This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by Joe the Plumber, the articulate conservative
By Simon Maloy

Good afternoon, and felíz Cinco de Mayo a todos. Speaking of Cinco de Mayo, we read that President Obama garbled a bit of Spanish yesterday at a White House celebration of the Mexican holiday. Under normal circumstances, such rhetorical miscues generate a small amount of light-hearted coverage. But we're dealing with Rush Limbaugh here, so it's likely that this will turn into yet another extended rant about Obama and his sentient, sabotage-prone teleprompter.

Rush opened the show with a question -- the media and newspapers have concluded that the conservative movement and the Republican Party are dead unless they move to the center, but if conservatives and Republicans are, in fact, "dead," then why are Democrats and the media spending so much time "dancing on our graves?" Rush said he made this same point during his speech at the Heritage Foundation last night, asking why conservatives are playing dead and accepting the premise that they have to act like the left in order to return to power. The Democrats didn't run to the right in 2004, Rush said. Instead, they moved to the anti-Bush, anti-American (in terms of the Iraq war) left.

So if conservatives are dead, Rush again asked, why are the Democrats and the media still obsessed with them? It's because they're trying to diminish the influence of the conservative movement in the GOP, Rush said, because they "threaten" the left, which is full of "lies" and "deceit." According to Rush, they're trying to destroy people who can articulate the beliefs and principles that the left fears -- specifically, himself and Sarah Palin. Rush added: "To me, this is an opportunity. It's what I told the people at Heritage last night. It's an opportunity. We have a great opportunity to contrast ourselves with the most liberal, quasi-socialist administration in history. We've got the country more afraid of this administration than I have ever seen. We've got people that I know more afraid of their government than they have ever been. This is not our country. This is not the country we were raised in."

Rush then noted that the "drive-bys" were all over his comments yesterday whacking the National Council for a New America for excluding Palin from their "listening tour." Rush said he told the people at Heritage last night what he said on the program yesterday -- Republicans don't need a listening tour, they need to get out there and tell people about conservatism. That's why Rush wouldn't make it as a politician, he said, because he would go out there and tell people to solve their own problems. Obama's the exact opposite, Rush explained -- every day, Obama presents a new crisis or problem and offers himself as the solution, which makes people into "waifs" and "wards of the state."

Then Rush returned to wondering why the media are still "kneecapping" everyone who can "articulate conservatism" and listed who those people were: Sarah Palin, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Sen. Rick Santorum, and Joe the Plumber. Yep... Joe the Plumber, who most recently articulated the conservative position on the "queers" that he won't let near his kids. Once again, Rush said, this is all about trying to diminish the influence of conservatives within the GOP, because "part and parcel" of the left's existence is to "wipe out the opposition."

Rush went into the break explaining that his point in bringing all this up was that conservatives should not be depressed, they should be energized. Rush loves being feared, he explained -- not that he wants people to be afraid of him, but he considers the fact that people are afraid of lovable old him a "measure of success."

After the break, Rush proclaimed his admiration for Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, who told the National Journal that Republicans in Washington are behaving "erratically" and should stop whining about the Democrats not being bipartisan. Rush said he wants Republicans to offer alternative proposals to Democratic ideas like "nationalized health care," not to change those ideas on the margins or go on "listening tours." Daniels recognizes, said Rush, that this is a "golden opportunity" for conservatives because Obama and the Democrats are "vulnerable." They're "vulnerable" because there's no way what they are doing is going to work because you can't sustain Obama's proposed budget deficits. You want to try to stop some of this bad stuff from happening, Rush said, because what Obama has planned will result in the loss of liberty and wealth for many Americans.

Most of the rest of the hour was a eulogy for Jack Kemp and another paean to the alleged supply-side genius that was Ronald Reagan, whose tax cuts were the greatest thing to happen to this country ever because they were born of a philosophy derived from the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence: more freedom, less government, blah blah blah. As we love to point out, Reagan, despite Rush's avowed supply-side revisionism, actually raised taxes -- several times, in fact. Kemp, Rush said, was a champion of the Reagan tax cuts and he got them passed because he won the argument from the conservative viewpoint. The Democrats who controlled the House, Rush said, were forced to vote for the tax cuts because Reagan and Kemp won the argument, but the Dems never "came to believe it" because "[t]hey are afraid of tax cuts."

Anyway, after some more praise of Kemp's conservative bona fides, Rush asked us why, if Kemp was such an ardent Reagan revolutionary, was he never able to rise to the level of the vice presidency? Because he ran with a "moderate" in 1996: "Jack Kemp was eventually seduced. He was seduced into thinking that the big tent idea of the party was the way to win. And I'm telling you, when the big tent people get a hold of the party, all it does is lose and lose and lose, and it was that way before Reagan."

Rush closed out the hour by noting that he had just received the question: Does he really think Obama wants to destroy prosperity? We'll let him answer: "My friends, read his books. Barack Obama's primary objective is undoing Ronald Reagan's tax cuts. Now why would that be? That's all he's doing, returning the nation's wealth to its so-called rightful owners. He operates on the belief that every achiever in this country is a thief, that every achiever has stolen or has something that's genuinely not his or hers -- that they've come by it unfairly." Rush added for good measure: "We're just not going to allow it to happen. But I -- there's no question that he's defining prosperity down. I mean, his objective is to undo the Reagan tax cuts. Now if his objective is to undo the Reagan tax cuts, I guess those are really big tent moderate ideas, huh? We know Obama is a left-wing radical. He takes a look at anything right-wing and he wants to destroy it."

Highlights from Hour 1

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: To me, this is an opportunity. It's what I told the people at Heritage last night. It's an opportunity. We have a great opportunity to contrast ourselves with the most liberal, quasi-socialist administration in history. We've got the country more afraid of this administration than I have ever seen. We've got people that I know more afraid of their government than they have ever been. This is not our country. This is not the country we were raised in.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: We didn't sell Tip O'Neill on these tax cuts. We didn't sell the Democrats on the philosophy and the policy of the tax cuts. If we had've, they wouldn't be promising to raise everybody's taxes every time they open their mouth. What happened was we beat their butts in the eyes of the American people. Ronald Reagan was able to explain this to people and Jack Kemp and his other -- and the whole army was able to explain this to people.

The Democrats had no choice whether to vote for it because the American public had elected Reagan in a landslide on substantive issues. He had a mandate and this was part of the mandate -- cutting taxes. But don't think they ever came to believe it.

They are afraid of tax cuts. They are afraid of the principle of burgeoning economic freedom and liberty because the more of that you get, the less need there is for liberals. So they were never persuaded; they were beaten.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Jack Kemp was eventually seduced. He was seduced into thinking that the big tent idea of the party was the way to win. And I'm telling you, when the big tent people get a hold of the party, all it does is lose and lose and lose, and it was that way before Reagan.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: My friends, read his books. Barack Obama's primary objective is undoing Ronald Reagan's tax cuts. Now why would that be? That's all he's doing, returning the nation's wealth to its so-called rightful owners. He operates on the belief that every achiever in this country is a thief, that every achiever has stolen or has something that's genuinely not his or hers -- that they've come by it unfairly.

He may not be about destroying prosperity, but he sure as hell is going to try to define it down. My hope is that he can't destroy prosperity, that no one man can destroy the United States of America, even with his political party, because, at some point, we're going to rise up and not accept it. We're just not going to allow it to happen.

But I -- there's no question that he's defining prosperity down. I mean, his objective is to undo the Reagan tax cuts. Now if his objective is to undo the Reagan tax cuts, I guess those are really big tent moderate ideas, huh? We know Obama is a left-wing radical. He takes a look at anything right-wing and he wants to destroy it.

This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by the "so-called" abuses of Abu Ghraib
By Simon Maloy

Rush got the second hour started much in the same fashion as the first -- explaining why the Democrats keep dancing on the graves of conservatives. It's because they want everyone to think conservatives are dead, even though they're not. We tell you, folks, few things are more interesting than hearing the same thing said several different ways over the course of 70 minutes...

Then Rush aired audio of Debbie Dingell saying on MSNBC that Rush's call for a "teaching tour" was "arrogant." Rush's response was to say that the real arrogance is coming from Obama, who wants to remake the country, all the while pretending that he's listening to the American people. Rush explained: "All these people talk about listening to the American people, like Obama said. He was -- he's not listening to anybody. He's making a show of listening. He's making a big show of making people think he's listening to them and doing what they want. He is a committed, left-wing ideologue demagogue who's doing everything to implement his agenda as quickly as possible, regardless what anybody thinks."

Moving on from Dingell, Rush aired a montage of media figures "freak[ing] out" over Rush's "teaching tour" remark. Rush explained that he has 6 million listeners at any given moment, and that he receives thousands of emails during the course of every show explaining how he's wrong. Rush said that you can't take the advice of 20 million people and expect to retain your sanity. "This whole notion of listening, it's just -- it's a scam." Rush hoped that we haven't reached the point in America where you have to scam the American people to get their votes.

Then he turned his sights on Jonathan Martin of the Politico, who said on CNN this morning that Rush likes Sarah Palin because Rush sees something of himself in Palin -- they both drive liberals crazy. Rush was offended by this, and thinks the more interesting question is why the left hates Palin. It's because they're scared to death of her, Rush explained for the nth time. Then he aired audio of Martin saying that GOP leaders view the media coverage of Palin as a distraction. Rush said that Palin could build the party, and all the "intelligent" conservatives out there say she can't because she won't attract liberals. "Thank God!" was Rush's view on that.

After the break, Rush had another question for the "moderates" -- if they're so into "reaching out," then why aren't they reaching out to conservatives like Limbaugh? It's because they're hero worshipers, said Rush. They just want to bask in the light of others. Then Rush aired audio of Joe Scarborough asking Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) about Rush's "teaching tour" idea, and Pence, laughing it off, explained that they're going to have a symposium with cap-and-trade experts to explain to the American people what the policy entails. Rush said that someone has to go out there and teach the truth about what Obama is doing and what conservatism is. "This is why we do need a teaching tour. We need to teach people what's actually being done by way of deceit. An intricate web of deceit is being woven by Obama and this administration, misleading people entirely," Rush said. Rush's audience already knows the dangers of cap and trade, he said, because he's been "teaching" them about it for two years. Rush then proclaimed himself an "expert" on conservatism, adding: "it happens all the time and you know, it really isn't more complicated than this folks, the easier you make something look, the more everybody else thinks they can do it. It's a trait of greatness."

After another break, Rush finally took his first caller of the afternoon (with only half the program gone by), a college student who wanted to know what Obama's "end game" is. This set Rush off into a good old-fashioned rant about the all-consuming evil that is liberalism. "It's tough to know what the end game is. All I know is I don't want to be alive if he accomplishes it. You know, I don't want to be around when it happens. So I don't think Obama himself can pull off his end game. It's going to take longer than he's got, unless, of course, we change the term limits on presidents and allow three terms." Rush explained to the caller that Obama is a "redistributionist," he wants to punish achievement, he's defining prosperity down, and he has little faith in "the individual," just like all those other haughty liberals. "Look, they really do look at themselves as best and brightest. They're smarter. They're better people. Their DNA is better than yours. Their pedigree is better than yours. They are better people. They look down on you. They have an arrogance and a condescension towards average people, and their belief is that you can't do as well for yourself as they can do for you." Obama's "angry," he said. He has a "chip on his shoulder."

Continuing, Rush explained that he knows that Democrats and liberals have become partisan since the 2001 recount, and he has "no doubt that there is a visceral, almost an uncontrollable emotional rage and hatred they have for their political enemies. That being said, I don't know how many of them actually want a totalitarian, authoritarian government, under which, they, too, are going to live." Rush explained that a lot of Democrats were probably blinded by hatred of Bush during the campaign to see what Obama was really all about, but "if Obama remains as singularly focused and fortified on this anti-American prosperity agenda that he's got, at some point, some people are going to wake up and say, 'This is -- I don't hate my country this much. I don't think my country is this unjust. I don't think this country deserves to be torn down and rebuilt.' " There will be doubts about Obama that crop up, said Rush, and that's why there needs to be a real conservative out there -- like Joe the Plumber, we guess -- to capitalize on those doubts.

After a break, in which we assume Rush had someone wipe the spittle off the golden microphone, Rush took one more caller before the hour ended, who proposed that the GOP might be so ineffective at articulating conservatism because Rush and the rest of talk radio are so good at it. Rush said a lot of people have said that Rush gives Republicans cover, but Rush thought that the truth -- and he said he probably shouldn't say this publicly -- is that a lot of elected Republicans wish he would go away because they buy into this notion that he's polarizing. Any time you're outspoken and speak without fear, Rush said, most people can't do that and don't want others to do that because it will cause them trouble. Rush makes waves, he said, and these guys don't want to.

Rush closed out the hour with -- well, we'll just quote it: "Also, Obama will not release the photos of Air Force One, buzzing Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty last week. No, those are too secure. They're too private. They're classified. But we are going to release pictures of so-called abuse at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay. This guy can be despicable at times."

Highlights from Hour 2

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: All these people talk about listening to the American people, like Obama said. He was -- he's not listening to anybody. He's making a show of listening. He's making a big show of making people think he's listening to them and doing what they want. He is a committed, left-wing ideologue demagogue who's doing everything to implement his agenda as quickly as possible, regardless what anybody thinks.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: This is why we do need a teaching tour. We need to teach people what's actually being done by way of deceit. An intricate web of deceit is being woven by Obama and this administration, misleading people entirely.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: It's tough to know what the end game is. All I know is I don't want to be alive if he accomplishes it. You know, I don't want to be around when it happens. So I don't think Obama himself can pull off his end game. It's going to take longer than he's got, unless, of course, we change the term limits on presidents and allow three terms.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: He doesn't have a lot of faith in individuals. Liberals don't. They have contempt for average people. Liberals must look at average people as incompetent, and, in the process, in so doing, they credit themselves with needing power.

Look, they really do look at themselves as best and brightest. They're smarter. They're better people. Their DNA is better than yours. Their pedigree is better than yours. They are better people. They look down on you. They have an arrogance and a condescension towards average people, and their belief is that you can't do as well for yourself as they can do for you.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: The have had their hatred for George Bush and Republicans ginned up, fortified, and fueled for the last seven years, ever since the Florida 2000 outcome. So, I have no doubt that there is a visceral, almost an uncontrollable emotional rage and hatred they have for their political enemies. That being said, I don't know how many of them actually want a totalitarian, authoritarian government, under which, they, too, are going to live.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: I'm telling you, there are some people who, I think, maybe in the campaign, didn't see this. There was so much hatred for Bush. The belief that the country had never been worse than it was during the eight years of Bush, that any change would be better. But as this goes on, and if Obama remains as singularly focused and fortified on this anti-American prosperity agenda that he's got, at some point, some people are going to wake up and say, "This is -- I don't hate my country this much. I don't think my country is this unjust. I don't think this country deserves to be torn down and rebuilt."

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Also, Obama will not release the photos of Air Force One, buzzing Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty last week. No, those are too secure. They're too private. They're classified. But we are going to release pictures of so-called abuse at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay. This guy can be despicable at times.

Ego on loan from Narcissus

LIMBAUGH: I was getting notes during my little monologue about Jack Kemp: "Well, I'll tell you. I -- Jack Kemp. I'll tell you what I think of Jack Kemp." Didn't affect me, stuck to what I wanted to say about Jack Kemp. But it happens -- it happens all the time. And, you know, it really is no more complicated than this, folks. The easier you make something look, the more everybody else thinks they can do it. It's a trait of greatness.

This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you, forcibly, by the Obama thugocracy
By Simon Maloy

Rush kicked off the final hour by attacking MSNBC for reporting that Obama and Vice President Biden left the White House to hit up an Arlington, Virginia, burger joint for lunch this afternoon. Rush was particularly incensed that one of the reporters speculated that Obama's cash outlay for a few burgers is a confirmation that consumer spending is up.

Then he moved on to Thomas Lauria, the intrepid lawyer who is claiming that the White House threatened one of his clients, Perella Weinberg Partners, to get them to support the terms of the Chrysler bankruptcy offer. Of course, both the White House and Perella Weinberg Partners say this never happened, but that isn't stopping Fox News, which hosted Lauria this morning. Rush aired audio bites of that appearance, during which Lauria declined to comment on the White House's denial of his allegation. Rush said that Perella Weinberg are now receiving death threats, which he said is "probably ACORN people, just like harassing the AIG people. I'm sure it's coordinated. Obama has the network in place to do this." Anyway, Rush took Lauria's refusal to comment as a shot across the White House's bow: "Don't mess with me. I'll go back on the record again, no matter what the consequences." We're not exactly sure how that constitutes a threat -- he's already on the record, and no one involved says he's telling the truth.

Anyway, Rush said that Lauria's allegations are proof that this was "Obama pushing a button" and forcing the Chrysler deal on the creditors, whom he then demonized. Rush's logical conclusion: "We're looking here at a thugocracy -- is what we're looking at in the White House. This is not the first. They came after me. They've come other -- gone after other people by name. They're going after this lawyer now, Thomas Lauria. This is a -- they've gone after the AIG people, encouraged their minions to go protest at their homes. We've got literally a thugocracy that is operating out of the White House." Remember that all this "thugocracy" nonsense was born from an allegation that the White House threatened a hedge fund -- an allegation that the allegedly threatened hedge fund says is not true.

After the break, Rush took a call from a man who said that trickle-down hasn't been working recently because the income gap keeps getting larger. Rush said the gap is irrelevant, what matters is that all income levels are rising. Rush cited Heritage, which said that after-tax income went up for all quintiles after tax cuts -- well, maybe not the bottom quintile, Rush said, because the bottom quintile is "always a crap shoot." Maybe not the bottom? If the tax cuts aren't helping the people who need the most help, then what's the point? What the caller has to understand, Rush said, is that the Reagan and Bush tax cuts were for all Americans (except the bottom fifth, apparently), but Obama's tax cuts will mean that the government gets richer while people get poorer. It should be noted that "[e]ven the staunchest free-market advocates agree that a widening income gap can be harmful to a society if it cuts people off from economic opportunity," which is likely what is happening as a consequence of a profound recession, rising health care costs, wage stagnation, etc.

Rush's next caller asked if Rush thought people like Jeb Bush and Mike Huckabee are real conservatives or if they're just talking the talk. Rush said whether they're real conservatives or not doesn't matter; he's not looking for an ideological litmus test. Rush's problem is with the listening tour, he said, which he doesn't think Republicans need right now. Rush doesn't pander, he explained. But, as we'll demonstrate later on, he will say things that contradict his own views for money.

Another quick break and Rush was back with another caller, this one wanting to know Rush's thoughts on why the Democrats are mocking Rush's "teaching tour" idea even though Democrats also say that education is really important. Once again, Rush said it's because they're afraid. And the media are attacking Rush because they don't want him to teach conservatism to the masses. Rush's next caller took it upon himself to "apologize" on behalf of all Americans who voted for Obama, and said that even though he didn't vote for the president, he expected the unemployment numbers to have turned around by now. Rush said this is his point -- everything Obama tries to fix is getting worse, but no one is willing to blame him for it yet.

One more break, and Rush was back in fine conspiratorial form, returning to Thomas Lauria's allegations of threatening behavior by the White House against Perrella Weinberg Partners (remember, Perrella Weinberg and the White House say that never happened). According to Rush, "Obama loves the fact that two things are happening. He loves the fact that they're getting death threats, and he loves the fact that people think that he might have been willing to sic the press corps on a private sector firm to ruin their reputation." Why does he love this? "See, when you have Chicago thug politics, the threat of intimidation, which creates a fear that causes people to shut up and not oppose you, is exactly what you want. That's the outcome." You have to understand how "thugs" work, said Rush. They're not embarrassed over any of this. Sure, they'll deny it publicly, Rush said, but it's a show of the "thug power" that they have.

We'll just restate this so the point is made clear: There is no evidence to support any of this. None, other than the allegations of Mr. Lauria, which are disputed by the very law firm he says was threatened. It's pure conjecture, concocted in the absence of fact, and presented as the honest truth. It's what we in the media criticism business politely refer to as a "smear."

Rush closed out today's show with our favorite bit of hypocrisy -- he offered yet another advertisement for GM's Total Confidence Plan, whereby the automaker will "make your payments up to $500 a month for nine months" if you lose your job. Once again, let's go to back to March 31 and revisit Rush's original thoughts on GM's Total Confidence Plan, before the advertising dollars came rolling in: "Yeah, OK, well -- ask you a question here: With whose money are they going to pay for your car payment? Mine, dingleberry, and every other taxpayer's."

And that's it. Another Limbaugh Wire etched into digital stone. We're actually a little disappointed that Rush didn't touch on Obama's Spanish screw up, but we guess he had more important things to say. Anyway, we hope to see you again tomorrow. As always, Media Matters' Limbaugh archives are available for your reading pleasure.

Highlights from Hour 3

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: I know the Dow's down 37, but that's good. We want Wall Street to get creamed. Obama wants Wall Street to get creamed, not we. Obama wants Wall Street to get creamed. He's in the process of creaming Wall Street.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Next question: Are you worried about death threats? By the way, this hedge fund -- what are the name of the company? Yeah, Perella Weinberg Partners -- they are getting death threats now. Perella Weinberg Partners getting death threats. And they're probably ACORN people, just like harassing the AIG people. I'm sure it's coordinated. Obama has the network in place to do this.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: He's sending his own message saying, "Don't mess with me. I'll go back on the record again, no matter what the consequences. I heard him say that the White House press reports were BS, that there were negotiations going into the middle of the night. There weren't. He was sitting by his phone after having made a commercially reasonable offer. He got no phone calls. There weren't negotiations. This was Obama pushing a button. This was Obama forcing the deal on these people.

The White House favored one group of pension fund holders -- the unions -- over another. They demonized the creditor merely for making an offer. That's what Obama stood up and said: "These people wouldn't sacrifice. They stood in the way. They weren't sacrificing like everybody else."

Well, the union was not sacrificing. The union got 55 percent of the deal. We're looking here at a thugocracy -- is what we're looking at in the White House. This is not the first. They came after me. They've come other -- gone after other people by name. They're going after this lawyer now, Thomas Lauria. This is a -- they've gone after the AIG people, encouraged their minions to go protest at their homes. We've got literally a thugocracy that is operating out of the White House.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: We've all heard that Thomas Lauria, the lawyer for the hedge fund, that held out for a better deal -- it didn't even actually hold out; they just offered a price, a negotiation, to go along with the Chrysler situation -- Perella Weinberg Partners -- that they were getting two things: They were getting death threats and that the White House, according to Lauria, had threatened his clients to sic the White House press corps on them and ruin their reputations.

Now, the White House came out quickly and denied this. Lauria, in his refusal to comment, sort of gives the impression that "Hey, it did happen. I'm just not going to say anymore. My law firm has asked me to back off of this, but if you keep digging, the truth is going to come out." He's warning everybody if you don't want to know the truth, let it go.

But the truth is, Obama loves the fact that two things are happening. He loves the fact that they're getting death threats, and he loves the fact that people think that he might have been willing to sic the press corps on a private sector firm to ruin their reputation. Don't forget it was Barack Obama, when he called the bank CEOs up to the White House to tell them what for and how come and why, who said to them, "I'm the only one standing between you and the pitchforks."

Barack Obama said to the CEOs of these banks that took TARP money, "I'm the only one standing between you and the pitchforks," meaning the angry mob. The implication is if you don't have me on your side, the angry mob is coming for you. "I'm the only one that can stop the angry mob."

See, when you have Chicago thug politics, the threat of intimidation, which creates a fear that causes people to shut up and not oppose you, is exactly what you want. That's the outcome.

America's Truth Rejector

Once again, Rush offered hypocritical praise for GM's Total Confidence Plan:

LIMBAUGH: Ladies and gentlemen, General Motors is still selling cars. They are still selling good cars with full warranties. In fact, they're not only selling cars, they've got a new deal happening. They've actually extended this deal through June the 1st -- and that is, if you lose your job after you buy a new Chevrolet, they'll make your payments up to $500 a month for nine months.