From the March 15 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:
Rush Amused That Earthquake Hit Environmentally Conscious Country
Written by Media Matters Staff
Published
LIMBAUGH: Does anybody know how much it cost to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina? Anybody have the number? Snerdley, they have started it. I have been to New Orleans. They have started rebuilding. It's got to be several hundred billion, right? Has to be. I have been to New Orleans. They have started rebuilding. Don't start getting snarky on me like that. When are they going to start rebuilding? They have.
Chris in Indianapolis, great to have you on the program, sir. Hello.
CALLER: Great to be on the program.
LIMBAUGH: You bet, sir.
CALLER: [Inaudible] conservative dittos.
LIMBAUGH: Thank you very much.
CALLER: I need some of your wisdom. I'm confused. At the top of the first hour, you played a clip. Diane Sawyer, I believe, about the recycling that is still going on in Japan.
LIMBAUGH: I did. You're right.
CALLER: If these are the people that invented the Prius, have mastered public transportation, recycling, why did mother earth, Gaia if you will, hit them with this disaster?
LIMBAUGH: Well, that's an interesting question. Let's go back and grab Diane Sawyer. Audio sound bite number nine. This is her report on a shelter for refugees in Japan and how they are handling their waste management.
[PLAYS CLIP]
DIANE SAWYER: This is a shelter. Some of these people here for days, and look, it's recycling. Organized for recycling.
GUEST: Plastic, combustible, burnable, canes.
[END CLIP]
LIMBAUGH: Did I really hear this? Did I really hear -- Diane Sawyer is in a refugee camp in Japan. Play this again. This is almost like a kindergarten teacher talking to the four year olds. That is how old you are in kindergarten, right? Five? Five? Four? Alright. This is -- some of these people here for days and look, look it's recycling, organized for recycling.
[PLAYS CLIP]
SAWYER: This is a shelter. Some of these people here for days and look it's recycling, organized for recycling.
GUEST: Plastic, combustible, burnable, canes.
[END CLIP]
RUSH: My god, she sounds like she saw her husband for the first time in six months there. Oh, it's recycling, look, organized for -- these people are in the midst of earthquake devastation and the credit they're getting is for recycling and our caller Chris with a great question. The Japanese have done so much to save the planet. He's right. They've given us the Prius. Even now, refugees are still recycling their garbage, and yet Gaia levels them [laughs], just wipes them out. Wipes out their nuclear plants, all kinds of radiation. What kind of payback is this? That is an excellent question. They invented the Prius. In fact, where Gaia blew up is right where they make all these electric cars. That's where the tsunami hit. All those brand new electric cars sitting there on the lot. I like the way this guy was thinking. It's like -- it's like Gaia hit the Prius in [inaudible]. It's like they were in the crosshairs, if we can use that word, it does. What is Gaia trying to tell us here? What is the mother of environmentalism trying to say with this hit? Great observation out there, Chris.
Here's Tom in Naples, Florida. You're next on the EIB network. Hello.
CALLER: Hey, Rush Limbaugh, how you doing?
LIMBAUGH: Fine sir, thanks much.
CALLER: Hey, I know, I'm calling about and I was trying to just add a little levity to the day. My issue is that I don't want Obama to pick Ohio State in his brackets, because that's who I'm picking.