This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by Rush's L.A. story
By Simon Maloy

It's a dreary, rainy afternoon here in Washington, D.C. -- world headquarters of the Limbaugh Wire. To escape the gloom, we've taken to flights of fancy, mimicking Rush in sniffing out secret plans and conspiracies wherever we can. We think we've hit upon one that Rush has thus far missed. As you're all probably aware, Sen. Arlen Specter jumped up a few notches in the alphabet yesterday, going from (R-PA) to (D-PA). While that's interesting in and of itself, what got our tinfoil hat buzzing was the key role Vice President Biden played in Specter's switch. So, the way we see it, the Obama administration -- in conjunction with ACORN, makers of smart meters, and the ghost of Saul Alinsky -- is enacting a secret plan to exploit fissures within the GOP, and spurred the Specter switch to force Republicans to choose between the center and the far right (see Specter reactions from Sen. Olympia Snowe and Sen. Jim DeMint). As such, the White House is playing Rush like a fiddle -- what better reaction could they have hoped to get from the unofficial head of the GOP than: "It's no great loss for the conservative movement and really not for the Republican Party"?

Or maybe we're just crazy.

Anyway, Rush got things started with Specter, professing to be "stunned" by the way in which the political class is handling his defection, saying they're reacting as if a religious leader had abandoned his religion. That's not the case, Rush said -- Specter was "dead weight," and Jim DeMint "got it right" (see above), but he and other Republicans who got it right are being bashed by Democrats and even some Republicans. If you listen to those Republicans and the media, Rush said, you'd think the Republican Party is never coming back. Rush attributed all this to being "drunk" with "Obamaism."

Then Rush explained that he only got 90 minutes of sleep last night because he had to fly back from Los Angeles, where he participated in a debate with Harold Ford, Willie Brown, and Ed Gillespie, moderated by Frank Luntz. Rush explained that the audience for the debate were "the masters of the universe," some of the most accomplished people in finance in the world. Unfortunately, Rush said, they've been "corrupted" by Obama -- they don't like his policies, but they love him and they don't react well to criticism of him. It was "disappointing" to Rush, who explained that there is "a definite leftward tilt" in the "corporate world." Anyway, Rush said that he knows and likes Harold Ford and Willie Brown, but they were tossing out "clichés" last night, like  the "myth" that the Bush years and the Bush economy were a "disaster."

Then Rush shifted back to Specter, saying that Specter "voted for one of the most irresponsible pieces of legislation in modern history": Obama's stimulus plan. Speaking of stimulus, Rush highlighted that the economy shrank at about a 6-percent pace in the first quarter of 2009, and claimed he was seeing several people say that we can't blame Obama because he's only been in office 100 days and it wouldn't be fair. "Why can't we blame Obama?" Rush demanded. Hasn't the economy been stimulated? he asked. But then, he added: "Now, in one sense, I can see the point. Yeah, we passed the stimulus bill, but most of it doesn't really get into good gear until 2010. But, folks, I hate to remind you, but when the rest of this stupid plan goes into action, we are really going to be in the sewer." So, just so we're clear, Rush says it's a "myth" and a "cliché" to call the Bush economic policies a "disaster," but it's perfectly fine to blame Obama for economic destruction that hasn't happened yet.

Leading into the break, Rush repeated his claim that Specter voted for one of the most irresponsible pieces of legislation in modern history, and that he "joined with the most radical liberal elements of the Democrat Party." That's what caused Pat Toomey to challenge Specter -- isn't that how politics works?

During the next two segment, Rush aired sound bites of his debate performance last night. To be honest, there was nothing there any of you haven't heard before if you've been listening to Rush or, better yet, reading the Limbaugh Wire -- smallest minority in the world is the individual, green energy is a myth, AIG bonuses were about class envy, etc. The only bits that stood out to us as noteworthy were his (generous, we thought) grading of Obama's first 100 days as "barely a D," and his claim that "Barack Obama thinks that -- and a lot of Democrats think the country is unjust and immoral, has been for a long time; compounded under Bush."

After we were done reliving Rush's night out in L.A., Rush noted that Obama is celebrating his first 100 days with a town hall meeting in Missouri, and he aired a couple of sound bites, cautioning the tea partiers that Obama was "really irritated by what you did." In the audio clip, the president said: "Those of you who are watching certain news channels on which I'm not very popular, and you see folks waving tea bags around, let me remind them that I am happy to have a serious conversation about how we are going to cut our health care costs down over the long term, how we are going to stabilize Social Security." Rush thought this was "not wise" on the part of a president who is supposed to have great political instincts, calling it a "bitter clinger moment." Now, we're not entirely sure the tea partiers could be considered a viable constituency for Obama regardless of what he says, so we're not sure courting them is the best use of Obama's time. Anyway, Rush concluded: "[Y]ou know, he's not president of all the people. I mean, this guy, he's cold and he is partisan."

Anyhow, Rush closed out the hour reminding everyone who thinks the eight years of Bush were a "failure" that Air Force One buzzed lower Manhattan on Monday, causing a bit of a panic. This means the people of New York City haven't forgotten 9-11. All they have to do is see a jumbo jet to send them into a panic. We didn't have any more of those jets crashing into those buildings the past eight years, Rush said, and he found it "fascinating" that those fears are realized again by an act taken by the Obama administration.

Highlights from Hour 1

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: Now, in one sense, I can see the point. Yeah, we passed the stimulus bill, but most of it doesn't really get into good gear until 2010. But, folks, I hate to remind you, but when the rest of this stupid plan goes into action, we are really going to be in the sewer.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Barack Obama thinks that -- and a lot of Democrats think the country is unjust and immoral, has been for a long time; compounded under Bush -- I know what the template is -- and that if we just run around saying, "Look, we're different. We're morally superior. We're better people. We're different. Now, you can trust us. We're not from the old country here that was racist, sexist, bigoted, and so forth and so on." And I think all that does is convey weakness to our enemies.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Now, this is not wise. I mean, this is a man who supposedly has great political instincts, correct? Barack Obama. But he's -- this is a bitter clinger moment here. He's looking at you people who went to the tea parties -- he doesn't like you at all -- "waving teabags around. Let me just remind them I'm happy to have a serious conversation about how we are going --" you know, he's not president of all the people. I mean, this guy, he's cold and he is partisan.

This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by the Obama power of attorney letter
By Simon Maloy

Rush got the second hour rolling with an extended, derisive, and snide "celebration" of Obama's first 100 days. Saying that April 29 will be a "day that lives in ecstasy," Rush wanted to know what his listeners were doing to commemorate this momentous occasion. One suggestion Rush had was to sign the Obama power of attorney letter, by which "you can honor President Obama, and at the same time, sign over complete control of your life to him, because he knows what's best for your country. He knows what's best for your family. He knows what's best for your children. He knows what's best for you." He went on in this vein for some time, saying that the letter extends beyond Obama's presidency to the duration of his natural life, and that if you sign the letter, you'll never have to worry about which job, car, school, or health plan you should choose, because Obama will do it for you. And after all that setup, after all that tortured sneering, the "punch line" was that there was an easier way to do all these things: "vote for the guy."

After the break, Rush read a story from CBS 2 in Chicago with the headline: "Unemployment Up Again In Chicago In March." This is "more magic from Barack Obama," said Rush, but he's sure that people in central California with 20 percent unemployment are saying that Obama is doing everything he can. Once again, Rush expressed his surprise that unemployment was rising despite the fact that we already "stimulated the economy."

Then it was time for a caller -- a caller? He's taking callers today? We guess so. Anyway, this caller was in the audience at the L.A. debate last night and wanted to let Rush know that she loved his tie, and that the liberals at her table were booing him. Rush's next caller wanted to "close the loop" on two subjects: why the corporations bought the U.S. government for the Democrats, and what will be the new "supertax." Rush said that a lot of corporations would love to dump their unfunded liabilities like health plans and pensions. Regarding the "supertax," Rush said he's been "paranoid" for years about a "wealth tax" (we think there are a few more items he could add to that list), but that if it does happen, it won't work, because the government can seize that wealth. Part of the "leftward shift" of corporate America, according to Rush, can be attributed to the fact that most of corporate America is Democratic, but they're "running scared" of the government. Rush concluded: "I've never, in my 58 years, I have never had the sense that so many people are so genuinely afraid of their government, from all walks of life, as they are today. And believe me, that is being exploited by people who love us being afraid of them."

After the break, Rush noted that the latest Rasmussen poll showed that the generic congressional Republican now tops the generic congressional Democrat. Rush was very happy at this isolated bit of polling data, saying that it means there are far more Americans than we realize that don't like Obama's policies. Rush said Dick Morris had a good analogy for this -- the country is like a woman who, after two months, knows that she married a "jerk," but can't admit to herself that she made a mistake. But in time, Rush said, Obama will own all of this, and Rush is trying to make him own it now -- that's why he read that unemployment story from CBS in Chicago. Then Rush explained to us that we were flat wrong in saying that Rush was "generous" in giving Obama's first 100 days a D: "We got to allow room for more failure, 'cause it's gonna get worse. I couldn't give him an F after the first 100 days. If I had given F after the first 100 days, I'm going to have to give a double F after the next six months. You gotta have room for more failure. That's why I gave him a D. I knew what I was doing in there." We hate it when Rush is one step ahead of us.

Rush then praised Fox Broadcasting for deciding not to carry Obama's press conference this evening, employing the lame joke we're sure you've encountered already: "Fox is not giving up the hour. Fox is going to go ahead and run -- what is the show called? Lie to Me? That show at 8 o'clock on Fox is called Lie to Me. So they actually are going to carry the State of the Union address. I mean, Lie to Me, State of the -- well, but Obama's speech, Lie to Me, what's the difference?"

Then Rush read from a Wall Street Journal article from this morning reporting that Citigroup "is asking the Treasury for permission to pay special bonuses to many key employees, according to people familiar with the matter." Rush understood that if you're going to take federal money, then the government is going to have common stock, but it nonetheless rubbed Rush the wrong that banks are "asking Obama" for permission to pay bonuses. He took the next logical step: "You sit back and let this happen, and pretty soon, it ain't gonna be long before you're going to have to call the government for permission to go to the bathroom and use a certain kind of toilet paper."

Another caller before the break, this one a woman expressing her opinion that Obama's "joy ride" demonstrates his contempt for America and its people. Rush said there are so many "logical questions" about the flyover that the "drive-bys" aren't asking, they're content with the unbelievable claim that Obama didn't know about this.

After another break, Rush closed out the hour with another caller, this one saying that Obama is trying to delegate responsibility on the Air Force One flyover, which you can't do. Rush said that Obama is now "triple-furious" about all this because he's ordered a review of what happened. The last thing we'll get from that review, Rush said, will be the truth. We're confident that unless the report finds that Obama himself was flying the plane, Rush won't consider it the "truth."

Highlights from Hour 2

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: I would like to propose the Obama power of attorney letter for any and all Americans to sign. On this, the 100th day of his magnificent presidency, you can honor President Obama, and at the same time, sign over complete control of your life to him, because he knows what's best for your country.

He knows what's best for your family. He knows what's best for your children. He knows what's best for you. Why not sign over complete control of your life to President Obama, with the Obama power of attorney letter.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: I've never, in my 58 years, I have never had the sense that so many people are so genuinely afraid of their government, from all walks of life, as they are today. And believe me, that is being exploited by people who love us being afraid of them.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: I gave him a D. I gave him a D for his approval -- I'm grading the first 100 days as a D. What do you want me -- to give him an A? Oh, come on, I said barely a D. We got to allow room for more failure, 'cause it's gonna get worse.

I couldn't give him an F after the first 100 days. If I had given F after the first 100 days, I'm going to have to give a double F after the next six months. You gotta have room for more failure. That's why I gave him a D. I knew what I was doing in there.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Fox is not giving up the hour. Fox is going to go ahead and run -- what is the show called? Lie to Me? That show at 8 o'clock on Fox is called Lie to Me. So they actually are going to carry the State of the Union address. I mean, Lie to Me, State of the -- well, but Obama's speech, Lie to Me, what's the difference?

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Good Lord! Citibank, a big bank -- I know the government's gonna own a third of it. That's not a solution, it's an objective. But to have to call the Department of Treasury and ask for permission to pay bonuses to keep key people? That ought to embarrass everybody. Then after it embarrasses you, it ought to make you mad.

When you might be saying, "Well they ought to have to ask permission Mr. Limbaugh. They have screwed us blind. They have raised our credit card interest rates, and they have been unkind and charged us ATM fees."

All right, fine. You sit back and let this happen, and pretty soon, it ain't gonna be long before you're going to have to call the government for permission to go to the bathroom and use a certain kind of toilet paper.

Clips from this hour

Limbaugh gives Obama a "D" for first 100 days because "[y]ou gotta have room for more failure"

Rush calls Obama "cold" and "partisan" for commenting on Fox-sponsored tea parties

This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by the leftward tilt of urban violence
By Simon Maloy

Rush got the final hour going by saying that he received an email from a friend asking why he wasn't spending more time today on swine flu. This made Rush laugh because his friend lives in New York City. Rush said he wrote back: "You gotta be kidding me. You live in New York! It is a blue city, meaning it's a Democrat, liberal city. You have a greater chance of dying going down to the bodega for an orange than you do of getting the pig flu!" Rush added for emphasis: "More people die every day in blue cities from violent crime than are gonna come down with the pig flu." Perhaps urban violence, like corporate America, does have a "leftward tilt," but as a colleague pointed out, New York City has not had a Democratic mayor since December 31, 1993.

Then Rush noted that Fox News' Greta Van Sustern was interviewing people in New York City last night who described "their total, abject fear as a result of" the Air Force One flyover. Rush added: "So it made me wonder as I'm watching this, these people in New York, whose greatest fear is another plane hitting another building in Manhattan, voted overwhelmingly for a guy who does not in any way share that fear."

Moving on, Rush aired audio of Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) on MSNBC yesterday being asked to respond to Rush's desire that Arlen Specter take Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) with him to the Democratic side. Lieberman "respectfully" disagreed with Rush, and Rush, in turn, "respectfully" disagreed with Lieberman on the idea that parties need moderating influences. Rush said he keeps hearing that the GOP is monolithic in its right-wing views. But the "Democrat Party" is open to diverse ideas? he asked. Isn't that undermined when you say that the Senate is now "filibuster-proof"? Anyway, Rush is sick and tired of hearing how monolithic and right-wing the Republicans have become, because they've actually "moved left," said Rush. Rush guaranteed that the Democrats would never nominate their equivalent of John McCain, whose claim to fame was blasting Bush.

Then Rush moved on to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), or Sen. Grahamnesty, as Rush pithily dubbed him. Sen. Grahamnesty was on Fox News' On the Record last night, and Rush aired audio of the good senator saying that neither he nor Rush Limbaugh could win in Pennsylvania, and the Republicans need to find someone who can. Rush said this doesn't make any sense, and asked what was the benefit to the GOP to have someone in the party, like Specter, who wasn't really a Republican. Voters are too smart for that, Rush said -- if they can vote for a genuine liberal, then they'll do that instead of vote for a fake one. Rush counseled that Sen. Grahamnesty could learn quite a bit by visiting the Heritage Foundation's website, which he proceeded to plug for the rest of the segment.

After the break, Rush said that CNN's David Gergen is the essence of "conventional wisdom" in Washington, D.C., and that he was "180 degrees wrong" when he said last night that Rush and RNC chair Michael Steele were "bitter" in their responses to the Specter defection. Rush said it's the Democrats that demand 100 percent fealty. You'll recall we linked in the first hour to Sen. Jim DeMint's statement on Specter leaving the party, in which he said: "I would rather have 30 Republicans in the Senate who really believe in principles of limited government, free markets, free people, than to have 60 that don't have a set of beliefs." Anyway, Rush went on to say that it's a "lie" that Reagan erected a "big tent" for the GOP in the 1980s. Leading into the break, he described an argument he had with someone in the green room at last night's debate, who said to Rush that the GOP needs to shed their pro-life position to win. Rush pronounced this argument ridiculous, because Reagan was pro-life and he won in two landslides.

Coming back from the break, Rush said (not 10 minutes after saying the idea of Reagan's "big tent" was a "lie") that Reagan did indeed attract "moderates," but he didn't change who he was to attract them. Then Rush noted that Specter, in his statement announcing his switch to the Democratic Party, lamented former Sen. Lincoln Chaffee's 2006 failed re-election attempt, which Specter characterized as an instance of Club for Growth favoring party purity over electoral results. Rush thought it "funny" that Specter called for a party "revolt" against Club for Growth, asking: "Who will the uprising come from? Moderates?" Rush bemoaned the fact that Club for Growth was being "besmirched" by conservatives today, because they just believe in private-sector capitalism, which is not "demanding purity."

Returning to Specter's "revolt" of the moderates, Rush played what he said would be a good anthem for that revolt, Dave Mason's "We Just Disagree." As the song played, Rush asked us to imagine Obama singing it to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hugo Chavez. After the musical interlude had ended, Rush asked why Club for Growth is being viewed as "the problem," and not "far left" groups like... wait for it... ACORN. Rush's conclusion: If they want to leave the party, let them leave, because the conservative movement and the Republican Party are going to have to be "rebuilt" anyway.

Rush closed out the show with a hat trick of callers, the first asking Rush if there are any newspapers out there that aren't liberal. Rush said the reason you don't see daily body counts from Iraq in the newspapers anymore is because the media is not trying to "secure defeat" in Iraq now that Obama is in office. The next caller, a baker, said Obama deserves a "strong F-minus" for his first 100 days, explaining that he was employed before Obama, but now he's unemployed, and the government is destroying the food industry by paying farmers to grow corn instead of wheat. At this point, Rush could have pointed out to this gentleman that corn subsidies -- regardless of their merits -- were being paid long before Obama had even been elected to the Senate, let alone the presidency, so he can't really be blamed for that. Instead, Rush said that Obama is helping to spread fear and chaos throughout the economy. Rush's final caller explained that even though Pennsylvania is a Democratic state, a pro-life Republican can still win. Rush agreed, saying that conservatism wins every place it is "boldly tried."

And that's it for another afternoon of Limbaugh Wiring. With the president's 100th day press conference happening tonight, you can guarantee that there will be a whole lot of distortions, half-truths, bloviations, and outright falsehoods during tomorrow's episode of The Rush Limbaugh Show, so we do hope you'll join us again as we meticulously dismantle them one at a time. Until then, please consider taking a look at Media Matters' complete and unabridged Limbaugh archives.

Highlights from Hour 3

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: I looked at this email from this friend of mine from New York worried about the pig flu. I actually -- I wrote back; I said, "You gotta be kidding me. You live in New York! It is a blue city, meaning it's a Democrat, liberal city. You have a greater chance of dying going down to the bodega for an orange than you do of getting the pig flu!" More people die every day in blue cities from violent crime than are gonna come down with the pig flu.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Greta Van Susteren -- I was watching Greta last night as we were flying home. She was discussing this photo op that scared all the people in lower Manhattan. You saw the video -- people leaving their buildings, running away. And she interviewed a lot of people. Person after person interviewed, describing their total, abject fear as a result of this little White House stunt that nobody can explain how it happened.

So it made me wonder as I'm watching this, these people in New York, whose greatest fear is another plane hitting another building in Manhattan, voted overwhelmingly for a guy who does not in any way share that fear.