This hour brought to you by Rush and his self-professed desire to “leave” New York
By Simon Maloy

Rush kicked off the show by noting an AP report: “Prime Minister Gordon Brown says leaders at the G-20 summit have agreed to give $1 trillion to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to help struggling nations around the world.” Rush's takeaway from this was that Obama's attendance at the G-20 is a “slow surrender of the United States and its national interests.” After accusing Obama of engaging in “first-grade conflict resolution,” he attacked Hillary Clinton for “slowly surrendering” to the Taliban," and asserted that Richard Holbrooke “will no doubt surrender support for new democracies and the missile defense shield that protects the EU as well as the U.S. and Israel.” According to Rush: “We are surrendering U.S. national interests for the sake of demonstrating that Obama is not the hated George W. Bush.”

From there, Rush turned to the economy, noting that the Dow was up significantly. Shocking no one, Rush said that his has nothing to do with Obama or anything he's done. Rush went on to say that the new unemployment figures show us all “what a jobless recovery looks like.” To hammer the point home, Rush read from this AP story, which reported that “stronger-than-expected U.S. economic figures boosted confidence the world's largest economy is on the mend.” Rush called this “false hope,” just like Obama's campaign. The real reason for the Dow jump, Rush argued, is because of some loosening of mark-to-market regulations. Not Obama, though. He wanted to make that clear, although Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, according to Rush, has the power to destroy these gains instantly -- all he has to do is “slice the cheese the wrong way.”

Then Rush heaped some praise on Fox News' Neil Cavuto for his combative interview with Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL), saying that anyone watching this should have known that “the wrong guys are in charge at the wrong time.”

Back from the break, Rush noted that New York Gov. David Paterson was asked about Rush's threat to abandon his back-up studio in New York, and Paterson allegedly responded that he would have raised taxes sooner if he'd known Rush would leave. Rush said that if Paterson cares so little about the money he “confiscates” from Rush, then he should call off the 12-year tax audit Rush has undergone by the state. Then Rush announced it was his “firm belief” that the stock market was up so much “because President Obama is out of the country.” Rush expanded on this: “If Obama said that he'd stay out of the country for a month, the markets would hit 8,500 today. They'd jump another three or four hundred. In fact, all he's have to say is that he's extending his stay for maybe a couple of weeks.” Rush's musings were immediately flagged by Matt Drudge.

Back from the break, Rush returned to Paterson's alleged response to Limbaugh on the tax issue, saying that the “crux” of his remarks had been “intentionally missed,” and that he had to clarify. Rush isn't actually “leaving” New York, he said, because he already “left New York” years ago. He's just not going to do business there. Rush said he had to clarify because everyone who said he was “leaving” New York got the story from somewhere other than his website, where all his remarks are transcribed. Well, we took a look at the transcription on Rush's website, and we have to say that we can't really fault anyone for reporting that Rush said he's “leaving” New York: “I don't know what the breaking point in New York is, Mr. Snerdley when people leave. (snorts) I'm leaving. I'm leaving. I am seriously.”

Anyway, Rush spent the rest of the hour attacking the media for their “syrupy sweet” coverage of the Obamas at the G-20 and attacking Obama for giving Queen Elizabeth an iPod. He claimed that the protesters at the G-20 “are just community organizers,” adding: “The United States leader was spawned by ACORN; he is a proud community organizer. So the people that are wrecking the town down in London at the G-20, these are future leaders of our countries. I don't really see what the problem is. In fact, President Obama ought to be out there with them giving them pointers on how to agitate.” At the very end of the hour he quickly returned to Gov. Paterson, calling him an “illegitimate governor” because he wasn't elected according to liberals' terms because he wasn't elected and liberals called President Bush unelected.

Highlights from Hour 1

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: I'll tell you what's happening over there, and it's real simple. Obama at the G-20 is a slow surrender of the United States and its national interests. You know, we haven't talked about this on this program, but the North Koreans -- we've joked about it -- the North Koreans are going to launch this missile. There's nothing we can do to stop it, or there's nothing we will do to stop it. The Defense Secretary Bob Gates says there's nothing we can do. The Japanese are gearing up some interceptor thing. You've got the Iranians nuking up. You've got Hamas getting bolder and bolder and bolder. You've got the Russians helping the Iranians. And what is our policy? Our policy is exactly what you would expect a left-wing president's policy to be. And he's doing what he said he would do during his campaign. He's meeting with people. He's telling them we're no threat. He is -- don't worry about us, we're no threat. He's hoping that telling them there's a new day here in the United States will make them nicer. It's first-grade conflict resolution. So what Obama is doing is surrendering U.S. national interests over there in an effort to get the EU to spend more stimulus. He's surrendered the U.S. as responsible for the global financial crisis; he did that yesterday. Will he surrender to a global financial regulator, like Sarkozy wants? Hillary slowly surrendering to the Taliban, and Richard Holbrooke will no doubt surrender support for new democracies and the missile defense shield that protects the EU as well as the U.S. and Israel. We are surrendering U.S. national interests for the sake of demonstrating that Obama is not the hated George W. Bush.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: By the way, my firm belief is the stock market -- what is it up now? Waiting for the number -- it's hovering around 260, 265, 270, whatever it is. And I maintain this is because President Obama is out of the country. The market loves it when Oba -- oh, it's up 306. There must be news that he's extending his stay overseas. There must be news he's not coming back as soon as they thought he might be going back. I mean, the markets going nuts, and the only thing here that's different is that Obama's gone. He's out of the country. If Obama said that he'd stay out of the country for a month, the markets would hit 8,500 today. They'd jump another three or four hundred. In fact, all he would have to say is that he's extending his stay for maybe a couple of weeks.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: By the way, the protesters continue to go nuts over there. And I think -- folks, you gotta understand that these people -- these protesters, the anarchists, the globalists, the anti-globalists, the anti-capitalists or whatever -- these are just community organizers. These are potential future leaders or countries around the world. The United States leader was spawned by ACORN; he is a proud community organizer. So the people that are wrecking the town down in London at the G-20, these are future leaders of our countries. I don't really see what the problem is. In fact, President Obama ought to be out there with them giving them pointers on how to agitate -- that's where he comes from -- and then invite them to the White House, hook them up with ACORN, and tell them how it's really done. You could be looking at a future leader of a country in these protests.

Echo chamber

Rush's theory on the stock market's rise was immediately picked up by the Drudge Report: “LIMBAUGH: 'THE MARKETS LOVE IT WHEN OBAMA IS OUT OF COUNTRY... IS THERE WAY TO KEEP HIM OVER THERE FOR AWHILE'...”

Clips this hour

Limbaugh's latest market theory: Dow up today because “President Obama is out of the country”

Limbaugh on the Pay for Performance Act of 2009: “When the leftists start talking about fairness, they are the slave masters”

Limbaugh: “In liberal terms, being an unelected governor, [Paterson] is an illegitimate governor; remember, they said Bush was an illegitimate president because he wasn't duly elected”