This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by Hugo Chavez, who's “got nothing on Barack Obama”
By Simon Maloy

As we've said before, here at the Limbaugh Wire we're huge fans of inductive reasoning -- specifically, expanding arguments well beyond (and often in direct contradiction to) the evidence presented to us in order to reach conclusions that defy conventional logic but nonetheless sate our overarching desire for ideological superiority. So you can understand how much we enjoyed yesterday's show, particularly when Rush attempted to explain how Holocaust museum shooter James Von Brunn is, in reality, a left-wing extremist who was egged on by the “climate” of “hate” produced by President Obama and the Democrats. Rush's reasoning went thusly: Von Brunn hates Bush, the neocons, and Jews; liberals also hate Bush, the neocons, and Jews; therefore, Von Brunn is a liberal. Defining people by who they hate -- that's pretty airtight. As such, we figured we'd expand upon that same line of thinking and turn it around on El Rushbo. Consider this: Rush doesn't much like John McCain; Paul Krugman also doesn't much like John McCain; therefore, Rush Limbaugh is a Nobel Prize-winning Princeton economist. Quod erat demonstrandum.

Anyway, Rush got “Open Line Friday!” going by saying he's received a lot of emails today from people excited that the government got a hold of the nicotine industry, but Rush cautioned everyone to be careful what you ask for. Rush said he knows most people don't like tobacco products and they're excited that the level of nicotine is going down in cigarettes, but that just means people are going to smoke more cigarettes, because nicotine may be the most addictive substance on Earth. Secondly, said Rush, what happens when the government takes control of an industry? They run it into the ground, and the problem with this, said Rush, is that the tobacco industry is a huge source of tax revenue. That means, said Rush, that those of you happy about this tobacco legislation are going to be anteing up to make the difference in lost tax revenue.

Then it was on to the election in Iran, as Rush attacked Reuters for describing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as “the conservative president” of Iran. Setting aside the fact that Ahmadinejad is conservative, Rush said Reuters was indicating that there's no difference between Ahmadinejad and Ronald Reagan. Anyway, Rush said the whole election is a farce because it's the mullahs who really run the country, but the media is nonetheless breathlessly reporting on the possible effect Obama's Cairo speech might be having on the election results. Rush said this is silly, stupid, and dangerously naïve. If the Iranian mullahs replace one puppet with another, it will have nothing to do with Obama. But get ready, said Rush -- if someone other than Ahmadinejad wins, Obama will be feted as president of the world.

Meanwhile, said Rush, the economy is tanking and Obama is destroying health care and the solvency of the American government, and none of this is remarked upon in the media. Rush said a friend of his made “a good point” -- if Obama's so concerned about pay-go, why not stop the stimulus spending? But that's Rush point -- Obama doesn't care what he's spending. He doesn't give a rat's rear-end what's happening to the country. He just wants more control.

There's another issue here, said Rush -- the proposed release of photos from Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo showing detainee abuse. Rush said the photos have taken a meandering path -- first Obama was going to release them; then he wasn't; then the leftist Dems in the House said the hell with that, we're going to release the pictures; and then Sens. Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman proposed an amendment that would prohibit the release of the photos; but then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said “screw that amendment;” and now there's pressure on Obama to issue an executive order halting the release. The question we have to ask ourselves, said Rush, is why would anyone want these photos released? The only answer, he said, is to inflame Muslims in the Middle East. Then Rush got to the crux of the conspiracy theory:

LIMBAUGH: If you want to inflame the Middle East, if you want riots, if you want to cause hell to become unleashed in the Middle East, then, of course, what you have at your disposal is these detainee photos. So, what would it take to calm down a new level of unrest? What would it take? Well, you just have to ask yourself one question: Aside from our prisons and so-called interrogation techniques, what is it that upsets Muslims in the Middle East? Israel, right?

So, then, what becomes the procedure to calm down the possible chaos and riots: the release of these photos? Well, we gotta get more concessions from Israel. Damn it. Maybe give up Jerusalem or give up half of it, let them, the Palestinians, finally have it.

I have great reservations about this administration's plans for Israel.

Rush allowed that this scenario is “convoluted,” but he does “know” that Obama loves chaos -- he thrives on it and craves it. And there's a crisis in the Middle East, and wouldn't you know it? Those darn detainee photos are in play just as Israel has a gun to its head.

After the break, Rush aired an audio bite of Obama speaking from the Rose Garden this morning, in which the president said he was excited to see robust debate in Iran, and after his speech in Cairo, the administration conveyed a message that change in Iran was possible. Rush said the ego of this man is incomprehensible to behold. Didn't Obama say we shouldn't impose our values on others? And now he's taking credit for a robust debate in Iran? This is the practiced art of deceit, said Rush -- Obama knows that the president of Iran is not relevant, and yet, here he is taking credit for the election results in Lebanon and the robust debate in Iran. Rush concluded that Obama has an ego and a narcissistic complex that “can only be described as dangerous.”

After another break, Rush replayed that same sound bite of Obama in the Rose Garden, explaining that he just “can't stomach this.” It's “unseemly” and “unbecoming of an adult,” said Rush. Obama made no mention of freedom or democracy in the Middle East in his Cairo speech, and in his world view, our Iraq policy set our Middle East policy back decades, and only now, after his Cairo speech, do we have the potential for democracy in the region. Rush said he has trouble dealing with this personality type -- it's just offensive as it can be, and to watch the media fall in line with it makes him even sicker.

Then Rush moved on to the firing of AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin, saying that inspector generals are not political offices, and firing one is a big deal. Rush said that Byron York of The Washington Examiner summed things up nicely: “The AmeriCorps IG accuses prominent Obama supporter of misusing AmeriCorps grant money. Prominent Obama supporter has to pay back more than $400,000 of that grant money. Obama fires AmeriCorps IG.” Rush omitted from his discussion of the story a key point, as reported by the AP: “Walpin was criticized by the acting U.S. attorney in Sacramento for the way he handled an investigation of Johnson and St. HOPE Academy, a nonprofit group that received hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal grants from the Corporation for National and Community Service.” White House counsel Greg Craig reportedly cited that criticism in explaining to Congress why Walpin was being replaced.

After the break, Rush returned to the AmeriCorps IG firing briefly, saying that this demonstrates "[t]ypical Chicago thug behavior: He fires private sector CEOs; he nationalizes industries. I'll tell you something: Hugo Chavez has nothing on this guy. Hugo Chavez got nothing on Barack Obama."

Then Rush took his first caller of “Open Line Friday!” who was asking if the health insurance companies can cut costs without the government getting involved, because auto insurers have managed to do that. Rush said this relates to an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal this morning by Safeway CEO Steven Burd, who wrote: “At Safeway we believe that well-designed health-care reform, utilizing market-based solutions, can ultimately reduce our nation's health-care bill by 40%. The key to achieving these savings is health-care plans that reward healthy behavior.” Rush read most of the op-ed and said Burd's point is well made -- you can go out and get an auto insurance policy that's affordable and make sense, you have to because the state mandates it, and you can keep costs low by driving responsibly. The principle applies to health insurance.

Lauryn Bruck and Zachary Pleat contributed to this edition of the Limbaugh Wire.

Highlights from Hour 1

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: If you want to inflame the Middle East, if you want riots, if you want to cause hell to become unleashed in the Middle East, then, of course, what you have at your disposal is these detainee photos. So, what would it take to calm down a new level of unrest? What would it take? Well, you just have to ask yourself one question: Aside from our prisons and so-called interrogation techniques, what is it that upsets Muslims in the Middle East? Israel, right?

So, then, what becomes the procedure to calm down the possible chaos and riots: the release of these photos? Well, we gotta get more concessions from Israel. Damn it. Maybe give up Jerusalem or give up half of it, let them, the Palestinians, finally have it.

I have great reservations about this administration's plans for Israel.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Typical Chicago thug behavior: He fires private sector CEOs; he nationalizes industries. I'll tell you something: Hugo Chavez has nothing on this guy. Hugo Chavez got nothing on Barack Obama.