By Solange Uwimana
Rush Limbaugh spent most of the show today ranting about the legislators who, he said, have proposed a “bailout” of the Teamsters and their union pensions, asking, “Is this why we had to bail out Wall Street? To set the precedent?” Though he purported not to know the answers to those questions, he continued to attack Sen. Bob Casey's legislation, the Create Jobs & Save Benefits Act, warning that this is the kind of crushing debt future generations will be saddled with. But, of course, as we have explained before, there is no bailout of union pensions -- what the legislation proposes is the “partition” of specific types of union pensions that are deemed to be insolvent.
Rush also coined a new moniker for President Obama today, referring to him as “Imam Obama” because of his comments on the proposed Islamic community center to be built in lower Manhattan -- calling the jab his “media tweak of the day.” At one point, Rush accused “Imam Obama” of "sounding like a bitter clinger." That set the tone for the rest of the program, with Rush assailing Obama for everything from the supposed “bailout” of union pensions, to the economy (which is not really recovering and which Democrats have destroyed), to the future (Obama has “doomed it”), and the nonexistent shovel-ready jobs we were promised. For example, he quipped: “The only shovel-ready job is gonna be the job of burying the Democrat Party.” He even went a step further. While talking about Obama accusing Republicans of trying to return to the policies of President Bush, Rush wished: “Oh, what we wouldn't give to go back a year and a half. Just turn back the clock.” He concluded: “We were jobbed.”
Rush also addressed criticism of his previous comment that Obama is “our first anti-American president,” demanding: “If Obama's not the first anti-American president, who is?” He added: “Maybe I should be more respectful -- 'Imam Obama,' peace be upon him.” The latter was, of course, a veiled reference to "As-Salam Alaykum," which the Drudge Report used as a headline to blast Obama's comments on the proposed Islamic community center. Rush, of course, is strongly opposed to the center being built, slamming it today as a "victory monument at Ground Zero."
Here are some highlights from today's show:
Limbaugh accuses “Imam Obama” of “sounding like a bitter clinger”
Limbaugh nostalgic about Bush era: “Oh, what we wouldn't give to go back”
Limbaugh accuses “fake media” of perpetrating a “phony catastrophe” in the Gulf
Limbaugh says his “Imam Obama” comment is the “media tweak of the day”
Limbaugh calls Islamic cultural center “a victory monument at Ground Zero”