This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by Rush's demonization of doctors
By Simon Maloy
Rush must be feeling pretty slighted right about now. He's the most listened-to radio personality in the country, and he's been calling President Obama a racist for months now, and no one (outside of the Limbaugh Wire) seems to have really cared. You can go all the way back to May 26 and the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, when Rush pronounced Obama “the greatest living example of a reverse racist.” There were no denunciations, no calls for him to be fired -- in short, none of the attention that Rush so desperately craves. But then this upstart, low-rent, potential cult leader Glenn Beck goes on Fox News and calls the president a “racist,” and the reactions and denunciations come flying in from all corners -- Joe Scarborough and the rest of the Morning Joe crew, NBC's First Read, the Chicago Tribune and The Swamp, Roland Martin, etc. Hell, even Beck's boss weighed win by issuing a nothingburger of a statement, the only value of which was that it confirmed that Fox News has no standards for what it allows on its broadcasts. The problem for Rush is that people are used to this sort of nonsense from him, which is a sad fact in and of itself.
Rush got things rolling today by asking us to look at this headline from the AP: “Obama retools pitch for health care legislation.” Most everything our beloved president is saying about health care is not true, said Rush, and “retool” is a not-so-fancy word for “switching the lies.” Obama says health insurance can not exclude pre-existing conditions, Rush explained, and the reason he's saying that is because a lot of people don't like Obama, but a member of their family has one of these conditions. But if you're a senior citizen, your pre-existing condition denies you all treatment. Rush offered no evidence for this claim. Obama says they're not cutting Medicare, said Rush, but the House bill has billions in cuts.
Rush then said that what's going on -- and no one should get giddy -- is that the Democrat Party may be cracking up. Obama has put this party's fate at great risk, as he has with this country. If Obama gets health care reform, Rush explained, then the Blue Dogs are screwed in the next election. If he doesn't, it will be viewed as a failure. It doesn't help that he's out there with these town meetings -- he's a rookie and he's throwing a lot of wild pitches. Rush then lost focus for a moment, saying that the guy who writes the AARP newsletter was married to Andrea Dworkin. Rush had this to say about Dworkin: “I have to be very, very judicious here. I first heard of Andrea Dworkin when I was in Sacramento and she came into town to do a lecture. Let's just say that according to the latest demonization group, the group being demonized by Democrats to push health care -- the obese -- she could be poster child.” This leaves us wondering if Rush knows the definition of “judicious.” Anyway, Rush said she's a “man-hating feminist,” and the guy she married is apparently gay. But the point is that the AARP are a bunch of leftist radicals.
But Obama is putting his party in jeopardy, Rush said, and their hubris is ridiculous. There have to be Democrats who know what is in store for their party if this health reform passes, and what's in store if it fails. When you run the show like they do, said Rush, and you can't pass this signature piece of legislation, it's exciting to watch. It's fascinating and heartwarming, because the country isn't buying this. We have not lost the U.S. But there's a very sad poll out there, said Rush. It's a Rasmussen poll -- nearly one out two U.S. voters say the nation's best days are in the past. This doesn't help the Democrats either. This was not at all the way any of this was envisioned. Rush hated to see this poll result, but said you can understand it, what with the economy the way it is.
Then Rush reaired the Obama sound bite from yesterday that had him so incensed -- Obama talking about bundling payments for doctors. This is heart-stopping, said Rush. This is a guy with a “five-minute career,” and now he's going to sit in judgment of how well doctors do their work. This is an insult to doctors. Only he and his appointed bureaucrats will judge how well doctors do, said Rush, and this guy wouldn't know where to find the Neosporin at the grocery store, or the Band-Aids at his own house. Rush led into the break saying: “You know, I've always thought that Geraldo Rivera was the grim reaper. Because you know, you watch Fox, and whenever anybody is about to die or has died, that's when -- that's how I knew Michael Jackson was toast. When Fox finally put Geraldo on there that day -- that's when I knew that Michael Jackson was dead. But now I'm wondering who really is the grim reaper? Is it Obama or is it Geraldo? Or is it maybe both? One guy arranges an untimely death, the other guy covers it. If this passes folks -- I just want to tell ya -- if Obamacare passes, Geraldo is going to be recovering retirement homes like they were ground zero in Category 5 hurricanes.”
After the break, Rush had a few unkind words for that dastardly liberal media. First, Rush was upset that a Newsweek reporter left the magazine to join the Obama administration, and then it was on to David Axelrod's son, Ethan, joining the Huffington Post. Rush linked this to Chuck Todd's First Read missive against Beck, linked to above. Rush claimed that Todd is upset about all these people who have never been journalists railing against the media. Rush knew what this is about -- Chuck Todd works for NBC, which means he appears on MSNBC, which no one watches. So he's worried that Huffington Post will have more access to the White House than he will. They're turning on their own, said Rush.
Also on the Huffington Post, Rush observed, was this story by Sam Stein, who wrote: “The man Barack Obama consulted on medical matters for over two decades said on Tuesday that the president's vision for health care reform is bound for failure.” Rush said this cannot be helpful to the Bamster, and he's mystified why this would appear in HuffPo, which is in the tank for Obama. Rush theorized: "[M]aybe they're just trying to send him a signal. “Hey you got a problem here, bud. You have to either start lying in a different way, you know, retool the pitch.” But that's gonna be tough 'cause we know he throws like a girl. We saw it at the All-Star game."
Then Rush moved on to a Drudge special, the Arizona Republic reporting that the state is considering selling some of the capitol buildings because it needs money. Rush said that the woman who used to run Arizona now runs the Department of Homeland Security -- are we going to have to sell some of their buildings to keep them solvent?
Then Rush moved on to Time Warner, reading reports that the media conglomerate “said Wednesday its second-quarter profit shrank 34 percent as the ad slump and slow DVD sales hurt revenue in the company's publishing, movie and online properties.” Rush's response: “Now, let me ask you people a question. Second quarter profits -- that's March, April, and May - shrunk -- shrank 34 percent. How many Obama covers has Time magazine run? It's like 17 or 18. Not just in the second quarter -- first quarter, fourth quarter last year. So, the publishing backbone of Time Warner, Time magazine, losing money big time with the most popular president, quote unquote ever, on the cover practically every week. How's that hope and change working for them?”
After the break, Rush was still piqued at Obama for saying that doctors should be paid for the quality instead of the quantity of the care they provide, saying: “I'll just tell ya, it's a damn good thing for Obama -- Dr. Chicago -- that the last election was decided on the quantity and not quality of his voters, as all elections always are.” Following up on that insult to over half the voting public, Rush took a call from an Aussie gentleman who said that Obama's health care payment proposal sounds similar to the system they have in Australia, which is a mess. Wherever in the world socialism and liberalism has been tried, it hasn't worked, said Rush, who asked if the caller can say with any knowledge whether Australian doctors are refusing to treat Medicaid patients. The caller said they're not refusing treatment, they're just opting out of the payment system. Rush said he has a friend in Australia right now who sent him this story about aborigines crashing a Wilderness Society party, which Rush said is just hilarious. The caller said it's not just the aborigines who are upset with the Wilderness Society, a lot of people hate them because they're shutting down the economy. Obama is doing the same thing here, said Rush. The caller wrapped things up by expressing his hope that the U.S. government follows Australia's lead and doesn't impose cap-and-trade. Rush said Harry Reid is trying to get it passed as part of the health care bill. It's one of those things where they propose an amendment on Friday afternoon and have no debate. They're going to try and get this done without anyone knowing about it because they know it's in trouble.
One more break and Rush was back with a correction -- it's not cap-and-trade that they're trying to sneak into the health care bill, it's card check. Roll Call reported: “As Senate Democrats struggle to hammer out a compromise bill on union organizing, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is sketching a process for railroading the bill through the floor as quickly as possible to prevent Republicans from rallying a major campaign against it, senior Democratic aides said.” Rush said he also got a note from Red State's Erick Erickson, who said that the Democrats are going to meet in one hour to start marking up the health care bill in committee. This is why Rush said we shouldn't get giddy. They know what's going on -- they need to get a vote on this thing before they leave, otherwise they're going to hear it from their constituents.
Rush then took a call from a woman who watched his interview with Fox News' Greta van Susteren. The caller wondered if Rush would like to expand on his comment that the government should subsidize catastrophic health care. Rush was stunned -- she's the only person who's had anything critical to say about that interview. Rush said the problem with health care is that people aren't paying for their own. People should have private options for the day-to-day medical stuff and should pay for that on their own, but it's the catastrophic stuff that scares people. So we're trying to get government out of health care, but if they're going to pay for anything, have it be the catastrophic stuff. Rush said he was just being realistic -- we're unlikely to get government completely out of health care, so getting them 90 percent out of the way would be a huge victory. Rush is glad she called and gave him the opportunity to explain that.
Rush then took a call from a woman who had a point to make on health care payments:
CALLER: I want to say the - going back to what you discussed about doctors will be rated according to quantity -- I mean quality, and not quantity. What is to keep a doctor from saying, “Well, I want my ratings to stay up. My job's in jeopardy, my position's in jeopardy, my reputation's in jeopardy. So I'm going to take the patients that have the highest prognosis -- the best prognosis -- as opposed to those who have a lower prognosis”?
LIMBAUGH: That's a great example, because doctors -- like anybody else, they're self-preservationists. And they're also Americans. And if they've got a president that's trying to destroy them and their livelihood that they love what they do, they'll find ways around it. That's why -- that is really a great point. So that doctors will refuse to take the bad and hard cases. That'd be munch easier for them to say you didn't do quality work. So I'll just take somebody that doesn't need a whole lot of treatment, make 'em better, and I'll get all kinds of gold stars from Obama, and the government will love me and leave me alone.
To put this in context, Rush has been apoplectic over the past week that Obama, during his press conference last Wednesday, “demonized” doctors by saying they perform unnecessary surgery in order to line their pockets. But now, Rush is saying that doctors will refuse treatment to people who are really sick out of a desire to be paid more, because that's just human nature. That's shockingly hypocritical.
Greg Lewis and Zachary Pleat contributed to this edition of the Limbaugh Wire.
Highlights from Hour 1
Outrageous comments
LIMBAUGH: I have to be very, very judicious here. I first heard of Andrea Dworkin when I was in Sacramento and she came into town to do a lecture. Let's just say that according to the latest demonization group, the group being demonized by Democrats to push health care - the obese - she could be poster child.
[...]
LIMBAUGH: You know, I've always thought that Geraldo Rivera was the grim reaper. Because you know, you watch Fox, and whenever anybody is about to die or has died, that's when - that's how I knew Michael Jackson was toast. When Fox finally put Geraldo on there that day -- that's when I knew that Michael Jackson was dead.
But now I'm wondering who really is the grim reaper? Is it Obama or is it Geraldo? Or is it maybe both? One guy arranges an untimely death, the other guy covers it. If this passes folks -- I just want to tell ya -- if Obamacare passes, Geraldo is going to be recovering retirement homes like they were ground zero in Category 5 hurricanes.
[...]
LIMBAUGH: I still am mystified why HuffPo published - maybe they're just trying to send him a signal. “Hey you got a problem here, bud. You have to either start lying in a different way, you know, retool the pitch.” But that's gonna be tough 'cause we know he throws like a girl. We saw it at the All-Star game.
[...]
LIMBAUGH: Now, let me ask you people a question. Second quarter profits -- that's March, April, and May - shrunk -- shrank 34 percent. How many Obama covers has Time magazine run? It's like 17 or 18. Not just in the second quarter -- first quarter, fourth quarter last year. So, the publishing backbone of Time Warner, Time magazine, losing money big time with the most popular president, quote unquote ever, on the cover practically every week. How's that hope and change working for them?
[...]
LIMBAUGH: I'll just tell ya, it's a damn good thing for Obama -- Dr. Chicago -- that the last election was decided on the quantity and not quality of his voters, as all elections always are.
[...]
CALLER: I want to say the - going back to what you discussed about doctors will be rated according to quantity -- I mean quality, and not quantity. What is to keep a doctor from saying, “Well, I want my ratings to stay up. My job's in jeopardy, my position's in jeopardy, my reputation's in jeopardy. So I'm going to take the patients that have the highest prognosis -- the best prognosis -- as opposed to those who have a lower prognosis”?
LIMBAUGH: That's a great example, because doctors - like anybody else, they're self-preservationists. And they're also Americans. And if they've got a president that's trying to destroy them and their livelihood that they love what they do, they'll find ways around it. That's why - that is really a great point. So that doctors will refuse to take the bad and hard cases. That'd be munch easier for them to say you didn't do quality work. So I'll just take somebody that doesn't need a whole lot of treatment, make 'em better, and I'll get all kinds of gold stars from Obama, and the government will love me and leave me alone.