This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by Rush's interest in Gisele Bündchen's thoughts
By Greg Lewis and Karl Frisch

El Rushbo kicked things off today's show asking his audience if they were genuinely thrilled and excited about the California election results. This led Rush into the subject of federalism. First, he attempted to explain federalism: federalism, he said, is the opposite of central planning. Rush then asserted that federalism was in its “dying days” with Obama in the White House. Oh, and of course, he used the special election in California to comment on Obama: "[W]hat we saw in California last night is indeed a building reaction to Obama. It is no question, it is a building reaction to a growing government wherever it is -- state, federal." He added that the election results also make all of Obama's approval ratings “meaningless” because the President's policies are by no means popular.

Then it was time for some more intra-party bickering. Rush claimed that today's Republican Party is no longer about Ronald Reagan asserting that the people leading the party today think that tax cuts are a “bygone issue” and want growing governments, too: “This vote from California last night that brings Ronald Reagan back to life and that's the last thing that the Republican Party, the people running it today, want. I'm not making this up, these people are saying so.”

The ever-focused Limbaugh then went back to discussing federalism. Repeating his thought that federalism is “on its last legs” because the Obama administration is in power, Rush proceeded to read a passage in Mark Levin's Liberty and Tyranny about how federalism allows for mobility.

Rush went on to baselessly suggest that states like California, New York, and New Jersey will be getting federal bailouts (have there been any elected federal politicians seriously putting that forth?). He asked, “Why would they absorb all of these other debts from all these others states? Because if they're liberal Democrats they're wired that way. They want, with a Democrat in Washington, a bigger federal government taking over more of the burden they can then shield themselves from with their local voters.”

The right-wing talker tackled one more topic before hitting his first commercial break. Rush had some not-so-kind words for Colin Powell in reaction to Powell's speech in Boston last night:

LIMBAUGH: The only thing emerging here is Colin Powell's ego. Colin Powell represents the stale, the old, the worn-out GOP that never won anything. The party of Gerald Ford, Nelson Rockefeller, Bill Scranton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and those types of people. Has anybody heard Colin Powell say a single word against Obama's radicalism? Or Pelosi or Reid, for that matter? Maybe he has, but his fawning media sure hasn't reported if he has said it. He supports massive debt, I guess. He supports slashing the military budget, I suppose. He supports federal funding of abortion, I guess. He supports activist judicial nominees. He supports rationalizing private industries -- nationalizing them. He supports all kinds of things even so-called moderate Republicans like him used to oppose. But he's voted for Obama, endorsed him. I just told you what Obama's policies are. He doesn't speak out against them, and yet he's waiting for a GOP to emerge that will include him? They don't like what happened in California, mark my words.

After a break, Rush described his own personal mobility in the way he recently left New York because of taxes. Everything is about Limbaugh on The Rush Limbaugh Show. It's also about other rich people who don't like paying taxes, like Buffalo Sabres owner Tom Golisano. Rush read some of New York Post Golisano's op-ed in which he explains his decision to leave New York. From here, he whined and moaned as he told tales of the New York government harassing him about his taxes.

The subject then moved back to California. Instead of recapping what he said, can we take a brief timeout? With Rush continuing to berate California, we might as well note that California's government does have its fair share of problems, but as The Economist explains, these structural problems won't be fixed with more hyper-partisan bickering, like the kind Limbaugh has been promoting on his show of late.

Before the hour came to a close, Limbaugh got in another shot at Colin Powell. Reading more about Powell's speech from last night, in which pro football quarterback Tom Brady and his wife, supermodel Gisele Bündchen, were in attendance, Rush quipped, “Frankly, I'm more interested in what Gisele Bündchen thinks than Colin Powell.”

Highlights from Hour 1

Outrageous remarks:

LIMBAUGH: And by the way, I will admit before I get into the cold-water portion of this, what we saw in California last night is indeed a building reaction to Obama. It is no question, it is a building reaction to a growing government wherever it is -- state, federal.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Why would they absorb all of these other debts from all these other states? Because if they're liberal Democrats, they're wired that way. They want, with a Democrat in Washington, a bigger federal government taking over more of the burden they can then shield themselves from with their local voters.

Attacking conservatives:

LIMBAUGH: This vote from California last night -- that brings Ronald Reagan back to life, and that's the last thing that the Republican Party, the people running it today, want. I'm not making this up -- these people are saying so.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: The only thing emerging here is Colin Powell's ego. Colin Powell represents the stale, the old, the worn-out GOP that never won anything. The party of Gerald Ford, Nelson Rockefeller, Bill Scranton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and those types of people. Has anybody heard Colin Powell say a single word against Obama's radicalism? Or Pelosi or Reid, for that matter? Maybe he has, but his fawning media sure hasn't reported if he has said it. He supports massive debt, I guess. He supports slashing the military budget, I suppose. He supports federal funding of abortion, I guess. He supports activist judicial nominees. He supports rationalizing private industries -- nationalizing them. He supports all kinds of things even so-called moderate Republicans like him used to oppose. But he's voted for Obama, endorsed him. I just told you what Obama's policies are. He doesn't speak out against them, and yet he's waiting for a GOP to emerge that will include him? They don't like what happened in California, mark my words.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Frankly, I'm more interested in what Gisele Bündchen thinks than Colin Powell.

Statist watch:

LIMBAUGH: See, in a statist, centralized society, it's the people who are the problem. You can't let people be free. The people will do the wrong thing every time. People are stupid, people are ignorant, and we can't leave their lives up to them. That's the thing that animates people like Barack Obama and the Democrat Party.

Echo chamber:

Rush read passages from Mark Levin's Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto (p. 52).