By Greg Lewis

Rush kicked things off on this snowy Open Line Friday by pondering whether his state of Florida was the only state without snow on the ground. Rush lobbed another shot in his war on science, noting the “deep freeze” that we have was “totally missed by science.”

Rush moved on to talk about the economy, asking where the buck stops with jobs. Rush said that Obama was trying to sound like Truman yesterday when he said the buck stops with him on national security, but Rush wanted to know if that applied to jobs as well. After launching into his usual critique of Associated Press headlines for setting “amusing” expectations on economic news, Rush said that Obama is responsible for job losses, and claimed that the stimulus can't work because the money to pay for it is coming from the private sector.

Then Rush explained how states are grappling with the decrease in tax revenues due to unemployment. Thanks to Obama's “slush fund” (the stimulus), Rush said states have been able to avoid mass layoffs so far, but that will eventually run out. Wait a second -- didn't Rush just say stimulus can't work? And now he's admitting that it has in fact saved state government jobs?

After the break, Rush changed his focus to Obama's response to the “near tragedy over Detroit.” Rush didn't feel shock after Obama's speech yesterday, as National Security Advisor Jim Jones had promised. Rush went on:

LIMBAUGH: Look, everybody wants to get rid of Napolitano, or get rid of this guy that stayed on the ski slopes. The guy to get rid of is Obama. Folks, we have a bunch of 1960s free-sex, free-love peaceniks running around in these important positions. We got people who are obsessed with political correctness, and they take their own orders from on high. The guy at the top sets the tone, and he doesn't care. All this is a political inconvenience for him. He doesn't really wish he had to deal with this. He really believes that toning down the rhetoric and running around the world apologizing for America will make all these people love him, and thus, not attack the country. He doesn't have the slightest understanding -- a peacenik can't possibly -- because peaceniks always blame America for the problems that we face in the world. And when they blame us, they think we sort of deserve whatever we get.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: It matters who we have in these positions. And we have a bunch of anti -- you know, global peace march people. We really do have a bunch of new-agers in there who believe all the problems in the world are caused by this country. And Obama, because he runs around apologizing, is certainly one of those people. And that's who he hires. That's who he appoints.

Rush also criticized Obama's excuse of not “connecting the dots” because the bomber was a 20 something Muslim who bought a one-way ticket with cash with no luggage -- that's not a dot, said Rush, that's a fire alarm. (The would-be bomber actually purchased a round-trip ticket, for what it's worth.) Rush also criticized Obama for not saying in his speech that we are at war with “Muslim terrorists.”

Rush went on to continue his criticism of Obama over his response to the attempted terrorist attack. Rush said Obama has to say the system failed because it allows him to blame Bush and for nobody to be held accountable. Rush said the failure has nothing to do with insufficient resources, but the fact that the liberal peacenik crowd is in power.

Then Rush blamed the bloated, inefficient bureaucracy for missing the bomber's visa because of a spelling mistake, and said this is the same kind of incompetency that may soon be in charge of “every health care decision made.”

Rush goes after David Shuster, “one of the hapless, genuinely ignorant schlubs over at MSNBC”

After airing an audio clip of MSNBC's David Shuster talking about the attempted airplane bombing, Rush responded:

LIMBAUGH: Unbelievable! Unbelievable. I wanna go back to one line here, David Shuster, one of the -- one of the hapless, genuinely ignorant schlubs over at MSNBC. He said the Bush administration let guys go from Guantánamo. These are the guys that helped Abdulmutallab in Yemen. Yeah, I can't deny Bush let 'em go. But Mr. Shuster, do you know why? People like you were demanding it. The ACLU and a bunch of lawyers and a bunch of people in Congress. Because it was not fair to hold these people who hadn't done anything. You're the ones who wanted them released from the damn place. You're the ones who want to close the place down. You turn around and now and blame Bush for re -- it's just breathtaking to behold all of this. But we're on the case here, folks, and they no longer ever again get away with this combination of ignorance, bias, prejudice, propaganda, and destruction.

Closing out the hour, Rush asserted that Bush was dragged “kicking and screaming” into creating a new bureaucracy after Sept. 11 (the DHS), and that Bush didn't want to release anybody from Guantánamo. He contrasted this with Obama wanting to investigate and prosecute the CIA and wanting Bush and Cheney to face war crime charges -- because that's what the KSM trial is about. Finally, Rush stated that he had never seen Obama as “angry” as he did yesterday -- Obama doesn't show that anger about hardly anything, he added. (This isn't the first time Rush commented on Obama's “anger.”)

In the third hour, Rush talked about how the White House redacted portions of the security report on the Christmas bombing before its release. Rush was surprised that they cared about not making knowledge available to enemies because of the upcoming “show trial” of KSM (Rush's “show trial” argument is not based on facts -- federal trials don't allow TV cameras into the courtroom, so any crazy rants KSM might launch into would be accessible only as transcripts.

And since going after one MSNBC anchor apparently wasn't enough for Rush today, he said some not-so-nice things about Shuster's colleague Norah O'Donnell:

LIMBAUGH: Oh, that's why she's squealing with delight. Norah O'Donnell squealing with delight as though Bill Clinton had walked in the room and undressed. Oh, he blamed Cheney! She's so excited it was near-orgasmic on MSNBC.

After the break, Rush took a few callers, proving to his audience that Open Line Friday isn't a myth. Or something. The first two callers criticized Obama's handling of the attempted terrorist attack, echoing the same sentiments as our host. Rush took a moment to brag about all the terrorist plots that were foiled under Bush that we don't know about. The last of the trio of callers asked when Republicans would stop undermining the President during a time of war and crisis. Rush openly mocked the caller, saying that it was people like him who were trying to secure the defeat of the US military in Iraq and elected a nimrod president who isn't devoted to national security like Republicans “totally” are.

After some talk about the upcoming special election in Massachusetts later this month and how the November elections might play out, Rush referred to a Fox News article about a MIT economist reportedly being under contract with the Department of Health and Human Services while touting the Democratic health care bill. Rush compared this to the Armstrong Williams controversy under Bush.

Tired Limbaugh falsehood: Cold weather means global warming is a hoax

Then Rush moved on to address the pressing matter of the really really cold January weather across the United States. Because he still believes that cold weather disproves manmade global warming theory:

LIMBAUGH: You know, wherever you go in this country -- and in many places in the country right now, the story that's on everybody's mind has nothing to do with what's going on in Washington. The story is the cold. The story is what is happening to people, their businesses, and their crops because of this unexpected cold. I mean, for all these years we've been hearing about global warming, and nobody forecast this cold front, nobody forecast this cold spell, nobody forecast this deep freeze.

As expected, Limbaugh explained that this was another example that global warming was a hoax:

LIMBAUGH: And even in the midst of all this, the global warming hoaxers are right out there front and center, saying “This doesn't mean anything. This doesn't mean anything at all. In fact, this means that climate change is still happening. This is just a blip.” And of course, there's the state-controlled drive-by media right there to carry that propaganda and that utter lie that we all now know is a total hoax, manmade global warming. Destructive statists and the fools who believe their propaganda -- these are the people having a tough winter. Their phony game has been canceled due to global warming. I mean, we've got livestock dying in the fields, people are dying of frostbite. Some people snowed in, others are stuck in their Priuses in snow banks. Some can't get to a store. Pets can barely go outside to relieve themselves in certain parts of the country.

As his rant continued, Rush got more belligerent:

LIMBAUGH: So all you manmade global warming BS holdouts, do us a favor? Why don't you manmade global war -- why don't you go out and shovel everybody's driveway and sidewalks for free? And maybe we'll let you in the house for five minutes to tell us all about manmade global warming when you finish, and the evil of fossil fuels. Why don't you come in and tell us about the evil of fossil fuels while the snowplow is driving by your house to get your stupid little hybrid out of a drift so that you can head to the Whole Foods commune and pick up your bean sprouts? Why don't you do that? Why don't you march -- why don't you global warming people have a march, a protest march, against the internal combustion engine that's being used on all these snowplows and all these rescue vehicles? Yeah! Yeah! That's when you -- that's when you really can prove your mettle. That's when you can really show us what you're worth.

You go out and you ram the roads free with your own man-made power. You go out and get your green energy, that new green technology that's gonna make us all safe. Go get that green technology, your wind power and your solar power, and you use that to clean off the streets and get people out of their homes. Yeah, why don't you guys do-- you global warming people go out, show us how it really is to be done here. Show us how we can improve our lives. Show us how we get the roads clear so that food can get to the stores and the stores can open so people can get there and eat. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe you can -- maybe you can get us a snow plow, put a little hybrid engine in there, and show us how it's really done. While you sit out there and you fully benefit from the great inventions and the possibilities from the internal combustion engine and fossil fuels that are now totally necessary to save lives. And you -- you run around and tell us this is destroying the planet and we gotta get rid of all these kinds of things, windmills are the answer, solar panels. OK, show us how it's done. Manmade snow removal. And if you do that, shovel everybody's sidewalks, I'm sure people will let you in for five minutes so you can proselytize to them about global warming.

Hour three started off with some more rambling about the cold weather before Rush read an article about France having extra H1N1 vaccine. Rush reiterated his view that H1N1 was a hoax/scare and asserted that the beneficiaries of the scare were the people who made the vaccine and the government who were able to create a crisis mentality.

Responding to headline that former Bush lawyer tried to kill his wife, Rush invokes Bill Ayers

Then Rush contrasted two recent news items which didn't seem to have that much in common. But here him out! The first was an Associated Press article headlined: “Ex-Bush lawyer tried to kill wife.” The other article was from the Baltimore Sun about Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's resignation as part of a plea deal from a corruption investigation. How did they compare? Well, Rush took issue with AP's use of “Former Bush” lawyer in the headline of the first article, but the Sun article purportedly did not note Dixon was a Democrat (it does). Rush commented:

LIMBAUGH: Headline: “Ex-Bush lawyer tried to kill wife.” Seems like everybody who ever worked for Bush over eight years who has an issue or a squabble or is nuts will be used to tar Bush. How about -- how about if we had this headline? “Illinois police: Ex-Obama colleague tried to kill hundreds.” “Dateline Chicago: A one-time close associate of President Obama admitted to formulating plans to bomb the Pentagon and possibly kill hundreds in an effort to promote domestic terrorism. William Ayers, and his wife, Bernadine Dohrn, blah, blah, blah.” Would we ever see that headline? Nope, but of course, “Ex-Bush lawyer tried to kill wife.”

After more of the same Limbaugh talking points on the economy and jobs (reread hour one above if you must get the full Limbaugh experience), Rush took a caller asking why networks like CNN and MSNBC have liberal bias when there is no more money in that anymore. This launched Rush into a tired rant about how leftists are so committed to remaking this country that they will gladly suffer losses, and that MSNBC is worse than propaganda because the “dislike and animus is personal.”

And that was The Rush Limbaugh Show for the day, wrapping up Limbaugh's first week back since before the holidays. We hope you enjoyed reading it much more than we enjoyed writing it. Have a good weekend and bundle up! We hear it's a little chilly out there.

Zachary Pleat and Michael Timberlake contributed to this edition of the Limbaugh Wire.

Highlights

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: Look, everybody wants to get rid of Napolitano, or get rid of this guy that stayed on the ski slopes. The guy to get rid of is Obama. Folks, we have a bunch of 1960s free-sex, free-love peaceniks running around in these important positions. We got people who are obsessed with political correctness, and they take their own orders from on high. The guy at the top sets the tone, and he doesn't care. All this is a political inconvenience for him. He doesn't really wish he had to deal with this. He really believes that toning down the rhetoric and running around the world apologizing for America will make all these people love him, and thus, not attack the country. He doesn't have the slightest understanding -- a peacenik can't possibly -- because peaceniks always blame America for the problems that we face in the world. And when they blame us, they think we sort of deserve whatever we get.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: It matters who we have in these positions. And we have a bunch of anti -- you know, global peace march people. We really do have a bunch of new-agers in there who believe all the problems in the world are caused by this country. And Obama, because he runs around apologizing, is certainly one of those people. And that's who he hires. That's who he appoints.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Headline: “Ex-Bush lawyer tried to kill wife.” Seems like everybody who ever worked for Bush over eight years who has an issue or a squabble or is nuts will be used to tar Bush. How about -- how about if we had this headline? “Illinois police: Ex-Obama colleague tried to kill hundreds.” “Dateline Chicago: A one-time close associate of President Obama admitted to formulating plans to bomb the Pentagon and possibly kill hundreds in an effort to promote domestic terrorism. William Ayers, and his wife, Bernadine Dohrn, blah, blah, blah.” Would we ever see that headline? Nope, but of course, “Ex-Bush lawyer tried to kill wife.”

Enemies list

LIMBAUGH: Unbelievable! Unbelievable. I wanna go back to one line here, David Shuster, one of the -- one of the hapless, genuinely ignorant schlubs over at MSNBC. He said the Bush administration let guys go from Guantánamo. These are the guys that helped Abdulmutallab in Yemen. Yeah, I can't deny Bush let 'em go. But Mr. Shuster, do you know why? People like you were demanding it. The ACLU and a bunch of lawyers and a bunch of people in Congress. Because it was not fair to hold these people who hadn't done anything. You're the ones who wanted them released from the damn place. You're the ones who want to close the place down. You turn around and now and blame Bush for re -- it's just breathtaking to behold all of this. But we're on the case here, folks, and they no longer ever again get away with this combination of ignorance, bias, prejudice, propaganda, and destruction.

America's Truth Rejector

LIMBAUGH: Now I wanna -- I wanna change directions here just before we hit this break, because there's some people out there that I think we need to acknowledge. You know, wherever you go in this country -- and in many places in the country right now, the story that's on everybody's mind has nothing to do with what's going on in Washington. The story is the cold. The story is what is happening to people, their businesses, and their crops because of this unexpected cold. I mean, for all these years we've been hearing about global warming, and nobody forecast this cold front, nobody forecast this cold spell, nobody forecast this deep freeze. A lot of cities and towns did not beef up and spend budgets on sand and snow removal equipment, 'cause it wasn't going to happen.

And we now have a deadly force, which has struck not just us but the planet. And I think we need to thank all these first responders out there who are fighting the good fight while everybody else sleeps and waits in their homes for help. I'm talking about -- this is an Arctic attack from Mother Nature, and the people that drive the snow plows and other first-responder services -- I mean, there are people in various parts of the country, restaurants that are open cooking food, cops are coming in and taking food to people who can't get out of their houses. Here in Florida, some parts of the state, the low's getting around 25, the crops are threatened -- that's not good. Pipes are bursting in a lot of places.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: And even in the midst of all this, the global warming hoaxers are right out there front and center, saying “This doesn't mean anything. This doesn't mean anything at all. In fact, this means that climate change is still happening. This is just a blip.” And of course, there's the state-controlled drive-by media right there to carry that propaganda and that utter lie that we all now know is a total hoax, manmade global warming. Destructive statists and the fools who believe their propaganda -- these are the people having a tough winter. Their phony game has been canceled due to global warming. I mean, we've got livestock dying in the fields, people are dying of frostbite. Some people snowed in, others are stuck in their Priuses in snow banks. Some can't get to a store. Pets can barely go outside to relieve themselves in certain parts of the country.

So all you manmade global warming BS holdouts, do us a favor? Why don't you manmade global war -- why don't you go out and shovel everybody's driveway and sidewalks for free? And maybe we'll let you in the house for five minutes to tell us all about manmade global warming when you finish, and the evil of fossil fuels. Why don't you come in and tell us about the evil of fossil fuels while the snowplow is driving by your house to get your stupid little hybrid out of a drift so that you can head to the Whole Foods commune and pick up your bean sprouts? Why don't you do that? Why don't you march -- why don't you global warming people have a march, a protest march, against the internal combustion engine that's being used on all these snowplows and all these rescue vehicles? Yeah! Yeah! That's when you -- that's when you really can prove your mettle. That's when you can really show us what you're worth.

You go out and you ram the roads free with your own man-made power. You go out and get your green energy, that new green technology that's gonna make us all safe. Go get that green technology, your wind power and your solar power, and you use that to clean off the streets and get people out of their homes. Yeah, why don't you guys do-- you global warming people go out, show us how it really is to be done here. Show us how we can improve our lives. Show us how we get the roads clear so that food can get to the stores and the stores can open so people can get there and eat. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe you can -- maybe you can get us a snow plow, put a little hybrid engine in there, and show us how it's really done. While you sit out there and you fully benefit from the great inventions and the possibilities from the internal combustion engine and fossil fuels that are now totally necessary to save lives. And you -- you run around and tell us this is destroying the planet and we gotta get rid of all these kinds of things, windmills are the answer, solar panels. OK, show us how it's done. Manmade snow removal. And if you do that, shovel everybody's sidewalks, I'm sure people will let you in for five minutes so you can proselytize to them about global warming.

Ladies' man

LIMBAUGH: Oh, that's why she's squealing with delight. Norah O'Donnell squealing with delight as though Bill Clinton had walked in the room and undressed. Oh, he blamed Cheney! She's so excited it was near-orgasmic on MSNBC.