One day after President Bush called on interest groups to “tone down the heated rhetoric” over the Supreme Court vacancy, nationally syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh -- whom Bush described as a “good friend” in an August 2004 appearance on Limbaugh's show -- referred to Supreme Court justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer as “socialist wackos.” Limbaugh also told Democrats to “bury yourselves in your rat hole” and repeatedly instructed them to “shut up.”

From the July 5 broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show:

I'm tired of these Democrats acting like they won the election. Somebody needs to stand up and say, “When you win the election, you pick the nominees. Until then, shut up! Just shut up! Just go away! Bury yourselves in your rat holes and don't come out until you win an election. When you win an election, you can put all these socialist wackos, like Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, all over the court, but until then, SHUT UP! You are really irritating me.”