By Tom Allison

Rush responds to Obama's State of the Union with name-calling

Rush wasted no time today ripping into last night's State of the Union address, opening the show by claiming that we now know what it was like to sit through a speech by Hugo Chavez or Fidel Castro. Among his other criticisms, Limbaugh said that he “forgot” Obama was president, that the speech was “horrible,” “pathetic,” “disjointed,” “utterly predictable,” and not “presidential.” Limbaugh thought that Obama was “angry,” “defiant,” “delusional,” “megalomaniacal,” “boorish,” “a petty little man,” and “a little kid.”

Limbaugh added that Obama is always the least experienced, most condescending person in the room and that we also found out last night what it's like when a kid becomes the monarch due to an untimely death in the royal family.

Limbaugh said that Obama can stand up there and rip anything, but if someone mouths a comment like Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, then that person is criticized by the media. Limbaugh concluded that Obama criticizing the Supreme Court's decision in the Citizens United case is “pure banana republic” and was either ignorant or "out-and-out lying" about the case's implications.

Limbaugh offers “wild guess” about O'Keefe arrest

For the second day in a row, Rush complained about a CNN poll. This time, Rush was upset that the headline on the CNN.com article about the poll said that half of the speech watchers had a positive reaction, but the first paragraph of the story said it was 48 percent. (The article states that 48 percent had a “very positive” reaction -- another three in 10 had a “somewhat positive” reaction, while 21 percent had a “somewhat negative” or “very negative” reaction. Limbaugh was apparently among the 21 percent.)

Limbaugh spoke briefly on the James O'Keefe arrest, saying that his “wild guess” was that O'Keefe had entered Sen. Mary Landrieu's office in New Orleans to try to “find out if somebody had jimmied with the lines so that constituents could not call the office and complain.”

Limbaugh played a clip from Mark Halperin criticizing Obama's speech in which Halperin comparing him to Michael Dukakis, something Limbaugh did yesterday.

Back from the break, Limbaugh criticized this Michael Scherer piece for Time magazine, incredulous that Obama would expect applause for discussing cutting taxes. Limbaugh claimed “it was a lie” that Obama cut taxes for anyone.

Rush: “Let me be the father that you never had”

Limbaugh then initiated a disturbing segment in which he said to Obama, "[l]et me be the father that you never had" and purported to offer “guidance” to Obama on how to “man up,” “grow up,” and govern.

Limbaugh told his first caller that Obama was “wrong” in saying that the Citizens United ruling might lead to foreign corporations contributing to American political campaigns. Despite this, Limbaugh mentioned that Politico reported that Obama was right. I guess he just wasn't that impressed with their reporting this time.

In the second hour, Limbaugh claimed that his listeners had been calling and emailing to ask for the transcript of his “letter” to Obama in which Limbaugh spoke as if he were Obama's father.

After complaining that the media wouldn't hold Obama to the facts, Limbaugh claimed that the Associated Press had a “hard-hitting” fact check.

Limbaugh complained about Obama's call for gender pay equality, calling it a “cliché” and “not true” that women make 70 cents on the dollar.

Limbaugh then called it “petulant” and “immature” that Obama would “blame” President Bush so much. He clarified that Obama is “mad” and “angry” that health care reform hasn't passed yet. Limbaugh concluded that he has a general “entitled” feeling, is mad that things aren't going his way, and that it was a “threat” for Obama to say he wasn't going to give up on his policy proposals.

Limbaugh mentioned reports of coral reefs dying from cold to repeat his false claim that global warming and glacial melting are hoaxes.

As usual, Limbaugh petered out at the end of his show, repeating his same criticisms of last night's speech -- he actually reread his letter to Obama from the perspective of Obama's father.

Michael Timberlake contributed to this edition of the Limbaugh Wire.

Highlights

LIMBAUGH: Everybody wants to get in on the act. I know. We did. We found out what it's like last night to sit through a speech by Hugo Chavez or Fidel Castro. And if you didn't see it, and if you want to know what sitting through a speech by Castro or Chavez is like, find a way to watch a little bit of it, and you'll get a grand idea. It was disjointed. I thought it was pathetic. It's striking to me, and it's utterly predictable. You listen to the pro-Obama people in the media, and they talk about, “Oh, it was great. It was the most wonderful speech. It was right [unintelligible]” -- it was a horrible speech. It was disjointed. It was contradictory. It was all over the place. Heritage Foundation today says it's like it had numerous authors.

And Chris Matthews. Did you hear what Chris Matthews said? Chris Matthews said while he was watching -- it was a lecture last night; it wasn't a speech. Chris Matthews said while he was watching the lecture, he forgot Obama was black for an hour. He forgot Obama was black for an hour. I forgot he was president for an hour. I watched a community agitator. And not a very good one. I saw a guy that's angry. I saw a guy that's defiant. And Nancy Pelosi -- she missed her calling. I mean, she's up and down, jack-in-the-box. She should've been a trained seal at Sea World the way she was behaving last night. And she and Biden -- everybody color-coordinated in purple.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: He's boorish. Bill Clinton knew all this and hasn't received sufficient credit. Credit -- he tried to tell us about this guy. And I guess for Chris Matthews -- he forgot that he was black for an hour. That must mean Obama was not using his black dialect last night. According to Dingy Harry Reid. But I don't know. This must be what it feels to live in a monarchy when some little kid becomes king due to a premature death.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: These people have turned off their phones, or they're redirecting calls from constituents to go somewhere to a dead line. And then they're saying, “Our phones are jammed. Nobody can get through. We don't know what's wrong.” And I bet you -- I mean, I don't know this. I'm just speculating. But I'll bet you O'Keefe and his buddy who posed as telephone repairmen, I'll bet they were in there to try to find out if somebody had jimmied with the lines so that constituents could not call the office and complain. Because, remember, during amnesty a couple summers ago, nobody had trouble getting through. And the members of Congress, House and Senate both, got fed up with it. But it was enough to convince everybody that -- not to vote for it. Put together behind closed doors, just like the Senate was.

I've always -- you know, during the August recess and during last fall, I was always puzzled -- why in the world. Michele Bachmann called and a couple other people called, said, “Look, these phone calls aren't doing it anymore. We have to have people actually show up. Have to have people show up in the Capitol and eyeball these people, congressman and senators, and let them see firsthand the rage, 'cause the phone calls aren't working, and the email isn't working.” Well, maybe it wasn't working because the calls were not getting through, calls were being jammed or forwarded -- redirected somehow. I'm just wild-guessing, but don't doubt me. I wouldn't be surprised if that's what O'Keefe was doing.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: I penned a message to Obama that I would like to deliver now. Because, Mr. Obama, I think it's time we had a heart-to-heart talk. Let me be the father that you never had or never really knew. Because I think you need some guidance. It's time to man up. It's time to grow up.

That speech last night was an embarrassment. You couldn't focus. You lashed out in all directions. You refused to accept responsibility for your own actions, and you were angry. And he was, folks. He's mad. Being president is big job. It's a big responsibility. You wanted the position, Barack. You campaigned for it. You told the public to trust you with it, and they elected you. And you're now president of the greatest country mankind has ever known, and yet you act like this was all coming to you, like you deserve it, that you're better than the people you are supposed to serve.