Hour 2: Limbaugh: outrage over AIG bonuses is “frenzy of totalitarian hatred”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Highlights from Hour 2

Outrageous comments

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

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

[...]

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

[...]

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

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

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

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

America's Truth Rejector

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