This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by Obama's teleprompter

El Rushbo kicked off the program this afternoon by professing his lack of concern that the vast majority of Americans view the Republican Party as leaderless, according to a recent Rasmussen poll. The real question, according to Rush, is: Who is the leader of the “Democrat” Party? Apparently “President Obama” is the wrong answer because Obama ... uses a teleprompter. Apparently reading words that he did not himself write means Obama is not in charge. So congratulations to former Bush speechwriters Michael Gerson, William McGurn, and others for their temporary tenures as leaders of the Republican Party.

No, according to Rush, the real leader of the Democratic Party is David Axelrod, because, according to the NY Times, Axelrod authorized the administration to comment publicly on the White House feud with Limbaugh.

Rush came back from the break outraged -- OUTRAGED -- that the Vatican suggested that the washing machine “liberated” women more than birth control. In high dudgeon, Limbaugh decried the jokes and stereotypes about women, declared his profound “respect” for women, and vowed that he would not let the Vatican's statement stand, particularly during a recession, when women are hit hardest. If this sounds to you quite unlike the Rush we know and love, fear not -- he capped it all off with this knee-slapper: “To sit here and pretend that you are a comedian and say that the washing machine was more liberating than the pill, according to the Catholic Church -- this has gone far enough. Besides, everybody knows that it was the vacuum cleaner that liberated women more than the pill.”

Coming back from the break, Rush characterized Obama's executive order lifting restrictions on federal funding for stem cell research in the following way: “To save people we have to kill people.” From there he took a call from a woman professing to disagree with Rush's “objection” to the Vatican's commentary. This turned out to be a brief misunderstanding, however, as Rush and his caller soon discovered that they were in alignment on the issue, they merely disagreed over which household appliance was more liberating. They also found common ground in their opposition to birth control pills and condoms, the advocacy of which, according to Rush, means “we want our little children out there behaving like rabbits.”

One more caller after the break, who asked Rush if he was indeed the leader of the GOP, and if in fact his ratings had doubled as a result of his feud with the White House. Rush denied being the head of the GOP and said he would never say his ratings had doubled because that information isn't available. We look forward to Rush reversing himself on both these claims.

Highlights from Hour 1

Outrageous comments

Regarding Obama's executive order opening up federal funding for stem cell research: “To save people we have to kill people.”

Ladies' man

“To sit here and pretend that you are a comedian and say that the washing machine was more liberating than the pill, according to the Catholic Church -- this has gone far enough. Besides, everybody knows that it was the vacuum cleaner that liberated women more than the pill.”

Echo Chamber

Cited Garden State Pundit on Fox News poll

Cited USA Today: “Illegal immigrants might get stimulus jobs, experts say.” Article cites Heritage Foundation, flagged by Drudge