This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by "mob rule"
by Simon Maloy

Happy first day of spring from The Limbaugh Wire. This changing of the seasons always reminds us of the words of Elizabethan poet Thomas Nashe:

Spring, the sweet spring, is the year's pleasant king,
Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring,
Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing:
Feminazi, socialist, megadittos, teleprompter!

Nashe certainly was ahead of his time ... let's get to it.

Rush kicked off the show the only way he could have -- attacking Obama for his comment on the Tonight Show about the Special Olympics. Of course, this all goes back to Rush's running gag that Obama's teleprompter is a sentient being, which reached new heights with a parody that purported to be a backstage recording of Obama at the Tonight Show making bowling jokes about Alzheimer's patients and Jerry's Kids. According to Rush, Obama's remark show's he's "mean" and that he "has a chip on his shoulder and his wife does too." Rush also said this was an elegant demonstration of the "myth" of the "American left" -- "that they're the caring ones, that they're the ones that have all the love and the tolerance, that they're the ones that care about the downtrodden and the little guy."

It's a little difficult for us to take Rush's high-dudgeon offense at Obama's remarks seriously. It rings a little hollow for Rush to chastise someone -- anyone -- else for being insensitive to the plight of disabled individuals, given his harsh and unflinching broadsides against Michael J. Fox's advocacy of stem cell research, accusing Fox of faking or deliberately exacerbating his Parkinson's disease symptoms.

Rush then declared that the United States is a "bipolar" country, with people who view Obama as a "scary" and "incompetent" joke, and others who view him as the "messiah" and are impervious to "logic." These are primarily the young people, according to Rush -- the twenty- and thirty-somethings, with maybe a few in their 40s.

Leading into the first break, Limbaugh declared that we "now have mob rule the way it started in Nazi Germany," pointing to reports of AIG executives seeking private security to protect them at their homes. A couple of minutes later, the country switched over from Nazi Germany to Soviet Russia, as Rush said of yesterday's AIG clawback vote in the House: "We are not Soviet Russia and they are not the Politburo, but you can't tell the difference some days in the way they act, in the way they speak."

Back from the break, Rush returned to the Special Olympics for a while, contrasting Obama with Sarah Palin's message to the 2009 Special Olympics earlier this month, and attacking Joe Biden for asking a wheelchair-bound Missouri politician to stand up at a campaign event.

Back from another break, and Rush noted that the CBO forecast this year's deficit will top $1.9 trillion, declaring that this is a consequence of Obama's budget, which is intended "to destroy the individual and liberty and freedom and the capitalist system that made this country great." From there, Rush said that he barely contain his anger and profanity when talking about Obama and the Democrats, accusing Treasury Secretary Geithner of "lying through his teeth" about the AIG bonuses, citing Ed Morrissey at HotAir.com. Rush declared that it's "been too damn easy for these people to create a mob aimed at the wrong people," and blamed "liberal Democrats," whom he claimed are "finally implementing every dream they have ever had to destroy this nation as founded."

Rush closed out the hour by reading from a New York Times article, "Scorn Trails A.I.G. Executives, Even in Their Driveways," pronouncing one of the "angry" women quoted in the article a "convenient dupe."

Highlights from Hour 1

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: Now, the fact that he can make this joke about Special Olympics people -- there's no question that's something very mean to say, and it's not -- it's not the first time that he has said something. What is the other joke that he made about -- oh, he made a joke about Nancy Reagan and séances. I'm telling you this man is angry and he has a chip on his shoulder and his wife does too. They are -- they're some angry people. They are -- they're really angry.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: We live in a world in which the American left is basically a myth, a series of myths that we have been told -- that they are the compassionate ones, that they're the caring ones, that they're the ones that have all the love and the tolerance, that they're the ones that care about the downtrodden and the little guy, when in fact they make fun of them, when in fact the left holds these kinds of people in contempt and uses them for their own advantage. The disadvantaged -- I don't care what category of disadvantaged, the downtrodden economically -- they're props, they're nothing but props, they are used, they are never assisted, they are never genuinely helped.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: The Congressional Budget Office says that this year will now top $1.8 trillion. That is exactly half of Obama's proposed budget -- $1.8 trillion. The Democrat Party was having cows when the Bush deficit was $400 billion. This is $1.8 trillion, and there's no end in sight to the new spending. This is to destroy the individual and liberty and freedom and the capitalist system that made this country great -- $1.8 trillion.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: It has been too damn easy for these people to create a mob aimed at the wrong people. A mob being used at the Democrat Party to destroy the United States of America as you and I have known it. This is about liberalism, folks. This is not about politics as usual. This is about an ideology or a psychology -- whatever you want to call it -- systematically now with no strains, no constraints, nothing to stop them, finally implementing every dream they have ever had to destroy this nation as founded.

"Socialism" watch

LIMBAUGH: It's irrelevant to me whether or not these bonuses are moral and whether that they're right. What is happening is irresponsible. It is unconscionable. It is unacceptable in a free society. In the America I know, this would cause protests in Washington, not in Fairfield, Connecticut. What happened yesterday at the United States House of Representatives would cause people marching in Washington. Every incumbent would be thrown out in 2010. This is unacceptable. We are not Soviet Russia and they are not the Politburo, but you can't tell the difference some days in the way they act, in the way they speak.

"Fascism" watch

LIMBAUGH: The real outrage today continues to be AIG and what happened yesterday in Congress. This is just -- to me this is unacceptable. We now have mob rule the way it started in Nazi Germany. We have people up in Southport and Fairfield, Connecticut, who are harassing AIG employees in their homes, in their front yards. This is mob rule that has been ginned up. The United States Congress needs to be ashamed. The United States Congress is an embarrassment. The United States Congress is incompetent. The United States Congress is dangerous.

Echo chamber

Cited Hot Air's Ed Morrissey

This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by totalitarian mobsters
by Simon Maloy

Top of the hour, Rush expounded upon his theory of "mob rule," saying that we should put a "giant red 'A' " on every AIG employee, and a similarly large "F" on every employee of Fannie and Freddie so that the "mobs" can identify them. He said this after reading from today's Washington Post article, "Fannie: Cutting Bonuses May Derail Housing Recovery," which reported that employees of Fannie and Freddie said that the passage of yesterday's AIG legislation in the House "could ignite an exodus of staffers" from the two agencies. Rush said he wanted to have sympathy for these staffers, he really did, but why did they wait so long to speak out?

Then it was time for Rush to speak directly to the members of his audience who were members of the "mob" -- specifically, the "mobsters" harboring "totalitarian hatred," asking them what they would do when Obama asks for more bailout money for the banks.

A quick break, and then Rush came back to an issue that's been nagging him all week -- the liberal caller from St. Paddy's Day who asked to be put on hold and was promised by Rush that he'd return to her. Well, Rush broke that promise, but three days later he finally came through and she was back, asking Rush to tell the whole truth when he bloviates on the air. For example, the caller noted, Rush's false claim that a homeless woman at an Obama town hall in February asked the president for a "car" and a "new kitchen." Rush disputed the claim that he'd distorted the truth -- and then promptly repeated the distortion.

Another break, and Rush returned to one of his favorite anti-Obama stories -- the DVDs Obama gave to British prime minister Gordon Brown. Reportedly, the DVDs don't operate in European DVD players. According to Rush, it "just gets worse and worse." Rush conjectured that Obama didn't even know that not all DVDs will work in any old DVD player, and he bet that Obama didn't even know what gift he was giving to Brown until the last minute! Well, unfortunately for Rush, The UK's Daily Mail -- part of that British press Rush so adores for their coverage of the Obama administration -- reported earlier this month that the DVD package "was produced by the American Film Institute as a 'special request' for the White House last month."

Rush then read a Reuters article on Wal-Mart paying "$2 billion to its U.S. hourly employees through financial incentives," which Rush claimed will outrage the "thug" leaders of the unions. Then it was time for a pop-quiz, the consistent theme of which was that Obama is worse than Hugo Chavez, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Vladimir Putin, the "ChiComs," etc.

One more break and Rush came back attacking Obama for saying today that new accountability regulations will be put in place for the stimulus package. Rush responded by professing his growing affection for Obama's teleprompter, saying it "has more power over this man than his wife does, than Jeremiah Wright does." Then he took a call from a man who was aghast at the disparate media coverage of Bush and Obama. Rush reiterated his theory that the country is now "bipolar," and returned to criticizing Obama's appearance on the Tonight Show, saying it was very un-presidential, but that the media don't portray it that way. By contrast, Rush claimed, Bush "stopped going on vacation" and gave up golfing and it didn't do him a bit of good. That might be because Bush did not actually give up vacationing or golfing, despite Bush's reported claim that he had given up golfing in 2003.

Rush rounded off the hour with some more attacks on Obama and the teleprompter, saying: "This is an angry man. His wife's mad too. And he's not cool, he's cold. This is a cold, cold guy. It takes the prompter to create the aura of feeling and compassion."

Highlights from Hour 2

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: Something else that I want some of you to think about, and I know that many in this audience -- not all -- but I know that some of you in this audience are part of the mob. Some of you in this audience -- because this audience spans all boundaries. We appeal to all political persuasions, all ideologies, all three sexes, all religions, all non-religions, and I know that some of you in this audience are part of the mob, and some of you listening to me today just are -- you're flat-out angry at me, can't believe what you're hearing me say, because you know the truth. You know AIG stole from you. AIG stole from America. AIG stole -- AIG is responsible. AIG, they've got to pay. They've got to pay because Obama said so. Their bonuses were in the legislation Obama signed and Congress wrote, but all that aside, something you need to know. The banking crisis is not solved. The Obama bank solvency program is yet to be announced. Timothy Geithner has not yet put forward his plan to bring about two things: to eliminate these toxic assets that are eliminating the second thing that needs to happen, and that is the free flow of credit at market prices. Nothing has been done on that yet.

Do you know what it's going to take, you mobsters? What is it going to take to get the banks going again? I don't know, but some people, the experts say it's going to take more money. We've already stimulated and stimulated and stimulated, and we've pumped and pumped and pumped, and the Fed announced a trillion dollars yesterday and the market's down today. It's going to take more money, and at some point, Geithner or whoever replaces him -- Janet Reno -- or President Obama is going to call a press conference, and they're going to announce the need for another bailout or more TARP money. To whom? The banks. The only problem is they've whipped you into a frenzy of totalitarian hatred toward the banks. So what are you mobsters going to do?

[...]

LIMBAUGH: This teleprompter is a card. The teleprompter -- I mean, the things that this teleprompter gets this man to say in the midst of the least accountability on spending of government assets I have ever -- I love this teleprompter. This teleprompter has more power over this man than his wife does, than Jeremiah Wright does. Do you realize that this teleprompter is forcing Obama to say stupider things than Jeremiah Wright's probably telling him to say? Or Bill Ayers? I love this teleprompter.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: He's a pop culture celebrity. He is a man of very little substance. He is a man of show, a man of the teleprompter, and when it comes to real substance, he's lost without the teleprompter. He's a walking gaffe machine. And the reason they keep that tele -- teleprompter tied to him at all times is because when he's off that teleprompter, in addition to the stutters and the lack of focus, we find out what's really in his mind. We find out what's really in his heart.

And this is an angry man. His wife's mad too. And he's not cool; he's cold. This is a cold, cold guy. It takes the prompter to create the aura of feeling and compassion. Think about that. It takes an electronic gizmo with a hard drive that works with nothing but ones and zeroes, the binary code, to give humanity.

Now, I know a lot of you -- "Rush, how can you say that, this is one of the most warm and sensitive and --" This man is participating in the destruction in the concept of individual. This man is participating with his party in the -- in the wholesale assault on the concept of the individual and individual liberty in the process of remaking this country in an image that he thinks is more just.

You know what I really wonder? We'll never know this. I really wonder how many real Democrats are scared out of their pants over what they see happening.

America's Truth Rejector

Rush repeated his false claim about Henrietta Hughes at Obama town hall -- that she asked Obama for a "new car" and a "new kitchen."

This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by rugged individualism
by Simon Maloy

Rush kicked off the final hour with some sad news -- he'll be out on Monday for another charity golf outing. In his place will be Mark Steyn, who once described Michelle Obama as "Kim Jong-Il dressed up with a bit of Oprah Winfrey dressing." So he should do just fine ...

Rush then expressed concern that some in his audience might not understand what he meant when he said over and over and over that Obama wants to destroy individualism and capitalism and the country. Rush embarked on an extended monologue about the source of our freedom, and praised rugged individualism -- that spirit that led mankind to discover the New World and fly to the moon. A fine example of this spirit of rugged individualism, according to Rush, is the tremendously successful Rush Limbaugh. After extolling his listeners to believe in themselves, Rush explained that Obama wants "to control and to limit freedom. Because the only way Obama can get the power he wants, and the Democrats can get the power they want, is if you willingly turn it over to them by getting rid of your self-interest, your self-respect and holding your best interests at heart."

Coming back from commercials, Rush took a caller who expressed her offense at Obama's Special Olympics remarks and subsequent apology. Rush agreed, again calling Obama "cold," "angry," and possessed of a "chip on his shoulder."

Back from another advertising time-out, Rush returned to his Obama-Palin comparison from the first hour, contrasting Obama's Special Olympics comments with those of Sarah Palin. Rush's point was to illustrate how "false images" -- that of "suave" Obama and "vulgar" Palin -- can be "created and magnified" by the media.

Then Rush took a call from a woman endeavoring to correct Rush on his comments regarding mark-to-market accounting and Enron from earlier in the week. After a brief conversation, the caller said she did not think Enron was corrupt, and Limbaugh asked her thoughts on AIG. She was happy that the AIG executives got those bonuses, and Rush proclaimed her "my kind of woman" because she has "courage." However, he might have rethought that sentiment shortly thereafter, when the caller offered some interesting theories on the Enron scandal -- specifically that, while former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow stole from Enron, Enron itself did nothing wrong and was a "victim."

One more break and one more Tonight Show sound byte, which, according to Rush, "dovetailed" nicely with his claim that Obama is attacking individualism. He aired audio of Obama saying: "We need young people instead of this smart kid coming out of school instead of wanting to be an investment banker, we need them to decide that they want to be an engineer. They want to be a scientist. They want to be a doctor or a teacher. And if we're rewarding those kind of things that actually contribute to making things and making people's lives better, that's going to put our economy on solid footing." Rush's response? "It's none of his damn business what you want to do with your life!" Rush reiterated his "A" for AIG remarks, adding: "He wants people in that business to be hated. He wants people in that business to be suspects."

Thus concludes another week of The Limbaugh Wire. We're going to spend the weekend curled in the fetal position and gently weeping as our NCAA bracket self-destructs. If you're not doing the same, we highly recommend a thorough reading of Media Matters' ongoing and exhaustive Limbaugh coverage. And check out the rest of the site too. We hear they have some good stuff there.

Highlights from Hour 3

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: Everybody's trying to hold everybody back. It's just human nature, and it's only the belief in yourself that propels you through all of those things and yourself as the individual. I got fired seven times. One time was it probably justified, the other times due to vagaries of the broadcast business. But each time I got fired, the person who fired me said, "You know, you really don't have what it takes to succeed here. If you want to stay in this business, you need go into sales or something else because you just -- you really don't have that much talent." And I'm saying to myself, "How would you know? You've never let me exhibit it. You and your brilliant management have come up with ways that I can only say this here or that there or I can only take that much time -- how do you know what my talent is? And when was the last time you really cared to find out what my talent is?" Without believing in yourself, you're going nowhere, and you won't believe in yourself if somebody beats the individual out of you, if somebody convinces you that you don't deserve to do any better than anyone else because that's not fair. And they are teaching you that in school about your grades, and they're teaching you that about economics -- it's not fair that you have a nicer car than the schlub down the street, it's just not fair. It's humiliating to the people who have less. So they're trying to beat the individual out of you, and the individual in you, the belief in yourself is the only thing you've got to compete against everybody that's trying to hold you back, and they all are. It's the way of the world.

You look at things from afar, you look at pop culture, you look at movie stars, and you think that's a community and they all decided one day -- they all decided that Cameron Diaz is great, and they all got together and they all love Cameron Diaz and they've all made her a big star. That's the image they project because they want you to think it's a giant -- Cameron Diaz is like everybody else. She had to fight for everything she has, and she's -- they're nipping at her heels now as she gets older -- same thing with Julia Roberts. It doesn't change no matter where you are, no matter what kind of glamour. You take a look around you. The genuinely successful people that you see who you want to be did not check their individualism at the door when they started their work. They didn't check their self-interest at the door, and they didn't check their self-respect, and they didn't turn over the belief in themselves to somebody else. That's all I'm talking about, and that's under assault by this administration, which wants to control and limit freedom. Because the only way Obama can get the power he wants, and the Democrats can get the power they want, is if you willingly turn it over to them by getting rid of your self-interest, your self-respect and holding your best interests at heart. Your best interests do not coincide with the government's, especially now.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: This sound byte dovetails with what I was saying all day long about this administration targeting individualism. This administration and the Democrat Party have an all-out assault on capitalism, individualism, and freedom, and this is how it happens. Obama last night on Tthe Tonight Show.

OBAMA [audio clip]: We need young people instead of, you know, this smart kid coming out of school instead of wanting to be an investment banker, we need them to decide that they want to be an engineer. They want to be a scientist. They want to be a doctor or a teacher. And if we're rewarding those kind of things that actually contribute to making things and making people's lives better, that's going to put our economy on solid footing. We won't have this bubble-and-bust economy that we've gotten so caught up in for the last several years.

LIMBAUGH: Now, this is part of his existence. His wife said the same thing in Zanesville, Ohio, back during the campaign. Don't be a lawyer, don't be an investment banker. Stay as a nurse of what have you. So here is the president of the United States on the Tonight Show, which, you know, the audience of that show -- what would you want to guess the average IQ of the audience of the Tonight Show is? Don't be an investment banker. Do not do that. You will destroy America. It's none of his damn business what you want to do with your life. It's none of his business unless he's paying your education, unless he's your father, and even then it's your life and you can do with it what you want. Of all of the occupations, don't be an investment banker. Why? Who's he targeting? He wants everyone in finance to wear a giant red A for AIG. He wants people in that business to be hated. He wants people in that business to be suspects. Instead of, you know, smart kid coming out of school, instead of wanting to be an investment banker, we need them to decide that they want to be an engineer, a scientist, a doctor, a teacher. And if we're rewarding those kind of things, which actually contribute to making things and making people's lives better. You don't think this guy has a bug up his dress? You don't think this guy has got a chip on his shoulder about wealthy people, what he thinks are wealthy -- you don't think this guy has a prejudice?