Hour 1: Limbaugh: "[I]f you look at what we are calling torture, you have to laugh"

This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by the uncontrollable laughter of enhanced interrogation
By Simon Maloy

Happy "Open Line Friday!" everyone. It's that very special day in which Rush turns over programming decisions to the callers, who, oddly enough, always seem to want to talk about what Rush wants to talk about. Funny coincidence, that.

In addition to being "Open Line Friday!" it's also cure-a-thon day on The Rush Limbaugh Show, and Rush got the show started by exhorting listeners to call in or go online to donate to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. We commend Rush for his commitment to this charitable cause, but we have to wonder why, in encouraging people to donate, he had to make a political attack. After saying that those who donate online will receive a black "dittohead" shirt or golf cap, Rush said: "We chose black this year to commemorate the Obama economy."

Coming back from the break, Rush noted that President Obama, in anticipation of the Summit of the Americas, wrote an op-ed that was published in Latin American newspapers across the Western hemisphere. Rush said it was almost like the teleprompter wrote the op-ed, and that Obama was "apologizing" again because he wants all the "hate" out there for the United States confirmed by no less than the president of the United States. Rush specifically attacked Obama for writing: "To confront our economic crisis, we don't need a debate about whether to have a rigid, state-run economy or unbridled and unregulated capitalism -- we need pragmatic and responsible action that advances our common prosperity." This is a "straw man," said Rush. The banks were forced (by Democrats) to make loans to people who couldn't pay them back, so, according to Rush, they had to turn to derivatives and credit default swaps in order to make money. The problem that faces true capitalists (like Rush) is that when capitalism "fails," the solution is always more government, but when government fails, the solution is still more government, "so we're kind of screwed here."

After another break, Rush spoke with the woman (mentioned yesterday) who read Rush's father's speech on the signers of the Declaration of Independence at a tea party. Rush thanked her, said he was blown away by it.

Then it was time for another caller, this one "fired up" over Janet Napolitano and another thing, which she couldn't quite remember until Limbaugh reminded her that the other outrage was the release of the torture memos. Rush mocked Obama for "struggling" over the decision to release the memos, and the caller asked if Obama did this to "distract" everyone from all the "idiot things" he's doing. Rush said no, you have to think about this: "[I]f you look at what we are calling torture, you have to laugh." Ah yes, the comedy of waterboarding. Perhaps it's just more "blowing off steam." Anyway, Rush mocked the memos noting that one of the techniques discussed was putting a caterpillar in with a detainee in a confined space to capitalize on his fear of stinging insects, and asked: "This is what made us the moral equivalent of Al Qaeda?" Rush said it makes total sense that Obama would release these memos -- he goes over to foreign soil and apologizes for the country, and the left "manufacture[s]" this "horrible, rotten brouhaha about torture," so it's easier for Obama to just release these memos and say, "See, we told you the country is guilty!" Citing Michael Hayden and Michael Mukasey's Wall Street Journal op-ed, Rush attacked Obama for "show[ing] our enemies what we do," adding: "If we're hit again, he owns it. If we're hit again, President Obama owns it."

After the break, Rush returned to the caterpillar, playing a montage of journalists talking about the interrogation technique, and asked: "This is torture?" Rush called it a "myth" that people will lie to escape torture, noting that Sen. John McCain has said that torture is ineffective, but at the Republican National Convention, he said that he was "broken" by the Vietnamese. We're not sure that "breaking" someone can be characterized as torture being effective, at least in terms of intelligence gathering.

Rush closed out the hour by playing a clip of Obama during a Spanish-language interview saying that he wants to make sure that going forward, the United States' national security policies are in line with the country's values and traditions. Rush asked: "What the hell values and traditions are these people talking about? Appeasement? Surrender?"

Highlights from Hour 1

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: A $100-donation entitles you to the commemorative dittohead T-shirt, plus a special edition EIB golf cap. A high-quality, adjustable sized golf cap, fits heads of all sizes, comes in black, has a silver EIB logo, and my signature on the front. And if you go for broke, $325 or above, you get the EIB golf hat, plus a special edition EIB golf shirt that is also in black. We chose black this year to commemorate the Obama economy.

So, the T-shirt and the cap -- well, the T-shirt's not, the golf shirt is black. The cap is black.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Here you have memos -- and by the way, if you look at what we are calling torture, you have to laugh. For example -- what was it? Slapping, putting an insect in with a prisoner in a small, confined area. There are -- there were 10 of these.

But if you go through the -- what are said to be the four worst -- waterboarding, of course, which worked on Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. I'm looking here for the -- yeah, sleep deprivation, facial slaps, placing one high-ranking Al Qaeda suspect -- that would be Abu Zubaydah -- in a cramped box with what he told was a stinging insect. This guy had a paranoia about stinging insects. They put him in with a caterpillar.

Echo chamber

Cited former Bush administration officials Michael Hayden and Michael Mukasey's Wall Street Journal op-ed on Obama's decision to release the torture memos.

Clips from this hour

Limbaugh on interrogation memos: "If you look at what we are calling torture, you have to laugh"

Limbaugh: Obama "wants people around the world to have their hate for this country confirmed by no less than the President of the United States"

Limbaugh: "24 inches of snow in Denver tonight and tomorrow ... thank you global warming"