This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by the terrorists and their friendly, explosive reminders
By Simon Maloy

Davis got the second hour rolling by saying that terrorism is always scary, but when you have video of stuff blowing up -- wow. In Jakarta, he said, bombers posing as guests blew up a couple of hotel restaurants, killing a bunch of people. And God bless Fox News, Davis said, but they decided to play with the language in reporting on this. “For some bizarre reason, and maybe, maybe some of ya'll can help me out with this: 'Suicide bomber' fell out of favor. What was ever the matter with 'suicide bomber'? It is a descriptive term. And I don't think it was just Fox News, but some folks decided that that was somehow a compliment, somehow it mitigated their evil, and they decided to start calling them -- we're getting tough now, folks -- 'homicide bombers.' ” Davis called the term “homicide bomber” the “dumbest thing I've ever heard.” We actually completely agree with him on this. It is ridiculous, and we've whacked Fox News for doctoring AP articles to incorporate this loaded term. But now we feel a little bad for calling him a fringe lunatic in the last hour...

Davis then lamented that Americans have such short memories and attention spans -- that's why everyone bailed out on the war. According to Davis: “It is our historical illiteracy and our blindness to the evil that populates much of the world that endangers us most; and every once in a while, terrorists do us the favor of reminding us that they are still there.” Davis went on to say that if we lose sight of the fact that Al Qaeda is still out there, if we grow too cavalier and too self-satisfied, that is the atmosphere in which they strike. So let's see if we have this straight -- the only way to prevent creating the atmosphere in which terrorists attack is to have terrorists attack, which is a good thing because it reminds us that “they are still there”? Perhaps “fringe lunatic” wasn't so off-base after all... Eh, let's call it a wash. Anyway, Davis wondered if the one-party rule we have in this country is sufficiently concerned about this. Saying terrorism is bad is fine, but you have to do the things necessary to fight it. Closing Gitmo does not fight terror. Failing to speak the very word “terror” in order to placate the Arab street does not fight terror.

Davis then took a call from a woman who had an issue with the stimulus, saying if we're going to spend money on anything, it should be spent on keeping people healthy. Davis said not only did we not have to spend all this money on the stimulus, we don't need to spend it on health care. The free market will fix everything.

Coming back from the break, Davis took a call from an Iraq veteran who said that they started using “homicide bomber” because “suicide bomber” was being used as propaganda to make people feel bad for these people going out and blowing themselves up. Davis asked how the term engenders sympathy, and the caller said it doesn't make any sense to him, but it's a powerful term in the Middle East. Davis said he understands that, but he doesn't care if the suicide bomber gets more props back in Hezbollah headquarters, and he doesn't think American journalists should change the term. The term has meaning, the job of language is clarity, and you don't mess with that. The job of rational people is to stay rational, said Davis, so you don't go changing the language because some people use it to a sinister end.

Another break and Davis returned with a caller who said that he asked Davis a question last year when he was filling in for Rush about whether we're selling out to the Chinese, and he was wondering if Davis' answer was the same, whether he's still unconcerned about the Chinese and our debt. Davis said he believes in the Reagan philosophy of speaking truth to evil, but you can say that the West's willingness to reach out to China and help bring it out of the communist Stone Age has worked. That said, China is still hostile and an enormous rival. When you ask whether we're “selling out” to China, Davis said that there are ways you can interact with them that are smart and don't rise to the panic level of “selling out.” The caller said the only concern he has is if one day the Chinese come to collect on the mortgage. Davis said you never want to be in hock to another country, and he could get in trouble for saying that will never happen, but the Chinese are enjoying the status quo too much. The fantasy of them bringing us to economic ruin by calling in all this debt takes away the engine of their progress, which is our money. If we are somehow ruined, said Davis, what have they gained? America is not going away because of something China does.

But as much as we're supposed to be glad that the Chinese are opening up their country and embracing capitalism, said Davis, he just can't get behind Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets. Davis didn't really explain why he doesn't like Yao -- perhaps it's a Dallas-Houston thing. We don't pretend to understand Texas. Anyway, Davis said, whatever we do, whether it's trade or basketball or whatever, there is an evil empire around, and it's China. The government there is evil, and any relationship we have with them has to be based around that fact.

Coming back from another commercial time-out, Davis took a call from a man with a soothing baritone who said he is more worried about Eric Holder than he is Sotomayor, because Holder is going after Cheney. Davis said it's offensive enough that the attorney general is criminalizing policies that he and Obama disagree with, but the idea that Obama has no control over what Holder does is ludicrous. If Holder goes through with these investigations, said Davis, it's with Obama's full approval. The caller said it's scary because Obama is America's version of Hugo Chavez. Davis said Cheney certainly did a fine job taking down Obama on the talk-show circuit, so he has no doubt that he'd be able to handle whatever investigation comes his way. Davis then remarked that the caller sounded remarkably like Robert Bork, which the caller considered quite the compliment.

Closing out the hour, Davis aired some audio for us of Robert Bork to prove that the caller did, in fact, sound like the conservative jurist. The specific audio he played was of Bork questioning whether Sotomayor is “governed entirely by law.”

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

Highlights from Hour 2

Holy crap! We agree with the guest host!

DAVIS: Can I just spend one moment defending the language here for a sec? This is so little, yet little things mean a lot, OK? God bless Fox News, all right. Can we establish that from the get-go? God bless Fox News. They report; we decide -- except when they decide to play with the language.

For some bizarre reason, and maybe, maybe some of ya'll can help me out with this: “Suicide bomber” fell out of favor. What was ever the matter with “suicide bomber”? It is a descriptive term. And I don't think it was just Fox News, but some folks decided that that was somehow a compliment, somehow it mitigated their evil, and they decided to start calling them -- we're getting tough now, folks -- “homicide bombers.”

Once again wrapped in the main premise of God bless Fox News, may I reach out to my friends over there and say, “Guys, stop jackin' with the language.” “Homicide bomber” is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Any bomb that kills somebody is a homicide. “Suicide bomber” exists as a term to differentiate from Tim McVeigh. Tim McVeigh sets the bomb, drives away -- not a suicide bomber.

These guys, blowing themselves up on purpose, those are suicide bombers. The language exists to clarify thought and communicate a thought. There's a difference between someone who bombs something and leaves and someone who blows themselves up and stays.

Outrageous comments

DAVIS: It is our historical illiteracy and our blindness to the evil that populates much of the world that endangers us most; and every once in a while, terrorists do us the favor of reminding us that they are still there.