This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by America's love of “sloth”
By Simon Maloy

One more hour to go, and Rush got it rolling by noting the analysis of the recent EU elections, pointing specifically to an American Thinker piece exalting the “Collapsing Global Left.” Rush said that people are wondering whether the European elections results are signs that conservatism is making a comeback in the United States. Rush said this misses the point -- conservatism never went anywhere in the U.S., it's the Republicans that wandered off the reservation.

After noting that The Corner is also celebrating the “triumph” of “capitalism” in Europe, Rush said that the correct explanation of what's going on in Europe is that they're scared to death of what's happening in the United States. As long as America is there to drive the world economy, said Rush, then the “smug” Europeans can afford to live in a “cesspool” of socialism. But now they see the U.S. under a socialist leader (it's sad that we don't even feel the need to put quotes around “socialist” at this point) and they're panicked -- if Obama succeeds in destroying the American free market economy, they know they're screwed. They know the “gravy train” is over, so they're moving to the right.

Rush then said he saw a photo of a naval destroyer searching for the black boxes of the Air France flight that went down off the Brazilian coast, and it reminded him again that any time these types of disasters happen in the world, the world calls the United States for help. If they see that that phone call is not going to result in anything, they're going to panic. So, the question, Rush said, is not whether the European shift will translate to the U.S.; the question is: How the hell can the socialist left in the rest of the world be moving right while we're moving toward their failed position? Rush elaborated: “What has changed in our population that has turned enough of our citizens -- apparently, apparently I say -- enough of our citizens into people who enjoy sloth? Just sitting around; let somebody else handle all the hard work. ... It's government's job to make sure that you've got a job, and if you don't have a job, you got benefits. It's government's job to make sure you got a mortgage. It's government's job to make sure you got a house. It's government's job to make sure you -- we're moving in the other direction.”

After the break, Rush repeated his proclamation that the White House is in full panic, as evidenced by Obama's pay-go speech today. Rush aired a sound bite of Obama saying that several financial institutions are set to return TARP funds, and reiterating that his administration inherited a financial crisis. This set Rush off -- saying that he inherited a financial mess is “childish,” “immature,” and “narcissistic.” Then Rush offered a reprise of his lecture from yesterday's show on what Obama really inherited -- and just like yesterday, Rush denied the existence of a financial mess and filled that vacancy with gauzy platitudes about American exceptionalism. And we're supposed to believe that Obama is the “immature” and “childish” one.

But it didn't stop there: “Barack Obama did not inherit a mess. He inherited the United State of America, where anything is possible.” Rush added: “There is nothing to apologize for what he inherited. He may as well be a 5-year-old crybaby spoiled brat: 'I inherited this mess from my predecessor.' He has nothing to apologize for regarding what he inherited.” Going further, Rush said: “Obama is destroying what others before him created. He did not inherit a mess. He has created one. And as the mess he creates deepens, so does his blaming it on his predecessors. That is gutless. It is childish. It is immature. It is unbecoming someone who serves as president of the United States.”

It's become something of a joke that right-wingers will respond to any criticism from Democrats and liberals with the non sequitur: “Why do you hate America?” Rush is fast becoming the living embodiment of that hackneyed aphorism.

Anyway, after playing a couple more sound bites of Obama saying that he will rein in discretionary spending and pay-go is a big part of that, Rush said that the Democratic leaders have been promising pay-go since 2007 and have yet to deliver. Rush added: “Your predecessor didn't do diddly squat to damage this country's economy; your party did. You want to blame people, blame Harry Reid, blame Nancy Pelosi, blame Chris Dodd, blame Barney Frank.” So after declaring that there was no financial mess to inherit, just amber waves of grain and purple mountains majesty, Rush declared that two years of Democratic rule in Congress hurt the economy, and no blame can be placed on Bush or the Republicans, who were in power for six years before that.

And, once again, we're supposed to believe that Obama is the “immature” and “childish” one.

Coming back from the break, Rush aired snippets of Rupert Murdoch's appearance on Fox Business yesterday, during which he attacked Obama as “dangerous.” Rush Limbaugh citing Rupert Murdoch on Fox Business -- not sure the echo chamber can handle that much vibration. Then Rush took a caller who said that models for government-run health care already exist -- Medicare, Medicaid, and the VA, and they're all disasters. Rush agreed, saying that they're “cost boondoggles,” and we're now going to base a national system on them.

One more break and Rush had a few more minutes to kill, so he expounded at length on how “unusual” it was for the “government-run Associated Press” to run a story that was critical of Obama. Of course, devout readers of Media Matters know that it's not unusual at all for the AP to be critical of Obama -- the wire service often does so in ways that stretch the truth -- and if you recall, Limbaugh was touting a different AP article yesterday, claiming that it provided evidence that Obama is destroying the economy. But this little exercise just served to highlight one of the great paradoxes of modern conservative commentary: Conservatives are adamant in their claims that the mainstream media are hopelessly biased toward liberals and Democrats, and yet just about every piece of news these same conservatives cite to attack liberals and Democrats is reported by... the mainstream media.

And that's it for today's Wire. We're just about spent after two days of this relentless assault on logic, truth, and common sense, so will simply exhort you check out Media Matters' Limbaugh archives while we whack ourselves over the head with the keyboard until things start to make sense again. Or until we pass out. Whichever comes first. See you tomorrow.

Greg Lewis and Zachary Pleat contributed to this edition of the Limbaugh Wire.

Highlights from Hour 3

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: There is nothing to apologize for what he inherited. He may as well be a 5-year-old crybaby spoiled brat: “I inherited this mess from my predecessor.” He has nothing to apologize for regarding what he inherited.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Obama is destroying what others before him created. He did not inherit a mess. He has created one. And as the mess he creates deepens, so does his blaming it on his predecessors. That is gutless. It is childish. It is immature. It is unbecoming someone who serves as president of the United States.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Your predecessor didn't do diddly squat to damage this country's economy; your party did. You want to blame people, blame Harry Reid, blame Nancy Pelosi, blame Chris Dodd, blame Barney Frank.

Vox populi

LIMBAUGH: What has changed in our population that has turned enough of our citizens -- apparently, apparently I say -- enough of our citizens into people who enjoy sloth? Just sitting around; let somebody else handle all the hard work. It's government's job to make sure McDonald's has McNuggets.

It's government's job to make sure that when you go in and order whatever it is that McDonald's has it. It's government's job to make sure that you've got a job, and if you don't have a job, you got benefits. It's government's job to make sure you got a mortgage. It's government's job to make sure you got a house. It's government's job to make sure you -- we're moving in the other direction.