This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by the new conspiracy -- no health care for Republicans
By Simon Maloy

Rush got the second hour rolling by noting The New York Times' headline indecision regarding the write-up of its latest poll. We'll note here that the Times, in that write-up, cherry-picked data from its own poll, focusing solely on the negative data regarding Obama and the economy. Rush read from the article, which reported that a “distinct gulf exists between Mr. Obama's overall standing and how some of his key initiatives are viewed, with fewer than half of Americans saying they approve of how he has handled health care and the effort to save General Motors and Chrysler.” Rush said this isn't news; he's been saying it for weeks. This White House, more than any other White House, said Rush, runs on polls, and that approval number is everything to them. When it goes south of 60, said Rush, that means the power of “the Bamster's” personality is not overshadowing his “failures.” This is a White House in panic, said Rush, because they've taken on too much too soon and they're not doing it well. Rush added: “These poll numbers -- those of you out there in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, whatever -- these poll numbers are why Obama's not giving you people what you want. These poll numbers are why he can't yet go ahead and rip up the Defense of Marriage Act.”

Rush then noted that the GOP's approval rating in the New York Times/CBS poll had fallen to 28 percent -- its lowest ever in that survey. This “doesn't matter,” though, said Rush, because the GOP is out of power and such a number is to be “expected.” The bad numbers in this poll, Rush said, are the ones on Obama.

Then Rush moved on to the Politico's write-up of the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, which noted that “58 percent say the government should focus more on controlling the budget deficit than on boosting the economy.” Rush asked if we realize the impact of this poll number -- more Americans are worried about the deficit than they are the economy. To translate this, said Rush, even though the liberals tell us this is the worse economy since the Great Depression, Americans understand it's the deficit that's the problem. The second revealing response here, said Rush, is who America thinks is responsible for the deficit -- 46 percent say George Bush. According to Rush, “we're not talking facts; we're talking public perception.” Actually, in this instance, we're talking both, as we noted in the last hour.

But Rush was not swayed, saying that this number shows that Obama is a far more dangerous president that Bush or Clinton or Carter, because there's no check on Obama from the media or Congress. According to Rush: “Next year, the deficit will be four times as, well -- this year, four times as large as last year. Obama has quadrupled Bush's deficit and Bush is still being blamed. While it's charged to Bush, it's being created by Obama.” Then Rush “simplified” it for us in a way that was no less false: “Obama took Bush's credit card and ran up massive debt on it. Bush -- Obama stole it. Let's look at it that way. Obama stole Bush's credit card, has run up debt like crazy. They've shut down the credit card, and yet Bush is getting blamed. So there it is for all to see.”

The challenge, said Rush, is to educate voters, but can Republicans do it? Rush said he's been the loudest and most consistent critic of Obama, and it's working. They're causing opinions of his policies to go majority negative. The GOP, however, isn't doing this.

After the break, Rush said that if you're one of the majority of Americans upset with the deficits, but blame it on Bush, remember that Congress spends the money and Obama voted for all these budget-busting measures going back to 2004. Wait, wait, wait -- budget-busting measures going back to 2004? During the Bush administration? We thought that Obama and the Democrats were “100 percent” to blame...

Rush's next caller thought that people are missing the point on health care reform -- Obama doesn't care about the cost of health care; it's all about blackmailing Republican voters. Rush didn't understand what the caller was talking about (neither did we), so the caller explained that the Democrats are going to deny Republicans health care unless they vote Democratic. Rush responded: “Well, you could have a point there. They are doing that in other things. That's -- you know, some people tried to establish that that's how they were closing dealerships but I don't think anybody closed the loop for sure on this.” But Rush said the caller is right. It's not about health care, it's about control, because “day-to-day, there's no health care crisis in this country.” After another break, Rush clarified that he didn't want to “minimize” this caller's “point” about the fear that Democrats are going to deny health care to Republicans because the Obama administration is using this kind of fear to get everything it wants.

Then Rush moved on to a sound bite of Julian Epstein saying on MSNBC today that Bush's comments about “therapy” for Guantánamo detainees are absurd because Gitmo is a country club compared to what the Democrats want to do to these terrorists, putting them in supermax prisons. Rush said that's just absurd. You'd imagine that what Rush meant is that it's absurd to compare “Club Gitmo” to a country club when it's really more of a "tropical paradise." But what Epstein was admitting, said Rush, is that Democrats are soft on crime and weak on national defense, so he's saying that they're going to put these terrorists in really tough places, like the beach in Bermuda. We'll just point out again that the former detainees on the beach in Bermuda -- the Uighurs -- were cleared of “enemy combatant” status by the Bush administration.

Rush's next caller read from an Independent article on Obama's new financial regulations to fix the credit crisis and claimed that the government is going to have more personal information than it should. Rush said that's not all; it's also going to have control over us. Rush said that Obama and the Democrats are complaining and whining about unfair lending practices, but what they're really doing is making it so the federal government will be in charge of the lending industry. They're going to do the same thing with the digitization of medical records, said Rush -- they'll get dirt on you so they can blackmail you. The left is trying to solidify as much control as possible, said Rush, and Americans are starting to catch on. This goes back to the call yesterday and the WSJ story today -- Obama voters getting upset, but for the wrong reasons. They think he cares too much about big business, but they don't see that he's destroying big business. But they're upset, said Rush, and that's a baseline that can be built upon.

Another break and Rush returned, once again, to the earlier caller's claim that the Democrats are going to deny health care to Republicans based on party identification. Rush asked us what we think is going to happen when the government runs the banks and the credit card companies. This is insidious, said Rush, and it's designed to cement more power in Washington, and create more fear of Washington so that they're unopposed.

Rush rounded out the hour with a couple of callers. The first, from El Salvador, said that the national health care system there doesn't work, that it bullies doctors, and the same thing is going to happen here. Rush said some strain of that will happen here -- when the government controls everything, there's nowhere else you can go. Rush then explained that if you think health care is a crisis now, "[t]hink about some bureaucrat that you will never meet having to approve whatever treatment you want or need -- approve -- and then think about the likelihood of being approved if the bureaucrat happens to know that you oppose Obama or Biden." Rush added: “All they need is the fear in you. All they need is you thinking that you'll be discriminated against if you're not a Democrat, whether they discriminate or not. All they need is the fear to get you to get your mind right, to get in line with the right people. All they have to do is create that fear.” But see, here's the thing, they're not creating that fear. The only person creating that fear is Rush, who is gleefully echoing and expanding upon a caller's conspiracy theory.

Rush's last caller said she has not heard anyone mention that the uprising in Iran could be happening because Iraq is free, and no one wants to give Bush any credit for that. Rush said she might have a point that consideration must be given to Iraq, but the Iranian population has long been simmering with opposition to mullahs. And they're erupting because they realized they've been duped with these elections.

Rush closed the hour with this observation: “It has been the 'bzz, bzz, bzz, bzz, bzz, bzz' of the Obama world the past couple of days, his opposition to - well, his refusal to tear apart the Defense of Marriage Act. The gay voters, the gay community, very upset at Obama. Everybody's trying to understand, why is Obama doing this? Let me throw in another one out at you, folks. If Obama appeared to be gay friendly, would it harm him in the eyes of the Muslim world, which is not gay friendly? Cairo speech? Hello?” That's funny, because, earlier in the hour, Obama's supposed reason for supporting DOMA was his poll numbers. If you're going to smear the guy, at least be consistent.

Greg Lewis and Lauryn Bruck contributed to this edition of the Limbaugh Wire.

Highlights from Hour 2

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: A job approval rating of 63 percent. Obama has the backing of Democrats and independents alike, a standing that many presidents would envy and try to use to build support for their policies. His rating has fallen to 23 percent among Republicans from 44 percent in February, a sign that bridging the partisan divide may remain, and -- bridging the partisan divide. There was never any attempt to bridge the partisan divide! These poll numbers -- those of you out there in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, whatever -- these poll numbers are why Obama's not giving you people what you want. These poll numbers are why he can't yet go ahead and rip up the Defense of Marriage Act.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Oh, I missed it. You're saying that a Democrat government run by Obama deciding who to approve and not to approve in terms of care and what kind of care --

CALLER: Exactly

LIMBAUGH: -- will look at party affiliation and say, “Eh, you go to the back of the line. We've got to take care of our own.”

CALLER: This is what it's all about, Rush, believe me. He doesn't care one bit about health care.

LIMBAUGH: Well, you could have a point there. They are doing that in other things. That's -- you know, some people tried to establish that that's how they were closing dealerships but I don't think anybody closed the loop for sure on this.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: It's breathtaking to watch every day. Every day this little man-child reaches out and grabs something else. He says, “That's mine, that's mine, that's mine.” But of course I don't make him sound like a child because he's far more dangerous than a child.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Think about some bureaucrat that you will never meet having to approve whatever treatment you want or need -- approve -- and then think about the likelihood of being approved if the bureaucrat happens to know that you oppose Obama or Biden. Whether it happens -- see the point here is not, ladies and gentlemen, look at me, I want you to understand this -- the point is not whether that would be the determining factor in how they decide. All they need is the fear in you. All they need is you thinking that you'll be discriminated against if you're not a Democrat, whether they discriminate or not. All they need is the fear to get you to get your mind right, to get in line with the right people. All they have to do is create that fear.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: It has been the “bzz, bzz, bzz, bzz, bzz, bzz” of the Obama world the past couple of days, his opposition to -- well, his refusal to tear apart the Defense of Marriage Act. The gay voters, the gay community, very upset at Obama. Everybody's trying to understand, why is Obama doing this? Let me throw in another one out at you, folks. If Obama appeared to be gay friendly, would it harm him in the eyes of the Muslim world, which is not gay friendly? Cairo speech? Hello?

America's Truth Rejector

LIMBAUGH: Next year, the deficit will be four times as, well -- this year, four times as large as last year. Obama has quadrupled Bush's deficit and Bush is still being blamed. While it's charged to Bush, it's being created by Obama -- by Obama's porkulus, by Obama bailoutulus, by Obama GMulus, by Obama where's the stimulus?

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Let me simplify this. Obama took Bush's credit card and ran up massive debt on it. Bush -- Obama stole it. Let's look at it that way. Obama stole Bush's credit card, has run up debt like crazy. They've shut down the credit card, and yet Bush is getting blamed. So there it is for all to see.