RUSH: I have to admit, folks, I have to admit. Last night was the first night in years, I mean, more than five or six, maybe ten years, last night was the first time I have watched the Oscars front to back in I don’t know how long. I really did.

Great to have you here, Rush Limbaugh, the EIB. And I have of course a little bit different take than some people on some things. I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t. Telephone number if you want to be on the program, 800-282-2882. The e-mail address, ElRushbo@eibnet.com.

You know, a lot of people are saying that Michelle Obama hijacked the Academy Awards last night. That shock surprise being introduced at the end of the show by Jack Nicholson to announce the best movie of the year. I think they had to throw her a crumb. I think they had to throw the Obamas a crumb because I think, in truth, folks, the Obamas got snubbed at the Academy Awards last night. Not only did his campaign ad, Zero Dark Thirty, not win, but his semi-autobiography lost out, too, Lincoln. So Obama was 0-for-2 last night and the Academy woulda known this in advance.

(interruption)

Well, the movie Lincoln? That’s about Obama, everybody knows that. Who won the best movie? Argo. The Ben Affleck movie. And I’ll tell you why it won. It won because Hollywood was portrayed as heroes, about the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. Some embassy people got out before the Iranians took over and the Canadians successfully got ’em out of there. They worked with Hollywood to create a fake movie called Argo. The Canadians were ostensibly in Iran to scout shooting locations. It was actually CIA people in there trying to find a way to get these people out. They were holed up in a safe house, these embassy personnel.

They worked with Hollywood to come up with a fake movie, fake script, fake everything, fake business cards, fake phone number. Well, a real phone number so that if the Iranians happened to call Hollywood to check it out, yeah, it was a real movie being made, and that actually happened. So Hollywood was portrayed as patriotic. How often does that happen? So it was a no-brainer that Argo was gonna win. And, see, this was a snub for Obama because his campaign ad was Zero Dark Thirty, how he got bin Laden. Didn’t win. For some reason Hollywood’s mad at Steven Spielberg. I think it’s Steve Jobs syndrome. From what I’ve been able to gather, folks, Hollywood is really down on Spielberg because he’s won too much and he’s too rich and he’s arrogant and all that. So nobody likes Spielberg is the scuttlebutt. So Obama’s semiautobiographical movie, Lincoln, didn’t win. That’s two snubs.

So they threw him a crumb and they let Michelle out there. You know what that reminded of? I’m gonna tell you something, folks, honest to God, now, and I don’t know how many of you are gonna remember this. The 1984 Super Bowl, Apple Computer ran what may be — and you can’t find this ad on the Internet, I’m told. I’m sure somebody’s got it. If we can find a link to it, we will. Maybe, if not the best, one of the most impactful Super Bowl ads ever called 1984. This was the year that Apple introduced the Macintosh computer. And this ad, black and white ad, featured a Dear Leader in front of robotic people on a giant screen in a big room with a single revolutionary person running through the crowd, throwing some kind of weapon at the screen and obliterating Dear Leader, and it ends with “Think different.”

When I saw Moochelle Obama on that giant screen, I mean, she dwarfed Nicholson. If you look at that, if you saw it, that screen on that stage, Moochelle and the military people, gosh, they weren’t even referenced, those military people. I don’t know what that was. Was it a cocktail party? I think they were props. Anyway, she looked bigger than life. I mean, she looked like anybody would have, don’t misunderstand, but just one bite and swallow that whole room, that’s how big. The optics, of course, are what matters. And I thought of 1984, the Macintosh ad from the Super Bowl in 1984, exact type of scenario, except Michelle Obama was actually the Dear Leader of this, obviously a totalitarian state. And the Dear Leader was making some giant speech and fist pounding and robotic citizens were sitting there nodding, everybody in total agreement, and a lone person runs down the center aisle and obliterates and destroys the screen.

Now, a lot of people — I have e-mails and of course I check Twitter — think that this was a giant propaganda effort by the White House to put Moochelle up there either to have an optic for low-information voters who watch this event last night set up the 2014 Olympics. Some people are even telling me that this was the opening salvo of a Michelle Obama for president effort. I don’t think that’s what was going on at all. I really don’t. I have done exhaustive research into this, and I have also spoken to people who know. Well, I didn’t check Twitter. People who check Twitter tell me what they found. I didn’t check Twitter. I can’t figure Twitter out when I go there. The way Twitter is formatted, I can’t tell who is saying something and who’s replying to something. I still can’t figure it out. I don’t know who the tweeter is and who’s responding to the twit… uh, tweet. I have no idea. And, folks, that’s embarrassing because I’m a power user of this stuff.

My brother tried to explain Twitter to me in 30 minutes one afternoon. Visually I can’t grasp it. And then you start throwing in the hashtags and I’m embarrassed to admit this, I really am embarrassed. I’ve tried, and visually, it’s unlike anywhere else where somebody posts a comment and somebody replies. With Twitter, for me, I can’t tell who started something and who’s replying to it. In fact, in a whole list of things, I just can’t figure it out. I can’t follow it. So that’s why I have other people, Snerdley, who can figure this stuff out, tell me what’s on Twitter.

And a lot of people on Twitter and Facebook think that this was an opening salvo for Moochelle and her 2016 presidential bid. I don’t think that’s what is going on. As I say, I did exhaustive research, I talked to some people. And usually the first instinct reaction to something like this, particularly if it leans to the conspiratorial, is not what’s right. There’s always something else going on. In this case, what’s going on is a private, behind-the-scenes battle between Harvey Weinstein and Steven Spielberg.

Now, there was an earlier awards event this year. I don’t know what it was. The People’s Choice, the Golden Globes, whatever. I don’t know what it was. It’s the one that Clinton showed up at, and Spielberg arranged that. Now, one thing we do know is that Moochelle’s appearance, her hijacking the Epidemic Awards last night, was Harvey Weinstein’s idea. So the consensus is that Weinstein wanted to show everybody that he’s bigger and more powerful than Spielberg.

Speilberg got Clinton, but Clinton’s a has-been. Clinton’s yesterday. Harvey was able to get Moochelle. So Harvey called the White House; they planned it. The White House agreed to it, and I think one of the reasons is, again, they got snubbed. They got snubbed. Obama’s campaign ad didn’t win, and his autobiographical movie didn’t win. Seth MacFarlane hosted. Seth MacFarlane was the host of the program. As you know, I have appeared on the Family Guy TV show three times, and one time was the focal point.

I’ve been in the recording studio with Seth, and I don’t care what you think of him: The man is profoundly, supremely talented. Now, there are a lot of characterizations about how he uses it and what direction he takes it, but there’s no denying his talent, and he’s a profoundly hard worker. I sent him an attaboy note yesterday morning. I sent him a wish-you-well kind of note. He wrote back and said, “You know what? I kind of understand how you conservatives feel about the media now.”

Because they were already proclaiming him the worst host ever before the show had even aired. I mean, 12 hours before the show. MacFarlane… Here’s the way to understand this. In one of the press conferences before this thing happened, MacFarlane is telling the media… I’ll have to paraphrase this, but his line was, “Hi, I’m Seth MacFarlane, and I’m hosting the Oscars — and if you don’t understand what that means, go ask your kids,” meaning, “I own the young demographic.”

That’s what they were trying to do here: Get the young demographic, and he owns the 18 to 40. That’s what his Family Guy show aims at. Not commenting on, you know, when you like it or not in terms of culturally. There is some stuff that rubs people the wrong way, like the John Wilkes Booth joke. Did you hear about that, Snerdley? (interruption) Oh, you didn’t watch? Oh, well, this one got everybody kind of in a tizzy. He was talking about the first actor to ever actually play Lincoln was not Daniel Day-Lewis, or the first movie that was made about Lincoln.

It was somebody back in the forties, some obscure actor, but he said the only actor who has really gotten inside the head of Lincoln is John Wilkes Booth. You could sense there was a nervousness and a pause, and when the joke bombed, MacFarlane said, “Well, wait. It’s been 150 years and it still isn’t long enough? We still haven’t had enough time go by?” Anyway, folks, there were a lot of things about it I saw, since I watched this from front to back for the first time and I’ve read some of the reviews. Now, get this.

According to some reports… You know what they did last night, Snerdley? The Los Angeles Gay Men’s Chorus, the Los Angeles Gay Men’s Chorus sang and danced to a tune called We Saw Your Boobs. It was aimed at women who have shown their boobs in the movies, and Seth joined ’em. Now, stop and think of this for a second. One typical quote from last night was: “LA Gay Men’s Chorus singing with Adele. This is a gay boy’s wet dream.” Of all people to be singing “We Saw Your Boobs,” the LA Gay Men’s Chorus?

Of all people to sing that. But, I mean, if you want a bunch of guys complaining about seeing beautiful women’s breasts, you’re gonna have to get some group like the Gay Men’s Chorus to do it. The song was funny for the low-information young guy who looks at pictures all day and dreams. If you understand the audience that this thing was being targeted to — if you’re able to take yourself out of your contextual morality and place yourself in the target audience — it works.

It’s like people who laugh at “fard” jokes. (interruption)

Well, they didn’t show the boobs. What they did, they cut to the women in the audience whose boobs had been show. Some of them were laughing and some of them were ticked. Didn’t like the bit. Didn’t like the bit at all. Anyway, I don’t think that this had anything to do with Michelle’s future political aspirations or anything of the sort, folks. But it clearly… You know, here’s another thing. You know, I’m gonna leave this up to you.

Kathryn disagreed with me on this. I turned to Kathryn and said, “They might be jumping the shark here. I mean, because of Michelle Obama showing up,” and this was the last minute of the telecast. “It was out of place, it was unnecessary, it was unneeded. She’s got nothing to do with Hollywood. She has nothing to do with the movies.” I was wondering. “At some point, even with the cult-like low-information voters, can these people wear out their welcome?

“Can they show up in places where even the low-information crowd who might think of them as Celebrity of the United States, get tired of seeing them everywhere? Because we can’t escape them. We turn on our TVs; they’re there all the time. The low-information people…” Kathryn said, “No, no, no. The low-information voter is gonna eat this up. You better get used to it. They’re gonna love this. They’re gonna eat it up. The Obamas, it’s perfectly sensible that they would be at the Oscars. They’re celebrities, too.”

I said, “I don’t know. I’m thinking maybe they’re jumping the shark here, that at some point somebody will say, ‘You know, we don’t want to see you everywhere.'”

Time will tell.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Here’s the Seth MacFarlane quote that I paraphrased. This was at his press conference where it’s announced that he’s gonna be the host. “Hi, I’m Seth MacFarlane — ask your kids — and I’ll be hosting the Academy Awards — ask your parents,” and that was the way he positioned himself. Now, one other thing, folks. There was some real irony last night that zipped by and blew by a lot of people. It might not have blown by you in this audience. The best picture award last night went to a movie named Argo, which was about what?

The rescue of embassy personnel under attack in Iran. The wife of the commander-in-chief who failed to rescue four Americans at an embassy/consulate in Benghazi presented it and talked about how important it was and how necessary it is and how great it was and all that. Now, I don’t know how many people got that, but this bunch — this administration — failed in rescuing Americans under attack. And the wife of the president who failed presented the Oscar to the movie who won the best picture award about a successful rescue of embassy personnel from Iran in 1979.

Thereby, maybe, claiming credit.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: We have a treat for you at RushLimbaugh.com. We have posted a link to YouTube and the 1984 Apple Macintosh commercial during the Super Bowl that I talked about. It’s there. We have put another version of that ad made with Hillary Clinton as the Dear Leader. It’s a parody of the Apple Macintosh ad, and Hillary is there as the Dear Leader whose giant visage on the screen gets smashed. We put a still shot, too. (We don’t have the video; we’ve linked to the video.)

We put a still shot of the Dear Leader in the Apple ad right next to the still shot of Michelle Obama at the Oscars last night on the big screen. If you want to go check it out, find out what I’m talking about, all of that is now at RushLimbaugh.com. So for those of you that did not hear this, we have audio sound bites here of the Seth MacFarlane’s Abraham Lincoln/John Wilkes Booth joke that many were shocked and offended by and found tasteless. Snerdley, you wanted to hear this. Snerdley’s saying, “My gosh if I’da had you telling me what this was about last night, I’da watched.”

What he meant was that I could even make something he has no interest in watching interesting, but here is the MacFarlane joke last night during the Epidemic Awards.

MACFARLANE: I would argue, however, that the actor who really got inside Lincoln’s head was John Wilkes Booth.

AUDIENCE: (nervous laughter)

MACFARLANE: Really? A hundred and fifty years, and it’s still too soon, huh?

AUDIENCE: (laughter)

MACFARLANE: I got some Napoleon jokes coming up. You guys are gonna be so mad.

RUSH: And he brought it back with that. I mean, yeah, that’s kind of… I tell you, I can’t get over Argo. Folks, again, one more time here: Argo showed the rescue of six embassy personnel in Iran in 1979. Obama failed to rescue four embassy personnel in 2012, and Michelle Obama presents the award for best movie to Argo. If you want to look for a conspiracy in any of this, you focus on that. You talk about irony? This regime still hasn’t come clean on what happened in Benghazi.

They’ve tried to paper that over and cover that up and blame that all on a video. There hasn’t been anything courageous in one aspect of Benghazi, and certainly not from the standpoint of the regime. But Argo is a movie about the rescue of six embassy/CIA personnel from Iran in 1979, right under the watchful eyes of the Ayatollah Khomeini, and there’s Michelle Obama presenting the award for best movie to Argo, and her husband didn’t do diddly-squat saving embassy personnel in Benghazi?

Again, just to wrap this up, I think the bottom line here is that the Obamas have been snubbed. They still haven’t won an Oscar. They’ve won everything else. They’ve won Grammys. They have won a Nobel Prize! The Obamas have won lifetime achievement wards for things. The Obamas have won awards that haven’t even been created. But they haven’t won an Oscar, and there were two chances for them last night: His campaign ad, Zero Dark Thirty, and his semi-autobiography, Lincoln. Snubbed. So Moochelle shows up and takes a shot at it, presenting the award.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: To Santa Cruz, California. This is Larry. Hey, Larry, great to have you here from Santa Cruz. I didn’t know we had a listener there. Larry?

CALLER: Can you hear me?

RUSH: Yeah, yeah, I hear you, how are you out there?

CALLER: I’m doing — listen — (bad connection)

RUSH: Lar, are you there?

CALLER: Yeah. There was a scene in that movie —

RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, I think you would agree that I have been more than fair. I’ve done everything possible to have Larry here understood. He’s from Santa Cruz. And the reason I said I’m surprised that we have a listener there, Santa Cruz, do you know what Santa — in fact, I think I know what’s happening here. If he is the lone conservative here, they’ve already found out, jamming his signal or something of the sort. Santa Cruz is Moscow by the Bay, but it’s even worse than that. Santa Cruz is a beautiful place, don’t misunderstand. In terms of radio performance, we own it, but it’s still this leftist enclave that is really far out. That’s why I’m surprised to get a call from there.

But he was gonna point out that Carter had nothing to do with rescuing these embassy people in the movie Argo, just as Obama failed to rescue the Americans in Benghazi. And the movie Argo doesn’t say that Carter had anything to do with it. The movie Argo is basically about the Canadians working with Hollywood. The Hollywood contribution was the creation of a totally fictitious production that they were working on and that the Canadians were working with them on this production, and the reason that Canadians were in Iran was to scout movie locations, shooting locations for the movie.

The Hollywood people gave ’em cover so that if Iranian security got suspicious and called Hollywood to check the veracity of the claims, there would be somebody there who answered the phone, “Argo Productions, greetings, hello,” whatever, be able to answer any questions, and that did happen a couple of times. When the Iranians took over the US embassy in 1979, six Americans, I believe it was six, got out before the Iranians totally took control of the place, and they were in what was the equivalent of a safe house, but they were at risk because the Iranians knew the names of people in there, they had to, and when they essentially called the roll, when they checked on the people they had captured, they learned that six people were there that were not there who shoulda been so they began a search for them. The pressure was on to get those six out of the country before they were found. And that’s what the movie’s about and how that successfully happened.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Casper, Wyoming, as we head back to the phones. Rush Limbaugh to Brian. Great to have you, sir. Hello.

CALLER: Hey, Rush. I watched the Oscars last night, and I was struck by the number of award recipients that thanked their Canadian crew, therefore admitting that they don’t pay their fair share, that they’re using loopholes and moving jobs outside the United States.

RUSH: Now, that is interesting. You know what? I didn’t hear much of that. I’ll tell you why. We decided to start watching late. We DVR’d it so that we could zip through the awards we weren’t interested in and the commercials. And we zipped through practically every acceptance. So I didn’t hear these guys thank their Canadian crews. But you’re right, a lot of TV shows and movies are shot in Canada. They’re not union up there.

CALLER: And therefore they’re not paying their fair share.

RUSH: That’s okay. What they’re saving they’re donating to Obama, to help him get reelected. Seriously.

CALLER: Yeah. I noticed also they started using the word “winner” again instead of “the Oscar goes to,” and there was no complaints about that.

RUSH: Well, you know, I have a little bit of a different take. We’re never gonna nail the left on hypocrisy. This isn’t gonna happen. I mean, I’ve got a story here in the Stack. There are 20 things that have happened over recent decades that all happened with Democrats in control, and they were never held accountable for it and they never were hurt by it. It was Democrats that were fire hosing and beating up blacks during the civil rights era. Somehow it’s Republicans who are the racists. It was FDR who interned Japanese citizens and violated their constitutional rights. Somehow it’s Republicans who oppose civil liberties. So we’re never gonna nail these people on hypocrisy. The main reason for that is the media.

What amused me, these actors, they make me laugh. They’re actually pretending to be people, but they end up thinking they are these people. I heard somebody introducing the nominee for best actress or supporting actress, talked about “an exceptional number of brave performances” this year. I said, brave performances? And then somebody else said, “and this roster of nominees featured harrowing performances.” What’s this brave and harrowing performances? They’re acting. They didn’t do the real brave stuff. They’re pretending. They’re acting the brave stuff that other people actually did. But they get so immersed in it that they think they really did it. And so they have these awards every year where they do acknowledge their bravery, their heroism, their harrowingness or whatever. I find it amusing, to tell you truth.

When I first noticed this, Jessica Lange and some other babe were brought up to Capitol Hill, Senate hearing to testify on an agriculture bill, and they were brought up I think by Senator Cranston, Democrat, California. Now, we all become aware of things for the first time at some point in our lives. That was it for me. I said, “Wait a minute, now, they’re actresses. They’ve never lived on farms. They’ve never lived in a dust bowl. They’ve never had to go out and plow a field. What are they doing testifying?”

But you see, it wasn’t about their actual experience. It was just a bunch of celebrity intercoursers that happened to be senators who wanted to have these actresses up close and personal, have a chance to meet ’em. What better way than to invite ’em to some hearing on an agriculture bill, and of course they know everything about it because they portrayed farm wives in a movie. And they end up at the Oscars every year, they do. I mean, this bunch takes themselves very seriously. I’ll bet you there’s some people on the Argo staff who actually think they rescued some hostages. Well, maybe not really, but I’ll bet you could compliment them on doing it, and they’d take it seriously.