RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, in what I think is a first, let’s go audio sound bites 18 and 19, Mike. In what may be a first, we have a formal complaint lodged against the Official Obama Criticizer, Bo Snerdley. Bo Snerdley was recently utilized on this program last week as the Official Obama 
Criticizer, and it was as though it had happened for the first time. Now, we’ve been featuring the Official Obama Criticizer for close to a year, if not more on this program, but something about last week’s version of the Official Obama Criticizer has rubbed ’em wrong out there, particularly your translation for brothers and sisters in the hood. The complaint is that there aren’t any of those listening to the program. Of course, the left and the media are on this kick now that there’s racism everywhere, and really racism and race-baiting has its home on the left. But there’s a show out there called Redding News Review.
Now, when I first saw this, I said, “Wow, they’ve come a long way.” Redding is a little town in Northern California. The population might be five. I said, “What is anything coming out of there making national news for?” So I did a little due diligence, I looked into this, and I found the Redding News Review has nothing to do with Redding, California. It’s some guy named Rob Redding and his program is syndicated. Whose isn’t? And Rob Redding interviewed the former chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele. And Redding says, “Okay, Rush Limbaugh is wildly thought to be a racist.” No, accused, baselessly so by members of the left when they can’t come up with anything better to criticize me for. But nevertheless, “Rush Limbaugh is wildly thought to be a racist. You’ve gotten into, as Snerdley would say, his grill several times, and you were repudiated for it within the Republican Party. Is Rush Limbaugh a racist? Is he wrong for doing this satire? Yes? No?”
STEELE: I can’t get into the heart of somebody and how they really feel about stuff. I’m not gonna sit here and say the man is a racist no more than I would say any number of other people who have said and done things over the last couple years or so that one could argue, make the same point. Rush Limbaugh, you know, provides a form of entertainment that is provocative, that is controversial, but that is based in politics and the political context, and I think that this satire falls into that box.
RUSH: So here’s Michael Steele talking to — who? Now, the thing is, I know Michael Steele. He knows me. He was chairman of the Republican National Committee. I went to Washington once for a Rush to Excellence Tour for our affiliate there, WMAL, not long after Michael had run for the Senate in Maryland, a campaign, by the way, in which I heartily endorsed and defended candidate Steele. Remember, he had those Michael J. Fox ads run against him that Claire McCaskill used against Jim Talent in Missouri. And at that WMAL Rush to Excellence Tour we bring people backstage. There’s a reception line, shake hands, a couple pictures, and he was there. I was really flattered. Michael Steele of all people in line to say hello. So it’s not as though he doesn’t know who I am. It’s not as though he doesn’t know what we do here, and he’s been a beneficiary of what we do here. We’ve been big supporters of Michael Steele. This is the second time he took the easy road. Now this guyRob Redding, they’re all upset about you, Snerdley, the Official Obama Criticizer. But of course it’s my fault because I give you the forum. But Mr. Redding was not satisfied with this answer. He said, “Well, come on, Michael, is it appropriate or not? This criticizer bit.”
STEELE: I thought it was highly inappropriate. I mean you don’t need to do that. Now we’re gonna translate this conversation for all the white folks out there? I mean this — it’s stupid. It’s not something that, you know, furthers the conversation. You don’t want to be in the business of turning people off the ideas. You want to turn them on to them.
RUSH: He clearly has no idea what happened. He has literally no clue what we were doing with the Official Obama Criticizer bit last week, none whatsoever. So he falls into the easy stereotypical response to all of this. So Snerdley, welcome to the club. You, too, are racist now. (laughing) It’s exemplary and it’s a illustration of a problem that people on our side have of hanging in and being tough. There’s nothing here that has to be defended, only explained to people that are trying to mischaracterize it in the first place because it’s effective. That is why they don’t like it. It’s effective. Back in March of 2009 Steele said (paraphrasing), “Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer, his whole thing is entertainment. Yeah, it’s incendiary. Yeah, it’s ugly.” We called him on that, he does the back-off and then calls here and apologizes and so forth.
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