This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by the "un-American" Waxman-Markey bill
By Simon Maloy

There was something Rush brought up on Friday that -- given the markedly inflexible time constraints of the Limbaugh Wire -- we weren't able to delve into, but we've gone back and done the requisite snooping and want to address it now, since it will probably come up again. Specifically, Rush echoed the Competitive Enterprise Institute's claim that internal emails from the Environmental Protection Agency show that the agency "put under wraps and concealed" an "internal critique" of the EPA's endangerment finding on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. CEI is saying that the Obama administration subordinated science to politics -- a serious charge on its own, but particularly so given that President Obama said of this specific issue that "[r]igid ideology has overruled sound science." Well, as you might expect, the details show that there's a whole lot less to this than Rush and CEI would have you believe.

To begin with, the author of the "internal critique" is an economist, not a climate scientist, whose research was submitted for inclusion in the endangerment report and, according to the EPA, "reviewed by his peers and agency scientists, and information from that report was submitted by his manager to those responsible for developing the proposed endangerment finding." Why was it rejected? Well, we're not climate scientists either, but Gavin Schmidt of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies is, and he has an idea why it got the axe: "So in summary, what we have is a ragbag collection of un-peer reviewed web pages, an unhealthy dose of sunstroke, a dash of astrology and more cherries than you can poke a cocktail stick at. Seriously, if that's the best they can do, the EPA's ruling is on pretty safe ground." In short, the research appears not to have passed scientific muster, but it is politically appealing to the right, so they're raising a stink over it. Therefore, we're left in the amusing situation where a political document that was likely rejected for scientific reasons is alleged to have been suppressed for political reasons and without regard to science.

Speaking of climate change, Rush got things rolling today by noting that Bernie Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison this morning, adding: "While Bernie Madoff gets 150 years, Waxman and Markey weren't even cited in their scheme, their rip-off, this climate bill is even -- do you realize there was not even a bill?" This gets back to Rush's astute observation from last week that Waxman-Markey should really be called the Waxman-Markey-Madoff bill because it is a "con game." Then Rush explained for us why several of the Republican congressmen who voted for its passage were from New Jersey -- this thing is called cap and trade, said Rush, but where do trades take place? Would anyone be surprised, he asked, if Goldman Sachs and Wall Street did the trading? These New Jersey Republicans are tied to New York and Wall Street, said Rush, that's why they voted for it. The irony here, said Rush, is that this climate bill is actually a "sop to Wall Street." Rush said he was therefore conflicted, because he's a huge capitalist, but something seems rigged here in this "awful" bill.

After a quick attack on the media for their coverage of Michael Jackson's death, Rush said: "Get this. Yeah, we'll get to Sotomayor in a minute, the court found that she was indeed a racist, but there's -- there are things about this that -- well, they did." Rush later clarified that this wasn't actually the finding of the court, but rather his analysis of its ruling. But he remained adamant in his refusal to stay focused on a single topic, switching quickly to the appointment of Lynn Rosenthal as White House adviser on violence against women. Rush asked why the White House needed an adviser on this -- to say it's justified in some cases? Rush said the real reason for this apparently useless adviser is to establish more executive power.

Zigging once again, Rush moved on to the "chickification of news," noting that Time reported on research that "shows that within a few short years of getting hitched, married individuals are twice as likely to become obese as are people who are merely dating." The latest from "the chicks in the state-run media," said Rush, is that Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina apparently loved his mistress, so he's not that bad for cheating on his wife.

After the break, Rush said that Justice Samuel Alito, in the Ricci opinion, wrote on Sotomayor's "failure of impartiality." This gets to the whole point of Sotomayor, said Rush -- we don't need justices with "empathy." And in the dissent, Rush said, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote that the firefighters' situation was unfortunate and they earned the court's "sympathy." "Sympathy" is not what people who go before courts want, said Rush -- they want access to the law and justice. What happened here is that the majority decided this strictly on statutory grounds, and since it could be decided by statute, they didn't have to delve into constitutional issues.

Another break and Rush was back crowing that Obama is at zero today in Rasmussen's presidential approval index. If you look at the table we linked to, Obama's actually at +1 today. Anyway, Rush wanted to play for us a montage of media types circling the wagons around Sotomayor, but, first, he wanted us to "remember" a few things: "Sonia Sotomayor was following her basic instincts. She is racist, in her own words. ... She ruled on the basis of just the -- you know, a racist belief that minorities should always be found in favor of simply because they're minorities, pure and simple, regardless the merits of any particular case. That's who Obama's nominated." Rush then said she didn't actually get four justices to agree with her. If you get into the dissent by Justice Ginsburg, said Rush, what she said is that it was a mistake for the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to grant summary judgment. So, Rush said, you might say this was a 5-4 decision, but it was really a "slam dunk."

Then Rush noted that Dan Rather was on MSNBC this morning saying that Sotomayor could become an aggressive and outspoken counterpart to Justice Antonin Scalia. Rush responded: "Now that's just hilarious. I mean, if you're Dan Rather, you might want to sit there and, you know, try to curry favor with women by talking about this Sotomayor, some sort of intellectual giant. But let me just tell you, folks, in a contest of intellects between Sotomayor and Scalia, they would cancel the game before it began, or they'd have to spot her 50 or 75 IQ points."

Rush's first caller of the afternoon said that with regard to the Sanford case, it's not OK for Sanford to cheat even if he loved the other woman. Rush said the women in the state-run media are reporting all these absurd things about Sanford, and he guessed that the caller doesn't have a future in the media because she's being awfully cold in comparison to the "chicks" in the media. Rush's next caller wanted to talk about the Time article on obese married couples. Rush said that even though there's so much news going on, he knew that his simple mention of the "chickification" of the news would dominate the calls today. It's amazing how often that prediction comes true when you have complete control over which callers you want to talk to. Anyway, Rush said the whole point of that story is that the husbands make the wives fat. Rush said he has a friend who got married, then ballooned up, but that the wife didn't care because she knew he'd be less attractive to other women.

One more break and Rush was back saying that with all this Sotomayor news, he was reminded of when she said that her test scores before she got into law school were not as good as her colleagues because the tests were culturally biased. Rush said she's a "racist at heart," and "it is what it is."

Then Rush named the eight "traitorous" Republicans who voted for cap and trade. Rush's next comments still puzzle us. There was no bill to vote on, said Rush, and this is an outrage because there's a requirement that the bill be in the well of the House before it's voted on, but it wasn't there because it wasn't even written. Perhaps we're not as up on our right-wing smears as we should be, but it's also equally as likely that Rush is just talking nonsense. If the bill ever goes into effect, said Rush, it will be a disaster, and the irony is that this climate bill is actually a "big bone to business." There were 30 Dems who voted no, and these Republicans made this happen. This is such a travesty, said Rush, adding: "I think anybody who voted for this thing has -- should -- you want to talk about Sanford violating an oath and a trust? This is such a travesty. This whole bill, this nonexistent bill, is so un-American. Everybody who voted for it, from Pelosi on down, needs to be jacked out of there in the next election. That's how bad this is."

Closing out the hour, Rush aired audio of NBC's Andrea Mitchell saying that the bill was a tribute to Pelosi. Rush opined: "That's what it's all about. It's a tribute to Pelosi, a tribute to a bunch of leftists, extreme leftist radicals -- from Obama, to Pelosi, to Rahm Emanuel, to whoever the hell else. ... So somebody wanted to go on the record as being all for this in the House, but it's just an abomination. This is one of the most outrageous things an elective body in a representative republic, a free country, has ever come up with."

Greg Lewis and Zachary Pleat contributed to this edition of the Limbaugh Wire.

Highlights from Hour 1

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: While Bernie Madoff gets 150 years, Waxman and Markey weren't even cited in their scheme, their rip-off, this climate bill is even -- do you realize there was not even a bill?

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Get this. Yeah, we'll get to Sotomayor in a minute, the court found that she was indeed a racist, but there's -- there are things about this that -- well, they did.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: And the reason for this is -- I go back to what I said at the beginning, and I stand by this: Sonia Sotomayor was following her basic instincts. She is racist, in her own words. Remember, she's out there and said a number of times that a Latina woman would bring a much richer and diverse experience to the court than a white male would. That's racist, pure and simple.

And she had sympathy -- and so did the dissenting opinion in the Supreme Court -- sympathy for the white firefighters, but that sympathy wasn't enough. She ruled on the basis of just the -- you know, a racist belief that minorities should always be found in favor of simply because they're minorities, pure and simple, regardless the merits of any particular case. That's who Obama's nominated.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Now that's just hilarious. I mean, if you're Dan Rather, you might want to sit there and, you know, try to curry favor with women by talking about this Sotomayor, some sort of intellectual giant. But let me just tell you, folks, in a contest of intellects between Sotomayor and Scalia, they would cancel the game before it began, or they'd have to spot her 50 or 75 IQ points.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: I think anybody who voted for this thing has -- should -- you want to talk about Sanford violating an oath and a trust? This is such a travesty. This whole bill, this nonexistent bill, is so un-American. Everybody who voted for it, from Pelosi on down, needs to be jacked out of there in the next election. That's how bad this is.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: That's what it's all about. It's a tribute to Pelosi, a tribute to a bunch of leftists, extreme leftist radicals -- from Obama, to Pelosi, to Rahm Emanuel, to whoever the hell else. And that makes it a wonderful thing. Whoa, look what they did. Harry Reid, here it is again. It isn't going to go anywhere in the Senate, not even going to bring it up there.

So somebody wanted to go on the record as being all for this in the House, but it's just an abomination. This is one of the most outrageous things an elective body in a representative republic, a free country, has ever come up with.

Ladies' man

LIMBAUGH: I'll tell you, the news today is filled with examples of what's gone wrong with the media, given the chickification of news.

This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by the "coup" Rush says you "wish would happen here"
By Greg Lewis

Rush wasted little time moving into Hour 2 of today's show. He started off with the Bloomberg article he teased in the previous hour, which reported that the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill would actually increase the importation of foreign oil. Rush, after repeating how he's a profound defender of the free market system, asserted that Wall Street would "make out like bandits" under cap and trade. He followed this up with another look at the eight Republicans who voted for this "travesty" and repeated his theory that they voted for it because of their connections to Wall Street. Conversely, Rush said the 44 Democrats who voted against the bill "disagreed with Colin Powell." Rush also proclaimed it a "disgrace" and a "scandal" that this bill was approved by the House, even though it "was never written." We did a little digging after Rush said this in the last hour, and we still have no idea what he's talking about. And, needless to say, Rush isn't helping us out by offering anything in the way of explication. But for all you skeptics out there who might think Rush is full of it, here, courtesy of the GPO, is the entire Waxman-Markey bill in all its glorious legalese.

Anyway, after reading some passages from the Bloomberg article, Rush concluded that the Waxman-Markey bill was like most liberal legislation: "As is the case with so much liberal legislation -- extreme, radical liberal legislation -- whether the consequences are intended or not, the exact opposite of what is intended happens, be it the Great Society, the war on poverty, you name it."

After the break, Rush welcomed us back to the program with a friendly greeting: "Well, isn't this good? Get ready to get gang-raped again, folks. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she will not give the public a week to review the final text of a health care reform bill before it's voted on later this year." Rush added: "Hugo Chavez ain't got anything on us. The way this -- this is the most leftward, radical leftist House of Representatives this nation has ever elected and they are behaving as total statist autocrats."

Rush continued with his warnings about communism: "We've always had communists and radicals and leftists and socialists running around the Democrat Party. We've never had a majority of them running the damn country. And we do. And you see how they operate. They don't care about anything. What they -- this is going to happen, however they have to cram it down, and whatever you think be damned."

Rush then took a caller who wondered when Caucasians would "become the minority" in the United States. Rush wasn't sure, but this all but guaranteed another typical Limbaugh rant about race, Obama, and Sotomayor:

LIMBAUGH: The problem is that you've got people running the show now, from Obama all the way down through his administration through the House of Representatives, who regardless of their race are racists. They are far-left, extreme radicals who believe this country has been unjust since its founding. And their objective -- and this describes Sotomayor -- minorities will always be found in favor of, regardless -- wherever it is -- a court, a place of work, wherever -- simply because they've been discriminated.

Maybe they haven't been discriminated against personally, but members of their race have been. This is about get-even-with-them time. This is returning the nation's wealth to its rightful owners. This is radical leftism on parade.

After explaining how Barack Obama is "angry," (gee, we've heard that one before), Rush went on to explain how cap and trade and health care legislation are "reparations in disguise":

LIMBAUGH: Some people are thinking -- some people speculating that all of this -- the cap-and-trade legislation, health care reform, is nothing more than reparations in disguise, that it is a way of transferring the nation's wealth to its, quote-unquote, "rightful owners"; that they're smart enough to know that if they call a piece of legislation "reparations," it doesn't have a prayer. But if they couch the legislation in fairness and compassion -- the usual liberal terms -- that people will go for it, because they think that they have created enough white guilt at all of the unjust immorality of the history of this country that people sit by and let it happen, so that their own personal guilt can be assuaged, regardless of the impact on the country.

After a well-deserved break (for us, anyway), Rush came back with an answer to the previous caller's question. According to an AP article, white people would become a minority in this country in 2042. Rush's producer Snerdley wondered if all the laws that are now benefitting minorities would apply to the white minority at that point.

Then Rush took a call from someone who wondered what was stopping the government from being a total dictatorship. Rush said the only thing stopping it is the next election. Rush warned that you have to consider Obama's "buddies" at ACORN, who will "rig" the election, because that's the Chicago way. Rush then pondered how many people benefit from the "statist dictatorship," adding that it's hard to vote against the entity that provides you your living.

After complaining about all the liberal "lies" regarding the Reagan years -- that our economic success in the '80s was built on the backs of the poor -- Rush took another caller, this one asking how many czars Obama could appoint. This provided Rush another opportunity to belittle the "domestic violence czar." Rush figured the only advice this person could possibly provide would be to "[p]ut some ice on it":

LIMBAUGH: So I assume if you're going to have a domestic policy adviser, the advice you're going to get: "Put some ice on it. Your lip's a little swollen and bleeding, put some ice on it," as you leave the swanky motel room.

Domestic policy -- domestic violence adviser. Why do you need any advice on that? Are there some instances where it's justified and you need an adviser to tell you when? In case, you know, the woman is a Republican and the husband is a Democrat -- that it's perfectly understandable why there'd be domestic violence? We've got to allow for this? What the hell are we doing here?

Believe it or not, but Rush still had some more time left in the second hour to continue his rant on cap and trade and renewable energy. After playing audio of Obama talking about the Waxman-Markey bill today, Rush asserted that it was mostly "lies" and that it would destroy millions of jobs.

Then Rush briefly addressed the weekend's coup in Honduras. Rush said all hell is breaking loose there, and we learned the Obama administration tried to stop the coup. Rush observed that "the coup was what many of you wish would happen here, without the military." Rush added: "So, they'll meddle in all of these anti -- in all these countries, they're going to promote dictators. Obama will be happy to help dictators survive, including in Iran. He didn't meddle there. He meddled in Honduras. But time to throw Israel overboard, an ally."

Simon Maloy, Zachary Pleat, and Hannah Kieschnick contributed to this edition of the Limbaugh Wire.

Highlights from Hour 2

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: As is the case with so much liberal legislation -- extreme, radical liberal legislation -- whether the consequences are intended or not, the exact opposite of what is intended happens, be it the Great Society, the war on poverty, you name it.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Well, isn't this good? Get ready to get gang-raped again, folks. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she will not give the public a week to review the final text of a health care reform bill before it's voted on later this year. And Harry Reid has also declined to commit to giving the public a week to read and consider the final health care bill, despite Obama promising that all legislation would be up for five days on one of his stupid websites where everybody could read it.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: The problem is that you've got people running the show now, from Obama all the way down through his administration through the House of Representatives, who regardless of their race are racists. They are far-left, extreme radicals who believe this country has been unjust since its founding. And their objective -- and this describes Sotomayor -- minorities will always be found in favor of, regardless -- wherever it is -- a court, a place of work, wherever -- simply because they've been discriminated.

Maybe they haven't been discriminated against personally, but members of their race have been. This is about get-even-with-them time. This is returning the nation's wealth to its rightful owners. This is radical leftism on parade.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Folks, I -- the best way to understand this, I think, is that you -- and it's hard for those of us who are patriots who love this country the way we do -- it's hard to understand there are people who detest it, who hate it, who think it is immoral and unjust and always has been. And this really took root in the '60s. And all these kids in the '60s -- a lot of them in government now, a lot of them at universities teaching your kids various classes, a lot of them are on the bench, the federal bench -- they arrive at these positions with anger in their hearts.

I firmly believe this describes Obama. I think Obama's angry. He's not this cool, calm, collected guy. He's very cold. He's very angry. He's angry at the British over the colonialization of Africa. He's angry at Churchill. He's angry -- he's -- plain -- he's angry at this country for its discrimination, and then slavery past and so forth, and he doesn't think that the proper price has been paid for it.

Some people are thinking -- some people speculating that all of this -- the cap-and-trade legislation, health care reform, is nothing more than reparations in disguise, that it is a way of transferring the nation's wealth to its, quote-unquote, "rightful owners"; that they're smart enough to know that if they call a piece of legislation "reparations," it doesn't have a prayer. But if they couch the legislation in fairness and compassion -- the usual liberal terms -- that people will go for it, because they think that they have created enough white guilt at all of the unjust immorality of the history of this country that people sit by and let it happen, so that their own personal guilt can be assuaged, regardless of the impact on the country.

"Socialism" watch

LIMBAUGH: Let me tell you something: Hugo Chavez ain't got anything on us. The way this -- this is the most leftward, radical leftist House of Representatives this nation has ever elected and they are behaving as total statist autocrats. They don't care what Obama's promised; they don't care -- they don't want you to read the legislation is the bottom line. They don't want you to find out what's in it. And they are so brazen, they do not believe that you'll care.

As somebody -- I forget. Some blog someplace tried to describe this. They said, well, this -- the House of Representatives has rarely been -- under the Democrats - has rarely been so shameless as this -- so shameless. This is unlike anything this country has ever seen. We've always had communists and radicals and leftists and socialists running around the Democrat Party. We've never had a majority of them running the damn country.

And we do. And you see how they operate. They don't care about anything. What they -- this is going to happen, however they have to cram it down, and whatever you think be damned.

"Fascism" watch

LIMBAUGH: So we've got hell breaking loose in Honduras. Oh, and you know what we learned about Honduras? We learned that the Obama administration tried to stop the coup. Now what was -- the coup was what many of you wish would happen here, without the military.

What happened in Honduras was that the president down there was constitutionally prevented from seeking another term of office. He said, "To hell with it, I'm going to run for it. I'm going to stay in here" -- right out of the page book of Hugo Chavez. And opposition got the military -- "You are not going to destroy the Honduras constitution this way." And so they kicked him out of office.

And now, you've got the Obama administration upset about that. And they tried to stop this from happening. So, they'll meddle in all of these anti -- in all these countries, they're going to promote dictators. Obama will be happy to help dictators survive, including in Iran. He didn't meddle there. He meddled in Honduras. But time to throw Israel overboard, an ally.

Ladies' man

LIMBAUGH: So now we've got a czar. We've got a domestic violence czar. I had this for you. That's what she's calling about, the opening hour of the program. They just hired a domestic violence czar, an adviser. They're calling -- they're not calling it a czar, but it's a czar. They're calling it -- it's a domestic violence adviser.

What the hell kind of advice are you going to get from a domestic -- about the only kind of advice -- I mean, we're talking about Democrats here, right? We're talking about the party of Bill Clinton. So I assume if you're going to have a domestic policy adviser, the advice you're going to get: "Put some ice on it. Your lip's a little swollen and bleeding, put some ice on it," as you leave the swanky motel room.

Domestic policy -- domestic violence adviser. Why do you need any advice on that? Are there some instances where it's justified and you need an adviser to tell you when? In case, you know, the woman is a Republican and the husband is a Democrat -- that it's perfectly understandable why there'd be domestic violence? We've got to allow for this? What the hell are we doing here?

This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by Obama trying to keep anti-American dictators in power
By Greg Lewis

Rush started the third hour of The Rush Limbaugh Show by reading a slew of articles. The first was from the Cybercast News Service, which reported that CBO ignored the economic impact of the cap-and-trade bill. Rush said the scoring wasn't possible because, once again, there wasn't a bill. We still have absolutely no idea what he's talking about here. Meanwhile, we're left to wonder how it was, exactly, that someone could propose a 300-page amendment for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) to read on the House floor, if there was no text to amend in the first place. But that's your typical Rush Limbaugh Show, where amending nonexistent text and dividing by zero happen every day.

Reading from a post on ABC News' The Note blog, Rush laughed about this quote from Obama economic adviser Christina Romer: "We always knew we were not going to get all that much fiscal impact during the first five to six months. The big impact starts to hit from about now onwards." Rush asked, how stupid do they think we are? He said the White House "just admitted" you weren't supposed to notice the effects of the stimulus yet, because it's "just ramping up now." Then why is Obama predicting a 10-percent unemployment rate by the end of the year? asked Rush.

Then Rush moved on to a U.K. Times column by Irwin Stelzer that addressed Obama's relationship with unions. Stezler wrote, and Rush read: "Congress and the president are preparing to spur union growth by eliminating the secret ballot in union-recognition elections and, rumour has it, by writing advantages for union members into tax laws." Not sure how many times we'll have to do this, but here we go once again -- the Employee Free Choice Act, which is what Rush and Stelzer are talking about here, will not "eliminate" the secret ballot in union elections. The New York Times reported: "Business groups have attacked the legislation because it would take away employers' right to insist on holding a secret-ballot election to determine whether workers favored unionization." Stelzer also wrote that SEIU president Andy Stern has a weekly meeting with President Obama, which Rush explained meant that a "union thug" has a weekly meeting with "the Pope." Rush ranted more about unions from this point on -- unions mean less productivity "by definition," explained Rush.

Then Rush read from a NewsBusters post that highlighted a California politician describing conservative talk radio hosts as "terrorists." Rush said not to think this is just a "misguided statement" but as the "meme" that has popped up in recent weeks, asking us if we remember the DHS report that labeled veterans as extremists. We don't remember it, largely because the DHS report didn't say that. It said that extremist groups would attempt to recruit veterans. Anyway, Rush added: "The left -- liberals -- are doing everything they can to make what's normal seem outrageous, and then they will move to outlaw it. That's the way totalitarians roll. Everything normal is outrageous, discriminatory, unjust, unfair, immoral, and everything that's perverted, abnormal; all of that, that's what's normal. That's what's got to be rewarded. That's what's happening."

After the break, Rush was upset with the "state-run media" because they didn't "get" his joke from last week, when he said Sanford "could have been our JFK." Rush aired audio from Sunday's CNN State of the Union broadcast, in which John King and Mary Matalin discussed this line, but as Rush claimed, both got it wrong. Then Rush tried to explain it -- we think he might have meant that Sanford could have been as successful in politics and adultery as Kennedy was. Rush thought it was hilarious, though. Count us surprised and confused, because, like King and Matalin, we didn't actually realize it was a joke either. As a great philosopher probably once said, if you have to explain your "joke" -- and it still doesn't make any sense -- chances are it wasn't funny.

After another break, Rush played an audio clip of Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) saying that Republicans are voting against the country and the world by voting against things like global warming. Rush declared that he is "apoplectic" over this, and that Waxman could not be more wrong. According to Rush, the "consensus" on global warming has "fallen apart" and nations with cap-and-trade programs have "pulled the plug" on them. And further displaying his outrage against disloyal Republicans, Rush blamed the eight of them for making "the damn thing pass." Rush concluded that Waxman is a "dangerous idiot."

Then Rush moved back to the subject of Honduras. After reading a Fox News article about the coup, Rush explained in his own words what happened: The people didn't like the totalitarian dictator giving himself another term without an election. While we're certainly not defending Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, this isn't actually what happened. The issue at hand was a referendum on whether to change the Honduran constitution to allow Zelaya to run for another term -- a referendum which, as the Fox News story explained, the country's Supreme Court found to be illegal. The coup occurred shortly before the polls were set to open.

Rush then repeated his earlier takeaway from the events in Honduras and the Obama administration's reaction to them:

LIMBAUGH: Liberalism and totalitarianism is getting kicked out everywhere but here, where it's taking root. And Obama, what's he -- he didn't want to meddle. But, you know, there's a common denominator when he meddles. Obama does whatever it takes to keep an anti-American dictator in power. He'll spare no effort. In Iran: "Oh, we can't meddle with what's going on over there. We can't meddle until we see what the outcome is." And we didn't meddle.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: In Honduras, though, we meddled. In Venezuela, we had a soul shake, or whatever that black handshake is that he had with Chavez. We had a soul shake. Saudi Arabia: He bowed down.

In all these anti-American places, Obama'll do everything he can to keep those people in power. I'm sorry folks, but that's just fact. In Israel: "Throw them overboard. Throw them under the bus." Hamas: "Empower 'em." Iran: Don't really do anything about it. North Korea: Don't really do anything about it.

Then Rush took a caller who praised Boehner's handling of the Waxman-Markey bill on Friday. Rush joined the caller in heaping the praise. From there, it was more of the usual how to fix the party and the state-run media don't give things fair coverage ramblings between Rush and the caller. Rush explained an amendment in the Waxman-Markey bill that would apparently require an environmental inspection by a government inspector if you sold your house.

Coming back from the break, Rush elaborated on his claim that Obama was "meddling" in Honduras. This Wall Street Journal article, he said, backed up his claim. The Journal reported:

The Obama administration worked in recent days to prevent President Manuel Zelaya's ouster, said a senior U.S. official. The State Department, in particular, communicated to Honduran officials on the ground that President Barack Obama wouldn't support any nondemocratic transfer of power in the Central American country.

Here's where we'll point out that working to prevent a violent coup or a "nondemocratic transfer of power" is not the same thing as propping up an "anti-American dictator," as Rush said.

Finally, Rush took a caller who asked about the "suppressed" EPA report that was skeptical of climate change, which he had first mentioned on Friday's show. Rush offered a one-sided explanation the report, its findings, and its alleged "suppression." Well, once again, Rush demonstrated the acuity of our powers of foresight. We'll refer you back to the first hour and the pertinent details that we laid out: The EPA employee was an economist, not a climate scientist; the EPA did consider his findings and clearly found them to be lacking; and real climate scientists offer some pretty compelling reasons as to why the research was not worthy of inclusion.

That's all for today's Limbaugh Wire. If you haven't had quite enough yet, we encourage you to revisit weeks and weeks of misinformation and disingenuous arguments in our Limbaugh Wire archives, which, believe it or not, are quickly approaching Library of Congress-esque proportions.

Simon Maloy, Zachary Pleat, and Hannah Kieschnick contributed to this edition of the Limbaugh Wire.

Highlights from Hour 3

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: The left -- liberals -- are doing everything they can to make what's normal seem outrageous, and then they will move to outlaw it. That's the way totalitarians roll. Everything normal is outrageous, discriminatory, unjust, unfair, immoral, and everything that's perverted, abnormal; all of that, that's what's normal. That's what's got to be rewarded. That's what's happening.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Liberalism and totalitarianism is getting kicked out everywhere but here, where it's taking root. And Obama, what's he -- he didn't want to meddle. But, you know, there's a common denominator when he meddles. Obama does whatever it takes to keep an anti-American dictator in power. He'll spare no effort.

In Iran: "Oh, we can't meddle with what's going on over there. We can't meddle until we see what the outcome is." And we didn't meddle. And, of course, then Ahmadinejad comes out and says, "You owe me an apology for meddling in our affairs." Obama: "I'm not going to apologize. Why should I apologize to you, you little twerp?"

In Honduras, though, we meddled. In Venezuela, we had a soul shake, or whatever that black handshake is that he had with Chavez. We had a soul shake. Saudi Arabia: He bowed down.

In all these anti-American places, Obama'll do everything he can to keep those people in power. I'm sorry folks, but that's just fact. In Israel: "Throw them overboard. Throw them under the bus." Hamas: "Empower 'em." Iran: Don't really do anything about it. North Korea: Don't really do anything about it.