RUSH: Holy cow, folks. This is great. What’s going on out there is great. It’s so funny, it’s hard to keep track of all of it. Vladimir Putin is mad. He’s mad at the Trump Instagram commercial where they got Hillary barking like a dog in response to Putin laughing. Putin is mad, says that Trump’s video demonizes Russia. (laughing)

On the other hand, the entirety of the Washington establishment is paranoid, and they’re out there shouting, “Trump’s promising riots! Trump said he’s gonna riot! He’s gonna tell everybody to riot! Trump’s encouraging riots!” And he’s not. All he’s doing is predicting what’s gonna happen and he’s probably right, but he’s not calling for riots. It doesn’t matter.

And John Kasich — you know, folks, I held back yesterday. By the way, greetings, great to have you here. El Rushbo behind the Golden EIB Microphone. Telephone number, you want to be on the program, 800-282-2882.

I held back yesterday in my analysis and commentary on John Kasich. I still hit him pretty hard. It was delusional. It was focused on me, me, me. It was breathtaking to behold. I mean, the guy launches his own confetti shower as though he’s just won the Super Bowl. He’s won one state. Not even a factor here. And now he’s complaining that Trump and Cruz are spoiling the election for him.

He took his election victory, his speech on Tuesday night and made it all about him and how it says great things about him and his dad carried the mail on his back in McKees Rocks and he ends up in Ohio and he’s turned Ohio into a nirvana. Why doesn’t everybody want to move there if that’s the case? He talks about what a remarkable thing he has done, how important it is for him, just delusional, doesn’t have a prayer here. Dr. Krauthammer on Fox last night said the only reason he’s hanging is, he thinks, because he wants to be VP. I don’t know, folks. I think the guy’s delusional enough to think he can be the nominee.

“No, Rush, he can’t possibly.” Folks, I can’t tell you the number of people, I was telling Snerdley, the number of people listening yesterday’s to program who thought I was just a little bit over the top in my description of the establishment and the lengths they would go to protect what’s theirs. I’m not gonna pull any of it back, I meant every word of it. I’m not gonna keep beating it over the head, I realize some people don’t want to hear it. But look at the Washington Post headline today: “To Defend Our democracy –” in other words, to maintain our lofty perch in the establishment, “– Against Trump, the GOP Must Aim for a Brokered Convention.” To stop Trump, the Republicans must do a brokered convention. That’s the Washington Post.

And then we have this paranoia about Trump starting riots. The intelligentsia in the conservative media is still writing at great length trying to explain to themselves and each other why Trump is a success. They are still trying to get their arms around it. They’re still trying to understand it and every day brings a new theory. The latest comes from John Podhoretz, who has a very lengthy piece in Commentary today, which I will summarize in mere moments for you. We got a great audio sound bite roster.

Dingy Harry is out there blaming the Republican Party for creating the atmosphere, circumstances for Trump. There are cracks starting to show in the Republican dike against Merrick Garland, the Supreme Court nominee. The Republicans are steadfastly maintaining that they will not crack, that this guy, there’s not gonna be a vote, it isn’t gonna happen. Nina Totenberg, NPR, said (paraphrasing), “Wait a minute, the Republican leadership has already had a back channel phone call with Obama in which they have assured Obama that after the election they’ll move on this nomination.” And the caveat, “Well, yeah, yeah, yeah, but that’s only if Hillary wins.”

If Hillary wins, I don’t think this guy will remain the pick. Just my two cents. But if Hillary wins the election they’ll find some reason for Merrick Garland to leave and Obama will appoint somebody 35 or 40 in there that can serve on the Supreme Court for the next two generations. I mean, that’s what he wants. He wants somebody in there that’s gonna be there a long, long time. Anyway, setting the table for all that’s coming on the program today, plus your phone calls at 800-282-2882. No, I’m not trying to disrespect Mr. Garland. I haven’t even intended to talk about him yet and I just had a mental block on his name.

Here is Dingy Harry. Grab audio sound bite number 20, just in this morning at the Center for American Progress, Dingy Harry telling us why Trump is a player.

HARRY: The Republican establishment acts bewildered, but they should not be bewildered. As much as they try to distance themselves from Trump now, Republican leaders are responsible for his rise. For eight years they drained all the oxygen from a policy debate in this country by replacing thoughtful engagement with resentment and with hatred. We’re seeing it right now with President Obama’s nomination on Merrick Garland, the Supreme Court. Republican leaders created the drought conditions. Donald Trump has simply struck the match.

RUSH: Right. Well, as usual, Dingy Harry, he’s swerving into an element of truth here, but he’s way, way off in his explanation for why. Well, I know he’s not blaming — give him time. I’m telling you, the entire establishment is in a state of paranoia over this. I mean, you’ve got Democrat consultants warning Hillary, “You — you better — you better.” It is contradictory, too, because over here on one hand you’ve got all these experts saying Trump doesn’t have a prayer, I mean, he’s gonna lose in the biggest landslide in the history of politics. He’s losing women, he’s only got 35% of the Republican Party, there is no movement, there is no nothing big with Trump. This is all media pizzazz. He’s gonna lose, he’s gonna lose bigger than any Republican ever.

Over here the same people are warning Hillary, you better get with it, you better understand what you’re up against, you better understand this guy’s gonna be coming at you in ways you have never had people come at you, which for her will be strange. And so how do you solve that contradiction? On the one hand he’s the biggest disaster waiting to happen to the Republican Party ever. Van Jones, the resident communist over — well, one of five resident communists at CNN actually says, we have the sound bite coming up, that Hillary needs to take hip-hop lessons. She needs to have get hip-hop advisors and hip-hop lessons to understand how to deal with Trump.

So don’t doubt me. They are all paranoid of the guy. And all this talk about him representing the potential biggest landslide defeat, if they really believe that, they’d be encouraging it, they’d want everything they think Trump is doing that’s going to harm him to happen. They would want the riots. Oh, by the way, Dan Rather — yes, we have it coming up — Dan Rather admits that riots are great for convention coverage. Oh, yeah. The networks, the Drive-Bys, they love riots. Look at 1968, Chicago, Democrat convention, they loved it. And they’re looking forward to more.

So it is truly contradictory, as I say, on the one hand Trump is the biggest disaster that has yet to happen to the Republican Party, and yet over here, Washington Post: “To Defend Our Democracy Against Trump, the GOP Must Aim for a Brokered Convention.” That’s just one of countless media pieces today, last night, and to come, warning that we all had better circle the wagons, doing whatever we can right now to make sure Trump does not get the nomination. And I’m telling you, the reason for this is what I told you yesterday about who the establishment is and what they’re trying to guard, what they’re trying to protect.

Vladimir Putin of the Soviet Union — I know it’s not, but he wants it to be, and if he has his way, it will again become the Soviet Union. He’s upset that this ad that Trump put together on Instagram demonizes Russia. This is from Sky News in the UK: “An election video from Republican front runner Donald Trump has hit a sour note in Russia, with the Kremlin saying it ‘demonises’ the country.

The video, which is posted on Mr. Trump’s Instagram feed, tries to cast doubt over the ability of his Democratic Party rival Hillary Clinton to deal with US opponents, including Russia. It shows Russian leader Vladimir Putin throwing an opponent to the floor in a judo match and a clip of him laughing, which is shown after one of Mrs. Clinton barking like a dog.”

We debuted the ad for you yesterday. We posted a link at RushLimbaugh.com so you can see it because there are important video elements in this ad. But I have it here in my formerly nicotine-stained fingers. Let me describe what it is graphically on the screen.

“When it comes to facing our toughest opponents,” and then it cuts to video of Putin throwing somebody to the mat in judo. And that’s followed by video of a masked Islamist, like an ISIS guy, pointing a gun at the camera. The next onscreen graphic, “the Democrats have the perfect answer.”

“When it comes to facing our toughest opponents –” remember that’s how it starts and there’s Putin as a toughest opponent, ISIS as a tough opponent. The next graphic: “Democrats have perfect answer.” And they cut to Hillary barking. And then Putin laughing after Hillary barks. And then after Putin laughs, the graphic, “We don’t need to be a punch line anymore,” meaning the United States. “Trump, make America great again.”

So as you listen to this, I want you to try to visualize if you haven’t seen this. “When it comes time to facing our toughest opponents,” here comes Putin practicing judo, an Islamist guy aiming a gun at the camera. Graphic: “Democrats have the perfect answer.” Here’s Hillary barking like a dog at a campaign event followed by Putin laughing at that, and then the graphic: “We don’t need to be a punch line anymore. Trump: Make America great again.” Here is the audio.

(playing of audio)

RUSH: Trump: Make America great again. We don’t need to be a punchline. Anyway, Putin, normally these people just ignore this. Presidential campaign, somebody runs an ad against the Russians or whatever, just ignore it. You know, like Gorbachev never reacted to me. All those years when I said that birthmark of his was growing, as Soviet expansionism increased. I know it upset him. I learned it later when I met him in Houston, but he didn’t say a word about it. He ignored me. Putin cannot ignore Trump. Nobody can. They’re just, all of them, blindsided here and not quite sure what they’re dealing with.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: The Economist, the UK, the British economics magazine, highly reputed, been around for many, many moons, The Economist is warning — they have their own intelligence unit at this magazine. They’re gonna warning that a Trump presidency presents a global risk. There are three or four of these stories out there. And of course the concern about riots. And of course, folks, there haven’t been any riots at Trump gatherings, at Trump rallies.

There were riots in Chicago on Friday. Not because Trump appeared, because he didn’t. There are riots in Ferguson. There are riots in Baltimore. There are riots in Oakland. There were riots after OJ. But they’re not Republican riots. They’re not conservatives. This is a crock. “Trump, Trump, Trump’s gonna sponsor riots! Trump’s encouraging riots!” No, the only riots happening in this country are brought to us by the Democrat Party and the American left, blamed on the right wing, blamed on the Republicans or whatever, but they’re the only people that riot. There haven’t been any riots, and Trump didn’t call for any riots. He just predicted there would be some. He may be right.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Hey, look at this, from TheHill.com. Anybody know the name Randy Kendrick? Do you know the name Randy Kendrick? I’m surprised you don’t know the name Randy Kendrick. Not surprised you don’t know. Randy Kendrick is the wife of the owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. The owner is Ken Kendrick. Randy Kendrick is his wife. She said that they, she and her husband, are willing to lose fans in order to stop Donald Trump.

“He said, ‘Randy, if we stand up for what we know to be moral and correct — if 100,000 people decide they will not go to a Diamondbacks game, we’ve stood up for the right thing.'” So these people who own the Diamondbacks are gonna come out against Trump. And even if that results in 100,000 fewer Diamondbacks fans going to games, they happily will pay that price. They’re willing to lose 100,000 fans, or more, whatever the number is, in order to stop Donald Trump. They’re standing up for the right thing. They’re standing up for what they know to be moral.

I am always fascinated by how people look at the concept of morality and what some people think morality is or what is moral and what isn’t it. No comment here; I’m just sharing with you a thought process that fascinates me.

“Randy Kendrick is a major Republican donor who has given at least $350,000 to a super-PAC that supported Marco Rubio’s failed presidential campaign. Since the Florida senator dropped out earlier this week, she has focused on anti-Trump efforts. Randy Kendrick told the Washington Post earlier this month that she has made a ‘significant’ donation to Our Principles PAC, an anti-Trump group that has largely been funded by Chicago Cubs owner Marlene Ricketts. ‘My husband and I have moral objections to some of the things heÂ’s said, and not said,’ Kendrick said.”

So it’s everywhere, folks, this panic is all over the place. And much of it is paranoia rooted in false — well, lack of understanding, I think. But it’s every day news stories like this. The Washington Post is demanding the Republicans broker their convention to deny this to Trump. Putin is saying (imitating Putin), “You better not make that guy president. We don’t like being laughed at over here.” Of course they’d rather have Hillary and that stupid reset button.

Anyway, to the phones we go. We’re gonna start with Aaron in Minneapolis. You’re first. It’s great to have you on the EIB Network. Hello.

CALLER: Hey, Rush, how are you?

RUSH: I’m good. Thank you.

CALLER: Good, say, real quick, I thought the Huffington Post, or it might have been the New York Times a few months back, said that they weren’t even gonna cover anything related to Donald Trump in his presidential race here, and I think the tides have turned a little bit. Neither for or against Donald Trump, but a little confused how they went back on that.

RUSH: Yeah, that was the Huffing and Puffington Post that said they were gonna stop covering Trump as news, that Trump wasn’t news. They might still be covering him as gossip or some such thing. Have they started covering him again, is that your point?

CALLER: I believe so, correct. Yes.

RUSH: And so the thrust of your question is what good is the pledge, it didn’t hold up, Trump has even forced their hand? Is that your point?

CALLER: Exactly. I mean, at the end of the day it sounds like it’s anything for an extra dollar or two to help ’em out, but, yeah, I found it quite ironic how easily they would step back on that.

RUSH: Well, you know, it’s almost like the point here in the story about the owners of the Arizona Diamondbacks. To them it’s an issue of morality to oppose Trump. It’s the only moral thing to do. You can’t be a good Republican, you can’t be a good fundraiser, you can’t have donated to Bush or any of this and at the same time unify around Trump. That’s just totally immoral.

And I’m sure the Huffing and Puffington Post were trying to score points with their readership and they might say theirs was a moral stand to, that this guy’s a reprobate, we’re not gonna help and join the chorus of people giving him free media. But it didn’t last, is the point. Aaron, thank you much.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Okay. So here you go. The Huffing and Puffington Post suspended coverage of Trump back in July and they resumed on December 7th. So it didn’t last very long. There’s much more when we get back.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: I want to read to you some of the verbiage in the Washington Post editorial demanding that the Republican Party do a brokered convention to stop Trump. This is hysteria. “No, Mr. Trump must be stopped because he presents a threat to American democracy.” Okay, now, I don’t care what you think of Trump. I mean, even those of you who hate the guy and oppose him for whatever reason, is this actually true? How does Trump — maybe I should throw it open to callers. Maybe there’s some people that think that and this could be a teachable moment for me.

Trump must be stopped because he represents and presents, not just represents, but he poses, “he presents a threat to American democracy.” The next sentence is: “Mr. Trump resembles other strongmen throughout history who have achieved power by manipulating democratic processes. Their playbook includes a casual embrace of violence; a willingness to wield government powers against personal enemies; contempt for a free press; demonization of anyone who is not white and Christian; intimations of dark conspiracies; and the propagation of sweeping, ugly lies.

“Mr. Trump has championed torture and the murder of innocent relatives of suspected terrorists. He has flirted with the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacists. He has libeled and stereotyped wide swaths of humanity, including Mexicans and Muslims. He considers himself exempt from the norms of democratic contests, such as the release of tax returns, policy papers, lists of advisers and other information that voters have a right to expect.”

Flirted with the Ku Klux Klan. The Ku Klux Klan, the whole story of the Ku Klux Klan is a very teachable moment in how a particular political party has been successfully able to whitewash every bit of association it had with the Klan. The Democrat Party and the Ku Klux Klan were one and the same. The Democrat Party and the Ku Klux Klan were allies. The Ku Klux Klan was the militarized wing of the Democrat Party way, bay back, all the way through the 1950s and sixties. The Klan was made up of Democrats. Southern governors and others did the work of the Klan.

The Republican Party had nothing to do with the Klan. In fact, an actual member of the Ku Klux Klan was elected to the Senate as a Democrat. If anybody’s been flirting with the Ku Klux Klan, it’s the Democrat Party of years and years ago, and the success they’ve had in whitewashing that relationship is one of the major success stories of American political politics. The whitewashing and then the shifting of the relationship of the Klan from the Democrat Party to the Republican Party.

But, anyway, how about the rest of this? Some of this stuff that the Post writes, you could easily attach to Obama. “A willingness to wield government powers against personal enemies.” Hello IRS and Tea Party. I mean, Obama’s actually done it. Trump has done none of this. He hasn’t been elected yet. “Contempt for a free press.” How many stories have we had from Drive-By Media people talking about how this is the most closed administration they’ve ever dealt with, the most discriminatory administration they’ve ever dealt with? There are countless such stories.

What is this demonization of anybody who’s not white and Christian? The New York Times recently sent a reporter to Trump’s campaign office in Tampa expecting to find a bunch of Mussolini devotees and Klan members working in there. They really did. They were shocked and they were stunned. They found very few white people. It was all Hispanics, African-Americans, and other minorities, and they were happy and they were supporting Trump, and the New York Times was bamboozled and flabbergasted.

Anyway, it’s classic. It’s right out of the playbook, how to demonize whichever Republican front-runner happens to be the guy. It’s what they did to Romney. It’s what they did to George W. Bush. It’s the same thing. “Threat to American democracy.” No, Trump poses a threat to the existing political class and its exclusionary existence. That’s what the great fear is.

Here’s the real reason for this. If you turn to the next page. “There are some Americans, Democrats in particular, who are happy to watch the Republican Party self-destruct with Mr. Trump at the helm. We cannot share in their equanimity. For one thing, though Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee, would be heavily favored, a Trump defeat is far from sure. For another, the country needs two healthy parties and, ideally, a contest of ideas and ideology.” That’s what this is really about in the deep, dark crevices of their minds. They are scared to death that Donald Trump can beat Hillary. That’s what this is about.