This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by the highly selective “newspaper suck-up disease”
By Simon Maloy

Rush kicked off the second hour expressing his sympathy for Mexico: “Now, I mean, you got the drug wars going on down there; you've got the poor guy that shook Obama's hand dead from the swine flu; you've got the swine flu itself; and now a magnitude 5.8 earthquake has hit Mexico City. What's changed? What's different in Mexico City the last two weeks? Only one thing's different: Obama went.” As we explained in the previous hour, it's not true that the man who shook Obama's hand, anthropologist Felipe Solís, died of swine flu.

Then Rush read from Howard Kurtz's Washington Post piece from this morning, noting that Obama administration officials and several media figures have attended weekly dinners hosted by David Bradley, owner of The Atlantic. Rush said that the existence of these dinners makes a lot of sense to him, and he was particularly interested in the fact that New York Times columnist David Brooks is a regular attendee. Rush went on to air audio of Brooks' appearance on Charlie Rose, during which Brooks praised Obama as a competent manager and said he was “cool.” Rush said he'd be embarrassed to be involved in a conversation like that about anyone, let alone the president. Then he aired an audio montage of Charlie Rose and Tom Brokaw saying last October that there is a lot about Obama that they didn't yet know. Rush said that they know Obama is smart and cool and brilliant, and that this is the effect having commentators to dinner can have.

Back from the break, Rush was back on Brooks and Rose, attacking them for saying that Obama is a brilliant and competent manager. Rush responded by asking how many tax cheats are in the administration, and how many top positions remain unfilled, like director of the CDC. Once again, as we explained in the last hour, this vacancy probably has something to do with the Republican obstructionism of Obama's HHS nominee, Kathleen Sebelius. Rush claimed it's all part of the propaganda. Rush then asked if Obama was a competent spender, competent at tax policy, and competent on national security. The answer to each was “hell no.” On the next question, though -- is Obama a “competent America-basher” -- the answer was a resounding yes. Rush claimed that the easiest targets for demagogues like Obama are “elites” like Brooks and Rose.

Then Rush took a call from a woman who wanted to state her belief that it is George Soros, not Saul Alinsky, who is pulling Obama's strings. Rush said it doesn't matter who the person is, although Rush did say during this hour that Soros' “hatred of America is well-known.” What matters is why there is a man behind the curtain in the first place. Rush then explained why they were talking about this -- because he and his friends were kicking around names of potential Obama puppetmasters over the weekend. Rush's favorite theory was from someone who said that there will be no second terror attack on America because “they don't need a second act; Obama is the second terrorist act.”

Anyway, Rush found it “interesting” that everyone who opposes Obama thinks there has to be a man behind the curtain, and Rush stated in no uncertain terms that Alinsky is the puppetmaster. After saying that Alinsky's method was to get people to “unwittingly [buy] into your revolution,” Rush added: “Obama is not charged -- he does not have the charge in the oath of office and the Constitution to do what he's doing. Presidents are stewards of the U.S. Constitution. They do not get to automatically rewrite it and change it, which is what he's doing, and what he's going to do more of.” But then Rush shifted gears, seeing that John Podesta was on MSNBC at that moment, and claimed that it's probably John Podesta behind the curtain, perhaps realizing that if you're going to find a puppetmaster to demonize, it's best to have one that's still alive (or perhaps just random free-association bashing of progressives).

Back from the break, Rush announced that he was going to fly to Los Angeles and back tonight, explaining that Obama burned through 9,000 gallons of jet fuel on Earth Day, and Rush wanted to keep pace and do his part, too. Then taking off on Kurtz's story about the secret media dinners, Rush noted that newspaper circulations are tanking, singling out The New York Post, USA Today, and The New York Times. Dr. Rush then offered his theory on this sickness of the newspaper industry: “There are actually two strains of flu that are affecting American business. Newspaper suck-up disease is currently killing most American newspapers. The newspapers are sucking up to Obama. It is just like -- unlike anything anybody has ever seen.” This doesn't make a whole lot of sense, particularly with regard to The New York Post, which is no one's idea of a pro-Obama rag. Just look at the feature they ran over the weekend: “100 Days, 100 Mistakes: Joe Scarborough, Glenn Beck and Others on Obama's Short, Error-Prone Time in Office.” Anyway, Rush concluded: "[E]verywhere Obama is spreading Obamaism, there is a deadly disease taking place, either in the TARP community or in the newspaper business. Obama goes to Mexico -- they have an earthquake. Obama goes to Mexico -- get pig flu."

Then Rush claimed that DHS and the CDC need to be focusing on the threat of the Obama infection, rather than the potential terror threat of returning war veterans. As has been explained over and over, the DHS report Rush is referring to did not label returning veterans potential terror threats. It said that extremist groups “will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat.”

Rush then took a call from another man claiming that he visited the White House's mortgage website, was contacted by a law firm that asked for a fee to process his request (which he paid), and was then told by the firm that they couldn't help him. Rush said that the White House is running a scam -- they're putting together a list of people in financial trouble and giving the list to lawyers so they can run scams on those people. Rush asked if the caller, when he visited the website, assumed that he would be dealing with the government directly. The caller said yes. Rush returned to the caller after the break, asking him if he's afraid that he'll be foreclosed upon because he won't be able to make house payments in the coming months. The caller said he was more concerned about the responsibility he has to his employees and their families. Rush said his first responsibility was to himself, and that this same situation must be happening to a lot of people, but they're not going to blame Obama.

Highlights from Hour 2

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: One person -- just to show you how much fun we have when we get together. Christine, you'll probably love this. One guy in the group said, “Everybody's waiting on a second terror attack. There's not going to be a second terror attack. There isn't going to be one. The terrorists -- they're entertainers. They know performance requirements. They know theatrics. They know if they do a second terror attack, they're going to have to make it much bigger than 9-11. Your second act has to be bigger than the first act.”

He said, “Besides, they don't need a second act; Obama is the second terrorist act.”

[...]

LIMBAUGH: And, you know, you could look at what -- I'll give you another passage here from Rules for -- I'm not going to read it exactly, I'll just give you a paraphrase of Saul Alinsky and Rules for Radicals. You persuade the people, ie voters, the American people in this case, that you are defending them from forces hostile to them: bankers, automobile companies, oil companies, drug companies, Wal-Mart.

You are defending the people against all these forces that are hostile to them, and once the people buy into that, they have unwittingly bought into your revolution. Obama is not charged -- he does not have the charge in the oath of office and the Constitution to do what he's doing. Presidents are stewards of the U.S. Constitution. They do not get to automatically rewrite it and change it, which is what he's doing, and what he's going to do more of.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: There are actually two strains of flu that are affecting American business. Newspaper suck-up disease is currently killing most American newspapers. The newspapers are sucking up to Obama. It is just like -- unlike anything anybody has ever seen.

And it's not just newspapers, by the way. CNN, which barely has any viewers anymore, sucking up to Obama. The people over at MSNBC are losing audience regularly now. They suck up to Obama.

So you've got that flu, and then you've got TARP flu, which is spread by private businesses taking infusions of cash from the Obama White House. Newspapers suffering from Obama suck-up disease are so desperate they're looking to be cured by the TARP flu. They want to be bailed out.

But everywhere Obama is spreading Obamaism, there is a deadly disease taking place, either in the TARP community or in the newspaper business. Obama goes to Mexico -- they have an earthquake. Obama goes to Mexico -- get pig flu.

America's Truth Rejector

Once again falsely claimed that Obama shook hands with a man who died from swine influenza:

LIMBAUGH: Also, poor Mexico: Now, I mean, you got the drug wars going on down there; you've got the poor guy that shook Obama's hand dead from the swine flu; you've got the swine flu itself; and now a magnitude 5.8 earthquake has hit Mexico City.

What's changed? What's different in Mexico City the last two weeks? Only one thing's different: Obama went. Only one thing.

Clips from this hour

Limbaugh says his friend believes “Obama is terrorist attack number 2; Obama is the follow-up to 9-11”

Limbaugh: Obama is “poison to prosperity”

Limbaugh claims Obama is “rewrit[ing]” Constitution and will do so in the future