. Frank, what he was falsely accusing people of being communists. What's so bad about being a communist? You liberal Democrats love every communist regime to come down the pike from the Sandanistas, to Hugo Chavez, to Fidel Castro, to, of course, the Soviet Union. What was so bad about being accused of being a communist?

The problem with McCarthy was that he was right too many times about things. That's - if he was wrong about it, they would have made a joke and laughed about it and so forth, but he was getting too close in a lot of ways. McCarthyism is one of these things that's so greatly misunderstood and now misreported and exaggerated.

Barney doesn't even get the irony here. He doesn't even understand Joe McCarthy sat there on a committee and was basically using the power of government to impugn, legally or not, falsely or not, private citizens.

Barney Frank is doing the same thing, demanding their names be made public, that their bonuses be turned back, even after being told that they are being threatened and they fear for their own safety. Barney Frank -- "I don't care. I don't care. The names will be released. I want them here in the committee. It's not McCarthy. I don't care what it is. The names will be released. I don't care what you say."

So, people, this is the unbridled power of government that doesn't seem to be stoppable.