This hour brought to you by the Democrats' nonexistent attack on Capt. Sullenberger

At the top of the final hour, Rush claimed that Obama called back The New York Times after his interview this weekend to “give a serious answer” to Peter Baker's question: “Are you a socialist as some people have suggested?” According to Rush, "[A]pparently his handlers thought that his answer wasn't any good." Actually, Obama called Baker back to criticize the Times' question, saying, “It was hard for me to believe you were entirely serious about that socialist question.”

Limbaugh came back from the break firmly ensconced in the echo chamber, touting a UK Telegraph article claiming that Obama was " 'too tired' to give [a] proper welcome to" British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. According to Rush, the Obama White House “doesn't care” about the country's relationship with Britain, and “whatever they did with Gordon Brown was purposeful.” That Telegraph article, of course, was based entirely on incendiary quotes from unidentified Washington officials. Some solid sourcing there, Rush. He then went on to argue with a caller who suggested he “rise above” Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod, because it was starting to sound like a messy divorce. Rush discarded the piece of advice, explaining that he never married Emanuel and Axelrod, so there can't be a divorce.

Rush then turned to a little intramural sparring, airing clips of David Brooks this weekend calling the Republican-proposed spending freeze “insane,” and saying there aren't a lot of Republicans on Capitol Hill who think “it is time to move on” from Ronald Reagan. Rush claimed that Republicans nominated just such a Republican for president in 2008. Of course, that very same Republican routinely described himself as “a foot soldier in the Reagan revolution.”

Then it was back to the safety of the echo chamber, thanking Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace for "[d]aring to say ... the truth" when he said to Democratic National Committee chair Tim Kaine that Rush “wasn't saying, 'I want the president to fail' -- he was saying, 'I want his policies, his agenda to fail,' and that he disagreed with them and thought they were bad for America.” Just one hitch: Rush did say he wanted Obama and his policies to fail. Repeatedly.

Rush capped off the show with a whopper, telling a caller that “the Democrats have put out a new poster on the pilot, the US Air pilot,” Chesley Sullenberger. According to Rush: “They found out the guy's a Republican, and so they put out a poster out of the guy and underneath it says 'Goose killer.' ” Does this look like a DNC hit job to any of you?

Lastly, there was one thing Rush conspicuously avoided this afternoon -- any mention whatsoever of the tempest he stirred up by saying last Friday that the Democratic health care proposal will “be called the Ted Kennedy memorial health care bill.”

Highlights from Hour 3

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: Did you know that the Democrats have put out a new poster on the pilot, the US Air pilot?

CALLER: No.

LIMBAUGH: What was his name? Sully. Chesley Sullenberger. They found out the guy's a Republican, and so they put out a poster out of the guy and underneath it says, “Goose killer.”

CALLER: Oh, that makes me sick to my stomach.

America's Truth Rejector

LIMBAUGH: This is from last Friday. Less than 90 minutes after Air Force One landed on the way back from Columbus, Ohio, President Obama called The New York Times about the interview he gave them earlier. One of the -- one of the things that he was upset about -- they had asked him about whether he's a socialist, and apparently his handlers thought that his answer wasn't any good, because he says, you know, “I've been thinking about this socialist thing that you guys at The New York Times asked me about, and I thought you were joking, but if you were serious, I want to give you a serious answer to this.”

Clearly, the accusation that he's a socialist is bothering him and if you call a news agency back to try to set the record straight, in the first place, he's the only guy to get away with that by calling back. “By the way, I want to change what I said to you guys because da da da da da da.”

If I had tried something like that, “Uh-oh. We caught Limbaugh.” “And Mr. Limbaugh called The New York Times back trying to change the record, but ah hah! We've discovered that we hit a sore spot.”

Echo chamber

LIMBAUGH: And then we hear that the president was too tired to give a proper welcome to Gordon Brown. Yeah, he was just -- he didn't know that you have to have a joint press conference and maybe a state dinner the first time a leader comes to see you, from your number one ally. He's just overwhelmed. He was just too tired. He didn't -- so much going on, he had no idea.

Well, what is that supposed to mean? Did we elect a kid here that has no executive experience at all? Is that what we're now being told? We elected a good-intentioned, a well-intentioned kid...

[...]

LIMBAUGH: To shed a little light here, ladies and gentlemen, on the White House policy with the United Kingdom. He was just tired. He was just tired. From the UK Telegraph, “He's just -- he was too tired to give a proper welcome.” However, if you read further in the UK Telegraph story, you come across this: “The real views of many in the Obama administration were laid bare by a State Department official involved in planning the Brown visit who reacted with fury when questioned by the Sunday Telegraph about why the event was so low-key.”

The State Department official, working for Obama, “dismissed any notion of the special relationship.” He said, “There's nothing special about Britain. You're just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn't expect special treatment.” That from a State Department official quoted in the UK Telegraph to explain why Obama disrespected Gordon Brown and the UK.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: So, then, Chris Wallace, though, he has a great comeback to this. And here's what he said to Governor Kaine.

WALLACE [audio clip]: Governor, we have to leave it there, but I do want to point out, though, just as a point of information, that Rush Limbaugh says -- and I think that if you read what he says, he wasn't saying “I want the president to fail” -- he was saying, “I want his policies, his agenda to fail,” and that he disagreed with them and thought they were bad for America. But fair enough.

LIMBAUGH: There we go. So Chris Wallace, thank you, sir. Daring to say back to the chairman of the Democrat National Committee the truth.