This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by the first hour's falsehoods, no less false two hours later
By Greg Lewis

Rush got the third hour rolling by tossing “Club Gitmo” into the health care mix. Citing The Washington Times, Rush announced that Obama is delaying the closing of the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay. Rush expanded this into a series of “delays”: We're going to delay the budget numbers “because they don't look good” (not really), and we're going to delay closing “Club Gitmo” because they can't figure out what to do with the detainees, etc. Rush argued that if Obama can't figure out what to do with 300 detainees, how can he figure out what is the best health care plan for every American? Rush said Gitmo was working fine until Obama totally screwed it up.

Then it was time for Rush, with the help of the American Thinker blog, to fabricate more complete nonsense about the House health care bill. The American Thinker claimed to have discovered on pages 425-430 of the bill a provision that would require “mandatory” end of life counseling for seniors at a minimum of every five years. The American Thinker post Limbaugh cited -- which condensed five pages of legislation into one sentence and didn't quote a single word from the bill -- claimed that this “counseling” will be conducted by “government trained counselors,” and that the government will have to create positions for “supervisors, plus the report readers, plus the oversight agency.” None of this is true. Not one bit. The legislation -- which we, unlike Rush, actually looked at -- said that Medicare beneficiaries will schedule “advanced care planning consultations,” which “means a consultation between the individual and a practitioner.” “Practitioner,” as the legislation helpfully points out on page 428, means a physician or a nurse. No government counselors, no bureaucrats, nothing. The irony here, of course, is that in attacking Obama for not reading the health care bill, Rush himself is not reading the bill, but is instead relying on disreputable conservative opinion writers who lie about the legislation.

Rush then went back to Obama's “falling” poll numbers and “the state-run media's” reaction to them. Rush played a montage of media figures “struggling” with this. They're worried, said Rush, even though they helped by not reporting on the details of the “economic destruction Obama has wrought.” Then Rush read from -- and continued his criticism of -- Obama's interview with Jim Lehrer.

After the break, Rush declared that Republicans have finally discovered the word “fail” and played an audio montage of various Republicans calling Obama “a failure.” Rush gloated about being on the “cutting edge” when he first stated that he wanted Obama to fail back in January. Then Rush aired sound bites of Obama's interview on Today, and criticized the president for his “immeasurably large” ego. We want to say something along the line of “those in glass houses,” but we'd like to think we're better than that. Even though we're clearly not. Anyway, Rush's complaint that Obama claiming that health care “isn't about me” is a lie, because it is, in fact, “about you,” argued Rush.

Then Rush took a caller who explained that she had called her senator's office and asked if she would give up her health care in favor of the public plan. After the caller explained the conflicting answers she received from various staffers, Rush said the caller was learning how politics works “when Democrats run the place.” “You're blowing it,” Rush told the caller. “You're not supposed to be asking this question. You're not supposed to be calling her. You're not supposed to be calling her office. You're being impudent here. You're supposed to sit back, bend forward, grab the ankles, and love it.” We find ourselves wondering exactly how one is supposed to sit back and bend forward simultaneously.

Rush returned from another break hell bent on keeping up with his theme today of saying the same thing over and over again. Obama is “unhinged,” Rush said, "[a]nd the reason why Obama is unhinged and why there is -- I think that we're starting to see major instability in and at the White House. And Obama is coming unglued here because his ego is massive. And he's -- I'm telling you, I know people like this. I have been fired by them." Then he again played the audio from the Cardin and Sebelius town hall events he covered in the previous two hours. Rush said that all the people who work for Obama have big egos because they think they are “loved like junior gods.”

Hey, remember in Hour 1, when Rush went after Barney Frank for supposedly saying at the hearing on TARP oversight that he “can't find a villain” for the financial crisis? And remember when we pointed out that Barney Frank actually said that during a hearing on Bank of America's takeover of Merrill Lynch? Well, in case you needed more proof that Rush doesn't read the Limbaugh Wire religiously, he repeated the exact same falsehood this hour. But this time, at least, we were spared another rendition of “Banking Queen.”

Then Rush moved on to the “kooks” at The View. He played audio from the program of Whoopi Goldberg talking about the moon landing conspiracy theories. Rush said the problem with these women is that they influence other women on serious issues. You know, Rush is right, it's really wrong for a prominent media figure to promote ridiculous conspiracy theories in front of their very powerful microphones -- crazy things like the moon landing being faked or, we don't know, the president of the United States not being a U.S. citizen. That would be downright irresponsible.

One more break, and Rush was back with audio from an interview Obama did with Matt Lauer on February 2, during which Obama was asked if he would “change course” if the stimulus wasn't working. Obama responded that he would be held accountable for his plan when it comes time for his re-election. Rush mockingly sneered that he thought “it's not about him.”

Then Rush took a call from a woman asking when the “benefits” from health care reform would kick in if it passed, since she saw Bill Kristol on her television saying it wouldn't be until 2013. Rush first corrected the caller -- they're not “benefits” -- and said it doesn't really matter “in the big scheme of things.” The caller insisted a lot of people will be disillusioned when they realize it won't answer their problems “right away,” to which Rush responded that they'll be more disillusioned when it does kick in “and makes things worse.”

The next caller told Rush that he quit smoking after moving to New York recently because the taxes would have made it too costly to keep up the habit. Then he told Rush that he doesn't think vice taxes “work” because it's not good for the government to use taxes to motivate people. Rush told the caller that taxes do have an impact, and the left knows this, but they don't care.

That concludes today's edition of the Limbaugh Wire. And to answer your question: No, it doesn't get any easier writing the Wire just because Rush repeats the same points for three hours. It just means we have less source material for snark. Anyway, you can find more of the variety you crave in our frustratingly thorough Limbaugh Wire archives.

Simon Maloy, Zachary Pleat, and Ariana Probinsky contributed to this edition of the Limbaugh Wire.

Highlights from Hour 3

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: You're blowing it. You're not supposed to be asking this question. You're not supposed to be calling her. You're not supposed to be calling her office. You're being impudent here. You're supposed to sit back, bend forward, grab the ankles, and love it.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Let me tell you why Obama -- he is unhinged. This was not supposed to be happening. This was supposed to be smooth sailing. This was supposed to go exactly like the “porkulus” bill did, and the same thing with cap and trade. And the reason why Obama is unhinged and why there is -- I think that we're starting to see major instability in and at the White House. And Obama is coming unglued here because his ego is massive. And he's -- I'm telling you, I know people like this. I have been fired by them.