The Limbaugh Wire is capable of surviving in non-Limbaugh environments
by Simon Maloy

Well, it's Monday, and contrary to our doom-and-gloom prediction from Friday, our NCAA bracket seems to be doing relatively well. We have to temper that bit of good news, however, with the fact that National Review contributor Mark Steyn is filling in today for El Rushbo, who is off on another charity golf junket. But here at The Limbaugh Wire we don't have the luxury of “days off,” so Rush or no Rush, we'll soldier on.

Steyn kicked off the show asking: “Am I on the air?” After it was established that Steyn was indeed on the air, he attributed this “amateurish” beginning to the show to the fact that he was off teleprompter ... so fear not, Limbaugh fans. Rush may not be on the air, but the silly teleprompter jokes are going strong. Taking cues from Politico and Drudge, Steyn attacked Obama for “yukking it up” during his 60 Minutes interview. Then Steyn claimed Obama “decided to make wounded soldiers returning from the battlefield pay for treatment of injuries received in service of their country.” Actually, he decided the exact opposite.

From there, Steyn told listeners that he would be examining on air the “three takes” on Obama from before the election. According to Steyn, the three “takes” were that Obama is a “moderate centrist,” a “doctrinaire leftist,” or “incompetent.” Of course, “moderate centrist” was dismissed out of hand, but “incompetent” seemed like a plausible option to Steyn. Because of the teleprompter. He also agreed with Rush's estimation that Obama is “not cool, he's cold. This is a cold, cold guy.”

Back from the break, Steyn cautioned listeners that, in a conflict between business interests and politicians, it is best to just let the “fat cats” have their bonuses, because that's better than the 90 percent clawback tax the House passed for AIG. Steyn then claimed that on 60 Minutes last night, Obama said he wanted that 90 percent tax to apply more broadly. A quick check of the interview transcript showed that to be untrue -- asked if he thought the AIG bill was constitutional, Obama responded: “Well, I think that -- as a general proposition, you don't want to be passing laws that are just targeting a handful of individuals. You want to pass laws that have some broad applicability.” He wasn't saying the 90 percent rate should apply more broadly, he said that tax laws in general should be broad.

Another break and Steyn came back talking about how the U.S. government is “outsourcing” condoms, buying them more cheaply from China than a supplier in Alabama. According to Steyn, this means the “condom-unists” are benefiting from U.S. tax dollars. Mercifully, a caller derailed this train of thought, claiming that Obama was laughing on 60 Minutes because he knows how much he's getting away with. Steyn said Obama was “like Dr. Evil in Austin Powers cackling as though he's plotting to destroy the world,” adding: “He metaphorically had a Victorian mustache that he was twirling while he was doing all that cackling.”

After some ranting on how the media are “too invested” in Obama to allow him to “fail,” Steyn returned from another break by attacking a Yahoo.com blogger for writing about Obama's “gaffes”: "[I]t's heartening to hear our politicians stumble over words, mangle syntax and make inappropriate jokes. It shows politicians are human, too. Sometimes." Then it was time for another caller, this one expressing his outrage over Obama's comment on the Tonight Show about the Special Olympics. Steyn took the Obama's comments to mean that Obama is “arrogant” and “looks down” on everyone but himself, and claimed that there is no “evidence” that the president is a “kind” person.

Rounding out the hour, Steyn claimed that Michael Wolff of Vanity Fair was being terribly unfair in writing of Obama: “Sheesh, the guy is Jimmy Carter.” According to Steyn, this was unfair to Carter, who took longer than 11 weeks to “become Jimmy Carter.”

Highlights from Hour 1

Outrageous comments

STEYN: It is one very weird interview, this 60 Minutes interview. It's strange to see a man talking -- I mean, it's weird. It's like Dr. Evil in Austin Powers cackling as though he's plotting to destroy the world. It's like, “Ha-ha-ha-ha! The Dow will be down to 3,000 by the end of the week! Ha-ha-ha ha!” He metaphorically had a Victorian mustache he was twirling while he was doing all that cackling. Very, very weird. I don't know what -- I don't know what that's about, but if you haven't seen that 60 Minutes interview, go and look for it.

America's Guest Truth Rejector

Falsely claimed Obama “decided to make wounded soldiers returning from the battlefield pay for treatment of injuries received in service of their country”:

STEYN: Then the commander-in-chief decides to make wounded soldiers returning from the battlefield pay for treatment of injuries received in service of their country. Then he goes and does the first-ever presidential disabled joke on national TV.