This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by the squirrels of Spokane
By Simon Maloy

One more hour to go, and Rush started by saying he didn't blame the North Koreans for reportedly expelling IAEA inspectors from the country after the U.N. Security Council's “limp-wristed” response to their missile test. Rush and Snerdley speculated that this might be the “test” for Obama that Biden worried about, coming so soon after Obama's “brilliant high seas maneuver” in wiping out “three teenagers on a life raft.”

After taking a cue from Drudge and reading from a Reuters story on how “the 2009 U.S. tax season promises to see a large uptick in first-time delinquent income taxpayers” due to job losses, Rush indulged in one of his favorite hobbies -- attacking small automobiles. Rush read from an AP report on crash test data that “found that drivers of 2009 versions of the Smart 'fortwo,' Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris could face significant leg and head injuries in severe front-end crashes with larger, mid-size vehicles.”

After the break, Rush read from an AP report out of Nairobi on how, despite threats of retaliation from the pirates, the “most likely outcome” of the U.S. naval attacks will “business as usual for the bandits.” Rush claimed that this was a “puff piece” for the pirates, largely because it reported: “The pirates' primary concerns, however, are economic, and they have no interest in escalating violence.” Rush demanded to know how the AP knew that. We suspect they got that from this quote they included from an official with a British risk-management firm that trains ship security officers: “The pirates don't want to escalate violence because it's not in their interests to keep raising the stakes and it also isn't in the interests of other countries out there.” Anyway, Rush continued in this vein, claiming the AP made it sound as though being hijacked by pirates is something of a tourist attraction.

Then it was on to thumbing his nose at the “animal rights” crowd by reading a story out of Spokane, Washington, about how explosives will be used to kill ground squirrels that have “overrun” a local arboretum. Before continuing with the story, Rush said he had never seen the word “arboretum” before, and asked “what the hell does it mean?” Well, if Rush would just catch up on old episodes of The Simpsons instead of watching 24 all the time, he'd know the answer.

Rush then took a call from a woman who agreed with the DHS report on right-wing extremism because the people like her who want to go back to the Constitution and love freedom “pose an enormous threat to the government.” She added: “We're the people buying guns and storing ammunition and preparing for the time where we have to fight the government off.” Rush responded: “Wait a minute, though. I understand the point you're trying to make, but that's not extremism.”

Rush moved on to another caller, this one claiming to be a customs employee who was shocked when he received the DHS report. Rush said the report cited just one example of extremism, the man in Pittsburgh who shot three police officers because he thought Jews controlled the government. According to Rush, that's what Obama and Napolitano think a mainstream conservative is. It's worth pointing out at this point, as others have, that the word “conservative” doesn't even appear in the report. It deals exclusively with violent militias and white supremacists. Nonetheless, Rush felt this was a “teachable moment” for people out there who think Obama is all about unity, when in fact he's just a normal politician trying to wipe out his political enemies. Rush once again said it's “no coincidence” that this report came out right before the Tax Day tea parties.

Speaking of tea parties, Rush's next caller was very excited to go to her local Earl Grey throwdown, but was quite upset that Newt Gingrich, that “inside-the-Beltway elitist” had attached himself to the tea party movement. Rush said she shouldn't be upset, it's a popular movement and that's what any politician would do.

After the break Rush gave a quick shout-out to John Ziegler's Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Targeted. All we have to say is that John Ziegler is a very serious person with some very well-thought out ideas who deserves respect and admiration from the people.

Rush took one more call to close out the day, this one from a self-described “right-wing activist” who felt that conservatives, in throwing these tea parties, are like a minor league team going up against the major leaguers. He thought the tea parties will be both a success and a failure because they'll get coverage, but the left's elite infiltration squads (which we certainly do not belong to and you can't make us say otherwise) will crash them with their racist signs and ruin everything. Rush defended the “value” of the tea parties because they're being organized by real people (if that's the case, then we're not sure how Glenn Beck fits in there).

That's it for us for today. We have big plans for the evening -- we're going to plant a few trees with Jack Bauer, and then he's going to break our kneecaps with the leg of a grand piano, at which point we'll probably tell him where the bombs are. Please join us again tomorrow for another three hours of Limbaugh Wiring, and be sure to check out Media Matters' comprehensive Limbaugh coverage.

Highlights from Hour 3

Outrageous comments

CALLER: We're the people that want to go back to the Constitution, that, you know, really love our freedom and understand that it's being taken away, and therefore, we pose an enormous threat to the government. We're the people buying guns and storing ammunition and preparing for the time where we have to fight the government off.

LIMBAUGH: Wait a minute, though. I understand the point you're trying to make, but that's not extremism.

CALLER: Well, to them it is --

LIMBAUGH: But it's not. They don't get to define the terms. We are not extremists. Those of us who want to protect the founding of this nation and preserve it as we were born and grew up, we are not extremists. They are the extremists. They're not right about this.