Rush Limbaugh: Mathematical and architectural historian
By Simon Maloy

As you might have already guessed, we here at the Limbaugh Wire are consumed by a sense of self-righteous masochism. As such, we stopped watching a perfectly good sporting contest last night so we could flip over to Fox News and confirm that Sean Hannity's interview with Rush was proceeding exactly as we had predicted. Sure enough, we were right -- Rush was armed with the same worn-out jabs at President Obama that we've all heard before, and Hannity looked like a Kindergartener staring with wide-eyed wonder at Santa Claus. But then there was this gem from El Rushbo: "If Al Qaeda wants to demolish the America we know and love, they better hurry, because Obama's beating them to it." There are a couple of things wrong with this, and while we momentarily found ourselves hesitant to point out the obvious, that hesitation was obliterated by the fact that pointing out the obvious is our job, so here it goes. Al Qaeda does not want to destroy the gauzy concept of "the America we know and love," they want to destroy America -- with guns, bombs, shurikens, pointy sticks, or any other destructive implement they can lay their hands on. Obama, on the other hand, wants to raise Rush Limbaugh's taxes. So until Obama gives a speech while holding an AK-47 or Osama bin Laden unveils his plan to hike the capital gains tax, the comparison is foolish.

Rush got things rolling today by attacking the "state-run media" -- the Associated Press in particular -- for reporting that the "number of people on the unemployment insurance rolls fell slightly for the first time in 20 weeks, while the tally of new jobless claims also dipped." The intent behind this sort of reporting, Rush said, is to prop up Obama and shine a positive light on a bad economy. But, said Rush, the AP also reported that the "unemployment rate, meanwhile, will rise to 9.2 percent from 8.9 percent in April, analysts forecast." Rush was sure that everyone was wondering how unemployment can go up while the number of Americans on unemployment fell. Well, Rush attempted to explain, these figures do not include the people who have given up looking for work. (Since people generally have to be seeking work both to be counted in the unemployment rate and receive unemployment payments, Rush is leading his audience astray.) The state-run media, said Rush, is doing "everything they can" to make it look like the economy isn't so bad. We have to think that if the media were doing "everything they can" to make the economy look better than it is, they wouldn't even bother reporting on rising unemployment. But we'll leave Rush to explain that hole in his theory.

Then Rush moved to E.J. Dionne's Washington Post column this morning, in which Dionne wrote that the "power of the Limbaugh-Gingrich axis means that Obama is regularly cast as somewhere on the far left end of a truncated political spectrum. He's the guy who nominates a 'racist' to the Supreme Court (though Gingrich retreated from the word yesterday), wants to weaken America's defenses against terrorism and is proposing a massive government takeover of the private economy." Rush said Obama's not proposing it -- he's doing it! Rush elaborated: "His speech assuring the country what was going to happen to General Motors after bankruptcy -- 34 times he used the word 'I.' He never -- he never said we're going to get legislation to get this done: 'I, the president.' The president and the White House statement that came out: 'The president has deemed the plan put fourth by GM workable.' The president -- we've got a miniature dictator-in-waiting here, in his own mind, and he is taking over the private sector."

Noting that Dionne highlighted Steve Forbes comparing Obama to Juan Perón, Rush bragged that he got there first, and then attacked Michelle Obama, President Obama, and Judge Sonia Sotomayor for being "angry." Rush concluded all this by explaining that Dionne doesn't understand how it works, even though he's a member of the "state-run media."

After the break, Rush set his sights on Obama's speech in Cairo this morning, first airing a sound bite of Obama saying:

OBAMA: As a student of history, I also know civilization's debt to Islam. It was Islam - at places like Al-Azhar University - that carried the light of learning through so many centuries, paving the way for Europe's Renaissance and Enlightenment. It was innovation in Muslim communities that developed the order of algebra; our magnetic compass and tools of navigation; our mastery of pens and printing; our understanding of how disease spreads and how it can be healed. Islamic culture has given us majestic arches and soaring spires; timeless poetry and cherished music; elegant calligraphy and places of peaceful contemplation. And throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality.

Rush explained that he understood that the media consensus was that this was an incredible speech and we're not supposed to criticize it, but this was "outrageous" and "absurd" said Rush. Algebra, said Rush, was invented by the ancient Greeks, not Muslims. Well, Rush, Muslim mathematician Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi is considered to be "the founder of algebra." Then Rush objected to Obama saying that Muslims have helped "our understanding of how disease spreads and how it can be healed," reprising his inane comments from yesterday: "[A]re there Nobel Prizes for medicine awarded to Muslims I have missed?" Rush also objected to Obama saying: "Islamic culture has given us majestic arches and soaring spires." Rush retorted by saying that arches and spires predate Islam by centuries -- "anyone hear of ancient Rome?" Well, Rush, that would be a fine response had Obama said that Muslims invented arches and spires. But he didn't.

After the break, Rush announced that he will ignore the alleged dictate from the media to not criticize Obama's speech and announced that if Obama can give a speech about all the contributions to humanity from the ancient Muslim world, then take heart, because it may be that, some day, he can give a speech about America and all its accomplishments, too.

Then Rush read from Red State's Erick Erickson, who wrote this morning that Obama, in his speech, "put[] the genocide of 6 million Jews in the same category of what has happened to the Palestinians." Erickson was referring to Obama, who, after acknowledging the horrors of the Holocaust, said: "On the other hand, it is also undeniable that the Palestinian people -- Muslims and Christians -- have suffered in pursuit of a homeland." We saw this as more Obama saying "both these things have happened," rather than "both these things have happened and were the same," but Rush declared this "unconscionable." The 6 million Jews who were slaughtered were not terrorists, like the PLO and Hezbollah, said Rush. Rush said he doesn't consider this to be a "gutsy" speech -- a gutsy speech would have been Obama outlining the long list of horrors committed by the militant wing of Islam. Rush also faulted Obama for not outlining the efforts the U.S. has made to save Muslims, like giving missiles to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan to fight the Soviets. Those would be the same Mujahideen who later formed the core of Al Qaeda, so you can see why he probably didn't bring that particular example up.

Anyway, Rush's question -- and he made sure we knew that this was a "serious" question -- was: What is Obama's plan for defending this nation and its allies? Has he articulated that plan? No. It's his belief that he can end all strife and wars with his words. Israel, Rush concluded, is in deep trouble, because they're on their own and they know it. We heard a different message in Obama's speech: "America's strong bonds with Israel are well known. This bond is unbreakable. It is based upon cultural and historical ties, and the recognition that the aspiration for a Jewish homeland is rooted in a tragic history that cannot be denied."

After the break, Rush had another sound bite from Obama: "For human history has often been a record of nations and tribes subjugating one another to serve their own interests. Yet in this new age, such attitudes are self-defeating. Given our interdependence, any world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will inevitably fail." To Rush, the most interesting line in that bite was the last sentence. Rush said it was a foundational reason for the redistribution of wealth around the world. "This is a call for the end of sovereignty." From there, Rush launched into -- and stop us if you've heard this before -- exonerations of "American exceptionalism" contrasted with Obama's agenda to cut the nation down to size: an agenda that is fueled by "anger." And, of course, Obama is both socialist and fascist. This statement by Obama, said Rush, is a guarantee of world-wide misery with Obama and people like him benefiting.

Greg Lewis and Lauryn Bruck contributed to this edition of the Limbaugh Wire.

Highlights from Hour 1

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: Somebody counted it up the other day -- his speech assuring the country what was going to happen to General Motors after bankruptcy -- 34 times he used the word "I." He never -- he never said we're going to get legislation to get this done: "I, the president."

The president and the White House statement that came out: "The president has deemed the plan put fourth by GM workable." The president -- we've got a miniature dictator-in-waiting here, in his own mind, and he is taking over the private sector.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Steve Forbes, writing for his magazine, recently went so far as to compare Obama's economic policies to those of Juan Perón's Argentina. I don't -- I'm just going to point this out, but I think I did that first, too, when talking about industrial policy and automobiles that's -- and Forbes is right. This is out of Juan Perón's Argentina. The only thing we're waiting on is for Michelle to become Evita.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Our understanding of how disease spreads and how it can be healed? We have -- are there Nobel Prizes for medicine awarded to Muslims I have missed?

[...]

LIMBAUGH: The most interesting line in that bite to me is the last sentence: "Any world order that elevates one nation or a group of people over another will inevitably fail." Now there is a foundational reason -- he's offering a foundational reason for the redistribution of wealth, not just within a country, but around the world. That is -- hello, United Nations. This is a call for the end of sovereignty. Somebody would have to mandate this.

"Socialism" and "fascism" watch

LIMBAUGH: Trying to force some kind of result, some kind of world order will inevitably fail, and I see this last line in this speech as a call for a world order; and when you have a world order where nobody's elevated above anybody else, either from nations to nation or person to person, what do you have? What do you have?

When everybody's the same in terms of outcome, what do you have? You have socialism. You have socialism and you have fascism. And you have the president of the United States discussing here the concept of a world order that would bring about that kind of sameness.

Echo chamber

Read extensively from RedState.com's Erick Erickson's rantings on Obama and "moral equivalency."

This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by the Muslim version of ACORN
By Simon Maloy

Rush kicked off the second hour by explaining that Obama's speeches always come down to the same thing -- someone else must sacrifice for the ends that he means to achieve. Today, it's Israel; yesterday, it was General Motors employees. Meanwhile, said Rush, Obama is the one who benefits from the sacrifices, while he sacrifices nothing. Our lives and futures, said Rush, revolve around Obama and his dream.

Then it was time for some more Obama speech commentary, specifically on Obama's statement: "Now let me be clear: issues of women's equality are by no means simply an issue for Islam. In Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia, we have seen Muslim-majority countries elect a woman to lead. Meanwhile, the struggle for women's equality continues in many aspects of American life, and in countries around the world." Rush said he didn't know how to react to this other than with incredulity, because they're still stoning women in Iran. Then it was on to nuclear weapons, specifically Obama's statement: "No single nation should pick and choose which nations hold nuclear weapons. That is why I strongly reaffirmed America's commitment to seek a world in which no nations hold nuclear weapons." Rush said that Obama was "apologizing" for America's nuclear weapons.

Then on to economic development, Obama saying: "On economic development, we will create a new corps of business volunteers to partner with counterparts in Muslim-majority countries. And I will host a Summit on Entrepreneurship this year to identify how we can deepen ties between business leaders, foundations and social entrepreneurs in the United States and Muslim communities around the world. ... All these things must be done in partnership. Americans are ready to join with citizens and governments; community organizations, religious leaders, and businesses in Muslim communities around the world to help our people pursue a better life." Rush offered to translate this passage for us, in his own unique way:

LIMBAUGH: I read that to you again here, folks: "All these things must be done in partnership. Americans are ready to join with citizens and governments, community organizations" -- read ACORN -- "religious leaders" -- Jeremiah Wright -- "and businesses in Muslim communities around the world to help our people pursue a better life."

So your pursuit of a better life will now be intertwined with interaction with Arab -- the Muslim version of ACORN, the Muslim version of Jeremiah Wright, and Muslim businesses, to help you pursue a better life.

Rush said that all this will entail massive tax increases. That's how you have to analyze this speech, which, in his opinion, resembled a State of the Union speech. Whenever he had anything to say about Islam, they shot up and applauded. When he talked about Israel, they sat on their hands.

After the break, Rush took a call from a man who loved the Fox News interview and said that he and Hannity "clicked." The caller also wondered when America is going to wake up and see that the socialist route doesn't work. Rush said he talked about that in one of the interviews he gave yesterday. Obama has this love and devotion from the people who voted for him, but they're not critical thinkers, they're sponges. The question is when real-life experiences can penetrate their thinking. Rush said he doesn't know when people are going to wake up, but a friend of his thinks there's going to be some event, like an open mic or something, in which Obama will "cop an attitude," and that will cause people to question the image that has been carefully crafted.

Time for another caller, this one saying that there was nothing that Obama said today in Cairo that Bush didn't already say, but the Muslim response to Bush was much different. Rush responded by airing an Obama sound bite from this morning: "And finally, just as America can never tolerate violence by extremists, we must never alter our principles. 9-11 was an enormous trauma to our country. The fear and anger that it provoked was understandable, but in some cases, it led us to act contrary to our ideals. We are taking concrete actions to change course. I have unequivocally prohibited the use of torture by the United States, and I have ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed by early next year." This gets to the caller's question, Rush said -- Bush was magnanimous to the Muslim world and got no credit for it, and the reason is Iraq: "The last thing any Arab leader wants is democracy. They don't want any part of it. And, frankly, if you look at most of the Arab world, most of the Arab world happens to like dictators. Their lives are ordered. They are what they are."

Then Rush wondered what, exactly, Obama was talking about. He was dumping on Bush, "siding with the Muslims," and saying they're justified in their anger at the United States. Rush also said Obama had the "audacity" to say that he had unequivocally prohibited torture in the United States. "Torture has always been illegal in the United States," Rush retorted.

After the break, Rush read extensively from a Los Angeles Times article on the "funemployed" -- the happily jobless. Rush said this is fine and dandy, people can do with their lives what they want, but did we see any stories like this during the Bush administration? No. And now that we've got 9.2 percent unemployment, Rush said, we get stories on what a wonderful experience it can be. The Rush took a call from a 30-something "white guy" who loves Rush and objected to the stereotype of the GOP that it's all old, white guys. Rush bemoaned the fact that "it's really uncool to be white male right now." There's a stigma attached to it, he said, and he thinks it's the culmination of multicultural curricula in the schools, which teaches that white men have been tyrants, that they have controlled everything, and that they destroyed the idyllic civilizations in North America and poisoned it with the United States of America. Of course, Rush connected this to how angry Barack Obama and Sonia Sotomayor are because -- well, you should know how this goes by now.

Rounding out the hour, Rush took a call from a gentleman promoting a publication by National Vanguard Books. National Vanguard Books, we should note, is under the umbrella of that National Alliance, which, as explained by the Anti-Defamation League, is a Neo-Nazi organization:

LIMBAUGH: Scott, New York City, thank you for calling. You're next on the EIB network. Hi.

CALLER: Yes, good afternoon. There's an article titled, "Who rules America," by National Vanguard Books that documents the names and the agenda of the control media in the United States. Now, to use a perfect case study, I'd like to take, for example, Obama's trip to the Middle East.

Now, while every politician in Washington pontificates that American taxpayers should be used to prop up the state of Israel at the expense of American security and exposing us to reprisals from the Middle East, nobody in Washington will state, unequivocally, that the way for the United States to best use its resources and to protect itself from the terror and the terror feuds of the Middle East is to stop Third World immigration and adopt a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs with regard to that region of the world.

We presume that Rush wasn't aware of what this caller was talking about, but we do hope that this is brought to his -- and his call screener's -- attention.

Greg Lewis and Lauryn Bruck contributed to this edition of the Limbaugh Wire.

Highlights from Hour 2

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: I read that to you again here, folks: "All these things must be done in partnership. Americans are ready to join with citizens and governments, community organizations" -- read ACORN -- "religious leaders" -- Jeremiah Wright -- "and businesses in Muslim communities around the world to help our people pursue a better life."

So your pursuit of a better life will now be intertwined with interaction with Arab -- the Muslim version of ACORN, the Muslim version of Jeremiah Wright, and Muslim businesses, to help you pursue a better life.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: The last thing any Arab leader wants is democracy. They don't want any part of it. And, frankly, if you look at most of the Arab world, most of the Arab world happens to like dictators. Their lives are ordered. They are what they are. Dictators rule the day in most Arab companies -- countries, especially the oil kingdoms.

This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by Michelle Obama's "attitude" and her need to "[g]et over it"
By Simon Maloy

Rush got the final hour going by reading from a Reuters article on a judicial ruling that "will have little need for the hundreds of dealers it wants to close if it completes its sale to Fiat as expected." Rush couldn't figure it out: Why even make cars without the dealerships to sell them? Rush was also still upset that auto executives were grilled by members of Congress on Capitol Hill yesterday over dealership closings. They're dumping on the wrong people, Rush said. Obama owns the car companies, Rush said, and it's been made abundantly clear that Obama is determining which dealerships are closing, and not Chrysler. GM and Chrysler are in trouble, Rush said, because of the people holding those hearings -- they established CAFE standards and manufacturing restrictions, and they are now forcing them to make cars nobody wants.

Moving back to the economy, Rush noted that we now have 9.2 percent unemployment, and asked what the highest unemployment rate was during the Bush years. It doesn't matter, said Rush, because did we not, during the Bush administration, get sick and tired of seeing Democrats on TV whining and moaning about the suffering of unemployment and how Bush only cared about the rich? Well, Rush said, now we're at 9.2 percent, and where are the Republicans on TV trying to tie this to Obama? Instead, Rush said, what we get are stories from the LA Times about how much fun the unemployed are having. It's as though there's no pain or suffering in this country.

Then Rush moved on to Michelle Obama, who commented on fellow Princeton graduate Sonia Sotormayor while delivering the commencement address at a high school. Rush aired a sound bite of Mrs. Obama saying that she related to Sotomayor's experience of still looking over her shoulder and wondering if she measures up, despite all her professional accomplishments. Rush said this is the first lady admitting that Sotomayor is carrying around a "chip on her shoulder," that she still feels "inferior," and that she's still "angry." As far as we can tell, the only thing Michelle Obama's comments and Rush's interpretation of them have in common is the word "shoulder."

Anyway, it went predictably downhill from there, as Rush advised Mrs. Obama and Judge Sotomayor to "[g]et over it" and drop their "attitude," because "this kind of attitude results in the formulation of policy. This kind of attitude results in speeches that you make. This kind of attitude causes you to apologize for your country all over the world. This kind of attitude makes it possible for you to never be happy no matter what you achieve." Then he read extensively from National Review's Victor Davis Hanson, who, like Rush, somehow found a fathomless, roiling sea of anger in Mrs. Obama's wildly uncontroversial comments about Sotomayor.

After the break, Rush received a call from a gentleman who works for Ford and was quite upset that he received a notice that his life insurance benefit would now be taxed as imputed income. Rush had to go to another commercial, but he wanted the man to stay on the line because he wanted to make sure people heard this. After the break, Rush did get back to the caller, but not before squeezing in a little well-worn conspiratorial rambling. After noting that gas prices are going up, Rush said: "I want to prepare you people. Gasoline prices are going up and that's exactly what Obama wants. Remember when they got to four bucks? He wasn't upset with that price. He said he was a little concerned how fast it got there, but he wasn't upset at that price. Four bucks a gallon we have learned is the tipping point where you will willingly buy junk to drive as opposed to what you would like. And that's of course what Obama wants." This rant made little sense when it was part of the Obama "summer powder keg" conspiracy, and it hasn't improved now that it's been retasked.

Anyway, back to the caller, who said that this tax on his life insurance benefit is being levied due to IRS regulations. Rush said he didn't know this was coming, but it's significant that the IRS is mandating this because they can't do that without legislative approval. Snerdley speculated that it was in the porkulu- -- sorry, the stimulus package. Rush imagined that this will be happening to a lot of people, though he had to figure out what's going on here because normally he's on top of these types of things.

Then it was back to Sotomayor, as Rush dutifully freaked out over Sotomayor's 1994 speech in which she made comments similar to her "wise Latina" remarks in her 2001 speech. Rush said that since she said it two times, there's no chance that she misspoke. Rush said this is racist, it's bigoted, and there's no question about that. Recall though, that yesterday Rush said it might be OK if she's a racist, as long as she's also pro-life.

Rush then turned his eyes to a couple of Politico articles, the first reporting that Democrats are seeking to "pivot" on Sotomayor, and the second highlighting Sen. Robert Menendez's "warning to Republicans up for reelection in 2010: Vote against Sonia Sotomayor at your own peril." So now we have Democrats out there threatening Republicans, said Rush, and the "state-run media" think that's worth reporting, that's good stuff, but when Rush says she's racist, he has to retract. Rush then read a statement from Clarence Thomas on the need for judges to be impartial and exorcised from their emotions and feelings, contrasting it with Sotomayor's comments. That's all well and good, except Thomas has also acknowledged that his personal experiences would affect his performance on the court: "I believe, Senator, that I can make a contribution, that I can bring something different to the Court, that I can walk in the shoes of the people who are affected by what the Court does."

From there, Rush launched into his standard rant about how moderates in the Republican Party are "idiots" for thinking that supporting Sotomayor will garner Hispanic votes, because the Democrats are the party of racism and they still manage to win the Hispanic vote.

After the break, Rush said he had received several emails from "payroll experts" explaining that the caller who was upset that his life insurance benefits are suddenly being taxed is mistaken -- life insurance benefits are taxable once they reach a certain threshold, and that's nothing new.

Rush closed out the show with one more caller, a woman who explained to Rush her theory that Sotomayor and Michelle Obama are so angry because they've been trained to be angry. Nothing pleases Rush more than to hear his followers call in and repeat back to him the stuff he's been saying all day/week/month, and this was no exception. In fact, Rush was so eager to have this woman parrot his rantings back at him that he asked for her phone number so she could more thoroughly do so on tomorrow's program.

And that was a fitting way to end today's show because, as you know, tomorrow is "Open Line Friday!" -- that special day of every week when Rush pretends to open programming decisions to his listeners, who invariably call in and talk about what Rush wants to talk about. We hope you'll join us. Until then, Media Matters' Limbaugh archives eagerly await your patronage.

Greg Lewis and Lauryn Bruck contributed to this edition of the Limbaugh Wire.

Highlights from Hour 3

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: If you go through the rest of your life trying to show those people that they were wrong, you're never going to be happy 'cause they're never going to admit it, and you'll never know how they really feel -- and that advice was some of the best advice I ever got. Don't use as your motivation the "I'll show them" in a personal sense, because it poisons you. It distracts you from the real reason you're trying to succeed.

Well, somebody needs to give this advice to Sonia Sotomayor and Michelle Obama. Get over it. You've overcome it. You are the first lady of the United States of America. But if you want to run around and still act like you are the victim of a great injustice because you grew up in America, a country you did say, as recently as a year and a half ago, that you were never proud of until a year and a half ago -- it really is time to get over it because this kind of attitude results in the formulation of policy.

This kind of attitude results in speeches that you make. This kind of attitude causes you to apologize for your country all over the world. This kind of attitude makes it possible for you to never be happy no matter what you achieve.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: I want to prepare you people. Gasoline prices are going up and that's exactly what Obama wants. Remember when they got to four bucks? He wasn't upset with that price. He said he was a little concerned how fast it got there, but he wasn't upset at that price. Four bucks a gallon we have learned is the tipping point where you will willingly buy junk to drive as opposed to what you would like. And that's of course what Obama wants.