This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by Henry Gates' wily plan to taunt the police
By Simon Maloy

Rush got the second hour going by saying we had a disaster of a press conference last night, according to the drive-by media that loves Obama. Obama was whining all night, said Rush, whining about what he inherited, lying about inheriting a $1.3 trillion deficit. He voted for everything that busted the budget, he inherited his own work. The casual viewer last night is going to ask why he keeps whining, and then talk about all these successes, Rush said. He then aired a sound bite of Obama saying: “As a result of the actions we took in those first weeks, we've been able to pull our economy back from the brink. We took steps to stabilize our financial institutions and our housing market. And we passed a Recovery Act that has already saved jobs and created new ones; delivered billions in tax relief to families and small businesses; and extended unemployment insurance and health insurance to those who've been laid off.” Rush said that there is no job creation taking place, the economy is not back from the brink, we have not stabilized the housing market. None of that is true.

Rush then read from a Washington Examiner blog entry arguing that we should look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics' U6 measure for unemployment, which takes into account “discouraged workers” who have stopped looking for work, instead of the U3 measure, which doesn't. We should point out that just last month, Rush was complaining that this number was “something they always included when reporting unemployment numbers with George W. Bush” to make the economy seem worse than it was. Rush said he doesn't know how you can say we pulled the economy back from the brink. Everyone watching this last night was wondering where all those jobs are. And we've only spent five or six percent of the stimulus. He lied through his teeth, said Rush, and there wasn't one question disputing anything. There wasn't one question on Iraq or Afghanistan.

Rush then aired audio of Obama saying: “I understand how easy it is for this town to become consumed in the game of politics -- to turn every issue into a running tally of who's up and who's down. I've heard that one Republican strategist told his party that even though they may want to compromise, it's better politics to 'go for the kill'; another Republican senator that defeating health care reform is about 'breaking' me.” They are really getting to him, said Rush. You never heard Bush whine or complain. Here's Obama whining about these mean Republicans.

Rush then said that elements of the state-run media have to be getting guilty consciences, just look at the New York Times fact-check of Obama's press conference. AP also has one, said Rush, and they outline the lies Obama told last night. Rush added: “What we had last night was arrogance on parade. You have to be arrogant and full of hubris to think you can actually go out and tell those kinds of lies and have them believed. You must have a really, really high impression of yourself. You must really believe the people in your audience don't care what you're saying, they just marvel that they're in your presence and listening to you. We're talking about an ego here that has no boundaries.” We added emphasis to that point because we think there might have been a bit of projection going there -- we touched on the idea of respect for one's audience last week, and how people like Rush and Glenn Beck display a stunning lack of respect in the way they distort the facts to their audiences every day.

After the break, Rush said that the press conference was so good that Harry Reid said that Congress will not vote on the health care bill until after the August recess. We'll be ready, Rush said to Reid, and your colleagues are going to go home and have town hall meetings, where they're going to get a barrage of questions from voters who know more about health care than they do. Obama was so persuasive last night that they put off the vote, Rush cracked sarcastically. We will be ready, he reiterated.

Rush's next caller said Obama keeps talking about people who lost their job or can't afford their insurance, but don't we already have Medicaid for these people? That's the point, said Rush -- everyone already has coverage. Medicaid is for the poor, Medicare is for the elderly, and the promise is that it's free. Both programs are bankrupt, said Rush, and the Obama plan builds off them. The premise of this health care question is not the right one. We don't have anything structurally wrong with our health care. Compared to the rest of the world, said Rush, we're the best. Rush said he made this point to Greta Van Susteren in the interview he just gave her. Ninety percent of the American people have health insurance, but it's fear that everyone is capitalizing on -- our population is inundated with information leading them to believe that they're going to get sick or die. All of this stuff is interlinked in order to create the demand for bigger government, Rush conspiratorially intoned.

After another break, Rush came back with a call from a gentleman saying that the more you go through this health bill, the more it stinks, look at this medical device registry section on page 1000. The caller said he is waiting for the day when an ACORN representative comes by saying that he has to register for insurance. All roads lead back to ACORN, we guess. Anyway, Rush said he's glad the caller is reading the bill. It's not about health care, said Rush, and these details illustrate what this is about - regulating your behavior and keeping tabs on what you are doing. The simplest way to understand this is to realize that this isn't about health care. That's why Obama is not getting into details.

Rush then said he wanted to get back to Obama saying that the cops in Cambridge acted “stupidly.” This means that he did listen to Rev. Wright for 20 years, Rush reiterated. That question was the only time he came alive. He didn't want to be there, he knew he was in trouble on health care, but there was passion on that Gates question. Rush aired a portion of Obama's answer, including the president's joke that he'd get shot if he tried to break into his house now. Rush responded: “He says he would get shot. That's right, 'I'm a black guy.' In fact, grab sound bite three. I didn't want to use this, but I'm not going to use it. 'I'm a black guy, I'd get shot.' Don't doubt me on this, folks. Don't doubt me. 'I'd get shot.' He's laughing, and they're all laughing. If I tell a joke about somebody getting shot on this show and I laugh about it, I will not hear the end of it for I don't know how long.”

Rush then aired audio of Obama saying of Gates: "[A]ny of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge Police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home; and number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there is a long history in this country of African Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately." Rush said he has long thought that there's a chip on Obama's shoulder -- Gates was not stopped. This was not a profiling case. Rush guaranteed that after all this is over, Gates' neighbor who called the cops will be a racist, too.

So last week we dump on the white firefighters, said Rush, and this week we're dumping on cops. The cop said there will be no apology. He didn't do anything wrong! Rush aired audio of Gates saying that the cop was a “rogue policeman.” This is how this kind of thing starts, said Rush. Gates is trying to make this a national issue. Rush then aired audio of Gates saying this isn't about him, it's about the vulnerability of black men in America. We have a new mantra from “these guys,” said Rush.

Coming back from the final break, Rush said he had been “gingerly” treating the Gates business, but now was going to tell us what he really thinks. Gates was not arrested sipping tea in his house, said Rush, he was arrested after he started screaming at the cops. Here's what Rush thinks -- the cops came and found out that it was his house and he was legally there, and there's no reason to follow the cops and yell at them, ergo: “I think Skip Gates wanted to be arrested and provoked the cop.” Rush explained: “the cops show up, Gates instantly saw opportunity for capital-P Publicity -- chance to get out from the shadow of his former colleague Cornel West. There's a rivalry there between those two guys.”

And, rest assured, the hour ended on a pretty steep downhill trajectory: “We all know who Henry Louis Gates is. Do you know what department he teaches in at Harvard? What's his department? African-American Studies. What is African-American Studies? It's an entire department devoted to creating racial friction. All of his academic writings are about racial issues.”

Greg Lewis and Zachary Pleat contributed to this edition of the Limbaugh Wire.

Highlights from Hour 2

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: What we had last night was arrogance on parade. You have to be arrogant and full of hubris to think you can actually go out and tell those kinds of lies and have them believed. You must have a really, really high impression of yourself. You must really believe the people in your audience don't care what you're saying, they just marvel that they're in your presence and listening to you. We're talking about an ego here that has no boundaries.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: He says he would get shot. That's right, “I'm a black guy.” In fact, grab sound bite three. I didn't want to use this, but I'm not going to use it. “I'm a black guy, I'd get shot.” Don't doubt me on this, folks. Don't doubt me. “I'd get shot.” He's laughing, and they're all laughing. If I tell a joke about somebody getting shot on this show and I laugh about it, I will not hear the end of it for I don't know how long.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: I think Skip Gates wanted to be arrested, and provoked the cop. The only person who should really come under any scrutiny about the cops being there is Gates' almost certainly liberal neighbor -- I mean we're talking Cambridge here. These houses are kind of close together. The neighbor didn't recognize her own neighbor -- didn't recognize Gates -- called the cops. When you live in a neighborhood with houses right next to each other, normal people recognize their neighbors. But the neighbor - no doubt being a liberal, probably racist -- saw what she saw. Once the cops show up, Gates instantly saw opportunity for capital-P Publicity -- chance to get out from the shadow of his former colleague Cornel West. There's a rivalry there between those two guys.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: And by the way, Snerdley, let me check. We all know who Henry Louis Gates is. Do you know what department he teaches in at Harvard? What's his department? African-American Studies. What is African-American Studies? It's an entire department devoted to creating racial friction. All of his academic writings are about racial issues.