Hour 3: Limbaugh attacks Chris Matthews' “belief” in global warming
Written by Media Matters Staff
Published
This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by Obama's self-defeating left-handed puppetry
By Simon Maloy
Kicking off the final hour, Rush lamented that all the sound bites he had for the afternoon were about him, but it was inevitable because he's just so popular with the media right now. He aired a montage of CNN reports on Rush, the NCNA, and Obama and Biden getting burgers in Arlington, Virginia, yesterday. Rush claimed that the drive-bys are invested in convincing Republicans to become more liberal. They want the GOP to destroy itself, he said, and they're actively encouraging it.
Speaking of the drive-bys, it was time to attack Chris Matthews for his interview with Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) on MSNBC last night, which Rush claimed was part of the media's nefarious scheme to portray the Republicans as anti-science. Rush aired audio of Matthews asking Pence if he believed in global warming and Pence's response that the science is mixed. Rush said Matthews' “belief” in global warming is the problem, and the premise of the question is that there is no debate over global warming, which Rush said was false. Then he had a question for Matthews: “Why is it, Chris, that you and all of the other environmentalists in the West who subscribe to the theories you subscribe to, why do you always end up hurting poor people?” Since Matthews wasn't there, Rush helpfully supplied the answer as well: “You want them to remain third world countries under this silly belief that their primitive lifestyles will save the planet. All they're doing is staying poor. They're not advancing; they're starving to death.”
Rush wasn't done yet, though. He had more questions and answers: “Why is it, Chris, that you say the science is totally settled here and the science is that the CO2 emissions are destroying the planet. And yet, when I look around, everybody that is benefitting, so-called, from your belief is the poor, and they're getting creamed. Why do you Western environmentalists always end up hurting poor people, wherever it is. And I could then produce a list of scientists who don't buy into this at all. Chris, you exhale CO2. By your standard, you are helping to destroy the planet.” We don't deny that Chris Matthews contributes a greater share of CO2 than most anyone else, but this is silly. CO2 in the atmosphere is a good, necessary, and natural thing. Drastically increasing the concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere is what's bad, and Chris Matthews can't do that on his own, no matter how many times he's on TV every day.
After the break, Rush took a call from a nurse who objected to all the breathless media coverage of the H1N1 “pandemic.” Rush said that this is all Obama's doing: “He loves crises because when people are focused on a crisis he's got juggling in his right hand, they forget what he's doing with the left hand. And what he's doing with the left hand today is leaking information on the banks that do and do not need more federal money, these so-called 'stress tests.' ” So... Obama's trying to keep us distracted so we won't take notice of the front-page New York Times story that he tried to sneak past us? Come on, Rush, if you're going to accuse the president of being a diabolical puppetmaster, at least afford him a modicum of competence.
Another break and Rush came back with a caller who wanted to know what's going to happen to the school children in Washington, D.C., now that the school voucher program has been discontinued. Rush noted that The Washington Post is reporting today that “President Obama will seek to extend the controversial D.C. school voucher program until all 1,716 participants have graduated from high school, although no new students will be accepted.” Rush said the reason that Obama wants to shut down the “successful” voucher program is because liberals “hate” it and because results don't matter. Actually, it seems as though results did matter -- from the same Washington Post article Rush cited: “The Department of Education recently issued a three-year analysis of student achievement under the program that showed limited gains in reading and no significant progress in math. But the White House concluded that moving the children back to public schools amounted to an unnecessary disruption.”
Nonetheless, Rush offered the real reason for why Democrats oppose school vouchers: "[P]eople say, 'Why do they want to keep these inner city schools open? Why do they want to keep inner cities in the blight circumstances that they're in?' Well, guess what happens to communities like that: People who can move out do. And what are you left with? A solid Democrat voter base. It's all about votes. It's not about educating kids. It's all about turning as many cities into Detroit as they can." OK, we've covered Democrats in general -- but what about Obama, Rush? Why is Obama keeping the program going temporarily, even though he opposes vouchers? “What Barack Obama is worried about is that the black population will discover he really doesn't care about them, and that was starting to happen. You have parents of black kids who love this school, who love the whole concept in Washington, and their kids are excelling.” According to Rush, what Obama has to do is make sure that the black population doesn't figure out that “they're just pawns.” Rush concluded: "[S]o, you might say the worst thing the Obamas can have is an educated underclass 'cause they don't want them escaping the underclass, regardless their race."
One more break and one more call, this one from a woman lamenting that her intelligent friends were not having children. Rush recommended to her the movie Idiocracy -- the tale of a dystopian future in which the least intelligent have outbred the smartest, resulting in a planet full of dullards who live in an overcommercialized wasteland where crops won't grow because they're watered with sports drinks.
And we found it fitting that Rush closed out the show talking about Idiocracy, because we certainly feel as though we've lost brain cells by the billions in the last three hours. Perhaps recognizing that he wouldn't be around tomorrow or Friday, he felt the need to cram a week's worth of absurdly false and wildly offensive commentary into just three days. But now he gets a four-day weekend, and we're stuck with Mark Steyn. Anyway, please join us again tomorrow. Until then, please take a glimpse at Media Matters' own dystopian vision of the present -- our complete Limbaugh archives.
Highlights from Hour 3
Outrageous comments
LIMBAUGH: If I had been on with Matthews last night, I would have asked him the following question: Why is it, Chris, that you and all of the other environmentalists in the West who subscribe to the theories you subscribe to, why do you always end up hurting poor people? And he would start sputtering and spewing and spitting.
I said, is it just a coincidence that your environmentalist policies hurt poor people? “What do you mean? What do you mean?” Well, go to Africa. Go to Africa, where the environmental movement is denying technological improvement in terms of agriculture, air-conditioning, refrigeration. You want them to remain third world countries under this silly belief that their primitive lifestyles will save the planet. All they're doing is staying poor. They're not advancing; they're starving to death.
[...]
LIMBAUGH: Why is it, Chris, that you say the science is totally settled here and the science is that the CO2 emissions are destroying the planet. And yet, when I look around, everybody that is benefitting, so-called, from your belief is the poor, and they're getting creamed. Why do you Western environmentalists always end up hurting poor people, wherever it is. And I could then produce a list of scientists who don't buy into this at all. Chris, you exhale CO2. By your standard, you are helping to destroy the planet.
[...]
LIMBAUGH: Now Obama likes what? Crises.
CALLER: Yeah. And that --
LIMBAUGH: He loves crises because when people are focused on a crisis he's got juggling in his right hand, they forget what he's doing with the left hand. And what he's doing with the left hand today is leaking information on the banks that do and do not need more federal money, these so-called “stress tests.”
He's also taken over Chrysler. He's raising taxes on businesses. He's doing all kinds of destructive stuff while apparently everybody's focused on how he's trying to save their life.
[...]
LIMBAUGH: One of the things -- can I give you a theory? Why -- people say, “Why do they want to keep these inner city schools open? Why do they want to keep inner cities in the blight circumstances that they're in?” Well, guess what happens to communities like that: People who can move out do. And what are you left with? A solid Democrat voter base.
It's all about votes. It's not about educating kids. It's all about turning as many cities into Detroit as they can. That's what it's about. There is no common sense reason in the world to close down a school where inner city minority kids are excelling. No reason, unless it posed as a threat to you. “Well, Rush, how would that pose a threat?” Well, educated people pose a threat to liberalism anyway.
[...]
LIMBAUGH: He's not concerned with the disruption to the kids here. I'll tell you what this is about. What? What are you saying? Tell me, what do you think it's about? Partially, public relations, propaganda, but let's be specific, because everything with Obama is a PR propaganda.
What Barack Obama is worried about is that the black population will discover he really doesn't care about them, and that was starting to happen. You have parents of black kids who love this school, who love the whole concept in Washington, and their kids are excelling.
[...]
LIMBAUGH: These kids going to these voucher schools have a great chance, at least, a greater chance to succeed -- doctors, lawyers, hedge funds. And Michelle Obama is telling them, “Don't do that. Don't do that. Don't go to doctors. Don't become lawyers. Don't become hedge funds. Stay in your community and be a nurse, a community organizer, or what have you.”
And so, you might say the worst thing the Obamas can have is an educated underclass 'cause they don't want them escaping the underclass, regardless their race. Somebody else is going to have to explain it to me if that's not right, 'cause I don't know how we've gotten to the point where -- I thought the whole point here was inferior urban schools, and that was unfair; it was racist; it was bigoted. So here's a plan to elevate them.
Clips from this hour