This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by Rush's false modesty -- emphasis on “false”
By Simon Maloy

Rush got this last hour a-rolling by reading from a LifeNews.com article reporting that Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) said Judge Sonia Sotomayor told him that she “had never thought about” the rights of the unborn.

Rush then announced that it's unusual for a mainstream Republican to defend Rush in public these days, but that happened on Fox News last night as former acting Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift praised Rush “for standing up for a common standard of decency” regarding David Letterman and Sarah Palin. Once again, Rush Limbaugh, the arbiter of “decency” toward the children of public figures, called the president's 13-year-old daughter a “dog” on national television. Anyway, Rush explained what he found so “indecent” about Letterman's jokes -- good comedy has to have an element of truth in it, and there was nothing truthful in what Letterman said.

Then Rush took a call from a woman saying she emailed CBS to say she'd never watch Letterman again because of their irrational Palin fixation. Rush said “irrational” is exactly the right word -- they're so afraid of Palin. They're scared to death of her because she was the sole source of excitement and passion during the Republican campaign.

After the break, Rush said they spent a good deal of time discussing health care today, but he had left out a couple of stories -- specifically, two Politico articles reporting on centrist Democrats raising objections to aspects of the proposed health care reform legislation. Rush appeared to suggest that these objections won't amount to much because “it's too big to fail.” Then he read from a Hill article on the Democratic “mutiny” against cap-and-trade legislation. Rush said the “fringe-left Democrats” are trying to ram all this stuff through as quickly as possible, and the centrists are raising a stink, which means that Pelosi will have to “lower the boom” at some point.

Then it was time for another caller, this one explaining that he didn't like insurance companies, that's why he was so keen on the Safeway CEO's op-ed. Rush said the op-ed was good. The point is that the auto insurance industry has fees and premiums at all ranges based on behavior, and Safeway is doing the same thing with health insurance, but they're not forcing anyone. The government is going to force people, said Rush. National health care is not going to be cheap, said Rush. There will be lines, and certain services will not be offered, particularly as you age. The government plan, said Rush, is going to regulate every aspect of your lives under the guise of controlling costs.

After the break, Rush had to offer a quick “correction”: “I have said that with a public option the government's gonna dictate and regulate virtually every aspect of your life. There will be exceptions: Favored sexual practices by the American left will not be regulated. In fact, they'll be encouraged.”

Then Rush aired a sound bite from NPR today, which featured Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace comparing Ahmadinejad's supporters in Iran to the evangelicals in Republican states in the United States. Rush said he was speechless when he heard this, but he wanted to tie it to Obama's comments from the Rose Garden this morning, which he re-aired for the fourth time. Rush again declaimed his infuriation at Obama's comments, saying that the president is just so “childish” and “immature.” Rush said he was trying to “insinuate himself” into a good outcome in Iran, even though there can be no good outcome because the mullahs are still there. Then we had to listen to Karim Sadjapour again, after which Rush reminded us that Reuters described Ahmadinejad as the “conservative” candidate today. Rush asked us to remember that the “conservative” Ahmadinejad was “embraced” by decidedly non-conservative institutions like Columbia University and the United Nations. (There's that inductive reasoning again!)

Rush's next caller couldn't help but think that Obama is so caught up in building his library that he can't see that he's self-destructing and surrounded by people who are pure hate. Rush wanted to know what this caller sees coming down the road that could be construed as a “self-destruction” on Obama's part, because Obama can “self-destruct” all day long and still have a 60 percent approval rating. The caller offered a cookie-cutter anti-Obama rant as a response. Rush said that unlike Obama and his giant ego, he would never take credit for forcing Obama to hold his health care townhall yesterday; he's content to let other people do that. You'll recall that just two days ago, Rush took credit for Obama announcing new pay-go policies -- specifically, Rush said that the White House was “panicking” and responding to criticism it was receiving, which was “primarily” coming from his program. Anyway, Rush matched the caller's cookie-cuter Obama rant with some rote repetition on the evils of liberalism and the glories of conservatism.

After the break, Rush told us that he couldn't wrap things up without noting this story from the San Francisco Chronicle, which reported that the city approved “Mayor Gavin Newsom's proposal for the most comprehensive mandatory composting and recycling law in the country.” Rush pronounced this plan “fruity” and “nutty,” saying that the state is practically bankrupt, yet this is what they're concerned about.

Rush closed out the show and the week with a woman from Austria who said that Obama's socialized medicine plan won't work, just look at the socialized medicine programs in Austria and Britain. Rush said he loves this kind of caller because she got right to the facts.

And thus ended another wacky and wild “Open Line Friday!” We have to say that we're in no way upset that this week is finally over, and we plan to squeeze as much non-Limbaugh related fun as we can out of the all-too-brief weekend. We hope you'll do the same, but just in case you haven't had enough, Media Matters' Limbaugh archives are always available.

Lauryn Bruck and Zachary Pleat contributed to this edition of the Limbaugh Wire.

Highlights from Hour 3

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: However, ladies and gentlemen, I need to correct myself on one thing. I have said that with a public option the government's gonna dictate and regulate virtually every aspect of your life. There will be exceptions: Favored sexual practices by the American left will not be regulated. In fact, they'll be encouraged. Whatever, you know, the -- make no bones about it. Us mistakes. Make no mistake about this. That will be the case.