Story #1:German Pill Stops Cows from Passing Greenhaus Gas

RUSH: I don’t know if Algore knew this before he testified today.This is a story from the Independent Online from South Africa.It’s actually datelined Berlin, but it was published in a paper in South Africa.”German scientists have developed a pill that stops cattle breaking wind.”Passing gas, farting, for those of you in Rio Linda.”Methane emissions from cattle are responsible for four percent of harmful greenhouse gas emissions, and any reduction would be a major contribution to reducing global warming.Scientists at the University of Hohenheim in Germany say they have now tested a pill which in combination with a special diet and strict feeding times should make cattle less harmful to the climate.The pill, which is still being tested, breaks down the methane in the cows’ stomachs, and also has health benefits for the cattle.” Yeah, what’s the beef taste like, though?

“Winfried Drocher, head of the faculty for animal nutrition at the university, said: ‘It will make this energy available for the cows’ metabolism. The cattle can use the methane to produce glucose instead of just passing it out and it will enable them to produce more milk.'”

Oh, cool.What human applications might there be for this pill to eliminate gas?Let me ask you, a lot of you women wondering if something like this would work for husbands?Well, we’ll have to wait and see.Of course, you know these Germans do amazing things with genetics.Well, yeah, everybody knows women don’t need a pill like that for this kind of thing.Don’t take me down the road, but everybody knows that it doesn’t happen with women.It just — no.They would never, ever need anything like this.It is strictly for husbands and cows and so forth.

Story #2:Press Corps Cry Watergate? Screw Them!

RUSH: Tony Snow has the White House press briefing going on, and the Drive-By Media is now comparing this prosecutor thing — the firing of eight US attorneys — to Watergate.I predicted this. Everything’s compared to Watergate!I made this point last week.Everything is compared to Watergate.They’re trying to put the country in tumult and keep it in chaos, because they can’t pass any legislation. The Drive-By Media carrying the water for these guys.This is all because Bush yesterday said (summarized), “I’m not going to allow a fishing expedition. I’m not going to allow these people to come up there and get involved with partisan fight.You want to have a conversation with my people, fine, but no subpoenas. I’m not going to let any subpoenas,” and he’s vowed to fight this, and the Drive-Bys are furious. “How can he dare do this! This is like Watergate,” and so forth.That’s the only frame of reference they got, that and Vietnam.Screw them! Story #3:Gov. Blanco Quits for Bush’s Problem?

RUSH: Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco says she’s not going to run for reelection. The New Orleans Times-Picayune had the story yesterday.The decision comes “amid low polls and party pressure, governor makes an announcement at an evening broadcast.”Who says Hurricane Katrina was all bad?(No, I’m just kidding about that, folks, but look, I thought this was Bush’s problem.I thought Hurricane Katrina was Bush’s problem.How can the people of Louisiana have negative opinions of Governor Blanco when it was Bush’s problem?
Story #4:The New York Times: a Company in Trouble
RUSH: The New York Times Company’s February revenue is down 3.6% from a year ago.Yeah, all fine and dandy, but just how much was it down last year and the year before that?This is a newspaper company in trouble.Story #5:It’s Impossible to Calculate a “Global Temperature”

RUSH: By the way, there is no way to measure a meaningful average global temperature. I have this story in the Global Warming Stack. It’s a myth. It’s not possible to do. The climate’s too complex, and an average global temperature is meaningless anyway.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Andy McCarthy on Drive-By Hypocrisy

RUSH: Andy McCarthy (clearing throat) excuse me, I always clear my throat when National Review is mentioned because it makes me think of Mr. Buckley.Andy McCarthy writing — I think it’s at The Corner at National Review — might even be a piece.I’m not sure, but, anyway, last paragraph is great.A lot of people have made this point.I just want to read it here.It’s well constructed.”The lamest part of this controversy, though, had to be watching Imus faves David Gregory and Craig Crawford on MSNBC’s ‘Hardball’ last night, explaining how Imus is ‘schizophrenic.’ They and all their NBC pals would regularly appear on the program, but they only spoke to the Dr. Jekyll Imus; Mr. Hyde only came out once they were off the air — and while they kinda, sorta knew there was this low-brow schtick going on, they were removed from it and, gee, didn’t realize how offensive itmust have beento some people.” Now remember who these are: the Craig Crawfords and the Gregorys and the Jonathan Alters. These are liberals.These are the arbiters of what’s right and wrong when it comes to race, when it comes to justice and injustice, when it comes to bigotry.They are the condemners.Liberals hate discrimination, they despise it, and they will not be accused of it, and yet they sat there and listened to it and laughed at it as they heard it.As they heard bigotry, as they heard discrimination, as they heard the, quote, unquote, powerless being made fun of, they chuckled at all of this.And that’s the lamest part of this controversy, to listen to these people act like they had no clue.
Story #2:Wonkette Whines About Elite Imus Club

RUSH: Along these lines as the previous story, Ana Marie Cox, who had a blog — I guess still does, Wonkette, and TIME Magazine said, that’s our girl, uh, that’s our woman, uh, that’s our babe, uh, that’s our gal, uh, that’s our female, uh, that’s our feminist, covering my bases here.So they gave her an essayist position in TIME Magazine, and she’s going public on why she will no longer appear on the Imus show.I have to share this, I have to read this to you.She begins, “As the invites kept coming, I found myself succumbing to the clubhouse mentality that Imus both inspires and cultivates. Sure, I cringed at his and his crew’s race-baiting… but I told myself that going on the show meant something beyond inflating my precious ego.I’m embarrassed to admit that it took Imus’ saying something so devastatingly crass to make me realize that there just was no reason beyond ego to play along. I did the show almost solely to earn my media-elite merit badge.” There it is.Credit Ana Marie Cox for honesty.She went on that show because she wanted in the clique.She was a blogger, and she goes to TIME, big step up, not full-fledged member of the clique, though, wanted to be a merit badge wearing media elite member and going on that show was her way to do it.I don’t know if she never got her jollies in high school, maybe wasn’t part of the big clique in high school, but let’s face it, folks, that desire never leaves. A lot of people, as they grow up, everybody wants to be in a big clique, and in Washington, the big clique is the media elite.The politicians and the bureaucrats come and go, but the media elite, they’re there, and they define the social structure of the town and a number of other things.That’s the club you want to be in, and that’s why so many Republicans will go on these television shows and trash their party.They want to be accepted into the club, too, they want their merit badge.But here you have it, Ana Marie Cox, perhaps speaking for others indirectly as she admits her own reason for going on the show and ignoring what it was that she heard that she found just crass and devastating at each and every turn.

Story #3:Pelosi Should Negotiate with Suicide Bomber
RUSH:A suicide bombing today at the Iraqi parliament building.I think Nancy Pelosi should go over there and have peace talks with the suicide bombers, at least the family members of the suicide bombers and work her magic with the suicide bombers in Iraq, just as she worked her magic with Bashar Assad and wants to work her magic with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Story #4:Biden: Send Troops to Darfur Now

RUSH: Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Democrat presidential candidate, said yesterday, “We need to use military force to end the suffering in Darfur.I would use force now.American force now,” at a hearing before his committee.”I think it’s not only time not to take force off the table, I think it’s time to put force on the table and use it.”Okay, predicted this.They’ll take us anywhere where we have no national interests at stake.They’ll put American lives on the line in Darfur or wherever when there are no national interests at stake, but the suffering that’s going on in Iraq, no way, we got it get the military out of there because, you see, we — in their view — are the ones causing it.

Story #1: In Your Face: Bush Says Gonzales Stays

RUSH: Arlen Specter was on television yesterday, “Gonzales botched the justice department! Gonzales has to go! He’s making the administration look bad!” Bush said, “I loved the guy. I thought the testimony was great. He’s staying.” It was just an in-your-face — not just to Senator Specter, but to all these wannabes out there who are trying to tell the administration what to do so it will make their campaigns in 2008 a little easier.
Story #2: Drive-Bys Discover “Sleeping Giant” Immigration Issue

RUSH: You know what I saw on MSNBC this morning? I was sitting here — diligently working on show prep — and I see this graphic at the bottom of the screen: “Will illegal immigration be the sleeping giant issue of 2008?” I said, “What are they, two or three years late on this? What tuned them into this at the NBC newsroom?” And what do they mean “sleeping giant issue”? People like me have been warning about this for two years!

So I started scouring the print pages of Washington newspapers, and, lo and behold, there’s a story in the Washington Times about how the Democrats are in jeopardy on illegal immigration. It’s an indication how things end up on broadcast news. Generally, the New York Times is what directs the daily broadcast of news on networks; I’ve never known them to pay much attention to the Washington Times, but it’s out there. So anyway, that’s why MSNBC said, “Oh, my gosh! What have we missed?” If it’s going to present problems for the Democrats, then the Drive-Bys have to get on it and fix it. But I have been telling you by the saliency of this issue for both parties for over two years, and now all of a sudden MSNBC is out there acting like have some kind of a scoop.
Story #3: Catch 22: Stop Mentally Ill from Buying Guns
RUSH: Barack Obama, Democrat presidential candidate, said Thursday of last week that laws should be strengthened to prevent the mentally ill from buying guns. Well, that leads me to a question, Barack: Who is to say who is mentally ill? Isn’t that discriminatory? How discriminatory can we get to sit there and say, “You’re mentally ill. You’re mentally ill.” Who gets the right to do that? I mean, I think Alec Baldwin is a nutcase. Should he not have a gun? Who gets to say this?

So Obama says stop the mentally ill from buying guns, but my question is, are we moving into a Preparation H society? Because the Virginia Tech episode shows that everybody is trying to protect their rear end. You have the administration down there blaming the law, and you have the lawmakers blaming the guns — rather than looking at the real problems. The real problems are the excesses of trial lawyers, million-dollar lawsuits, the tyranny of the ACLU and political correctness, and the ineptness of bureaucracies to actually function. But in addition to this list of real problems we have the doublespeak of liberals — and Obama just epitomized it.

We can’t allow gun sales to crazy people. Well, okay, great! I’m all for it! Except we can’t reveal who’s crazy. We can’t reveal who’s mentally ill because it’s discrimination to say somebody’s mentally ill. We couldn’t even keep homeless people who can’t take care of themselves in places where they were being cared for because they didn’t know they were being incarcerated. It was a violation of their rights. We had to set them free. Now, if this isn’t one of the great catch-22s of all kind, I don’t know what it is. We can’t allow gun sales to crazy people, and we can’t reveal who’s crazy. Is it any wonder these liberals want the easy way out, a bumper sticker, a talking point, a fundraiser? Are you as amazed as I am that they could kick kids out of Duke University for nothing other than an accusation that fit a template, but they couldn’t remove a ticking time bomb from Virginia Tech?
Story #4: Citizens Stop Crime with Guns Across Fruited Plain

RUSH: Speaking of guns, I don’t know if you people saw this over the weekend, but here’s a great story: “Miss America 1944 stopped a robbery by shooting out the tires of the getaway car and then held the robbers, at her house, at gunpoint while she called the sheriff.”

What was the great equalizer here? Her gun!

“An Oakland, California pizzeria owner stopped a robbery. Armed with a pistol, joined by two other men, Hicks tried to rob Piedra inside the popular pizzeria at 89th Avenue and International Boulevard in Oakland. Fearful the assailants might hurt him his wife and his three children all of whom were inside the restaurant, he pulled out his 9mm semiautomatic pistol and opened fire. He killed Hicks,” which is the lead criminal. Now, the liberals have written about these two stories. These two stories are detailed in, I think, the UK Times or some UK paper, and they started out with their stories as though they are indictments of America and how we’ve lost it: “It’s the OK Corral out there with guns being used to defend people who are being robbed, attempted robbery, maybe even murder, attempted murder!”
Story #5: School Bus Nagin Knocks Philadelphia

RUSH: New Orleans Mayor “School Bus” Ray Nagin “criticized the cleanliness of Philadelphia after a visit to the city last week. He said, ‘Let me tell you something. You ought to go to Philly and you’ll appreciate how clean New Orleans is.’ Nagin said this Saturday to a crowd of New Orleans residents concerned about the city’s recovery from Hurricane Katrina.” The fact is he has apologized now. He apologized on Sunday for these remarks. He said he thought he was in Philadelphia, but he was in Camden, New Jersey. (I’m just kidding about this, folks! I’m just kidding about Camden, New Jersey.) But I’ll tell you what, Mayor Nagin: if you think Philadelphia is dirty now, wait ’til Sheryl Crow gets her way with the one square of toilet paper per bathroom visit policy.
Story #6: Bloomberg Proposes Manhattan “Entry Fee”

RUSH: I have a special note to me here: “Saying that he would not spend his final term in office ‘pretending that all is fine,’ Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg made a series of Earth Day proposals … to improve the environment of New York City, including charging a new congestion fee to drivers who come into parts of Manhattan during peak hours during weekdays. The $8 congestion fee was one of 127 initiatives included in a sweeping plan by the mayor to help the city of currently 8.2 million people cope with an expected surge in population that he said is sure to put a strain on its transportation, housing and energy systems…. A key objective is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030…” Well, I know they’ve been floating this plan around for 20 years, but now they have somebody who’s going to do it. “The proposal that is sure to attract the most attention, and possibly objections, is one to impose the $8 fee on car drivers, and $21 for truck operators, to drive in Manhattan south of 86th Street.”

Well, that’s all the tunnels and the 59th Street Bridge. The only way you’re exempt here is coming in through the Bronx, coming in through Harlem or the George Washington Bridge. So guess what’s going to happen to those arteries? I happen to use the George Washington Bridge; I go into my private airport up there. This place is going to become a toilet!

Now, in Manhattan, you already pay a fee for driving in there. When you leave, they’re happy to wave good-bye to you. But you have to pay to get in there, on almost all the bridges and the tunnels, and they call that — for those of you that may be young — “a toll.” You people know that that have driven in there. They also charge you if you put your car in a parking garage, and the tax, if you park? The best way to do that is get a space by the month, but the parking tax, if you leave your car on the street and you get towed, you pay a huge fine to go get your car — if you can find it. If you drive into Manhattan for the purpose of working, you pay a state income tax. Hell, if you fly in to Manhattan to work you pay a state and city income tax, even if you don’t live there! Trust me on this, folks. Oh, ho-ho-ho. Trust me. So what’s one more tax?

But my question is, eight bucks plus all the tolls to get into Manhattan? What is it that illegal aliens pay to get into the country? Of course, the reflexive answer is zero. But that’s not true in every case. In some cases, the illegal immigrants have to pay the coyote, the smuggler, to get them in. Eight dollars every time? You go in there to work, and you work lower 86th during peak hours, that’s five days if you go in. That’s 40 bucks. That’s a significant amount of money. We could see the creation here (the free market’s the free market) of urban coyotes — people willing to smuggle people into Manhattan. Giant vans with New York City workers from outside the city going in there. It could be a lucrative, lucrative business.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: EIB NorCom Dittocam is Slimming

RUSH: I have to admit, some of you people hurt my feelings yesterday. Toward the end of the show I started looking at some of the e-mails I had in the subscriber mailbox. There must have been ten of these (and they were worded differently, so I don’t suspect a campaign). They said, “You know what? You have been saying you’re losing all this weight and, frankly, I don’t believe you because I look at you in the Dittocam and you don’t look that different, but now that you’re in New York something’s really happened because now you do look like you’ve lost a lot of weight. You might want to change cameras down at the Southern Command.” So now I’m wondering if those of you who sent me those notes yesterday are watching today and thinking that I’ve put the weight back on. What, Snerdley? “Well you did go off the diet”? Look, you’re not going to gain 50 pounds in one meal, I don’t care who you are. It can’t be done.
Story #2: Did Saudis Violate Rights of Terrorists?

RUSH: Did you hear about the Saudis? They have arrested over 170 suspected terrorists — including foreign-trained pilots — involved in a plot against their oil fields. The terrorists allegedly planned to use commercial airliners to smash into the oil facilities and disrupt the entire global economy. A spokesman said that all remained in the plot was to set the zero hour; they were ready to go.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, there are some serious questions that we need to ask about this, about how the Saudis did this. First off, was there a legal seizure and search involved here in capturing these people? (These are questions I would love to ask; I wish this had happened yesterday so the Democrat candidates at the press conference last night could have been asked these questions.) Were any of the civil rights of the Islamofascists violated? Was torture used? We have to know these things. We have to know whether or not the Saudis were violating the Geneva Conventions in thwarting this attack on their oil fields. How did they get to these guys? What did they do? Did they break into their homes? Did they violate the Fourth Amendment? Did they violate the UN Charter? Did they violate the Geneva Conventions? And, of course, if they used torture on them, folks, we may have to let these people go. These are just people that are trying to be heard, and we don’t know if the Saudis are telling the truth. The Saudis could arrest anybody and say, “Yep, they planned to do this. They were down to everything but the zero hour. All they had to do was determine the time,” and everybody is going “Yay, yay!” but we don’t know if any of this is really true.

Yeah, the Saudi royal family has some problems over there. They might have staged this whole thing just to shore up support among a wavering population. You never know. But, I mean, do they have their own version of Club Gitmo over there? What’s going to happen to these prisoners now? Will they be given proper legal defense counsel? Do you think they’ll be beheaded? That’s uncivilized. That violates the UN; that violates the US Constitution; it violates the Geneva Conventions. The next thing you’re going to tell me is they’re going to have them stand on their heads in underwear.

You know, the world has to start paying attention to these guys. I’ve this learned from watching the civil rights activists and the liberals in this country. I’m just telling you; we know how to run a resort for these jihadists who get caught and need a break from it all. So I hope these guys — wherever they are, if they still have their heads — get good lawyers. I hope they each get a clean cell, a new Koran, a prayer rug, unlimited contact with Amnesty International and any other lawyer that wants to go over there. I hope they’re allowed to face Mecca and pray five times a day, and I hope maybe some of them will get a shot on Larry King Live. Well, we have to be fair.
Story #3: French Bash Themselves More Than We Do
RUSH: Here’s a story from Reuters: “The French dislike themselves even more than the Americans dislike them, according to an opinion poll published on Friday. The survey of six nations, carried out for the International Herald Tribune daily and France 24 TV station, said 44 percent of French people thought badly of themselves against 38 percent of U.S. respondents who had a negative view of the French.” Frankly, I can’t blame the French for this; they’re just being honest with themselves.
Story #4: Volcanic Eruptions Caused Global Warming

RUSH: Volcanoes are being blamed for prehistoric global warming now. “Scientists believe they have solved the mystery of what caused the most rapid global warming in known geologic history, a cataclysmic temperature spike 55 million years ago driven by concentrations of greenhouse gases hundreds of times greater than today. The culprit, the researchers reported Thursday in the journal Science, was a series of volcanic eruptions that set off a chain reaction releasing massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. The eruptions occurred on the rift between two continental plates as Greenland and Europe separated. In 10,000 years — a blip in Earth’s history — the polar seas turned into tropical baths, deep-sea microorganisms went extinct, and mammals migrated poleward as their habitats warmed.”

Now, all of this was caused by volcanoes. But something also happened: it got cool after this. After this massive baking — 55 years ago — it got cool again. How did this happen? Did we do anything to cause either of these? We didn’t.
Story #5: To Find New Planet, Hang a Left at Uranus

RUSH: Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention something, folks. You know that new planet that they discovered out there? By that little red star? Well, people who think that Earth is lost and that the experiment of society and civilization here is gone — they look at this new planet as an opportunity to start fresh, to go to a place where there’s no racism; there’s no bigotry; there’s no environmental destruction, no oil derricks, no this or that. I forgot to tell you how to get there when I was talking about it. In galactic terms, it’s just a hop, skip and trip away. It’s 120 trillion miles. Now, I don’t know how many light years that is, but a lot of people want to start making plans to go colonize this new planet since we’ve blown it here on Earth.

Here’s what you do. You blast off from Earth and then you head out to the outer reaches of our solar system and when you get to Uranus, hang a hard left. The gravitational pull of Uranus as you make that hard left will take you right out to this new pristine paradise — ha, ha! — just waiting for you to get there and start anew, with no political parties and no countries, just one mass of humanity all getting along without any oil whatsoever. As I say, I haven’t calculated the light years, but make sure you go to the bathroom first.
Story #6: Fortune Tellers Shut Down, Didn’t See It Coming
RUSH: In Philadelphia they’ve shut down 16 psychics, 16 fortunetellers. “Alerted to a forgotten state ban, Philadelphia authorities have closed at least 16 storefront fortunetellers. One of the fortunetellers has alleged discrimination. ‘What we do is entertainment,’ said the owner of his fortune telling business on Walnut Street. ‘Shouldn’t they being cracking down on rapes and murders and not palm readers?’ City officials, however, said that most psychics were con artists who prey on vulnerable people, and that the Philadelphia fortunetellers didn’t see it coming.” Psychics didn’t see it coming? Ha, ha! Sorry, that might be racist in some places; I don’t know. If it is, I apologize.
Story #7: Swedes Mad About Comfort Shopping Ad

RUSH: “A group of local politicians in northern Sweden have lodged a complaint to the Swedish Consumer Agency after viewing an advert that promotes shopping. The three-member consumer delegation discussed the advertisement for clothing chain KappAhl at a meeting on March 23rd. The three people took exception to the ad on the basis that it fosters the development of retail therapy. ‘It’s an ad where a young girl is really depressed because her boyfriend has just broken up with her. Goldie Hawn, who is an actress, encourages her to indulge in some comfort shopping. We think that because there are so many people with shopping problems it’s not a good idea to encourage people to practice comfort shopping,’ Micael Melander told financial news site Dina Pengar.

“The politician was then asked whether the group’s stance was not simply critical of advertising in general. After all, is not the point of marketing to get people to shop? ‘Yes, maybe so. I’ll have to think about that. It was so obvious in this particular ad. I didn’t take this matter up myself; it came in as one of our cases,’ he said. According to Dina Pengar, all three members of the delegation took exception to the message of the advert and supported the decision to report it to the Swedish Consumer Agency.” So a bunch of politicians in Sweden came down on Goldie Hawn — for comfort shopping — and you think things are screwed up here?
Story #8: You Can’t Stop It: Kids Using iPods to Cheat

RUSH: You know, there’s a new way that students are cheating out there at Duke University. Well, actually, is it at Duke? No. (Something else happened at Duke.) But anyway, they’re using iPods to cheat. They used to wear baseball caps in there and put the answers in the headband and so forth, but now they’re using iPods to cheat and schools are trying to keep up with all this. I just want to tell the schools, “You’re not going to stop kids from cheating, no matter what you do.” Just like — remember back in the condom days? — the same school people would say, “Oh, we can’t stop kids from having sex! They’re going to do it.” That’s why we want to give them condoms and a pack of cigarettes for the morning table.”
Story #9: Fox: Suspect Tattooed, Making Gang Gestures

RUSH: There’s the funniest thing happening. Well, it’s not funny, but the way it’s being covered on Fox is funny. A couple bank robbers in East LA are being chased. The guy’s in some broken down rattletrap car with two flat tires, and the Fox News Channel headline graphics — one of them said, “Suspect is heavily tattooed.” Ha, ha! And the other headline said, “Suspect driving with two flats is making gang gestures out the window.” Ha, ha!

The views expressed by the host on this program not necessarily those of the staff, management, nor sponsors of this station.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Joan Baez Banned from Walter Reed

RUSH: Did you see where well-known communist sympathizer Joan Baez was refused permission to sing for the troops at Walter Reed Army Hospital — and she can’t figure out why? Ha, ha! She can’t figure it out! Gee, why wouldn’t the troops want her to show up at Walter Reed?
Story #2: McGreevey Mulling Episcopal Priesthood?

RUSH: I kid you not! From the Newark Star-Ledger: “McGreevey Mulling Episcopal Priesthood — Former Gov. James E. McGreevey has started the process to become a priest in his newly adopted Episcopal faith and hopes to begin a three-year seminary program in the fall.” Okay. To each his own, out there.
Story #3: Heart Attack Fatalities Fall Dramatically
RUSH: Yeah, things are so rotten in this country: “Heart Attacks Plummet in Just Six Years — Study shows improved treatments, anti-cholesterol drugs are working.” Ah, what a country.
Story #4: Left-Handed Women Have 40% Higher Death Risk

RUSH: “Left-Handed Women Face Higher Risk of Death.” Yep, that’s what it says here. This is from the UK: “Left-handed women are at a higher risk of dying, particularly from cancer and circulatory diseases… Dr. MadeK. Ramadhani and colleagues from University Medical Centre Utrecht write: ‘Left-handers are reported to be under-represented in the older age groups, although such findings are still much debated.’… The researchers followed 12,178 middle-aged Dutch women for nearly 13 years, 252 of whom died.” Only 252 out of 12,000 died over 13 years? That’s not much. “When left-handed women were statistically compared with other women, the left-handers had 40 per cent more chance of dying from any cause, a 70 per cent higher risk of dying from cancer, and a 30 per cent higher risk of dying from diseases of the circulatory system…. The study could not pinpoint the mechanism for the increased risk, but suggested genetics and environmental factors may be involved.” Wow. Genetics and environmental factors. Left-handed women.

Now, who could possibly have anything against left-handed women? I mean, why in the world would somebody write a story that says left-handed women face death much earlier than others simply because they’re left-handed? Who would do this? What in the world would anybody possibly have against left-handed women?
Story #5: Can FDA Keep Food Supply Safe?

RUSH: I’m watching Fox right now, and they have this little story: “Can the FDA keep our food supply safe?” No, it can’t! We’re going to die, folks, do you understand? We are going to die! “Can the FDA keep the food supply safe?” Gee whiz! Look at the life expectancy.
Story #6: Not a Parody: NBA Refs Are Racists

RUSH: Now, normally upon hearing this next story, you would think that I’m doing a parody. I assure you, my good friends, I am not. “An academic study of NBA officiating found that white referees called fouls at a greater rate against black players than against white players, The New York Times reported in Wednesday’s editions. The study by a University of Pennsylvania assistant professor and Cornell graduate student also found that black officials called fouls more frequently against white players than black, but noted that that tendency was not as pronounced” among the black refs as it was among the white refs. “Justin Wolfers, an assistant professor of business and public policy at Penn’s Wharton School, and Joseph Price, a Cornell graduate student in economics, said the difference in calls ‘is large enough that the probability of a team winning is noticeably affected by the racial composition of the refereeing crew.'”

It’s time for the Justice Brothers! I mean, if there was ever something made to order for the Justice Brothers, the Reverend Jackson and Reverend Sharpton, it is this controversy. “The study, conducted over a 13-season span through 2004, found that the racial makeup of a three-man officiating crew affected calls by up to 4-1/2 percent.” What is it they always say about sports? “Hey, you know, the refs, it’s a human factor. You can’t do anything about it.” Oh, ho-ho-ho-ho! Not so fast! “The NBA strongly criticized the study, which was based on information from publicly available box scores, which show only the referees’ names and contain no information about which official made a call.” Now, that’s absurd! Names from box scores? These graduate guys are looking at names and they’re assuming they know which ones are black or white? That’s a no-no — and then, they don’t even know which refs made what calls? How can this be?

“‘The study that is cited in the New York Times article is wrong,’ president of league and basketball operations Joel Litvin told The Associated Press on Tuesday night. ‘The fact is there is no evidence of racial bias in foul calls made by NBA officials and that is based on a study conducted by our experts…” Ha, ha! Well, sure, they’re going to do a study that says there is this. But anyway, their “experts who looked at data that was far more robust and current than the data relied upon by” the professors, the graduate students and so forth. The NBA has an observer, just like we have at this program. We have an official observer of the program. “The NBA has an observer at each game and closely monitors its officials, who are required to file reports after each game they work and are expected to be able to explain each potentially controversial call they have made.”

You know, there’s a solution to this. Look, folks: this is not going to go away, once this hits. Wait until those libs at ESPN and Sports Illustrated get hold of this: “Oh, there are not enough black referees!” Just get some Asians. Well, you couldn’t have the Asians ref a game in which Yao Ming is playing with the Houston Rockets, but just go get some Asians. See, we look for the liberal solutions for these problems. We just want to help.
Story #7: Hate Crimes Are Thought Crimes

RUSH: You’ve heard of hate crimes legislation. Hate crimes legislation is actually thought crimes legislation. Well, there’s a bill out — I think the Washington legislature is going to vote on it tomorrow — and a lot of people are up in arms about this because the proponents of this have created a whole bunch of categories of different kinds of sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill is HR-1592, and it creates special classes of victims based solely on behavioral identification with a group of people, and they call this “victim ranking,” and if the legislation passes, “it will allow greater punishment for a crime committed against a grown man than for the same violent crime committed against a child. It would make a new protected class based on sexual behavior equal with race, color, religion and national origin,” which, of course, has been tried in so many states, and in some places it has succeeded. I’m surprised they’re just now getting around to this in the state of Washington, but they are.

You can sum this up. Two guys are running around and they decide to rob and beat up some guy, let’s just say, and it’s later learned that the guy is gay. Well, there’s going to be a greater penalty for the crime, even though there are already stiff penalties, if the victim is a member of these new created victim classes that are all based on sexual orientation and gender identity. “There are 25 different sexual orientations and behaviors that are recognized in this legislation.” Twenty-five different ones? Man, am I missing out! Twenty-five different sexual behaviors and sexual orientations, and of course the gay activists out there say, “Well, you know, gender is fluid.” (Don’t think liquid, Rio Linda. We’re not going there.) “Sexual orientation and gender identity are impossible to verify or precisely define,” according to these people, which is why “gender identity is inadequately defined in this piece of legislation, and sexual orientation is left out altogether.”

This is a great example of how the left just never goes away. They just are constantly out there creating new breeds of victims, new classes of victims, and establishing the whole concept that there are thought crimes. When you hear the word “hate crimes legislation,” think thought crimes — and who is it that’s behind this? It’s the left, and who is it that wants to suppress dissent and penalize certain speech and certain thoughts? And now that thoughts can be an indicator in the severity of a crime and so forth, these people are claiming to be the guarantors of the First Amendment. These are the people who claim to have civil rights as their number one concern — when in fact it’s just the opposite.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Nouvelle Ton? Sarkozy Taps Anti-US Socialist

RUSH: Try this from the UK Times Online today: “Shock as Sarkozy Woo’s Anti-US Left-Winger.” This is the new president of France. Remember how after he won everybody was going gaga? “He’s America’s best friend! He’s going to talk about reformatting the 35-hour work week! He’s going to promote incentives and free market economics,” and so forth. Well, the story says this: “Nicolas Sarkozy, the right-wing reformer who becomes French President on Wednesday, upset both the United States and his opponents yesterday by offering the job of Foreign Minister to a Socialist veteran with anti-American credentials. Hubert Vdrine, 59 — a former senior aide to the late President Mitterrand — who served as Foreign Minister from 1997 to 2002, was considering the proposal yesterday. The prospect of Mr. Vdrine running foreign policy has infuriated the beleaguered Socialists and amazed the diplomatic world because he is the architect of a doctrine for containing what he called the abusive ‘steamroller’ of American power. His views on ‘the hyperpower’ — the term that he coined in the 1990s — would appear to conflict with Mr. Sarkozy’s pro-Atlantic views.
“Mr. Sarkozy approached. Mr Vdrine and other figures from the Left as part of his scheme to forge a slimmed-down government that will be politically inclusive and not limited to his Gaullist Union for a Popular Movement.” Now, what’s wrong with this? When you hear the story, does it ring any bells? Does it seem like, “Oh, my! We’ve been through this before”? This sort of reminds me of George W. Bush and the “new tone” after the horrible Florida aftermath. Well, after the French election, they had riots all over the place. The socialists were out there burning cars. Sarkozy was getting threats, and on and on. So what we have here is this guy appointing an anti-American as his foreign minister. He may as well be another Dominique de Villepin, only worse. What’s Sarkozy trying to do? He’s trying to appease the people who lost! He’s trying to appease the left — and the left is not going to accept a non-leftist trying to appease them. They want power. They want control.

I’ll tell you, though: I don’t know anything about this Sarkozy guy — and, after all, we are talking about France, so there’s a caveat to everything. If it weren’t for France, we would not have won the Revolutionary War, and ever since then, they’ve been on a downward spin. That’s a long time ago, folks, when the French were reliable. So this new guy gets elected, and he goes out just like the Republicans in Congress. “Well, let’s make friends with the Democrats. Well, let’s make friends with the socialists.” They lost. They’re tearing down the country. They’re burning it up. They’re exploding cars, and we have to have a new tone? It never works. It puzzles me why it is — with so much experience under our belts — that leaders don’t ever learn this lesson about not being able to appease leftists by being nice to them. Everything’s a blood war to them. They don’t want to like us, and that’s also the case in France as well. History repeats itself.
Story #2: Photo of Gasoline for $4.53 Wasn’t Accurate

RUSH: How many of you saw over the weekend this picture on Drudge about gasoline being four bucks a gallon? It was all over the place, but it was a misleading picture. If you didn’t know the details of the story, you would get the wrong idea about it. It’s a picture of this guy in San Francisco that we told you about last week. He’s fed up with Shell because he’s not making any money. He’s a big-time gasoline/oil company guy who owns this station in San Francisco, and he’s raised the price to $4.53 on his high test gasoline. But right across the street, it’s $3.75 and $3.87. They didn’t give you the picture right across the street over the weekend. They’ve now done it, but it was an effort to totally mislead people if they didn’t know the story about this poor guy who’s upset with Shell Oil because they’re running independents and others out of business. He raised the price because they’re closing him down at the end of the month anyway. Right across the street and around the corner, it was as much as 80 cents a gallon cheaper. So if you were caught in by this trap I wanted to pass this on to you — because you’ve been had.
Story #3: Former SecTres Snow Eyes Chrysler
RUSH: Snerdley was talking to me during the break. He said, “Why would anybody buy Chrysler?” You know, DaimlerChrysler is getting rid of Chrysler, and a private investment company bought them, and Snerdley said, “Why? They have all those union contracts, the legacy, the health care… Why would anybody buy them?”

I couldn’t tell you, but obviously they’re buying them because they think they’re going to make money doing it one way or the other. Either they’re going to flip it down the road or they’re going to make money operating it. Now, the name of the — I bet you don’t know this, Snerdley — of the private investment company that bought Chrysler is named Cerberus. Do you know who their chairman is? Does the name John Snow ring a bell? Yes: John Snow, the former treasury secretary. He succeeded in business, but he couldn’t succeed in monkey business (which is the government). I think he also was a member of the Augusta National Golf Club.
Story #4: Governor of Oregon to Live on $3 a Day for Food

RUSH: Governor Ted Kulongoski, Democrat (is there any doubt?) Oregon, is going to illustrate the plight of food stamp recipients by living on three dollars a day for food. Where to start with this? How inane. It’s going to accomplish nothing. It also misses the point, and that is he should be showing people who live on food stamps that they don’t have to anymore by inspiring them to do otherwise. Regardless, I don’t think he’s going to be on it long enough to gain weight. Well, you look at a lot of food stamp recipients and they do have a weight problem. This is absurd, anyway. The Department of Agriculture is out there advertising for more food stamp applicants like it’s not a bad deal. Three bucks a day? Give me a break!
Story #5: Iraq Tribal Leader: Tell Dems to Lay Off Bush

RUSH: Story in the New York Sun today: “As Surge Begins to Take Hold in Baghdad, Tribal Leaders Turn on Al-Qaeda.” The dateline of this story is Abu Ghraib. “In the aftermath of America’s recent troop surge in Iraq, tribal leaders throughout Iraq are turning on Al-Qaeda, and American military commanders are trying to exploit the new development by bringing tribe members into the Iraqi Security Forces.” Now, that’s interesting, but listen to the nut of the story: “Despite the rising antipathy,” that would be “anger” for those of you who watch Channel 13 in Sacramento, “toward Al-Qaeda, the tribal sheiks in the Sunni regions in particular are very clear that their new alliance with the Americans is merely a tactical one. Sheik Hussein summed it up: ‘We would like America, a friend, to rebuild the country. This is what we want, what the tribes want. But to stay here as a military force indefinitely is unacceptable.’ For Sheik Hussein, however, the process of a speedy exit is also unacceptable. At a luncheon at a home of one of his cousins,” he told the reporter on this story, Eli Lake of the New York Sun, “‘Please, tell the Democrats for now to stop pressuring Bush.'” So an Iraqi cleric, aware of the damage the Democrats are doing to the future of Iraq, has asked a reporter from the New York Sun to go tell the Democrats to lighten up on Bush for now.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: The Design-a-Vagina Craze

RUSH: We have to get to the “designer vagina” story that is out there. You haven’t heard about this yet, Dawn? Oh, ho, ho! Now Snerdley walks in here. Snerdley, have you heard about this “designer vagina” thing? I call it “design-a-vagina” surgery. It’s a cosmetic surgery that poses problems to both men and women. I’ll explain it later.
Story #2: France Pays Immigrants to Go Home

RUSH: Did you see that the French are going to pay immigrants to go home? “New French President Nicolas Sarkozy made immigration a central issue of his campaign. Now, his new minister for immigration and national identity says its time to start paying immigrants to leave the country. France is home to over 5 million immigrants — and the new conservative-led government doesn’t plan on making things any more comfortable for them. While the new regime in Paris is determined to curb illegal immigration, is also looking to encourage legal migrants to reconsider their decision to stay in France.” This is from the German magazine, Der Spiegel. “Under the scheme, Paris will provide each family with a nest egg of $8,000 for when they go back to their country of origin. A similar scheme, which was introduced in 2005 and 2006, was taken up by around 3,000 families.” So they are dealing with 5 million immigrants now. Can you imagine if we had a minister of national identity like they have in France? Ha, ha! Can you imagine the hell that would pop up?
Story #3: Drive-By Hysteria: 747 with Engine Out
RUSH: Panic and crisis in the Drive-By Media: a 747 on the way to China had to return to Dulles International Airport in Washington. One of the four engines is out, and it’s is panic central! They can fly on two engines — it’s not good, don’t misunderstand — but the flight crews on these airplanes are highly trained and capable of handling these kind of things. Besides, you can land on three engines. You can even land on two engines! But anyway, the plane has landed safely. Drat! — from the Drive-Bys’ standpoint. They love crisis, panic, and chaos.
Story #4: Study: Drive-Bys Focus on Democrats
RUSH: This is an AP story by David Bauder. “By a wide margin, the news media concentrated on Democratic presidential contenders more than Republicans during the first three months of 2007, according to a study. Campaign stories in newspapers, on television, online and on the radio focused on Democrats 61 percent of the time and on Republicans 24 percent, said the Project for Excellence in Journalism, which regularly monitors 48 different outlets to gauge coverage trends. But don’t look to political bias as the most obvious explanation.” Conservative radio talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity “talked about Democrats 75 percent of the time and Republicans 13 percent.”

Wait a minute! Forget these numbers — do you realize what is happening here? The Drive-Bys are comparing themselves to me in order to show that they aren’t bias! Well, well, well! But there is a big difference, Mr. Bauder: we conservatives look at Democrat candidates critically — and we look at some of the Republican candidates critically. The Drive-By Media looks at Democrat candidates fawningly. They hardly offer any criticism, and any criticism they do offer to the Democrats usually comes in the form of advice. So there’s a huge difference.
Story #5: Obama Not Taking Shots from Media

RUSH: Speaking of Democrat presidential candidates, this is from the Missouri Valley Times, and it’s by Todd Dorman. “You get the distinct feeling hanging around Barack Obama’s presidential campaign that his heady rock-star period is ending. For a few months after he joined the race in February, it looked like the U.S. senator from Illinois could do no wrong. His crowds were in the thousands and his fund-raising was in the tens of millions. Hillary Clinton, we were told, was shaking in her pants suit at Obama’s meteoric rise. It had to come to an end, of course. The political media that built him up is now taking shots. He misspoke about the death toll from a Kansas” — he thinks that the media is taking shots at Obama? The only shots that Obama is getting are coming from the Chicago Tribune and the LA Times where they question whether he is black enough (or, as was the case yesterday, whether he is too black). Besides, he didn’t take any shots over this Kansas thing. He did misspeak about the death toll from the tornado and it was mentioned — but not in the front pages. The media didn’t run stories about what an idiot he is, as they would if Bush made such a faux pas.

The story also says that Obama’s campaign “was accused of driving gas-guzzling vehicles and his staff took fire for covering up some racy paintings before a fund-raiser at an art gallery. A Kansas City TV station reported that some people were snoozing during one of his speeches. And that was just last week.” See, this is the difference. Obama is not getting criticized or taking heat. These are not “hits.” These are perfunctory mentions that had a lifespan of less than two hours.
Story #6: McCain Being McCain, Slams Obama

RUSH: So Senator McCain has come out and just slammed Obama. “McCain being McCain,” —
this is from The Politico — “he just can’t help himself and goes the next step in the statement kicker: ‘By the way, Senator Obama, it’s a “flak” jacket, not a “flack” jacket.'” The spelling with a “c” is how Obama spells it, and that’s wrong — there is no “c” in “flack.” And then a McCain aide said this about Obama after this vote: “Barack Obama wouldn’t know the difference between RPG and a bong.” Now, I know those of you in Rio Linda know what a bong is, but you may not know what a RPG is. It’s a rocket propelled grenade.

Well, this is pretty hot and heavy going into the Memorial Day weekend! A McCain staffer saying “Obama wouldn’t know the difference between RPG and a bong”? This is getting interesting. But don’t you think it is possible that that McCain aide said that Obama wouldn’t know a difference between RPG and a “bomb”? Rather than a “bong”? Just speculating.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Fox Must Keep Apologizing to John Conyers

RUSH: You may be aware of the hurt feelings of John Conyers, the esteemed congressman from Michigan. The other day the Fox News Channel was doing a story on the indictment of Congressman William Jefferson (Democrat-Louisiana), and they rolled tape of Conyers! (Ha, ha!) Conyers, of course, got very upset about this. He couldn’t believe they would make such an error — and of course the underlying “offense” that congressman Conyers felt was that Fox doesn’t know the difference between Congressman William Jefferson (Democrat-Louisiana) and Conyers because they’re both black and the old saw that “they all look alike.” So Conyers was playing on that and demanded an apology, and Fox has apologized — twice. But that’s not nearly enough! I think Fox needs to apologize every day for awhile, and maybe even do an apology tour. I haven’t seen the Fox apology today, but Snerdley said he saw it yesterday. What time did you see it? It was during the show that’s on now? Well, regardless, I want to apologize to Congressman Conyers on behalf of the Fox News Channel, since they have not apologized today. I think that this is something that the Fox News people should continually apologize for, every day, and roll correct tape this time of Congressman William Jefferson (Democrat-Louisiana) when reporting on the Conyers story so as not to leave any confusion about this. This is a horrible thing that happened. In fact, I don’t think Conyers has accepted the apology. Fox sent somebody to his office to apologize, but I don’t know if he actually accepted.
Story #2: Cat Invasion Blamed on Global Warming
RUSH: Global warming news: “Droves of cats and kittens are swarming into animal shelters nationwide, and global warming is to blame, according to one pet adoption group.” This is from LiveScience.com. “Several shelters operated by a national adoption organization called Pets Across America reported a 30 percent increase in intakes of cats and kittens from 2005 to 2006, and other shelters across the nation have reported similar spikes of stray, owned and feral cats. The cause of this feline flood is an extended cat breeding season thanks to the world’s warming temperatures, according to the group, which is one of the country’s oldest and largest animal welfare organizations. ‘Cats are typically warm-weather, spring-time breeders,’ said the group’s president, Kathy Warnick. ‘However, states that typically experience primarily longer and colder winters are now seeing shorter, warmer winters, leading to year-round breeding.'” Honest to God, this is what she says! Honest! It amazes me that this movement has so many asinine, irresponsible, laughable claims are made in the name of global warming and there are still intelligent people who buy into this. Global warming should have been discredited long ago, but we’re not going to give up on discrediting it, folks — just like we’re not going to give up on killing the immigration bill.
Story #3: Cheney Criticized for Taking Action
RUSH: You want to talk about a non-story? Here’s the Washington Post today. “Vice President Cheney told Justice Department officials that he disagreed with their objections to a secret surveillance program during a high-level White House meeting in March 2004, a former senior Justice official told senators yesterday. The meeting came one day before White House officials tried to get approval for the same program from then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, who lay recovering from surgery in a hospital, according to former deputy attorney general James B. Comey. Comey’s disclosures, made in response to written questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee, indicate that Cheney and his aides were more closely involved than previously known in a fierce internal battle over the legality of the warrantless surveillance program. The program allowed the National Security Agency to monitor phone calls and e-mails between the United States and overseas.” At least they got it right this time in describing what the program was. It was not “spying on Americans” — it never was. “Comey said that Cheney’s office later blocked the promotion of a senior Justice Department lawyer, Patrick Philbin, because of his role in raising concerns about the surveillance.”

Now, this is being reported as a crime. So what? He’s vice president! You know, I think he also urged the military to win in Iraq. Well, let’s impeach him! He was in favor of a program to help nab the kind of suspects that were nabbed in the JFK terrorist plot put on page 30 of the New York Times this past Sunday. So what? He’s vice president! If there’s somebody standing in the way of the program he wants, get rid of them. He’s vice president! He’s supported victory in the war, too. Wow, what a bad, bad man: Dick Cheney!
Story #4: Hurricane Surge May Be Nothing New

RUSH: “Hurricane Surge May Be Nothing New, Study Says — Surge in major Atlantic hurricanes over the last decade often cited as evidence of increasing global warming may not be a surge at all but a return to normal storm patterns. Using nearly three centuries of hurricane history recorded in organic storm debris encased in coral reefs, researchers found that the frequency of major hurricanes today was about the same as it was during the extended periods from the mid-1700s to the mid-1900s. There were periods that were just as active as we see…” Really? Why is this even news? There is not one weather occurrence happening on the planet today that has not happened before. Not one! There is not one temperature on this planet that has not been reached somewhere else on the planet sometime before. Besides, we didn’t have any thermometers way back when, and therefore we didn’t have records. At any rate, Max Mayfield said last year, “This is not global warming,” and William Gray said, “This is not global warming. This is a normal cycle.” But now we have a study that can back up what the experts have already said.
Story #5: Feel Good Overtures to Iran Don’t Work
RUSH: I guess that little outreach program we have with Iran is not working, ladies and gentlemen. “ABC News is reporting that Iran has been caught ‘red-handed’ shipping weapons into Afghanistan. NATO officials say that they caught Iran red-handed shipping heavy arms, C4 explosives, and advanced roadside bombs to the Taliban for use against NATO forces in what the officials say is a dramatic escalation of Iran’s proxy war against it United States and Great Britain. ‘It is inconceivable that it is anyone other than the Iranian government that’s doing this,’ said former White House counterterrorism official Richard Clarke, an ABC News consultant.” Well, if Richard Clarke said it, then it’s gotta be true! “Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stopped short earlier this week of blaming Iran…” Of course he did, because we’re trying to make buds with them. We’re trying to make nice with them. He says the US “didn’t have evidence of the involvement of the Iranian government in support of the Taliban, but an analysis by a senior coalition official concludes that there is clear evidence of Iran’s involvement.”

So those feel-good overtures — hmm, must not have worked. This is an act of war, and they’re doing the same thing in Iraq and telling us what they’re going to do. Once again earlier this week Ahmadinejad came out and said the time is running out on Israel, that the “clock is ticking,” that their days are numbered. And everybody who hears him say this just says, “Ah, he’s just some little crackpot over there. Don’t worry about it, Rush! Nothing’s going to happen!” Sure. Okay. Fine.
Story #6: Rob Lowe Kills Iowa State Bird

RUSH: Did you hear about this? Rob Lowe was in West Des Moines, Iowa playing golf, and he hit a bird in mid-flight. He was hitting an approach shot on the fourth hole when his ball hit a goldfinch. Now, the goldfinch is the state bird of Iowa. He killed the state bird of Iowa — and he broke out in laughter and applause! He and his golf buddies started clapping and applauding: “Unbelievable… Who comes here and kills the state bird? Only me.” Ha, ha, ha. He also said, “I got my first birdie.” Hey, this is a sensitive, Hollywood guy who cares about animals and the environment.
Story #7: California Will Pay People to Drive Hybrids

RUSH: Try this. The state assembly in California is going to vote — probably today, maybe tomorrow — on a piece of legislation that’s been written by Assemblyman Ira Ruskin, who is a Democrat from Redwood City, which is over there in the Bay Area. “The measure would require buyers of gas guzzlers, which emit high levels of greenhouse gases, to pay a surcharge of up to $2,500. The revenue would be used to reward buyers of more fuel-efficient models with rebates of up to $2,500. The measure, Assembly Bill 493, would take effect in the 2011 model year. ‘This will change many people’s behavior and, more importantly, change the automakers’ behavior to make cleaner cars for everybody, which is what they should have been doing all along,’ said Dan Kalb, policy director for the Union of Concerned Scientists, a public health lobby that is sponsoring the legislation.” It’s a bunch of libs! “‘This will penalize large families and the working men and women of California who depend on larger vehicles for their way of life,’ said Charles Territo, spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents Detroit automakers and Toyota, among others.” So, the liberals are who they are: “We have to take things away from people.” In this case, you go out and buy a Hummer — or some big mama like that — and they’re going to charge you 2,500 additional bucks and give it to people who buy these little lawn mowers with a couple of seats on them.
Story #8: PMSNBC Has No Idea What “Gut Check” Means
RUSH: I saw something on PMSNBC the other day; they’re doing a promotion called “Gut Check America.” On their website it says, “What keeps you up at night? Gut Check America is your chance to tell us what really matters in our country and to help determine what topics MSNBC.com covers.”

Now, this is a further effort by the Drive-Bys to keep us all scared and upset. It has seeped from feminist rhetoric and the chick-ification of the newsrooms into, “What keeps you up at night?” I have something for those of you at MSNBC.com. You need to come up with a new name for this. “Gut check” means facing your fears head on — not allowing them to keep you up at night, covering your head in the bed sheets or cowering in the corner quaking and quivering at the shadows in fear. If you are being kept up at night, it’s because you failed your gut check or you’re not having the gut check! I mean, the Drive-Bys wouldn’t know a gut check if it hit them in the stomach. You ought to see their graphic here — they have some metrosexual guy holding a flag with their graphic above him: “Stand and Be Counted: What Keeps You Up at Night?”

But I guess, you know, they have to call it “gut check” because if they said just, “What keeps you up at night?” the answer would be, “It ain’t MSNBC!” Ha, ha! Actually, since it’s not a gut check, what they ought to say is, “Are you wetting yourself at night? Tell us why. Are you so scared you are soiling yourself? Tell us all about it here at MSNBC.com.”
Story #9: Brazile: William Jefferson (D-LA) Should Resign

RUSH: Democrat strategerist Donna Brazile has urged Congressman William Jefferson (Democrat-Louisiana) to resign — this via an interview that aired yesterday on National Public Radio. She said, “I personally hope that he would do what’s best for his family and his constituents and put his legal case before everything else and allow somebody else to step up and represent that district. If there’s one congressional district in America that needs a full-time lawmaker focused and committed on the recovery of the Gulf coast, it’s the second congressional district of Louisiana,” which is the district of Congressman William Jefferson (Democrat-Louisiana). She said that she believes the pressure on Congressman William Jefferson (Democrat-Louisiana) to step down now will come from two sources: his colleagues on the Democrat side of Congress, and also from the people back home in New Orleans. I don’t know if that’s going to happen; we got a call from New Orleans the other day and the guy said that people down there are saying it’s a conspiracy against Congressman William Jefferson (Democrat-Louisiana). But don’t you know that Nancy Pelosi would love it if they could get some people in New Orleans to start demanding that he resign? It’d take her off the hook.
Story #10: Putin Tells Bush Where to Put His Missile Shield

RUSH: It could well be that Dingy Harry’s trying to light a fire under President Bush with this immigration defeat. Actually, right now, Bush is over there at the G8; he’s trying to deal with Putin and the missile shield business. But Putin told him where he can put his missile shield earlier today.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Seligmann Testimony Nails Nifong

RUSH: I was watching Fox this morning, and they had live coverage of the trial of Mike Nifong in North Carolina. This is the hearing about Nifong being disbarred — it’s over his law license. He’s saying, “Yeah, I made some ethical mistakes,” but he’s just trying to limit the damage here. He’s trying to prevent himself from being disbarred by making some admissions to things here, like saying his comments that he made were improper and so forth. But he’s not the story today as far as I’m concerned. I watched Reade Seligmann, who’s one of the three lacrosse players who was falsely accused and harassed by students at Duke and the 88 professors and all kinds of malcontents in the courtroom when those guys had their court appearance. His testimony… When these guys had their press conference, I was blown away with their composure and their maturity.

Reade Seligmann’s testimony today was heart-wrenching. He broke down. He started crying when he started describing the phone call to his mother to tell her that he had been accused of rape — that he had been picked in a lineup. His mother had a camera on her, and she was crying, too. It was terrible, listening to this story. But even before he broke down and started crying, he was just remarkably composed and mature and truthful and said, “We volunteered DNA first thing out of the box because we knew we didn’t do this, and that’s the fastest way to prove it,” — and of course the DNA results were held back and nobody was informed them until they were leaked. They spent some time in this trial yesterday pointing out that, “Oh, there was no conspiracy here. That’s was an unfortunate mistake that happened.” But there are no coincidences, folks. This was the second time I’ve seen public speaking from these lacrosse players, and they are just profoundly impressive. They have obviously been raised very well, and they’re quality people that just exuded composure and class.

Of course, when you have the truth and passion on your side you can be a pretty good speaker. When you know your subject and when you know what you’re saying is the truth, it gets rid of a lot of the nerves and tension that some people face when they get up to speak publicly. I mean, this thing was heartwarming. At the same time, when Nifong started his testimony, they had a camera cut to the families, and I think one of the other lacrosse players — well, Seligmann and Colin Finnerty. The looks on their faces and their parents’ faces could have killed when Nifong was up speaking. I remember telling Snerdley yesterday, “You know what? I knew this trial was going to start. I think so much time has gone by, so much passion has dissolved here, and legal communities tend to stick together, I’ll bet he gets some kind of slap on the face but not much,” and I have totally changed my thinking on that now after what I saw today, with him admitting impropriety and unethical behavior and mistakes in his statements. Now he knows he could have the entire book thrown at him over this and is trying to limit that. I don’t know how long this is going to go, but if you have a chance to see some of this over the weekend or tonight, you should see Seligmann’s testimony.
Story #2: Clintons Invested in Wal-Mart, Big Oil

RUSH: During the break at the top of the hour, I went back to Snerdley’s office (as I always do, just to make sure to keep his morale up and get his mind right. Open Line Friday is tough for him.) Anyway, he had C-SPAN on, and they cut away to a Clinton speech — and who was Clinton giving a speech to? Yeah, the “Women and Families Consortium,” or some such liberal group. The sound was not up, so I don’t know what Clinton was saying, but I can guess. He’s probably talking to some liberal group that wants as much control over families and women and their, quote, unquote, issues as possible. I’m sure he’s telling them what they all want to hear, about how “We all have to work together, you know? People out there want to destroy you, but you’re doing God’s work. You’re doing the Lord’s work and you’re hanging in for people disadvantaged and so forth, the downtrodden, the hungry, and the thirsty, and you’re doing the right thing, and don’t be talked out of it,” blah, blah, blah. And I’m sitting there saying, “There’s no way this guy and Hillary would live their lives the way they are encouraging these people to tell us to live our lives.” Then I stumbled across this story from the Associated Press.

“Hoping to avoid any possible conflict of interest, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband, the former president, liquidated a blind trust valued at $5 million to $25 million in April after learning that it included such investments as oil and drug companies and military contractors, her presidential campaign confirmed. ‘As a presidential candidate, Senator Clinton was required to make her assets public. As a result, she had to dissolve her blind trust,’ Howard Wolfson, a senior Clinton adviser, said late Thursday. ‘Upon its dissolution, she and the president chose to go above and beyond what was required of them and liquidate their assets in order to avoid even the hint of a conflict of interest.'” Would you like to hear what the investments were, ladies and gentlemen? Here we go: “several pharmaceutical companies,” Big Drug, “including Abbott Labs, Amgen, Genentech, Novartis, Pfizer and Wyeth, with assets in each company ranging from $100,001 to $250,000, The New York Times reported in Friday editions. Other assets included BP Amoco,” Big Oil, “Chevron Corp., ” Big Oil, ” Exxon Mobil Corp.,” Big Oil, ” Raytheon,” Big Defense contracts, “and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.”

So every industry and company that they demonize, they are invested in! (Or they were.) They have liquidated it, and I don’t believe this notion that it was in the blind trust and therefore — well, they had to know what they were invested in. “Blind trust” just means you don’t know how it’s doing, but they knew that this disclosure was coming up, and they were going to have to do this, and I don’t believe for a minute that the dissolution of the investments in these companies was for any highbrow reason of openness and sunshine and all that — it was to avoid charges of hypocrisy. I mean, here they are demonizing every one of these industries. In fact, during the health care attempt back in the early nineties, Mrs. Clinton was doing everything she could to trash these companies. I wondered back then if she was investing in pharmaceutical stocks and then selling short after driving the prices down, and I still don’t know. Who knows what’s been going on with any of that?

Anyway, according to these disclosure forms, their net worth is now approximately $50 million. They came to Washington with nothing. How does this happen? Clinton as president made 200 grand. Hillary as senator makes 60, 70, 80 — I don’t know. Clinton’s been out there doing speeches and they’ve written books and so forth, but we also know they have ties with some really strange people — like this Gupta guy — and they have ties with Dubai. In fact, Clinton was even helping Dubai lobby for the ports deal back when it happened! So this is just typical. These people, I’m telling you: everything they tell you is going to be wrong or is going to end up being in one degree or another a falsehood if you just sit around and wait. I mean, Wal-Mart, of all companies? She was acting embarrassed a while ago that she was on the Wal-Mart board! She was having to cover for that lately: “Well, that was in Arkansas a long time ago. I had to do that. I was in business down there. Wal-Mart was a big concern. But I left that board when I discovered that some practices that company was involved in were things I didn’t approve of.” How are you investing in Wal-Mart stocks, then? With some of their hard-earned cash that they have earned since the Clintons left the White House in January of 2001? There’s only one industry that they have not invested in — and that’s because they own it — and that’s Big Hypocrite.
Story #3: Judge Rules Canadian Can’t Have Girlfriend
RUSH: This is one of these headlines that really conflicts me. It was like that story on the divorce rate declining — that was a conflict for me. So here’s the story, and it’s from Peterborough, Ontario: “A judge has ruled that a 24-year-old Canadian man is not allowed to have a girlfriend for the next three years. The ruling came after Steven Cranley pleaded guilty on Tuesday to several charges stemming from an assault on a former girlfriend. Cranley, who has been diagnosed with a dependent personality disorder, attacked his girlfriend in an argument after their breakup. He tried to prevent her from phoning the police by cutting her phone cord and punched and kicked her. He finally stabbed himself with a butcher knife when police did arrive, puncturing his aorta. Doctors say Cranley has difficulty coping with rejection,” — You think? — “and runs a high risk to re-offend if he becomes involved in another intimate relationship. Justice Rhys Morgan said Cranley ‘cannot form a romantic relationship of an intimate nature with a female person’ for three years.” So no, he can’t casually date. Well, I guess he could casually date, he just “cannot form a romantic relationship of an intimate nature.” (And we know what “intimate” is a code word for.) I suppose he could go gay because it specifies female person here.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Cloth Diapers Just as Bad for Environment

RUSH: What is a nappy? They bring it up in a British story from the environmental stack today. “The great real nappy myth.” I think they’re talking about diapers. They’re just as bad for the environment as disposables, admits the energy minister. You know, if you just wait long enough, liberals will be proven wrong on everything. They said, “Cloth diapers, you gotta use those. You can’t use these disposables. They’re destroying the environment.” So everybody went out and started using cloth, I suppose. (I’ve never been blessed with children so I don’t know about diapers and these kinds of things.) It’s just like how oat bran and coffee was going to kill us — and then make us healthy and so forth. They’re still trying to figure it all out.
Story #2: No Sign of Any Tropical Storm Activity Whatsoever

RUSH: The Drive-Bys are all in a panic. Not only did Scooter Libby have his prison sentence commuted, forecasters said that the tropics are clear and there’s no sign of any tropical storm activity whatsoever. So it’s bad news for the crisis-oriented media. Of course, there very rarely are storms in June, so it’s really not a story whatsoever.
Story #3: Great Britain Has Elected a Breck Girl-Type PM
RUSH: I guess you’ve heard what the new British prime minister said? Boy are we going to miss Tony Blair! This guy said (and I’m paraphrasing), “Don’t say terrorists are Muslims. Don’t say that, and we shouldn’t use the phrase ‘war on terror.'” So they’ve elected a Breck Girl — a John Edwards of their own — across the pond, I guess.
Story #4: UK Terrorists Defy Drive-By Profile
RUSH: A couple things about the UK terrorist attacks — one thwarted, the other one a near-miss. Everybody’s expressing surprise that highly educated, and very achievement-oriented people actually turned out to be the terrorists. The terrorist plot, by the way, was hatched in British hospitals, and the conventional wisdom is, if you listen to the Drive-Bys and American leftists, that these Islamofascists are just a bunch of poor nomads. “They’re a bunch of Bedouins, and they’ve been forced to live and eat desert sand all of their lives. They’re mired in poverty, and they have the indignity of having to be surrounding a nation filled with Jewish people, and it’s just too much, and they can’t take it anymore! So they’ve gone to blowing themselves up, and then they start blowing everybody else up that they can blow up, and they’re just a bunch of poor people and all they want is justice! All they want is freedom! All they want is a chance, economic prosperity. God, why do we deny everybody so much of what we have? Ahhh! Boo-hoo!” Then all of a sudden we find out that the conventional wisdom and the profile is dead wrong, and that these are the kind of people that the British have been seeking as immigrants. Now, it’s one thing to seek highly educated and skilled people for your immigrant population, but it’s another thing if you’re importing them from countries that are terrorist breeding grounds.

I knew something was up when I saw that the car that they loaded with all the explosives and the nails and stuff was a Mercedes. It was a small little Mercedes, but still it was a Mercedes. I mean, it wasn’t some thousand-year-old Volvo with a couple windows shattered out and duct tape holding the rear window together and a couple headlights missing — it was a Mercedes. So we find out that these people are all highly achieved. They are doctors. We found the same of Osama bin Laden and all of his buddies. His number two guy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is a doctor. Bin Laden’s family is a typical Middle East oil sheikdom, business people, billionaire people, and what they’ve done is use the poor and the underclass in their countries. That’s where the breeding grounds of hate are taking place — you don’t see these wealthy elites blowing themselves up, except this case in Britain. Of course, you never know. When they were young, this is obviously when the hate was instilled in them. But the wealthy elites are fanning the hate and the frustrations into actions that help the elites carry forth on their ideology.

It’s like Lisa Myers on NBC. She was talking to Lester Holt on the Today show this morning, and Lisa Myers said (I’m paraphrasing), “You know, this greatly complicates the profile, the fact that these two are doctors. The breeding ground here was in this hospital that hatched the plan, a bunch of doctors. Most of the recent plots had been the work of so-called homegrown cells with ties to Pakistan, disaffected young British Muslims who in some cases went to Pakistan for terror training. Here you have a group of highly educated foreigners, the kind of people that this country actually encourages to come to Britain. So it makes it very tough, Lester.” It does indeed!

And, you know, had the immigration bill survived cloture, the terrorist actions in the UK over the weekend would have doomed the bill in the House because it’s obviously abundantly clear that the war on terror goes on, and the profile of people involved is highly different than what we think it is. I’m glad it doesn’t come to that, but it might have.
Story #5: Can We Shoot Bald Eagles Again? (Just Kidding)

RUSH: I see the bald eagle is no longer endangered. Does that mean we can start shooting them again? I’m just kidding. I would never shoot a bald eagle. In fact, I have some great pictures I took of bald eagles when I was up there fishing for salmon. So yes, the bald eagle no longer is endangered, but the bottom line is malaria victims still exist (thanks to Rachel Carson).
Story #6: Amnesia Drug Could Erase Bad Memories

RUSH: You know, I heard about this some time ago. It’s from LiveScience.com. “Researchers at Harvard and McGill University (in Montreal) are working on an amnesia drug that blocks or deletes bad memories. The technique seems to allow psychiatrists to disrupt the biochemical pathways that allow a memory to be recalled. In a new study, published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, the drug propranolol is used along with therapy to ‘dampen’ memories of trauma victims. They treated 19 accident or rape victims for ten days, during which the patients were asked to describe their memories of the traumatic event that had happened 10 years earlier. Some patients were given the drug, which is also used to treat amnesia, while others were given a placebo. A week later, they found that patients given the drug showed fewer signs of stress when recalling their trauma. Similar research led by Professor Joseph LeDoux has been carried out at New York University on rats; scientists were able to remove a specific memory from the brains of rats while leaving the rest of the animals’ memories intact.”

I’m not so sure I like this. I know it sounds nice to be able to block our so-called bad memories. But, I mean, some bad memories are not traumatic. And isn’t it our life experience that shapes us? “Yes, Mr. Limbaugh, but you must realize that unlike you, so many people have so much pain, and if they could go through the day without remembering their pain then it would free them up to enjoy their life more. You just don’t care, Mr. Limbaugh!” Well, look: with you liberals out there, nobody is going to be stress or trauma free. You’re trying to inculcate us with crisis and death around every corner every day — sometimes multiple times a day! For all the bad memories that you’re going to be able to wipe out you’re going to help us create new ones just by having to deal with you! I mean, sure, I would love to be able to retract from my brain all memory of the Clinton years. Actually, I wouldn’t. They were very traumatic, but they have shaped me. Life experiences shape us.

This is not good, folks; I’m telling you it’s not good. I know it sounds nice, sounds sweet, but you start tampering around this way, there will always be unintended consequences. But even beyond the unintended consequences, the idea that you can shield yourself from bad things that happen to you — from the memory of them — even if it could be done… you would not be a real person.
Story #7: LA Mayor Admits Spanish-Language TV Affair
RUSH: “Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is in the midst of divorce proceedings with his wife, acknowledged he is in a relationship with a Spanish-language television reporter…” I met Mayor Villaraigosa one night when I was innocently minding my own business in New York at a restaurant, where approached our table — two times! — former President Clinton. The second time he brought with him Mayor Villaraigosa to distract me so he could chat up the woman I was with. Anyway, Villaraigosa said in a statement published in the LA Daily News, “‘It is true that I have a relationship with Ms. Mirthala Salinas. As I’ve said I take full responsibility for my actions, and I once again ask that people respect my family’s privacy. For my part, I intend to stay focused on my job, and to work as hard as I can every day…'”

I hope he gets the privacy he wants! What, Mr. Snerdley? Oh, oh. Well, he has to be working “as hard as I can.” Ha! “I want you to listen to me. I’ll tell you I did not have sex with that woman, sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky, not a single time. I never, ever asked anybody to lie. I gotta go back to work for the American people.” You’re right, Mr. Snerdley: it’s right out of the Clinton playbook. What gets me here is him asking for privacy. He’ll probably get it — I hope he does. And I certainly hope his family does. I know I have had many episodes in my sterling public career that I would have loved to have had privacy, and I just know damn well that if I’d ever brought it up, I would have gotten ten times the lack of privacy that I was already experiencing.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Bogus Company Gets Radioactives License

RUSH: In case you missed the story, here it is. “Congressional investigators set up a bogus company with only a post box and within a month obtained a license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that allowed them to buy enough radioactive material for a small ‘dirty bomb.’ U.S. Senator Norm Coleman, a Minnesota Republican, who planned to ask the NRC about the incident at a Senate hearing Thursday, said the sting operation raises concerns about terrorists obtaining such material just as easily. Nobody at the NRC checked whether the company was legitimate and an agency official even helped the investigators fill out the application form, Coleman said in an interview Wednesday. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission acknowledged more checking is needed in such licensing and said since being told of the GAO sting operation it has tightened licensing procedures.”

Oh! Heh-heh! I’ll tell you what — this is another testament to the inefficiencies of bloated government agencies and so forth. Yes, Mr. Snerdley? “What are the tightened procedures?” That’s a good question. What are they? Prove it. “Yeah, we tighten procedures.” Well, what are you doing? Is there a six-month waiting period before you can get licensed to go radioactive on us? You ask for their last names? Ha! That’s a good one. I’m sure they asked for their last names.
Story #2: Roger Ailes Pops Up in New Nixon Tapes

RUSH: They’ve released some more Nixon tapes, and it’s amazing to me to go through the excerpts. Nixon was a firebrand. He wanted to bury these Democrats, and he was mad because the Republicans were too polite. Ha! You read these things, and you realize there isn’t much that’s changed. There really isn’t in the way the press treats Republicans, the way Republicans react to it and deal with it or don’t deal with it. And there’s an excerpt from my friend Roger Ailes, who is the CEO of Fox News Channel, and apparently Nixon was somewhere walking a rope line. It was a public reception or something, and Ailes was watching it on TV and flashed off a memo to Haldeman. He said, “Hey, you gotta get him to pay more attention to his wife. A couple of times he just left her stranded out there on the rope line.” Ha, ha! An updated version of that memo today would be: “Make sure you get some interns on that rope line so your wife won’t even be with you on the rope line.”
Story #3: “Targeted” Fat Tax Perfect Example of Liberalism
RUSH: Reuters story, ladies and gentlemen: “‘Fat Tax’ Could Save 3,200 Lives a Year,” and in the story: “A well-designed and carefully-targeted fat tax…” Have you ever seen a well-designed, carefully targeted tax of any kind that worked? I mean, this story is a perfect illustration of the way liberals and socialists do everything they can to try to control as much of our lives as possible. And right now this is just London, but you know the fat tax has been proposed here, too.

“A ‘fat tax’ on salty, sugary and fatty foods could save thousands of lives each year, according to a study published [today]. Researchers at Oxford University say that charging Value Added Tax (VAT) at 17.5 percent on foods deemed to be unhealthy would cut consumer demand and reduce the number of heart attacks and strokes. The purchase tax is already levied on a small number of products such as potato crisps, ice cream, confectionery and chocolate biscuits, but most food is exempt,” from the VAT. “The move could save an estimated 3,200 lives in Britain each year, according to the study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. ‘A well-designed and carefully-targeted fat tax could be a useful tool for reducing the burden of food-related disease,’ the study concluded.” See that? “Food-related disease.” The salt and sugar in fatty foods are all natural substances found on earth — just, by the way, as is oil. However, they said their research only gave a rough guide to the number of lives that could be saved,” of course! No, we wouldn’t want you to get specific because then you could be tied to it, “and said more work was needed to get an exact picture of how taxes could improve public health.” This is like how they operate, folks.

Can I ask your question? Who would be hurt most by an increase in the fat tax? Who would be hurt most? Just take a wild guess. The poor, and women, and minorities! It’s a formula. I don’t care what the story is: women and minorities are hardest hit, and here it is in this story. “Any ‘fat tax’ might be seen as an attack on personal freedom and would weigh more heavily on poorer families, the study warned.” This is right off the script for these socialists, folks. The tax is in keeping with the idea that these fat people cost socialized health care systems more money, and they’re dying, and plus we’re having to spend so much money on them before they die.

So what happens is first government takes over a private market function, which is you feeding yourself. Then as costs of that function skyrocket because it’s offered for free by compassionate socialists, they have to find ways to cut costs after they make a boondoggle out of their own program. But since they don’t know the role of prices in free markets, they can’t let prices adjust accordingly and make individuals choose the better uses of the product. They have to find other ways of going about it. They just aren’t going to trust you to make the right decision for yourselves. You are incompetent. You are incapable. You are eating the wrong things now, and you are going to keep eating the wrong things, and they’re going to tax you to get you to stop eating the wrong things. So they’re going to do this, they’re going to totally mess up the whole concept of market prices. And when that happens, it’s not just these three areas — salty, sugary, and fatty foods — that are going to be affected. It’s the unintended consequences of things that they never ponder.
Story #4: Not Nice: Illegals Bear Brunt of Housing Slump
RUSH: Try this story: “It’s a mystery that has Wall Street debating such terms as birth, death and illegal immigration: Why haven’t more U.S. construction jobs vanished in the wake of the housing market meltdown? Much of the attention has focused on complex forecasting models and polls that the government uses to track employment, but some economists say undocumented workers,” illegal aliens, “are quietly bearing the brunt of the layoffs in the building sector.” Oh, no! Illegals are bearing the brunt of the slowdown in the housing market! It’s unfair. Americans should be suffering, my friends! This is not fair. We are so mean. We’re just not nice.
Story #5: Novak: War Support Helps McCain with GOP

RUSH: A couple of days ago I talked about Senator McCain and the problems he’s having in his campaign, how the Drive-By Media is out there saying, “No, his problem here is he supported the war, the troop buildup. He’s too closely identified with George W. Bush.” We were all just incredulous here; how can they miss this? The blinders that these people in the Drive-By Media are wearing… and they all do. It’s amazing, the groupthink.

Anyway, we went through the list of things that harmed McCain, starting with McCain-Feingold, Gang of 14, the fact that he was against tax cuts. Immigration, he was on the wrong side of that, putting his arms around Ted Kennedy and so forth. I mean, those are the things. He was never the front-runner in the first place. He was just a Drive-By Media darling from the bus tour back in 2000, the Straight Talk Express. And I have here a story from the Chicago Sun Times. It’s by Robert Novak, in fact. “Staff Shakeup Gives Fading McCain a Chance.” We go to the end of the piece. “McCain’s slimmed-down campaign will concentrate on early contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina… [the new campaign guy] is far more adept than [the old campaign guy] at singing McCain’s praises.” Now, listen to this: “McCain supporters hope his eloquent support for the Iraq intervention will earn him backing from the Republican base.” Now, this is in a Drive-By paper, but it’s not the Drive-By Media. This is Robert Novak. So once again: Rush is right. “McCain supporters hope his eloquent support” of the war will revive and resuscitate his campaign.
Story #6: Sheltering Children from Scorching Summer

RUSH: This is from the Raleigh News and Observer. “Schools Want Sun Shelters for Hot Kids — Principals of at least eight year-round Wake County schools, worried about how schoolchildren will cope with scorching summer heat, want to raise thousands of dollars to erect large canopies and shelters over playgrounds. A handful of Wake schools have the shelters, which are more common in places such as Las Vegas. At least one has erected a 40-foot-by-60-foot shelter that covers the entire playground at a cost of $25,000. Even less extravagant shelters can still cost $7,500.” You know what’s surprising to me about this? I didn’t think they let kids outside anymore. I thought they canceled recess. Kids can’t play tag, can’t play dodge ball. Now they’re letting them outside? That means they’ll be subjecting them to all kinds of scorching temperatures in the summer, global warming, and, of course, cancer and melanoma.
Story #7: Pittsburgh Drops “Public” from Public Schools
RUSH: “In Pittsburgh, the schools there “will drop ‘public’ from its name and adopt a new, standardized way of referring to its schools as part of a campaign to brighten and strengthen the district’s image. For example, Schenley High School will be called Pittsburgh Schenley. Superintendent Mark Roosevelt’s staff unveiled the policy at a school board Education Committee meeting last night. Under the policy, the district simply will call itself the ‘Pittsburgh Schools.’ The district’s logo — a pattern of circles, triangles and squares — will still be used. … By dropping ‘public’ from its name, Randall Taylor said, the district might be able to avoid the negative attitude often associated with public schools.”

Let me tell you people in Pittsburgh something. It has nothing to do with what you call it! Gee! It’s called results! You just have to marvel at bureaucrats in the way they tackle a problem — they don’t fix the problem. They fix a name — that may get rid of the bad image — but it doesn’t fix the problem. Now don’t get mad at me — I love Pittsburgh. I lived there for four or five years in the early seventies. It’s just that bureaucrats are bureaucrats. Democrats are Democrats. Liberals are liberals. They never fix the problem, they just try to change the image. You know, “How can we fool ’em today?”
Story #8: Kerry’s Firefighter Union Pals Attack Rudy

RUSH: Here’s this Rudy and the firefighters story. This is fascinating. The International Association of Firefighters yesterday afternoon in New York “released a video full of angry testimony belittling Rudy Giuliani’s support of New York City firefighters.” They’re mad as hell, claiming Rudy is running around claiming he was a big leader and pulling everything together after 9/11, and he didn’t do diddly-squat. Firefighters died, Rudy didn’t care, blah, blah, blah. So this is being compared to the swift-boat attack. The news on this is portraying the Giuliani camp as seeking to avoid a Kerry-type mistake. Don’t worry, media. There’s no comparison between John Kerry (who served in Vietnam) and Rudy Giuliani, because Rudy is not a wuss. He’s going to punch back at this.

You know what Kerry’s problem was? What the swift boat guys were saying was true! I keep hearing all this, “He should’ve fought back.” What was he going to say? Nobody has discredited anything the swift boat veterans said! The big problem is if somebody charges you with something and it’s true, what are you going to do? You do what Kerry did: you try to ignore it. You don’t elevate it so that it gets any more attention. The problem is the swift boat guys kept running the ads, and the Drive-By Media asked, “When are you going to fight back?” Kerry was saying, “When are you going to defend me? I shouldn’t have to fight back. You Drive-Bys are on my side. When are you going to attack the swift boat guys?” Then the Drive-Bys, “Okay, we will.”

So they tried to attack the swift boat guys, and the swift boat guys were undaunted. They were undeterred. They had the facts on their side. It’s amazing what you can do when you have the facts, when you have the truth, and when the people you’re talking about know it and can’t refute it. All they can do is say, “This is out of place in American politics! Why, this is hitting below the belt. Why, this is unkind. This is just uncalled for,” blah, blah, blah, blah. That’s all you can do, and then you’re kind of toast.

And speaking of the International Association of Firefighters, guess who was their candidate in 2004? Ah, John Kerry (who served in Vietnam). They were all over the Kerry campaign in ’04. “The IAFF backed Kerry in 2004, helping salvage a listing campaign in the primaries. IAFF President Harold Schaitberger was a constant fixture behind Kerry as he took the stage in Iowa, New Hampshire and other arenas to claim victory on his way to winning the nomination…. The first blow from Team Giuliani came in a release mocking the union as the ‘International Association of Partisan Politics’ and showing pictures of Schaitberger standing with Kerry. The campaign pointed out that the IAFF has supported Democratic presidential candidates since 1988. Giuliani’s campaign also pointed out that Schaitberger has held a number of roles in Democratic organizations and has contributed financially only to Democratic candidates.”

Don’t forget the firefighters that called here. Remember the firefighters that booed Mrs. Clinton? This is another one of these union things, where the leadership’s coming out and saying, “Firefighters hate Rudy. Firefighters think Rudy is a phony baloney, plastic banana, good time rock ‘n’ roller.” The rank-and-file doesn’t all think that, but the leadership does. So Rudy’s fighting back. It’s not going to be anywhere near the swift-boat thing because Rudy can fight back with facts and figures.
Story #9: Most Working Moms Don’t Want Full-Time Jobs
RUSH: This one interested me: “A new survey finds that 60% of working mothers do not want a fulltime job.” Say what? Sixty percent of working mothers don’t want a full-time job? Why, this is not good news for the feminists. This is horrible news. “An increasing portion of America’s working moms say their ideal situation would include a part-time job rather than working fulltime or staying at home.” It’s a Pew Research Center survey being released today, “and 21% of working mothers with children younger than 18 viewed full-time work as the best arrangement, but that’s down from 32% in 1977.” That’s a huge plummet. “Sixty percent of the working mothers said a part-time job would be best, up from 48% ten years ago; 19% said not working at all would be ideal, roughly the same as in 1997. Cary Funk, a Pew researcher on the survey, said, ‘The trend reflected women’s latest thoughts on the ideal arrangement for their children. It’s an expression of the difficulties of combining responsibilities of work and home.’ Only 16% of stay-at-home mothers…”

There’s a big shift in their thoughts, too. “Only 16% of stay-at-home mothers said their ideal situation would be to work fulltime outside the home, down from 24% in 1997.” Well, feminists are taking it here in the shor — on the chin. Phew! The problem could be solved with abortions, but they’re not having abortions anymore, not nearly as many. If they were we wouldn’t have the problem of having the children determine how your day can best be spent.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1:Vitamin C Does Nothing to Stop a Cold

RUSH: We also have bad news.Well, good news for me, bad news for all of you who buy into all the hype and propaganda.Vitamin C does nothing to prevent a cold.How many years have we heard this?Who was it, Linus Pauling that came up with that?It was a long time ago.We’ve been hearing it all our lives and so forth, and all it does is change the color of your urine.It has no effect.There are lessons to be learned here.Story #2:Kristof and Sick Compare Cheney to Ahmedinejad

RUSH: Oh, get this.This is incredible.Yesterday we had the story, Keith Ellison, first Muslim member of Congress retracted his comment that Bush reminds him of Hitler, called him Bush Hitler on the floor of the House of Representatives.Today Nick Kristof in the New York Times says, no, that’s not the right comparison.The comparison is to Dick Cheney and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.He goes and gets a confirmation on that from the disgraced Iranian expert at Columbia University, Gary Sick.Does the name Gary Sick remind you people of anything?Gary Sick was the guy who made up the whole October Surprise thing and wrote a book about it.This is the story that George Bush in 1980 took an SR-71 or some other form of transportation over to France to meet with Iranian officials holding US hostages and made a promise to them, “Just hold these guys. Don’t let ’em go before the election so that we win and we’ll deal with you afterwards.”The charge came out, Gary Sick wrote this book some ten years after that.Tom Foley was the speaker of the House, and I remember Foley going to the microphone and saying, “These charges are very serious.We have no evidence here, but the charges demand an investigation.”The seriousness of the charge here overrules and outweighs the nature of the evidence, of which there is none, other than Gary Sick’s book.I don’t understand why this guy has any credibility.He was all over television, and the Drive-Bys were just lapping it all up in an ongoing effort to discredit the Reagan years from ten years out.It was 1990, something like that.So anyway, Gary Sick, now the expert, consulted by Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times, says Cheney and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, they’re the same. They both have staffs that tell ’em what they want to hear.These staff members don’t care whether it’s right or wrong, they’re just pedal to the metal.Story #3:Chow Down!
Fat Will Be the New Normal in 2015

RUSH:”If people keep gaining weight at the current rate, fat will be the norm by 2015, with 75 percent of U.S. adults overweight and 41 percent obese, U.S. researchers predicted on Wednesday. A team at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore examined 20 studies published in journals and looked at national surveys of weight and behavior for their analysis, published in the journal Epidemiologic Reviews. ‘Obesity is a public health crisis.'” Well, hell, everything is a health crisis.Everything is a crisis.Everything in the media is a crisis.So of course it’s a crisis.”‘If the rate of obesity and overweight continues at this pace, by 2015, 75 percent of adults and nearly 24 percent of U.S. children and adolescents will be overweight or obese,’ Dr. Youfa Wang, who led the study, said in a statement.”I’m noticing a new trend here in journalistic style.The same information appears in just three paragraphs.Usually that’s not the way it is done.And, of course, overweight children and teenagers are commonly teased or ostracized by their peers, sometimes treated differently by teachers and even parents.”The stigma that society attaches to obesity can cause children immediate, and possibly lasting, harm, according to a research review. … Research has long demonstrated the weight bias that heavy children face. In a classic 1961 study, 640 subjects between 10 and 11 years old were shown six pictures…”Well, this is not going to be a problem, because in 2015 everybody is going to be fat, and the fat don’t make fun of the fat.So the fat people are going to be making fun of the skinny and in 2015, 2020, we’re going to be getting crisis stories about how the stigma attached to be skinny when you’re a kid in school can cause lifelong damage and harm, because they’re going to be normal.I mean according to the other research, in 2015, it’s going to be normal to be fat.So I’d chow down.I’d start making this stuff come true.Story #4:Judge Orders Placenta Returned for Consumption

RUSH: Get this. This is in Las Vegas:”A judge has ordered a southern Nevada hospital to return a placenta to a mother who sued to retrieve the afterbirth for her own consumption. Clark County District Court Judge Susan Johnson granted a preliminary injunction Tuesday, ordering Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center to return the placenta to Anne Swanson. Hospital officials said they will comply with the order to turn it over to Swanson within two weeks.”I’ll tell you… For consumption?At least you could say score one for private property rights out in the west.If you’re going to look at this, try to find the positive, you can find it there.Story #5: Getting to the Bottom of the Ban-Garlic Movement

RUSH: Here’s the NPR version of the garlic story.”In Italy, a debate is raging among chefs and diners about eliminating a pungent staple of the Italian diet: garlic.Critics say the herb stinks…” who, critics?That’s another favorite word of Drive-By Media journalists — critics.Is a critic credible?I’ll bet you it’s four people, just like the bunch that we have here, Center for Science and the Public Interest, two people and a fax machine, and the Drive-Bys love ’em.They put out a press release saying no more monosodium glutamate, it’s bad for you; no more Chinese food, it’s bad for you, and they try to get it banned for everybody else.Who cares who they are and what they say?”Well, they’re scientists, Rush.”Well, that doesn’t mean anything, either, these days, scientists, politicians, it’s all the same thing.”The debate starts in the center of Rome at La Trattoria restaurant, one of the city’s trendiest restaurants known for its innovative Sicilian cuisine. La Trattoria’s chef, Filippo La Mantia, has shunned garlic as the basis of his dishes in favor of other natural ingredients such as citrus and other herbs.La Mantia says that garlic is a leftover from when Italians were poor and used it to flavor their meager victuals. He says the average standard of living is high enough today that people can do without it. Italians consumed 108 million pounds of garlic in 2006, a 4 percent increase over the previous year, according to Coldiretti, Italy’s leading farmers association.La Mantia’s innovations have triggered a campaign to rid garlic from the Italian dining table. Supporters include a prominent TV journalist,” (Laughing)I knew it.I’m reading this, you’re hearing it as I’m hearing it.”A prominent TV journalist, who is writing a guide to garlic-free restaurants, and former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who was known to insist that his staff have mint-scented breath. But the campaign faces an uphill battle from average Italians who say they have history on their side. The ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes advised athletes to eat garlic to increase their endurance during competition. The classic Roman poet Virgil said garlic increased sexual potency,” and of course it also does other great health things as well.Let’s see, toward the end of the story, “Indeed, garlic does carry a stigma says Anna Maria Tozzi, owner of Rome’s Montevecchio restaurant. She says the herb should be used in moderation, despite its odiferous aftereffects.’There are lots of prejudices that people who eat and smell of garlic are second class, backward, unsophisticated,’ Tozzi says. ‘It’s a class thing for many people.'”All right now that helps me to understand this.So you’ve got the Italian elites who are leading this movement.It doesn’t sound like there are too many of them.The AP story probably says much the same thing.

Story #6: Environmentalist Wacko TerroristsVandalize Hummer

RUSH: There’s a story out of Washington, DC.(video) The guy’s name is Gareth Groves, and “when he brought home his massive new Hummer, he knew that his environmentally friendly neighbors disapproved, but he didn’t expect what happened next.His Hummer was parked for five days on the street before two masked men smashed the windows, slashed the tires, and scratched into the body ‘for the environ.”The thought of somebody vandalizing it never crossed my mind,’ says Gareth Groves, who lives near American University in northwest Washington.’I’ve kind of been in shock.’Police said they’ve seen small acts of vandalism in the area from time to time but they’ve not seen anything so severe or with such a clear political message in recent years.Commander Andy Solberg said, ‘This seems to be an isolated event.’Investigators said they’re searching for the vandals but they don’t have many leads.Witnesses said they saw two men smash up the seven-foot-tall Hummer early Monday and then run off.As Groves contemplates what to do with the remains of his $38,000 car, he has had to deal with a number of people who have driven by the crime scene and glared at him in smug satisfaction.’I’d say one in five people that come by have that, you-got-what-you-deserve’ look,” said his friend Andy Sexton.” You know, you people on the left are going to have to get a grip.You’re out there shooting soldiers. You’re plotting blowing up fuel lines and so forth all because you think we need to get out of Iraq, and Bush lied, and the soldiers are killing innocent women and children and so forth.This vandalism… I mean, there have been violent environmental groups like Earth First and a bunch of these wackos that have tried to trash and set fire to whole dealerships full of SUVs for a long time, but now these are two wacko individuals in ski masks running through the neighborhood.Why would they care?I would think that they’re somebody in the neighborhood.Who would know outside the neighborhood?One of the neighbors who disapproves might have been waxing eloquent in their arrogant, condescending look-down-their-nose-at-everybody way, “Yes, you can’t believe what just happened in my neighborhood! (sniff)The guy down the street has a Hummer, and it’s up the street, and I have to see it every day, and I can’t handle it.” So he’s telling this or she’s telling this to some of her friends who live outside the neighborhood, “Well, we’ll do something about that for you.” They’re trying to intimidate the guy based on the kind of car that he drives.”Neighbor Lucille Liem, who owns a Prius hybrid, said, ‘A common sentiment in the neighborhood is that large vehicles such as a Hummer are impractical and a stain on the earth.The neighborhood in general is very concerned with the environmental.It’s more liberal leaning. It’s ridiculous to be driving a Hummer,'” in our neighborhood. (I wonder if it was a Prius that attacked the Hummer.) It’s another example of liberals and who they are, ladies and gentlemen.(interruption) Why can’t they just mind their own business? What do you mean, mind their own business? (interruption)Why, they’re not going to mind their own business, Mr. Snerdley! It’s the whole point of a liberal.A liberal’s job is to mind everybody else’s business, not his.He’s already doing everything right.He’s already driving the junk cars. He’s already doing all these crazy, irrelevant little environmental things to “save the planet,” and when not everybody else is doing it, “That’s not right, and we’re going to force you to not eat garlic. We’re going to force you to not use trans-fats. We’re going to force you to get rid of your Hummer if we have to vandalize it.”They think they’re doing the Lord’s work.In this case, the “lord” is Gaia.Story #7:Feds Warned to Retract Florida Mouse Habitat

RUSH: Well, here’s a story that you don’t see much.It is from the PacificLegalFoundation.org.”Federal officials must retract and reconsider their designation of thousands of acres in Florida and Alabama as additional ‘critical habitat’ for the Perdido Key beach mouse — or face a lawsuit. So warns a formal letter mailed to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service last night by attorneys with Pacific Legal Foundation’s Atlantic Center.The PLF-Atlantic Center lawyers represent Florida property owners who have been unable to rebuild after their homes were destroyed by 2004’s Hurricane Ivan, because of new government land use restrictions to ‘protect’ mice. The letter sent yesterday constitutes the ’60 day notice’ that plaintiffs must provide before challenging federal endangered species regulations. If federal officials do not comply with the letter’s request, the property owners plan to file a lawsuit in two months.

“Last October, federal wildlife officials designated 6,200 acres in coastal Alabama and the Florida Panhandle as additional ‘critical habitat’ for three mice, including the Perdido Key beach mouse, that have been listed under the Endangered Species Act.’In short, they ordered a ‘freeze’ on thousands of acres — harming hundreds of homeowners and other property owners — on the basis of slipshod scientific work,’ Fernandez continued. ‘This is why we’re on strong legal ground — and why the feds are staring at a lawsuit if they don’t admit their mistake and go back to the drawing board.'”I don’t think anybody at the fed ever gets worried about a lawsuit, because money is not a problem for them.Even if they lose big, what does it matter?The people involved in this are bureaucrats.They’re not going to have to pay any personal damages or losses if they lose.So I don’t know how intimidated they’re going to be, but it’s typical.Story #8:EU Declares: Men Must Do Housework

RUSH: In news from the European Union, ladies and gentlemen: “Men must take on more household chores for their pay differential over women to disappear, the European Union’s employment chief said on Wednesday in an appeal to all males in the bloc.The European Commission said in a report that women in the 27-nation EU earned 15 percent less than men, measured by gross hourly wages, against 17 percent in 1995, showing little progress on indirect sexual discrimination in the job market.’There is no sign of any sustainable improvement and this is quite simply unacceptable,’ Employment Commissioner Vladimir Spidla said, adding a pay gap between men and women existed even in the EU’s executive Commission.He said men, regardless of whether they worked full or part-time, contributed seven hours a week of unpaid household work.Women, on the other hand, contributed 35 hours a week if they also had a part-time job and 24 hours a week if employed full-time elsewhere. This made it impossible for them to devote as much time as men to their careers, Spidla said.’So this is an appeal to men: It is not possible to reduce the pay gap if we do not make a greater contribution at home,’ he told a news conference.” This is a news conference!Now, forget for a moment the issue, forget the pay gap, men and women and all that, because this is a cyclical story in the Drive-By Media both here and in the UK.The important thing here is that you have a high government official in the EU telling men what they have to do at home, and how much more of it they have to do in order for there to be equality.This is perfectly illustrative of just who liberals and socialists and big-government types are.Society is just not smart enough to work these kind of things out.The free market does not take care of these horribly unfair discriminatory practices! Why who knew this kind of discrimination was going on even in happy marriages? The Breck Girl is going to jump all over this one.This one is made for the Breck Girl.It won’t be long before his wife goes out and says much the same thing, because she does most of the talking in this campaign.She’s not doing anything at home. (sigh) So she’ll go out there and she can say, “This is the defining women’s issue of our time: poverty, women’s rights in the home.Hillary, she’s working like a man, so she doesn’t have to be at home.”Story #9:The First Ski Resort Victim of Global Warming

RUSH: Ah, this is just rich!This is just rich.A rottenly managed, a poorly managed ski resort in France, a town called Abondance, has shut down, and the people that blew it in running it, they’re blaming global warming.So we have the first ski resort victim of global warming. “Abondance is the French Alps’ first ski station to fall apparent victim to global warming. It will almost certainly not be the last…. Investors are not ready to write off Alpine ski resorts yet, noting how unpredictable weather-dependent investments are. … Restaurant owner Marie-Jane Teninge, 61, blamed bad management for the station’s closure. ‘I am skeptical about global warming. It’s just a matter of cycles,’ she said, adding that she was ready to pay more taxes to keep the station open.” I wouldn’t be surprised the people that run and own this place are a bunch of activists themselves.So anyway, for all intents and purposes, as far as the Drive-Bys are concerned, and this is AP, it’s the first ski resort victim to global warming — and certainly, certainly, certainly is not to be the last, ladies and gentlemen.Story #10:Democrats Aid Radical Islamists, Trial Lawyers

RUSH: News item:”Democrats are trying to pull a provision from a homeland security bill that will protect the public from being sued for reporting suspicious behavior that may lead to a terrorist attack…” This bill was proposed by Peter King, and it was in the aftermath of the flying imams, those six of them that got on an airplane in Minneapolis and started behaving in a manner similar to what was reported on the flights on 9/11.So some passengers and flight crew reported ’em, and the imams threatened to sue the airline and the passengers and all that.So they introduced this legislation that would protect the public from being sued for reporting suspicious behavior.But the government itself is telling us to do this.”Be vigilant out there! Keep an eye out! Keep a sharp eye out for suspicious behavior!”Now, the Democrats are trying to take this out.”This legislation moves to a House and Senate conference committee this afternoon and will implement final recommendations from the 9/11 Commission, and Peter King said, ‘Democrats are trying to find any technical excuse to keep immunity out of the language of the bill to protect citizens who, in good faith, report suspicious activity to the cops or law enforcement.It’s a slap in the face of good citizens who do their patriotic duty and come forward and it caves in to radical Islamists.'”It does!What in the world is the benefit to the Democrats of this? The trial lawyers! All right. “How dare you try to limit lawsuits?” is the answer to the question, ladies and gentlemen.The trial lawyers.This is a potential goldmine out there waiting to be raked in.I’m glad you asked.Story #11:Judge Throws Out Valerie Plame’s Lawsuit

RUSH: I want to pass one bit of information.The judge has dismissed Valerie Plame’s lawsuit against members of the Bush administration for leaking her identity.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: No Mention of “Parent” in Story on UK Kids
RUSH: Here’s a story from the French News Agency about the crisis involving the yutes in the UK. “British teenagers are among the worst behaved in Europe, a study by a leading think tank said yesterday, blaming government…” I want you parents to listen to this. “[A] study by a leading think tank said that British teenagers are among the worst behaved in Europe, blaming government policy failures for high levels of fighting, binge drinking, drug taking, and underage sex.” The Institute for Public Policy Research, a bunch of libs, said that “young Britons were left to their own devices through successive policy failures. The report – ‘Freedom’s Orphans: Raising Youth in a Changing World’ – was published as the government announced a new 184-million, 10-year strategy for young people.” So the government claims they screwed it up and so they come up with a new more comprehensive plan that’s going to spend even more money. Makes sense to me. “It will be supplemented by cash from bank accounts dormant for 15 years,” and this story goes on, and I could read the whole thing to you. Britain is getting slammed for failing its out of control teens. Not once in this story is the word “parent” mentioned. Not once in this story will you read the word “parent.”

You have a lib think tank analyzing why British teenagers are so out of control, and it’s because there are inadequate government programs. I got an interesting e-mail yesterday in the Rush comments line. Somebody who subscribes to the website sent me a note and said, “You know what? You had a caller the other day…” and I could just hear this guy typing in anger as he wrote this. “You had a caller the other day, and he said, ‘You gotta stop this play-by-play, Republicans versus Democrats.’ We all know what the Democrats are. We all know what the liberals are. You gotta start teaching conservatism. You don’t do that enough. You gotta be like Reagan. You gotta start teaching conservatism.” I thought about that, and he’s got a point up to a certain extent. But in the process of exposing liberalism, such as stories like this, are we not in fact teaching conservatism? Still, it’s a good point. Maybe what I should do after reading one of these stories, rather than just assume all of you know that this is whacked out and silly and stupid, but also dangerous. Government thinking it’s responsible for raising kids, nanny government. Liberals here do that. Maybe I should follow it up by saying how conservatives look at this and how we philosophize over this. Don’t I make that point when I say, “Not one time in this story will you see the word ‘parent'”?
Story #2: Actual Nanny State: NYC Bans Baby Bottles

RUSH: When I first read this story, I said, “This is absurd. This is just getting out of hand, and nobody’s stopping it. Everybody is going along with it. We’re losing New York,” and then I thought, “Well maybe I don’t know enough about this, because I’ve not been a parent,” but, you know, they’ve banned smoking in New York City, and they’ve banned trans-fats, and now they’re going to ban the baby bottle. They’re going to mandate breast-feeding by 2020. I’m not kidding. “Free formula samples and formula promotional materials are now banned from gift bags given to new mothers at the 11 hospitals run by the city’s Health and Hospitals Corp. Instead, new mothers will get a tote bag stuffed with disposable nursing pads, a mini-cooler for breast-milk bottles, and pint-sized T-shirts for the babies that proudly declare ‘I eat at mom’s.’ The move comes as World Breast Feeding Week is set to begin tomorrow. And today, city health officials will announce a campaign to promote breast-feeding instead of using formula.”

You know, I remember when I was a kid, I had dreams that I was Dolly Parton’s baby and she did put me on formula. My first reaction is, “It’s none of your damn business! If somebody wants to bottle feed the baby, get out of their lives!” But I don’t know enough about the medical aspect. We have this story from Great Britain and parents not mentioned in a story about how the government is responsible for “youth behavior.” British kids are running out of control, drinking, drugging, binging, all these things. They need more government programs to fix it. Not once in the story will you read the word “parents.” Now you have the City of New York telling people you can’t smoke, you can’t eat trans-fat, and now you can’t bottle feed your baby. Do you think it’s a good idea, Mr. Snerdley? I know I’m going to get a sexist answer to this. I shouldn’t even ask you. It’s healthier for the children? Breast milk is healthier for the children. Well, I’ve heard that, and that’s one of the reasons that I pulled that. But, do we have any known cases of babies dying having been fed formula? Do we know this? Like the woman in Maryland that aborted her own fetuses and buried them, was that because of formula? Well, no, they weren’t even born yet so it’s not even a factor.
Story #3: Daily Commute Not as Stressful as We’ve Thought
RUSH: By the way, ladies and gentlemen, I don’t know if you have seen this or not, but a new study has just come out, and according to this study, the daily commute is not nearly as stressful as we all thought. We know this because they’ve taken polls of people who engage in a daily commute. I have always chosen to live where I don’t have a commute. I have lived my whole life that way, because I think it’s important to be focused on work and not get distracted. After all, my friends, I am a performer. I have made an effort to live no farther than 15 minutes from work. Well, sometimes in Manhattan it can take 30 minutes to get to work because of traffic, but I’m riding there and working in the back of the car while on the way in. In Sacramento, I was 15 minutes away. Here, I’m 15 minutes away. I have made that an objective. So the stress thing in commutes has never been a big deal to me anyway.
Story #4: Galen: RNC Out-Fundraising Howard Dean’s DNC
RUSH: Rich Galen in his Mullings blog has some interesting statistics today. Everybody is looking at fundraising just within the confines of the presidential race. Of course, in the presidential race, the Democrat candidates are shellacking the Republican candidates in fundraising. However, you may not know that at the committee level, the national committee level, the Republican National Committee, is kicking the DNC’s wallet pocket. “In the month of June, the RNC raised about $6.4 million for the month. The DNC raised about $4.1 million for June. So what? Well, the Republicans had a short spurt which got them a couple million more in June. So this. If you look at fundraising for the cycle, the RNC has out-raised the DNC about $45 million to about $28 million. A fundraising edge of about $17 million — and then there’s the ever-important cash-on-hand number. Howard Dean and his DNC enters the second half of 2007 with cash on hand a touch under $5 million. The GOP goes into the second half with cash on hand of nearly $16 million.”

This is not being reported. It’s no mystery as to why. The picture, the template, is: Republicans are being abandoned by their ardent supporters. Republicans have no hope. It’s over. We may as well just crown the Democrats and whoever they nominate president after their primaries, because the Republicans don’t have a chance. Look at the fundraising.

It’s not exactly that way.
Story #5: Journalists at Bottom of “Prestige” Jobs
RUSH: A story here from Editor and Publisher says that a Harris poll measuring the public perceptions of 23 professions and occupations came out today. Journalists are in the bottom ten. “Just 13% of the 1100 US adults surveyed in June and July said the occupation of journalism had very great prestige. Only 13% said that, 16% said it had hardly any at all. Journalists are at the bottom of the list of prestige jobs.” This was not the case on this day, August 1st, in 1988 when this program started.
Story #6: You Gotta Wonder If She’s Available Next Week
RUSH: I was just watching the Fox News Channel, and there was this crawl at the bottom of the screen: “Jacksonville, Florida: 75-year-old guy claims that a hooker held him hostage for two weeks.” I’ve gotta wonder if she’s available next week.
Story #7: Democrats Scramble to Expand Eavesdropping
RUSH: In another unbelievable story; the headline is really all you need here. This is the New York Times: “Democrats Scrambling to Expand Eavesdropping.” Yes, you heard right. “Under pressure from President Bush, Democrat leaders in Congress are scrambling to pass legislation this week to expand the government’s electronic wiretapping powers.” Dingy Harry, “in a statement Monday night, said, ‘We hope our Republican counterparts will work together with us to fix the problem, rather than try again to gain partisan political advantage at the expense of our national security.'” What an absolute hoot! We hope our Republican counterparts will work together with us, the Democrats, to fix the problem? There wasn’t a problem until you guys came along and tried to dismantle it! Then to accuse the Republicans of gaining partisan political advantage at the expense of our national security? Ha!

Dingy Harry, if you read the whole story here, is blaming Republican in Name Only Republicans “for endangering American citizens by threatening to investigate President Bush and eavesdropping on suspected terrorists”! The chutzpah! They have spent two years trying to nail Bush on this. Now all of a sudden, they’re blaming Republicans for it. I’m telling you, these clowns have done all they can to eliminate the power inherent in the presidency during Bush’s term. Now they’re hastening to restore it in time — and guess why? Herself: Hillary Clinton. The terrorist surveillance program is now about 50% as powerful as it used to be, and besides, the headbangers now know what we’re doing. The whole exposure of this in the New York Times blew the program sky high. The program’s been compromised. Thank you, Pinch Sulzberger — who, of course, doesn’t bring his liberal ideology to his newspaper like Rupert Murdoch does.
Story #8: Yes! Liberals Flee to Canada in Droves
RUSH: ABC News is reporting that emigration from the United States to Canada, has increased dramatically and that the people leaving are mostly liberals. Hollywood stars never get around to making good on their threats to leave but many every day liberal folks are carrying through on their plans. “The number of U.S. citizens who moved to Canada last year hit a 30-year high, with a 20 percent increase over the previous year and almost double the number who moved in 2000…. The current increase appears to be fueled largely by social and political reasons… ‘Those who are coming have the highest level of education — these aren’t people who can’t get a job in the states. They’re coming because many of them don’t like the politics, the Iraq War and the security situation in the U.S. By comparison, Canada is a tension-free place. People feel safer.'” Liberals leaving America for Canada. Yes! Finally, they’re following through on their promises.
Story #9: Laser Printer Will Become the New SUV
RUSH: I knew it. I did the story on how printer dust is the next environmental hazard. Fox is doing a big segment with this “expert,” all earnest and focused about how dangerous it is for all of us to be next to our laser printers. It’s going to be just like the SUV, mark my words.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Fat Breeding Boosts Worldwide Obesity

RUSH: Every day, folks, it just gets weirder and weirder out there. Now, all of a sudden, scientists at the Rowett Research Institute at Aberdeen over in the UK have discovered that mating among overweight people is boosting obesity in the world. Scientists say that people select partners of a similar size to them. Not on purpose, folks. Nobody does that on purpose! It just doesn’t happen. They end up that way after they meet, maybe, but they don’t choose it. This is absurd.
Story #2: Americans See Fat as Normal

RUSH: No sooner than I ask the question than I provide the answer ladies and gentlemen. Going back here, before we get to sound bites of the Democrat debate. Going back to this story from Aberdeen University about people selecting partners of similar size to them according to scientists, meaning that people who are overweight are mating with one another and for some inexplicable reason, their children are then prone to being overweight. Scientists haven’t figured this out. Research continues. The question, why do the obese marry the obese? Here is the answer: “Americans See Fat as Normal — Carrying a spare tire or two around the waist has become socially acceptable in the United States as the population’s waistlines have expanded, according to a study released on Tuesday. Economic researchers from Florida State University and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston…”

What the hell are they doing? “…found the weight of the average woman rose by or 13.5 percent between 1976 and 2000 — but their ideal weight also edged up. In 1994 the average woman tipped the scales at 147 pounds…” Really? Hmm. “In 1994 the average woman tipped the scales at 147 pounds but she wanted to weigh only 132 pounds — but less than a decade later…” for those of you in Rio Linda that’s 2003, “the average woman weighed 153 pounds but said her desired weight was 135 pounds. ‘This is a social force that we are trying to document because the rise in obesity has occurred so rapidly over the past 30 years.’ … said the fact that even women’s ideal weight had increased suggested there was less social pressure to lose weight.” Oh! Fat people don’t think there’s anything wrong with being fat anymore. So go out and marry each other.
Story #3: Scientists Conquer Flop Sweat

RUSH: “People who suffer from excessive armpit sweating may find relief with a minimally invasive surgical procedure, a study shows. Really sweaty ‘pits, technically known as focal axillary hyperhidrosis, can cause ‘serious emotional and social problems,’ note Dr. Falk G. Bechara and colleagues from Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany, in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.” So I guess what we have here is a cure for flop sweat.
Story #4: Emmy Show Rejects Fox’s Green Carpet

RUSH: A lot of people were panicking yesterday, folks, over a poorly written story about Fox and the TV show “24” going green. Everybody assumed that the plot lines would feature eco-friendly behavior on the part of Jack Bauer, such as shooting SUVs or driving a Prius, some such thing. It’s not that at all. By the way, all Fox TV shows are going green on the production side to try to be carbon neutral, but the plot lines are not going to be oriented that way. It is actually silly. It’s a great illustration of how corporate America responds. Libs are out there saying corporate America is poisoning everybody, polluting the planet. Corporate America is scared to death of alienating customers and if they think that customers are all caught up in all of this, then they are going to issue press releases saying, “We are going to be carbon neutral in our productions.” It is not going to matter one tenth of one percent to a rating point. It isn’t going to save all that much money. It is strictly PR, strictly image because they’re responding to what they think, they’re rolling the dice, are enough person concerned about this. Is it going to make you watch any Fox show because you know that the production — especially when you know this whole carbon neutral thing is a hoax anyway.

Carbon offsets? Fluorescent compact light bulbs? It’s not going to matter a hill of beans. It might make them some additional advertiser dollars for sucker advertisers that want to be associated with it. But that’s even a long shot. It got even worse than that. “In a move that would have parted with decades of broadcast tradition, Fox wanted to roll out a green carpet during the presentation of the 2007 primetime Emmy awards. But the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences which considers the traditional red carpet and iconic part of the brand, overruled Fox’s request earlier today.” See, a green carpet. Mattering to what? Meaning what? Accomplishing what? Zilch. Zero. Nada. Nothing more than those people who run around and drive hybrids and say, “I care. I’m better than you.” Like those ribbons. The red ribbon for AIDS, whatever all those colors were. I can remember on my TV show, I showed up one day with 12 of those different colored ribbons on my jacket to illustrate how I cared more than you about everything. It didn’t achieve or accomplish one thing towards solving whatever problem. “Changing the carpet color was an unannounced part of Fox’s green themed Emmy Awards presentation strategy which includes employing hybrid vehicles for event transportation, using recycled materials and reducing carbon emissions from the production.”

Story #5: Man Fatally Struck by Driverless SUV

RUSH: Lawrence, New York, this is not far from JFK: “A man was fatally struck by an SUV with no driver at the wheel. This happened on a sidewalk in Lawrence, Long Island yesterday. Nassau County cops said that the accident occurred at 2:46 in the afternoon. A woman had parked the SUV and had left the vehicle when it jumped the curb, struck a man walking on the sidewalk. The man was taken to St. John’s Hospital where he died.”

This is a genuine shocker.

I mean, “Oh, my God!” is the reaction you have.

“Oh, my God! What’s happening?”
Story #6: Breaking News: No Hurricanes!

RUSH: We have breaking global warming new, ladies and gentlemen. Breaking global warming news! There are still no hurricanes out there. By the way, you know why they revised these hurricane forecasts down? It is real simple. Anybody could do it. Hurricane season starts June 1, goes through November 30. They make the forecast for that six month period. You go through a month without a hurricane, you have to reduce the number. It’s just the law of averages. Another month without a hurricane, got to reduce the number. So we get through two months here without a hurricane, and that doesn’t matter because the hurricanes are irrelevant. Global warming is going to cause more volcanoes. Global warming is going to cause more earthquakes, which, by the way, we just had at 7.5 magnitude over in Indonesia.
Story #7: Why Would Anyone Want to Leave Cuba, UK?
Stories: Cuba | United Kingdom
RUSH: I have a headline here. I can’t believe this. I’m stunned. “Cuba May Skip Boxing Meet Due to Defections, Castro — Cuba is considering pulling out of the amateur World Boxing Championships in Chicago in October to avoid new defections by its boxers, Cuban leader Fidel Castro said on Wednesday. ‘Imagine all the sharks of the Mafia wanting fresh meat,’ the convalescing 80-year-old Castro wrote in a column published on the front page of the Communist Party newspaper Granma.” Uh, why would anybody want to leave this island paradise? Why? They have free health care, free rice cookers for a lot of people. Not only is it free health care, the best medical care in the world. We have liberal activists telling us. Why would anybody want to leave Cuba?

A companion story: “4,000 People a Week Trying to Leave the UK — is facing a mass exodus of people looking to escape the crime and grime of modern living. The country’s biggest foreign visa consultancy firm has revealed that applications have soared in the last seven months by 80 per cent to almost 4,000 a week. Ten years ago the figure was just 300 a week. Most people are relocating within the Commonwealth — in Australia, Canada and South Africa. They are almost all young professionals and skilled workers aged 20-40. And many cite their reason for wanting to quit as immigration to these shores — and the burden it is placing on their communities and local authorities. The dearth of good schools, spiralling [sic] house prices, rising crime and tax increases are also driving people away.” It doesn’t surprise me, ladies and gentlemen. People flee modern liberalism wherever it ends up becoming dominant. They’re fleeing Cuba. They have been for a long time trying to. Now 4,000 a week are trying to get out of the UK.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Correction: Oscar the Cat Is Not Dead

RUSH: I have to start off with a correction today. We had a story Tuesday about that cat Oscar in Rhode Island, who lives in a nursing home. This cat seemed to have a sense of when residents of the old folks’ home were going to cash it in; the cat would jump on the bed of the patient about to cash it in, and the patient would cash it in. They said, “Well, this is incredible! How does this cat know this?” and a lot of the patients were getting a little upset about Oscar. So there was a story yesterday that the cat had been found dead in the nursing home with a dented bedpan near the body. A very curious member of our audience, Jay Cochensparger, called the nursing home up there to confirm this, because he thought the story might have been a hoax. Not that I was making it up, of course, but he thought it was a hoax, and the lady who answered the phone up there said that Oscar is indeed alive and well.

They heard the story, too, on the program up there and were quite surprised. Apparently this show’s big in there with the staff. So Mr. Cochensparger (I hope I’m pronouncing his name right) wanted me to know that Oscar the cat is still alive. I guess the patients up there don’t care, otherwise this story would be true. So it was a well-written hoax and I should have suspected it. I let my professional guard down; I should have suspected it because there was no identifying link, source, or whatever, but it was written pretty well as a hoax. So, anyway, it was just a cat, no big deal. The cat’s still alive. The story ends well.
Story #2: Farmer from India Solving Population Problem
RUSH: Did you see this story about this guy, where does this guy live? He’s a 90-year-old guy and his[21st] child was just born. He’s a farmer in India. His name is Nanu Ram Jogi, married to his fourth wife, and boasts he doesn’t want to stop — plans to continue producing children until he’s 100. “Women love me,” he says. There’s a picture of the guy here, and the fact that woman love this guy is probably established by the next story. Anyway, I was happy to see this because this guy is making up for my unwillingness in this department. And there is a birthrate replacement problem worldwide — at least my lack of willingness in this area is being compensated for by this guy.
Story #3: Women Attracted to Caveman-Like Faces
RUSH: This next story is from LiveScience.com (they have some great stuff): “Men With ‘Cavemen’ Faces Most Attractive to Women.” This Indian farmer doesn’t exactly look like a caveman, but he’ll never be on the cover of GQ, either. “Guys with bulldog-like faces have been chick magnets throughout human evolutionary history. A recent study of the skulls of human ancestors and modern humans finds that women, and thereby evolution, selected for males with relatively short upper faces.” What’s an upper face? A forehead? “The region between the brow and the upper-lip is scrunched proportionately to the overall size of their heads. Among the men who fit the bill: Will Smith and Brad Pitt.” Now, would any of you assign caveman-like faces to either of those two guys? I guess the next time a woman calls you a Cro-Magnon, it is a compliment, apparently.
Story #4: Gaza Strip Public Employees Paid to Stay Home
RUSH: Story from the Gaza strip: “Gaza’s public employees are getting paid on one condition: Stay home. Such is the irony of life in the Gaza Strip now that Hamas militants are firmly in charge. A rival pro-Western government in the West Bank is delivering salaries to most of Gaza’s civil servants as long as they don’t work.” For those of you in Rio Linda, this is government employees. “The moderate Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas doesn’t want its money propping up Hamas, which violently seized control of Gaza in June. But neither does it want to punish Gaza’s mostly pro-Fatah 90,000 civil servants whose salaries form the backbone of the already badly bruised economy.”

I only mention this story because it portends trouble down the road. When they’re going to raise all these cigarette and tobacco taxes to fund increasing amounts of health care insurance for the little children so high that they basically tax the product out of existence, guess what? There isn’t going to be any tax revenue to pay for all of the health care insurance benefits for the little children (which, by the way, are qualified as children in this program up to age 25). It probably won’t be long — just a matter of time — before state and federal governments do the same thing that’s happening here in Gaza because when everybody stops smoking there won’t be any money to pay all these federal employees to actually work. But we’ll not stop paying them; they just won’t have to go to work because there’s nothing for them to do.
Story #5: ChiComs Sold Used Chopsticks

RUSH: A Beijing factory and used chopsticks are in the news. Some Beijing factorysold used chopsticks. They sold up to 100,000 pairs a day without any form of disinfection, a newspaper said on Wednesday, “in the latest of a string of Chinese food and product safety scares.” Do you believe that? Who recycles chopsticks, for crying out loud? Environmentalists wackos, I guess. I don’t even use them; I never learned how. Seriously, why would anybody recycle a chopstick?
Story #6: First Official Holiday Doom-and-Gloom Story

RUSH: “U.S. retailers…” This is so predictable. The only thing different here is that it’s August. I have for you, ladies and gentlemen, the first official doom-and-gloom story about the holiday season. It’s from Reuters. “U.S. retailers are still sweating through the back-to-school shopping season, but an early chill has already crept into their prospects for the all-important holiday season,” as it does every year in the Drive-By Media. They always present news to us that there is a chill over the retail outlook for the holiday season. They normally don’t do it in August, but they’re doing it today. “Numerous retailers, from Wal-Mart Stores to Target, have warned that the second half of the year will be more difficult than the first as the deteriorating housing market, higher fuel and food costs, and an undulating stock market take a toll on shoppers.” Wait a second, how could that be? I thought the stock market was for people in Wall Street! I thought Main Street didn’t benefit — oh, I take it back. When the market goes up, only the rich do well. When the market goes down, only Main Street suffers. Yup.

“‘There’s caution in the air,’ said Marie Driscoll, retail analyst at Standard & Poor’s. While saying it is too early to predict how holiday sales will unfold, Driscoll said that retailers will need to stock the ‘absolutely right product’ this holiday season or expect to have to resort to cutting prices and matching competitors’ discounts to win dollars from selective shoppers this year.” Have you ever noticed that every year when you people go out and Christmas shop, you search for deals? You don’t do it any other time of the year, apparently, but you’re always out there searching for deals and it’s up to the retailers now to make sure they don’t overstock the wrong items. Well, guess what? That is a concern. It’s part of the business plan 365 days a year, not just during the holidays. What did you say, H.R.? Oh, yes: I do that, too. Not only do I try to buy the wrong stuff during holiday time, I try to find the most expensive. In fact, if somebody is having a sale, I won’t go there, because I want to help the retailers who are charging full boat because I know they’re in trouble.
Story #7: “Experts” Stumped by Low Unemployment
RUSH: Companion story to the doom-and-gloom holiday one: “Fewer people signed up for jobless benefits last week, an encouraging sign that most businesses aren’t resorting to big layoffs amid a housing slump and the painful credit crunch.” Wait a minute. I thought we just heard that the holidays are going to be awful for these exact reasons! Here’s the story: “Deteriorating housing market, higher fuel and food costs, and an undulating stock market take a toll on shoppers,” it is thought. But, “Fewer people signed up for jobless benefits last week, an encouraging sign that most businesses aren’t resorting to big layoffs amid a housing slump and the painful credit crunch.” So what are we to believe? “The Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications filed for unemployment insurance dipped by 2,000 to 322,000 for the week ending Aug. 18. It marked the first drop in new claims in roughly a month. The showing was a bit higher than the 320,000 analysts were forecasting.” So once again the analysts, the “experts,” are stumped. Unemployment claims just didn’t come in the way they thought they were going to come in — as usual.
Story #8: Bail Them Out with Whose Money, Mr. Gross?
RUSH: Try this from CNN: “Famed bond fund manager Bill Gross…” Have you ever heard of “famed bond fund manager Bill Gross”? Have you, Brian? I’m in the bond market, and I never heard of the “famed bond fund manager Bill Gross.” Anyway, he said that “the White House should bail out the millions of American homeowners who face the dreaded prospect of foreclosure this year. ‘If we can bail out Chrysler, why can’t we support the American homeowner?’ Gross wrote in his monthly investment outlook on PIMCO’s Web site. With nearly 2 million homeowners at risk of losing their homes this year and with housing prices rapidly receding, Gross said President Bush, not the Federal Reserve, is the best hope for ‘almost homeless homeowners.’ … ‘Write some checks, bail them out, prevent a destructive housing deflation that (Fed Chairman) Ben Bernanke is unable to do. After all W”, you’re “the Decider,” aren’t you?’ Gross wrote.” Okay, famed bond fund manager, Bill Gross, a question. You want George Bush to rescue and bail out these homeowners. May I ask with whose money do you have in mind? I’d really like to know who’s going to bail them out.
Story #9: Aging Boomers Hope to Get It On in Old Age

RUSH: Here’s this story on CNN about the seasoned citizens having more sex than you think. Actually, this story does not relate to me because, I must be honest, I don’t think about seasoned citizens having sex — so I don’t know how they can be having more sex than I think that they’re having because I don’t think about it. In fact, I didn’t think about it until I saw this headline from CNN: “Seniors Having More Sex Than You Think — Many older Americans routinely engage in vaginal intercourse, [Lewinskys] and masturbation, a landmark study into a long-taboo subject reported Wednesday.”

Now — heh, heh — how many of you want to think about this now? “‘From a societal perspective, I would say that old people are young people later in life,’ said Dr. Stacy Tesler Lindau, lead author of the federally funded study, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Sexual activity reported among the 3,005 men and women who participated in the survey did decrease with age, particularly among the oldest participants — from 73% among those 57 to 64 years of age to 53% among those 65 to 74 years of age to 26% among those 75 to 85 years of age… Among the survey’s many discoveries was that about half of those 57 to 75 years of age who remained sexually active reported engaging in [Lewinskys]… The figure on masturbation ‘reflects a level of sexual need, even among men at very advanced ages, and speaks to the fact that sexuality is a lifelong proposition,’ said Edward O. Laumann, a study co-author and a sociologist at the University of Chicago.”

Now, what is it do you think that prompted this? These things just don’t just happen. These scientists, these researchers, don’t just pop out of the jack-in-the-box one day and say, “You know, I wonder if old folks out there are getting it on?” I’ll tell you what the reason is why CNN is reporting this stuff — it’s because all of these Baby Boomers are about “me, me, me, me, me,” and wondering what it’s going to be like when they’re that old! They want to know if they can still go out and do the Lewinskys and all these other things so they decided to do a survey to find out what’s ahead of them… so to speak. I guess I could have said “in front of them,” but that would be worse.
Story #10: Walter Williams Column He’ll Discuss Tomorrow

RUSH: Okay, folks: I have the roster here of guest hosts for tomorrow and next week. We have Walter Williams on Friday. He has a great column today, too, and I didn’t get a chance to get to it. Tell Dr. Williams to share the theory in his column with the audience tomorrow.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Hillary Is Not Pulling Out… of Michigan
RUSH: Did you see the story? Five Democrats have withdrawn from the Michigan primary. Well, I don’t care that five Democrats have withdrawn from the Michigan primary. What’s funny to me is that — and it’s such a delight to be able to say this — Hillary is not pulling out of Michigan. Okay, there, I did it.
Story #2: Pelosi Sick of the Kooks in Her Garden

RUSH: A couple of things I want to get to before we get to an analysis of the Republican debate last night. We have some truly hilarious news about Nancy Pelosi today. Do you realize that she’s been Cindy Sheehaned for the last five minutes? The kooks, her fringe base, have been camping out in her yard, in her garden, and she’s fit to be tied about it. She can’t get rid of them because the T-shirts they’re wearing say “Impeach Bush,” which is a free speech issue. They’re out there politically protesting. When Cindy Sheehan’s across the street from Bush’s house down in Texas, well, that’s worthy of celebration, well, that’s just cool, we need to support her. Now that Pelosi’s being bugged by her own kooks and irritating her neighbors, ah, she whines, and moans, and complains about it.

Here’s what she said. She launched into a surprisingly personal description of the protesters camped outside her house. “I’ve had four or five months of people sitting outside my home, going into my garden in San Francisco and angering my neighbors, hanging their clothes from the trees, building all kinds of things. You can just imagine my neighbors’ reaction to all this. If they were poor and they were sleeping on my sidewalk, they would be arrested for loitering. But because they have ‘Impeach Bush’ across their chest, it’s the First Amendment. … So I’m well aware of the unhappiness of the base.”

Nobody knew this until she told us. This is not leaked out beyond San Francisco. Obviously people in San Francisco have known it, but nobody knew this, but now notice how she doesn’t like it and the neighbors don’t like it. It was fine and dandy when Cindy Sheehan was down in Crawford and causing all sorts of hassles for people down there. But, if they were homeless, if they were just poor, we could just sweep ’em away like General Dinkins did for the Democrat convention in 1992. You sweep ’em down to lower Manhattan, sweep ’em over to Tiburon or something. Put ’em on a boat and take ’em out to Alcatraz if they were poor. Just treat ’em like dirt, if they were poor. But, no, they got “Impeach Bush” shirts on, so I can’t do anything about it. This is your speaker of the House, ten months of the most nothing, ineffective leadership, and coupled with Dingy Harry, he’s had a bad ten months, too, over in the Senate. What they’re both known for is collecting the lowest approval ratings of Congress in my lifetime.
Story #3: Egghead Chemist Wins Nobel Prize for Ozone
RUSH: A Nobel Peace Prize in Chemistry has just been awarded to some egghead who did a lot of work understanding the thinning ozone layer. So it appears that this year’s committee is focused on radical environmentalism as being equal to the peace movement. Now, who has received this peace prize? Mother Teresa has received the peace prize, and others who genuinely worked for people. They may be dubious awards themselves, but they were focused on people. Gore is about to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for making a movie about himself! It’s now got at least 11 documented lies and falsehoods in it, according to a British court, ladies and gentlemen. I haven’t seen the details of this chemist’s work on the thinning ozone later, but I can bet — I shouldn’t speculate. I’ll just remind you. It was only last week that we had news, maybe two weeks ago, that discovered that the chemical reaction they thought was causing the depletion of the ozone now cannot explain it. It’s not the cause in 70% of the ozone depletion, plus the hole keeps filling in. So we’re back to square one. We don’t know diddly-squat, and so the Nobel chemistry prize has gone to some chemist who’s helping us understand the thinning ozone layer. I’ll print the story out here in a moment, get the details and find out what his theory is and see if he’s this new guy.
Story #4: Condor Impersonator Treated with Vodka Drip
RUSH: This is one of the oddest stories: “Australian doctors used an intravenous feed of vodka to keep an Italian tourist alive after he consumed large quantities of a poisonous substance.” This guy was doing his impersonation of a condor. You know, the California condor that was in danger? The thing would eat antifreeze. It looked good to them on the street when it dripped from people’s cars, and it contains a poison: ethylene glycol. “Doctors speculate that this 24-year-old man was trying to hurt himself, maybe commit suicide by drinking some ethylene glycol. So they administered pure alcohol, which is the conventional antidote to this, but they exhausted the hospital’s supply. Desperate to continue the treatment, the doctors at Mackay Base Hospital in Queensland hooked up an IV feed of vodka.” Now, let me get this straight. The hospital has plenty of vodka, but it runs out of pure alcohol, and they’re not going to run out of vodka. “‘The patient was drip fed about three standard drinks an hour for three days in the intensive care unit. Fortunately for him, he was in a medically induced coma for a good portion of that. By the time he woke up, I think his hangover would have well and truly gone. The hospital’s administrators were also very understanding when we explained our reasons for buying a case of vodka,'” because they ran out of pure alcohol.
Story #5: Great Liberal Quote on San Francisco Homeless
RUSH: You know, there’s a big, big, big homeless controversy brewing in San Francisco. C.W. Nevius is writing about it in the San Francisco Chronicle yesterday. “‘Enough is Enough,’ S.F. Says of Homeless — Residents of a famously liberal city appear to be changing views. The liberal, left-coast city conservatives love to [make fun of] could be undergoing a transformation when it comes to homeless people. Although the city would still be a poor choice for a pep rally for the war in Iraq, indications are that residents have had it with aggressive panhandlers, street squatters and drug users. ‘Maybe there has been an epiphany,’ says David Latterman, president of Fall Line Analytics, a local market research firm. ‘People have realized they can hate George Bush, but still not want people crapping in their doorway.'” Would somebody explain that to me? This is pure liberal-speak. This is one of the greatest examples of liberal-speak and liberal thought that I have ever encountered. “People have realized they can hate George Bush but still not want people crapping in their doorway.”

This from a market research firm! I guess their tolerance for homelessness up ’til now has been based on the fact that they had to tolerate the homelessness if they were going to hate Bush, to show how good people they are? Anyway, I say falling apart, the support for the homeless. They’ve had it out there. And this is a great illustration of how liberalism doesn’t work. They’ve been dealing with the homeless by encouraging homeless people, by encouraging the behavior, by not controlling them, by letting them harass merchants, and stores, and restaurants and so forth, then giving them an official place to stay right across from city hall, thinking, “If we’re just kind to these people, they’ll understand our kindness.” No, it just encourages more and more of the same kind of behavior. Now they finally have their fill of it. But they’re conflicted because they hate Bush, and their hatred of Bush made ’em a little bit reluctant to deal with the homeless problem, for whatever asinine, stupid reason. But now they finally realize that they can still hate Bush and they get mad at the homeless as well.
Story #6: Union Strikes Ain’t What They Used to Be

RUSH: Thompson was talking about how robust the economy was, and he was saying throughout our history, even in good economic times, you’re going to have pockets of places in the country that are not doing well, and he cited Michigan because the debate was in Dearborn. Well, Michigan isn’t doing well, and it isn’t doing well for specific reasons that have nothing to do with the US economy! It has to do with the local economy, tax increases, overspending by the governor there, and the legislature. It’s textbook. You know, Michigan is a great example of what the whole country will be if liberals get unfettered, unchecked access to all aspects of government. By the way, Chrysler workers went out on strike today. I saw a picture of this on television at the top of the hour. I counted ten people on the picket line from an overhead camera, maybe on a helicopter or some such thing. It’s just not the good old days when the unions went on strike. Last time the autoworkers went on strike at General Motors, it lasted two days.
Story #7: Popularity of Personal Chefs Rises (Thanks, Rush)

RUSH: Once again, ladies and gentlemen, I have pioneered a service. In the process of pioneering this service, I have brought the cost of the service down for all. The headline here in this AP story says it all: “‘Popularity of Personal Chefs Rises.’ As lives get increasingly busier with careers, kids, commutes, and other chaos…” of course, my life has none of that kind of chaos. Well, career; kids and commutes no. “… a growing number of people are turning to personal chefs to make sure that there’s a hot meal on the table at the end of a long day. Hiring a professional to cook for you isn’t a whole lot different that hiring someone to clean your house or walk the dog, and it’s not just for the wealthy, said John Moore, executive director of the United States Personal Chef Association.” Ha! They actually have a group! ‘It’s not “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,”‘ Moore said. ‘People don’t have personal chefs because they have tons of money, they have them because it solves a problem. It puts dinner on the table.'” How many people have personal chefs, but are not buying their own health insurance? It’s a legitimate question. How many are paying for a personal chef but not buying health insurance?

If this keeps up, it’s not going to be fair, folks, that a lot of people have personal chefs, but other people don’t. So the Democrats will propose a program called S-CHEF, which will put a personal chef in every person’s house, and they will do this because it’s not fair that there are people who do not have chefs. What? Well, that’s right, Snerdley. See, it’s a great idea, too, because the S-CHEF program that the Democrats will now come up with as a government-mandated program, the S-CHEF chefs will have to be under federal guidelines as to what they can prepare and what they can’t prepare, and so the government could solve its panic and fear over our nation’s obesity problem by making sure the S-CHEF only can fix certain so-called healthy meals. Thanks and, once again, I pioneered the personal chef a long time ago. It’s sort of like buying the first big screen TV. I paid the full boat price when they came out, allows the production to continue, and the prices fall so they become affordable for more and more people. Yes, Mr. Snerdley, what’s the question?

Mr. Snerdley’s idea is, this could solve the whole school lunch program, the whole hunger program, just get a chef in every house, the S-CHEF program, and the S-CHEF fix meals, day-long, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, so that the schools don’t have worry about it. That will never happen. Government is not going to take away the power it has to attract people to those indoctrination centers called schools, and the power that attracts them is food. You don’t think those kids are going to class, do you? They’re going for the food. Breakfast in the morning, whether you can afford it or not? Hell, that started back when I was in junior high. I knew it was all over then. We didn’t have a prayer then.

Story #8: Texas Tech Bans Sale of Vick ‘Em T-Shirts
RUSH: This is funny. This is from Lubbock, Texas. “Texas Tech has banned the sale of a T-shirt bearing the likeness of Michael Vick hanging the dog mascot of rival Texas A&M. The red-and-black shirts, with text that says ‘VICK ‘EM’,” and on the back it’s got a likeness of Vick and his football uniform, big No. 7 on the jersey, holding his helmet in his left hand and a dog hanging… this is pretty entrepreneurial. Vick ’em. “The red-and-black shirts, with text that says ‘VICK ‘EM’ on the front in an apparent reference to the Aggies’ slogan ‘Gig ’em,’ was created by a Tech student who was trying to sell them before Saturday’s game in Lubbock. The back of the shirt shows a football player wearing the No. 7 Vick jersey holding a rope with an image of the mascot Reveille at the end of a noose. Tech officials late Tuesday announced the fraternity that sold the shirts was suspended temporarily and will face judicial review for allegedly violating the solicitation section of the students’ code of conduct. The school said it wouldn’t allow the sale on campus of items that are ‘derogatory, inflammatory, insensitive, or in such bad taste.’ No more shirts are being produced, the school said in a release. A&M officials, in a statement, thanked Tech administrators for ‘their response and action regarding this matter.'” Now, the creator of the shirt, Geoffrey Candia, declined to comment in an e-mail to the AP on Tuesday and said he may make a statement after meeting with the dean of students. Boy, if there are any of these shirts out there, do you realize what they are worth? Vick ’em.
Story #9: Interesting: J.R. Dunn on The Problems of Victory

RUSH: I’ve been meaning to get to this, “The Problems of Victory” piece, how we’re on the verge of victory in Iraq. Let me just give you a heads on this. This is by J. R. Dunn in the American Thinker today. He said, “We’re closing in on victory in Iraq. … The Jihadis are nearing collapse across the country. With the exception of a few Ba’athist holdouts, the Sunni population is coming over in ever-greater numbers. Scarcely a day goes by without another Al-Queda [sic] kingpin being bagged by the Coalition. … The Jihadis have shown no ability to put together any kind of workable counterstrategy. According to Iraq the Model, the Jihadis have begun targeting remote villages (as predicted here last month), a practice that can only increase their isolation and accelerate their death spiral. Even Moqtada al-Sadr, Iraq’s version of the rebel without a cause, appears to have smelled the coffee. This past weekend he at last shook hands with his mortal enemy, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), the largest Shi’ite political party. This ends both [Mookie’s] boycott of the government and the gunfights between the SIIC and [Mookie’s] Mahdi Army.

“With the Shi’ites pacified and Al-Queda [sic] on the run, all that remains are the freelancers and bandits. Victory holds its own set of challenges. We often think of military victory as something that unfolds of itself, a series of events on the order of a natural phenomenon. But victory in war is as much a product of human reason and passion as it is of luck and circumstance. Victory requires management, the same as any other aspect of war,” then draws analogies. We’ve gotta be on the lookout, even more so after victory, in other parts of the world and not get lazy. “One of the most common methods of fumbling a victory is to allow the enemy one last great blow before the end. This is what occurred in the Ardennes in the last months of WWII. The Allied advance slowed to a halt for the winter of 1944, the troops taking up bivouacs in central Belgium. The commanders, above all Omar Bradley, were not at all worried. The Germans were whipped. They had left their equipment and tens of thousands of their best troops behind in France. Besides, the Ardennes Forest was far too dense to allow an army to maneuver through it.

“Only George Patton, far to the south facing the Palatinate, recalled that the Ardennes was the exact route taken by Guderian’s tanks during the 1940 conquest of France. Inspecting a map of the area, Patton mused, ‘Brad could get in trouble up there in short order,'” and he did. “Scarcely had the words left his lips than German armored forces, spearheaded by SS units, broke through Allied lines. The American units facing them had been at the front only a few days. They collapsed and ran for it. Many GIs froze in the woods. Large numbers were taken prisoner. Some were gunned down by the SS after being captured. Only ferocious resistance by a few veteran units – above all the 101st Airborne in the town of Bastogne – allowed the Allies to hold on long enough for Patton to dash north and cut off the advancing German columns. It required a month of fighting to restore the lines, at the cost of over 60,000 casualties.” Now, the point of this analogy is to suggest that, at that point, we thought we had the war won and the Germans were whipped and they mounted one last charge which led to the Battle of the Bulge — and he goes to say here, Mr. Dunn does, that the jihadists cannot allow for the world to see their loss in Iraq as a loss. They’re going to have to do something somewhere, major and big, to show that they’re still viable, still capable of conducting terrorist operations.

And he says that the United States — and obviously they’ll pick a soft spot — and he says of all the countries in the world right now, the US might be one of the biggest soft spots, given our open borders, given the fact that so many likely cells of jihadists are already in the country. So it’s just a call for vigilance. But what I found interesting about it was the assumption here that victory is just a matter of moments away here, that you don’t hear any of this in the Drive-By Media. We are not seeing the burning cars and the smoldering embers every night on the news, and there’s two reasons for that. A, it’s not happening, but, B, the Democrats have decided to drop Iraq as an issue — and, dutifully following behind, the Drive-By Media has gotten off of Iraq, too. You will notice that whatever is a front-burner issue for the Democrats is what the Drive-By Media focuses on every day in the news. It happens to be S-CHIP right now. It happens to be FISA. They’ve dropped Iraq, because the Democrats have dropped it. So if you want to know what the Democrats’ agenda is and what the latest smear they’re trying to run is, the latest scam they’re trying to perpetrate, watch the Drive-By Media every day; read the Drive-By Media; look at their two or three lead stories, and you’ll find out what the Democrats are doing.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Illegal Immigrants Arrested for Stealing at Qualcomm

RUSH: Six “undocumented Mexican immigrants,” illegal immigrants, were arrested by Border Patrol agents at Qualcomm Stadium after a report they were stealing food and water meant for evacuees. Nice.
Story #2: Arrogant Environmentalists on California Wildfires
RUSH: This is an AP story by Noaki Schwartz from Los Angeles: “The wind-driven infernos that are scarring vast swaths of Southern California’s landscape may leave more than just a temporary path of destruction when they are finally extinguished. The wildfires could leave a legacy of environmental devastation that will be evident for years to come, scientists say, especially in areas that have been scorched several times recently. Some of the damage may never be reversed. Invasive weeds and grasses could crowd out native plants and shrubs, accelerating erosion and leading to more frequent wildfires. Pine stands that have been a signature feature of many mountainside communities could become just a memory in places. Small birds, rabbits and other animals dependent on California’s rapidly disappearing native vegetation will struggle to maintain a foothold, while some endangered species will find themselves locked into increasingly imperiled islands of refuge.”

They won’t know what the hell’s going on! “Will find themselves…”? Do you think the endangered species even though they’re endangered — do you think they run around talking to each other about it? “My gosh, we’re locked here! We don’t have anywhere to go.” They will thrive. They will do what they have to to thrive. “Scientists say it will take years to know the extent of the long-term damage. They also say that not all the news may be grim: Nature has a way of providing pleasant surprises.” Ha! Arrogant, arrogant people! “The fires burning across San Diego County are covering much of the same territory stripped during the 2003 Cedar Fire, an area that had started the slow process of growing back. After this week’s blazes, those young, native shrubs may not come back because they are not mature enough to have dropped seeds. That could allow more flammable invasive plants to take root, experts said. ‘If you want to get rid of native shrubland, this is how you do it,’ said Rick Halsey with the California Chaparral Institute, as he watched a hillside burn near his home in Escondido. ‘The problem now is you get a habitat covered by exotic weeds, and that can regenerate every single year and carry a fire every single year.’ … California’s natural landscape is engineered to benefit from periodic fires.” Really?
Story #3: Popular Mechanics: The Big Burn of 1910
RUSH: There was a huge fire in 1910, in August of 1910. It was called “The Big Burn.” You can read about this in Popular Mechanics. It was in Idaho and Montana, and it was whipped up by a cold front. You know how many acres burned in The Big Burn in Idaho and Montana August of 1910? Try three million acres. I don’t think we’re up to even 400,000 yet in California. I’m not trying to diminish this fire. Please don’t misunderstand. It’s just that everybody wants you to think: “This is it’s the worst it’s been!” You just heard this report that I read. Eco-disaster awaits! A fire is Mother Nature, folks, and it does what it does. If we weren’t around that fire would not be put out. Now, here’s an interesting little passage from the Popular Mechanics story on the Big Burn that I want to share with you, because I have caught grief — I can’t tell you how much grief I have caught over the years — when I have made the statement that we have more forestland, more tree-covered acreage in the country today, than we had back at the founding [of the country]. They ask, why did the Big Burn burn? Why did it burn three million acres? Because we had too many trees when we don’t cut them down!

“Because fire has not been allowed to thin forests naturally, land that has historically had 30 trees per acre now has 300 to 3000 per acre — resulting in plenty of fuel for the next lightning strike. In fact, the area of forestland that burned between 1994 and 2002 more than tripled from 2.5 million to 7 million acres.” This goes back to the fact we are not thinning the forests because the environmentalist wackos say, “Those trees precious! You can’t cut down those trees. This is horrible.” Earth First, an early movement in the logging business trying to shut them down. The spotted owl controversy was all part of this. “We want to preserve the pristine nature of the forest,” and what have you. Who can define ‘pristine’? For pristine, you’d have to go back to Creation. What the hell was it? Was there even a North America continent in creation? Doubt it. So what is pristine? We’ve let these people take hold of us and policy under the guise that they are preservationists. They’re preserving things, and they’re making sure that nothing is destroyed. Mother Nature destroys herself or elements of herself, all the time. The stuff grows back. Now they got this doom and gloom going on in California, “Oh, hell is going to freeze over here! We’re going to be overrun by wild weeds and there are going to be fires every year!”
Story #4: 1936 Was Worst Year for Wildfires in California

RUSH: There are fires every year in Southern California. There are mudslides every year, too. We do what we can to thrive, and that means alter our environment. The next thing I looked at: 1936 was the hottest year on record for this country. It is important to note that 1933 was a time when there was no CO2 hysteria. Nobody worried about how much carbon dioxide, carbon emissions, footprints. None of that was happening in 1936; 1936 is a time when it couldn’t be argued that man pumped the atmosphere so full of CO2 that he caused the planet to get sick and global warming. There was nothing going on in 1936 like it’s going on now. So if you go Google “1936” and “California wildfires,” this is what you find. The article, by the way, was written in May 16, 2007. It’s a Reuters story. “During Santa Ana conditions, fires can be sparked by lightning or by people through arson, machinery running near dry brush, campfires or carelessly tossed cigarettes. Though California wildfires make worldwide news as the latest natural disaster to befall the state, experts say they have been occurring regularly since before the region was settled by Europeans. ‘It’s a natural phenomenon, just part of Mother Nature’s way of cleaning out the forest,’ California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Daniel Berlant said. ‘Sometimes we hear, “This is the worst fire season ever.” But it’s really an ongoing thing.’

“Now, if there was a worst fire season in the last century or so, Berlant said, it would probably be 1936 — when flames swept across more than 1,250 square miles of California, an area roughly the size of Rhode Island.” So all these people out there trumping global warming as the cause of this, it’s absurd. It’s asinine: 1936 was the hottest year on record, and also the worst fire season on record in California. Flames swept across more than 1,250 square miles. So 1936, hottest year on record — some a little hotter that year, man’s ego a lot smaller in 1936. No one was accusing FDR or Hitler of messing around with Mother Nature as happens today. It was a hot year. It was probably no coincidence that California experienced a historic number of fires. The only problem is it wasn’t George Bush’s fault back then. You couldn’t blame SUVs or Algore’s private jets or any of the usual suspects or culprits today. In 1936 for this huge fire in California, you cannot blame a single man. You cannot blame a single woman. You cannot blame man, period. You can blame the weather. You can blame the sun. You can blame Brother Nature — well, Mother Nature. (I look at nature as my brother.) Nevertheless, the inconvenient truth here (ahem) is that the sun warms and cools the planet. It’s been hotter in the past; it’s going to get cooler in the future. There’s nothing we can do about it, not even Algore and his movie. Reuters, May 16th, 2007: the worst California fire season was in 1936.
Story #5: Great Chicago Fire of 1871 Was Deadliest US Fire

RUSH: Let me ask you this, folks, staying on the subject of fires. Does anybody out there, off the top of your head, happen to know in what fire we experienced the greatest loss of life in US history? Anybody know? If you said San Francisco, you would be wrong. If you said Chicago, you would be right. It happened October 8, 1871. It also occurred during strong winds after a cold front passage. As many as 2,500 people are believed to have perished, second only to the September 11th attacks. The Great Chicago fire occurred on the same day that the great forest fires in Wisconsin and Michigan were mostly ignored. Prestigo, Wisconsin, was rapidly completely consumed by fire where a tornado of fire threw train cars and houses into the air. No historical evidence that global warming was claimed to be the cause of the Great Chicago fire. And how did it start? It started in a totally natural way.

You had a cow, God’s creation, a beast, a beast of burden, the essence of pristine nature. The cow was in a barn, a barn built by human beings to shield the cows during cold weather and to provide milk for the young children of Chicago. The cow kicked over a lantern. Nobody claimed that the cow was upset over global warming.
Story #6: Anderson Cooper Reports Greenland Falsehood

RUSH: I mention all these statistics only because of the hysteria that accompanies fires in the midst of a political crusade to establish a hoax as legitimate, that, being manmade, global warming is to the point that we’re going to destroy the planet and it’s a catastrophe and so forth. Last night on CNN, there was a report by Anderson Cooper: Greenland’s ice sheet, 30% of it gone in the past 30 years. Not true. It is total and outright false. It is an incorrect assertion. Greenland has cooled since the 1940s. The melt rate from 1920 to 1930 was twice as fast as the current melt rate in Greenland. Now, this mistake was verified with a Greenland scientist this morning, the CNN mistaken. The scientist said that if Greenland lost as much ice, 40% of its ice as CNN reported last night, there would already be a ten-foot surge in sea level.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Economy Surged in 3rd Quarter; Experts Shocked

RUSH: “The US economy grew at an annual rate of 3.9% in the third quarter, the fastest pace in one-and-a-half years, according to the Commerce Department. Surging exports, stronger consumer spending helped counterbalance the weakening housing sector. The gross domestic product report suggests that the economy is, thus far, holding up well to the strains in the housing and the credit markets which had intensified during the third quarter.” So we have 3.9% growth, the best in one-and-a-half years, heading into the holiday season, the federal… Oh, stunned! Experts were shocked. Experts were totally stunned, and the fed is expected to have an announcement, a meeting, something, at 2:15 this afternoon is when it’s expected. That’s a little less than 45 minutes from now, and the experts are expecting another quarter-percent cut in the interest rates, and if they don’t get it, look for the market to go bonkers this afternoon. If they do get it, look for it to shoot up.

Story #2: Kucinich Questions Bush’s Mental Health

RUSH: Dennis Kucinich, presidential candidate, Democrat, said he saw a UFO, has questioned President Bush’s mental health in light of comments he made about a nuclear Iran precipitating World War III. That’s just rich, isn’t it? That’s just really, really rich.

Story #3: Judge Who Lost His Pants Loses His Job
RUSH: By the way, remember that judge, Roy Pearson, the administrative law judge, who lost that $54 million lawsuit against the Asian dry cleaners? He “lost his job yesterday and was ordered to vacate his office… Pearson, 57, who had served as a judge for two years, was up for a 10-year term at the Office of Administrative Hearings, but a judicial committee last week voted against reappointing him. The panel had a seven-page letter hand-delivered to Pearson about 3:30 p.m., directing him to leave his office by 5 p.m.”

He lost his pants, lost the shirt, and lost the suit, and then lost the job. “Pearson’s term ended in May, at the height of his battle with the dry cleaners. Since then, he has remained on the payroll, making $100,000 a year as an attorney adviser. A source familiar with the committee’s meetings said Pearson’s lawsuit played little role in the decision not to reappoint him. Instead, the committee said it had reviewed Pearson’s judicial decisions and audiotapes of proceedings over which he had presided and found he did not demonstrate ‘appropriate judgment and judicial temperament,’ according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the case.” Yeah, right! It didn’t have anything to do with the lawsuit. Ha! How stupid do these people think we are? I don’t doubt that he was incompetent to boot. The $54 million dollar lawsuit sort of indicates that.

Story #4: Man Sentenced in Pickle Assault

RUSH: Speaking of oddball stories, this is from Niles, Michigan: “A judge gave a 35-year-old man probation in a case that police said involved an assault with pickles. According to police reports, the pickle problems began when Bobby Lee Bolen of Buchanan was hanging out at his then-friend Jody Lee’s home in Buchanan on Aug. 20. Bolen went to the refrigerator and helped himself to some pickles. According to the report, Lee told Bolen he couldn’t afford to feed everyone and not to eat his pickles. Bolen then began yelling and swearing and stormed out, according to the report. Later, Bolen barged back into the house and got into an argument with Lee. Lee told police Bolen slammed him down on the couch and threw two large pickles at him and said, ‘Here’s your damn pickles.’ Bolen also shoved former friend J.W. Romanski III and beat Lee with a telephone when he tried to call 911, according to the report.” The guy called 911 after being beat up with pickles! “‘If this is not the silliest case I’ve ever seen in this courtroom, it certainly is in the Top 10,’ Berrien Trial Court Judge Scott Schofield said. ‘The fact that it’s silly doesn’t mean that it’s not serious.’ Defense attorney Robert Lutz said alcohol appeared to be at the root of Bolen’s problems. Bolen’s sentence included 54 days in jail with credit for 54 days served and one year of probation,” all for attacking a guy with two pickles! Well, I bet he did “relish” the sentence. Fifty-four days, he gets credit for 54 days served without having to serve, and a year probation?

Story #5: Ralph Nader Sues the Democrat Party

RUSH: “Consumer advocate and 2004 independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader sued the Democratic Party on Tuesday, contending officials conspired to keep him from taking votes away from nominee John Kerry,” who served in Vietnam. Nader’s lawsuit “also named as co-defendants Kerry’s campaign, the Service Employees International Union and several so-called 527 organizations such as America Coming Together, which were created to promote voter turnout on behalf of the Democratic ticket. … Among other things, the lawsuit alleges that the DNC tried to bankrupt Nader’s campaign by suing to keep him off the ballot in 18 states. It also suggests the DNC sent Kerry supporters to crash a Nader petition drive in Portland, Ore., in June 2004, preventing him from collecting enough signatures to get on the ballot” there. Well, he doesn’t have a chance here but you can only hope that he bankrupts the DNC with the action. That’s somewhat doubtful.

Story #6: Harvard: Drive-Bys More Biased Than Talk Radio

RUSH: Hey, get this, folks. According to a new study released Monday from the Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Harvard Shorenstein Center, which we discussed, found that newspapers and broadcast TV outlets devoted far more time to covering Democrat candidates than the Republicans, and that the tone of those stories was much more favorable to the Democrats, which mirrors the results of a Media Research Center study that was released in August. “According to a new study, those news organizations that hold themselves up as the most neutral and professional — big newspapers, the broadcast networks and taxpayer-subsidized National Public Radio — are actually producing campaign stories that are the most tilted in favor of Democrats, while online news and talk radio have actually been the most balanced.” The Drive-Bys are more biased than talk radio! This is Harvard University, the Shorenstein Center there in the Project for Excellence in Journalism, claiming that the Drive-Bys are more biased. Now, how can that be? I tell you how it can be, is they don’t tell you what their bias is even though it’s noticeable now. We, of course, on talk radio do.

Story #7: State of Iowa Taxes Pumpkins for Halloween

RUSH: This is from the Des Moines Register today: “The Iowa Department of Revenue is now searching for pennies in pumpkins. A new department policy this year has made Halloween jack-o’-lanterns subject to the state sales tax, and many Iowa pumpkin growers are feeling tricked.” The guy is right. The caller is right. If you buy the pumpkin to decorate it for Halloween, then you pay a tax on it. If you say you’re going to eat the pumpkin, but you have to send them a form to the state claiming that you ate it, and then get a rebate, it costs you money to send the form. What’s a stamp these days? Forty-one cents? Is that what it is? See, I have not lost touch. I know what the price of a stamp is. Anyway, they’ll tax everything, is the point.

Story #8: Minorities Hardest Hit by Trick or Treating

RUSH: All right, here’s the story. It’s an AP story. You gotta wonder. Somebody at AP — an editor, assignment editor, or somebody — gets the idea for this story. The idea to do the story is what interests me. Somebody at the AP assignment desk said, “You know what? It’s Halloween. Those rich white kids are going out tonight and getting candy and so forth. I bet a bunch of black kids aren’t going to be as fairly treated. I bet they’re not going to go out. We need to do a story on that.” So they went out and did a story on it. Even on Halloween, America is a racist, mean country. Even when it comes to the distribution of candy, there is racism: minorities hardest hit. “Two-thirds of parents nationwide say their children will trick-or-treat this Halloween, but fewer minorities will let their kids go door-to-door, according to a nationwide poll by The Associated Press and Ipsos released this week” They actually did a poll! “The survey found that 73 percent of whites versus 56 percent of minorities said their children will trick-or-treat” tonight. “That disparity in the survey is similar to the difference in how people view the safety of their neighborhoods, according to the poll. Lower-income people and minorities are more likely to worry that it might not be safe to send their children out on Halloween night, according to the poll.

“Thomas Link, 50, and his family are new to their trailer park in Palatka, Fla. He said he considers it unsafe because he does not know many neighbors, but had not decided whether to let his three young children trick-or-treat. ‘I’m very particular about who I let my kids deal with,’ he said. Overall, 86 percent of those questioned in the survey said their neighborhoods are safe for trick-or-treating. Ninety-one percent of whites, compared with 75 percent of minorities…” What, Snerdley? I don’t know if they… Yeah, it is interesting surveying some guy in a trailer park in Palatka, Florida, but what about in the inner cities? I mean, if you happen to live in a high-rise apartment building say in New York or out in Queens or whatever, wouldn’t it be simpler to go trick-or-treating? You’d never leave the building. Just get on the elevator, knock on he neighbor’s door and then go back to where you live. I wonder what James Watson, the former Nobel Prize winner — who was contributing to Hillary Clinton’s campaign and vice-versa — would say about this. He’s the guy that said that people in Africa just don’t have the same IQ, the same brains as Europeans do, and that’s why, when you treat ’em the same, social policies, they don’t get it. Of course, he’s been dispatched here to the Ash Heap of Stupid Statement People.

Story #9: Fed Cuts Interest Rate 1/4 Point

RUSH: It’s as I expected; I forgot to mention this. It happened a half hour ago. The Fed did cut the interest rate a quarter point — “in order to protect the economy from the failing housing market,” is the Drive-By Media add-on, but they did cut it.

Story #10: Iraq Attacks Fall Sharply Again in September
RUSH: “Attacks by insurgents and other fighters in Iraq against U.S. troops, Iraqi forces and civilians dropped sharply in September,” another shocking surprise to experts, “to their lowest level since early 2006, continuing a decline in violence since June, according to a new Government Accountability Office report released yesterday. But progress on political goals and reconstruction has been stalled by weaknesses in U.S. strategy…” Oh! We have great, great, great, great, great news on the front that the Drive-Bys and the Democrats have been opposing Iraq since the get-go: troop deaths. It’s great, great news. But the political? It’s just falling apart, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Story #11: GOP Women Too Smart to Fall for Hillary’s Ruse

RUSH: Now, ladies and gentlemen, we’ve been talking about Mrs. Clinton a lot today because of her really horrible performance on stage at the Democrat debate last night at Drexel University in Philadelphia. The only thing worse was the performance of these other schlubs on stage with her, who, for whatever reason — and we could roll the dice on what all those reasons are, and probably be right about all of them — never made one serious move to capitalize on Mrs. Clinton’s blundering, bumbling performance last night. So in keeping with the theme that Mrs. Hillary Clinton is the show today, there’s an interesting piece today by Kyle-Anne Shiver at the American Thinker. “Republican Women Too Smart to Fall for Hillary’s Ruse.” Let me just read some excerpts for you. “Last week, my hometown paper, The Atlanta Journal & Constitution, ran an online story entitled, ‘Clinton Pollster Predicts Defection of GOP Women.’ Depending solely on his own ‘internal’ polling, Mr. Mark Penn — Public Relations guru extraordinaire, and Hillary’s campaign strategist — says that a full 24% of Republican women will punch their ballots for Hillary based on the ’emotional’ appeal of electing the first woman President. Clearly, Mr. Penn is either purposefully spinning or indulging in a rather perverted, nearly delusional form of magical thinking.

“We Republican women are far, far too smart to fall for Hillary Clinton’s ruse. We are not the mindless ninnies that vote with the Special-Interest Express. We think for ourselves and vote for the candidate of our choice based on merit. We cast our precious votes for the candidate we believe would be the best President, not the one with an ’emotional’ appeal aimed at our womanhood. Mr. Mark Penn, I have read, is currently the worldwide CEO of one of the largest public relations firms in the world, Burson-Marsteller. He is also the president of his own polling firm, and is best known for his service to Bill Clinton as pollster and political adviser from 1996 through 1999. His chief talents seem to be polling and messaging, with special corporate expertise in image, branding and competitive marketing assignments. Wow; I’m impressed. … I think Mr. Penn has been hanging out with Democrat women nearly all of his life and maybe doesn’t know one whit about the female portion of the Republican Party. For all of his astounding political prowess, he probably thinks that women who think like Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Janice Crouse, Melanie Morgan, Sandy Rios, et cetera, et cetera, are just very successful aberrations of a sort, and that the rest of us have done absolutely nothing all of our lives but stay home, bake cookies and let other people raise our children while we watch The View.

“(I personally don’t know any woman who has ever seen that show, but I hear they have some really great cat fights, and that occasionally one of the women even makes a coherent statement.) Most of the women I know have spent a great portion of their lives … doing volunteer work in our communities trying to put band-aids on the myriad of social problems that have become epidemic in the wake of Democrat social policies. Unwed motherhood. Broken families. Absent mothers and fathers. Broken government schools. Sex education that teaches nothing but how to do a great imitation of an alley cat in heat. These mostly Republican women are still trying to make sense out of a political Party that would so strenuously object to pornography filters on public library computer terminals, while exposing their seven-year-olds to lessons in how to put on a condom. These ‘soccer moms’ (a phrase coined by Mr. Penn) give hours each week to Crisis Pregnancy Centers that offer actual help to young girls whose boyfriends flunked the condom lessons, but got the alley-cat impersonations down perfectly.

“These conservative women are providing meals to homeless shelters and holiday celebrations and gifts for those in need. These women are a veritable army of soldiers on the front lines of social decay, fighting not with the empty rhetoric but with actual labor to right real wrongs. So, when Hillary Rodham Clinton wails about those in our midst who have been ‘invisible’ to Republicans, we women stand, with our mouths agape and our consciousnesses fully raised, in utter incredulity. For ‘the smartest woman in the world,’ she comes off as pretty darned dumb or blind. You pick. From where we’re sitting, Mr. Penn, it looks like you and Hillary don’t get out of your little self-created bubble enough. We Republican women are plum full of emotion every time we see Mrs. Clinton put on yet another female face for the cameras, but it isn’t the kind that you ever want to be with in a dark room alone.” That’s Kyle-Anne Shiver at the American Thinker. She really writes some great stuff. She just popped up there on the scene not too long ago at the American Thinker.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Santa Told to Slim Down to Set Better Example

RUSH: From the UK: “Santa is being told to [lose weight] before Christmas — because the obese saint is failing to set a ‘good example’ for children. The traditional children’s hero, best known for feasting on mince pies left out on Christmas eve, has always sported a bulging midriff. But shopping centre bosses are giving the well-wisher his marching orders — to the nearest gym — to tackle the increasing problem of obesity. The revelation comes after a medical report earlier this month stated that by 2050 more than 50 per cent of Brits will be obese,” with Santa Claus providing a bad example for the kids. They have a little bit of a point. I always wondered how Santa Claus managed to get down my chimney, being as big as he is, but that just made me think the guy is magic. Apparently, there are ways around being obese. Fiona Campbell-Reilly, spokeswoman at the shopping centre, said: “Santa has been around for years, but society has changed and our Santa needs to reflect this. ‘Bluewater’s Santa Boot Camp is getting Santa in shape and setting a good example to children who idolise him. He will still be the same lovable jolly man, but will be fitter and healthier.'” Hoo-kay.
Story #2: News Heard ‘Round the World: The Oprah Wept

RUSH: Then there’s poor Oprah. Oh, what a tragedy, ladies and gentlemen, sexual abuse at Oprah’s academy in Africa, right? It’s in South Africa, and it should be noted that Oprah wept. If you read the AP story on Oprah, Oprah wept. It’s almost biblical. I can just see little students, the Oprah academy being told that Oprah wept, and they’re bowing their heads in prayer, Oprah wept. Oprah, The Oprah wept. A female, by the way, did the abusing in the Oprah academy. What, Snerdley? Well, it probably was a union employee. I have no clue where Oprah found her. But she said it’s one of the most devastating events in her life. See, other women cry, ladies and gentlemen. Oprah wept. Oprah weeps. Other women just bawl their brains out.
Story #3: Musharraf Pulls a Hugo Chavez in Pakistan
RUSH: Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan is pulling a Hugo Chavez, basically telling the court to go to hell. The liberals watching Musharraf have to be enthused and excited. The Supreme Court had a ruling that said look, “You gotta give up your army leadership post and you gotta have elections,” and he said, “Screw you,” and he fired them. It was that easy to get rid of a Supreme Court, what are the libs worried about? You know that they’re salivating out there over watching this. He did. He pulled a Hugo Chavez, wanting to hold onto power. It is tough to figure out. The United States is worried about this, obviously, because of the instability. They’ve got nukes in Pakistan, and there’s a concern here that Musharraf is just simply trying to arm himself and prepare himself for perhaps a coup led by Al-Qaeda types who are holed up in eastern regions of Pakistan along the Afghanistan border. So this situation does deserve watching.
Story #4: Finnish Complaint Choir Combats American Optimism

RUSH: Along the same lines, nothing but whining and moaning, get this. I am not making this story up. This is out of Chicago, and the slugline for this story is: “The Complaints Choir — From bad dates, to people who chew gum too loudly, to global warming, no complaint is too ridiculous — or too sublime — for the international complaints-choir movement. Now, it’s reached the United States, thanks to a couple from Finland out to combat the persistent American belief that it’s best to think positively and keep complaints to yourself. ‘That’s insane,’ Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen, 35, said after the Complaints Choir of Chicago debuted this weekend in a sold-out auditorium at the Museum of Contemporary Art. ‘We say you should sing (complaints) out … acknowledge things aren’t as they should be. It’s therapeutic.’ Kochta-Kalleinen and Tellervo Kalleinen, both of whom are artists, hit on their idea three years ago while pondering the Finnish word ‘valituskuoro,’ which translates into ‘complaints choir’ and refers to people complaining in packs. The Kalleinens have started choirs from Australia to Israel devoted to the notion that it’s healthier to belt gripes out, and, better yet, in four-part harmony.” What they want to attack here is the constant American optimism. I’m serious. They don’t like constant American optimism. “After starting more than 20 such complaint choirs all over the world, this couple from Helsinki say they traveled here to end the tyranny of the positive attitude in America.” So everybody just wants to be miserable. They just want to whine and moan and complain.
Story #5: Bad Parents Confess, Complain, Whine on Website

RUSH: Speaking of the whining of America… “It was, when she looks back on it, a fairly routine disaster. Late one Sunday, after a busy weekend with three kids, working mother Romi Lassally was staring down at a pile of her son’s vomit in her hallway. ‘I left it there. I hoped the dog would eat it,’ she said. But when the dog failed to oblige, Lassally was left cleaning up and with a feeling that she’d sunk to a new maternal low so she did what she often does when mortified — picked up the phone and called a girlfriend. ‘She was amused and disgusted,’ she says. ‘I felt better right away. At that moment I knew I was on to something.’ That ‘something’ was True Mom Confessions,” an actual website, “an online posting board for moms to share their worst mistakes, misdeeds and misgivings. Since starting in April, more than 100,000 women have contributed confessions, from one-line gripes about in-laws, to intimate accounts of diminished sex lives. ‘It turns out we’re all riddled with guilt and ambivalence and regret,’ she says. ‘We’ve bottled this stuff up for too long. Now it’s time to unload.’ Parents are unloading like never before. Whether trading horror stories at birthday parties or penning ‘momoirs,’ more parents are finding comfort in swapping tales of their woes,” whining, and moaning, and complaining.

“Parenting books once dealt primarily in sweet sentiment and motherly resolve. Now they’re filled with tales of supermarket tantrums and strained marriages, each a supposedly more intimate expose of the ugly underbelly of family life. The titles say it all: ‘Mommies Who Drink,’ ‘I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids,'” is the title of one post. “I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids.” Sigh… I’ll tell you, the chickification of everything here is spreading. She was probably a great wife before she got married, too. If you’re going to say that you’re a great mom before you had kids, then you were probably a great wife before you got married. That’s right. “I Was a Great Husband Until I Got Married.” No wonder I’m in a blue funk with all of this ridiculous self-absorption!

You know, if you’ve got a problem out there, I agree, you shouldn’t hold it in, but tell the person to whom you have the problem. If your kid’s puking all over the floor and you don’t want to clean it up, tell the kid to go to the bathroom. Teach the kid to puke in the right place. Well, for crying out loud, these people are just lousy parents. If you’re having a diminished sex life with your husband or your wife, go talk to them about it. To say it’s “therapeutic” to post it on a website for the whole damn world to read about? There’s nothing therapeutic about that. That’s cowardly. Bye-bye, b-i-itch. B-i-itch, whine, whine, whine. I mean, all of this drama! For crying out loud, I’m glad I have not met any of these women. Well, I don’t think I’ve met any of these, Mr. Snerdley. I suppose the odds are that they may have called me, but I don’t think I’ve met them.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: New Jersey Dems Grapple with Stem Cell Defeat

RUSH: We told you yesterday about the New Jersey residents, citizens voting down the stem cell initiative. Ha-ha-ha. Guess what? From the New York Times: “‘New Jersey Democrats Grapple With Rebuke of Stem Cell Initiative.’ — Stung and puzzled by the defeat of a ballot initiative to borrow $450 million for stem cell research, leading Democrats in New Jersey struggled on Wednesday to explain why they were repudiated by voters and how they planned to finance the biomedical research for a center already under construction.” They were so confident they were going to win I bet they probably borrowed some money already just to get started.

“On Wednesday, Mr. Corzine, Senate President Richard J. Codey and other supporters of stem cell research said they had little choice but to ask the state’s pharmaceutical companies to help finance the effort and then try to squeeze money from a budget that is already facing a $3 billion shortfall.” After trashing them for years, after trashing Big Pharma, after trashing Big Drug, the people of New Jersey tell the government of New Jersey what to do with their stem cell research center, “You can put it where the sun doesn’t shine,” (laughing) but they already started building it. (laughter) These are such slithery snakes, folks. They’d already started building this.

So now they’re going to go to the people they’ve been ripping for years with their hands out, “Hey, help us fund our research center.” Governor Corzine in New Jersey said that his stem cell measure failed because the people didn’t understand it. So, they’re going to get it, just like Corzine has told the people of New Jersey (paraphrased): “Screw you! We’re going to build this stem cell research center! You didn’t understand the vote, to hell with it! We’re going to do it, anyway! Screw the results. The people didn’t understand it.” This is a great illustration of who Democrats are and of the contempt and condescension with which they view average Americans who do not vote in such ways that allow Democrats to do what they want to do.
Story #2: Mrs. Clinton Calls on President to Tap Oil Reserves

RUSH: “Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton called on the Bush administration to tap into the government’s emergency crude oil and heating oil reserves to boost supplies and lower prices. … The Bush administration has repeatedly said that the crude oil and heating oil reserves should only be used to offset major supply disruptions and not to manage energy prices,” and he’s exactly right. Release the reserves? Mrs. Clinton, can I tell you what you ought to be urging? Mrs. Clinton should urge the Bush administration to build some new refineries, to drill for our own oil in the Gulf of Mexico and in ANWR, and to build some new nuclear plants! This is a growth country! We’re not hunkering down and slinking away into the corners.
Story #3:Lack of Interest: Draft Algore Event Cancelled
RUSH: “Iowans who support former vice president Al Gore have been forced to cancel a concert in his honor. Twenty-dollar ticket, Run, Al, Run, the event that the tickets were to be sold for, was scheduled in Sunday for Des Moines. It was called off because organizers fear they would not sell enough tickets.”
Story #4: California Sues Feds Over Greenhouse Gasses

RUSH:”California sued the federal government today, demanding that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency act now to give the states the power to enforce tough regulations on automakers in the fight against global warming. The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way last summer for the EPA to approve state regulations to limit emissions of greenhouse gas from automobile tailpipes. But no action has been forthcoming. The EPA has said it will act on the state’s request by year’s end, but today’s move was a major assault on the federal government’s perceived lack of action on what many national and world leaders consider the No. 1 threat to the planet. ‘There’s no legal basis for Washington to stand in our way,’ said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.”
Story #5: Weather Channel Founder: Global Warming Scam

RUSH: Do you remember John Coleman? He’s the founder of Weather Channel. John Coleman may be one of the best. If I’m remembering who this guy is, he has blond hair. He was out of Chicago, WLS-TV, but he did the weather on Good Morning America, and I remember they had a huge, huge blizzard. This is in the seventies. We had a huge, huge blizzard; nobody could get in and out of anywhere. He was in that studio for like five days in a row, doing weather and so forth. He is the founder of the Weather Channel, or one of the founders. “If the founder of The Weather Channel spoke out strongly against the man-made global warming myth, might media members notice? We’re going to find out the answer to that question soon, for John Coleman wrote an article published at ICECAP” yesterday. Here’s how he begins: “‘It is the greatest scam in history. I am amazed, appalled and highly offended by it. Global Warming; It is a SCAM. Some dastardly scientists with environmental and political motives manipulated long-term scientific data to create [an] allusion of rapid global warming.

“Other scientists of the same environmental whacko type,'” that’s his words, “‘jumped into the circle to support and broaden the ‘research’ to further enhance the totally slanted, bogus global warming claims. Their friends in government steered huge research grants their way to keep the movement going. Soon they claimed to be a consensus. … Now their ridiculous manipulated science has been accepted as fact and become a cornerstone issue for CNN, CBS, NBC, the Democratic Political Party, the Governor of California, school teachers and, in many cases, well informed but very gullible environmental conscientious citizens. Only one reporter at ABC has been allowed to counter the Global Warming frenzy with one 15-minute documentary segment. […] I have read dozens of scientific papers. I have talked with numerous scientists. I have studied. I have thought about it. I know I am correct. There is no runaway climate change. The impact of humans on climate is not catastrophic. Our planet is not in peril. I am incensed by the incredible media glamour, the politically correct silliness and rude dismissal of counter arguments by the high priest of Global Warming. In time, a decade or two, the outrageous scam will be obvious.'” That’s John Coleman, founder of the Weather Channel.
Story #6: Dems Will Try to Ram SCHIP Down Our Throats

RUSH: From Washington: “Congressional negotiators said Tuesday they were nearing agreement on a revised S-CHIP bill that they believe would withstand President Bush’s veto. Their goal is a measure that will attract about two dozen House Republicans to a bid to expand the S-CHIP program by $35 billion. Bush has said he’s going to veto any version of this if it’s funded by a tobacco tax increase, which is virtually certain under any revised plan.” Now, remember, this dates back to what happened in Oregon, 60 to 40, a state program similar to this — cigarette taxes, 85 cents a pack increase to fund health care for “poor children” — went down to a stinging defeat. In Washington, they are not getting the message. I think it’s time to ratchet up the pressure on this again. This is like immigration. They’re going to keep coming at us; they’re going to keep trying to force it on us, regardless what the people of the country want, and it is highly, highly instructive. Democrats are running this show, and there’s a lot to learn here.
Story #7: “Scientists” Study Women with Sexy Walks

RUSH:”A woman who walks with a seductive sway of her hips is unlikely to be ovulating, a finding that sheds light on the complex sexual signals that women give to men, New Scientist reports. A team at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, dressed female volunteers in suits which had light reflectors placed on the joints and limbs and filmed them walking in order to analyse [sic] their gait, the British weekly says. The women also gave a saliva sample to assess their hormone levels. Women who were in the fertile period of their menstrual cycle walked with smaller hip movements and with their knees closer together, the scientists found. Forty…” Wouldn’t you like to be part of this research team? I wonder who arranged the grant money for this. “Forty male volunteers were shown the footage of the women and were asked to rate those with the sexiest walk. The winners were those who turned out to be in the least fertile part of their cycle. … A US paper published last month found that lap dancers earn more tips during their fertile period than during the non-fertile part of their cycle.” So, yeah. Interesting data. It would require further research, I think, because after reading it, I’m confused. I’m not sure I totally understand this.
Story #8: Female US Corporate Directors Now Out-Earn Men

RUSH: “Female US Corporate Directors are Now Out-Earning men — They may be a small minority in corporate boardrooms, but women directors typically earn more than men, a new US study has found. Female directors in corporate America earn median compensation of $120,000, based on the most recently available pay data, compared with $104,000 for men.” The Corporate Library is the research group that did this, and put out their annual pay report on Wednesday. We won’t hear much about this, obviously.
Story #9: ChiComs Will Become Biggest Energy Consumers

RUSH: A lead editorial today from the Financial Times, ladies and gentlemen. These are facts, statistics presented in the lead editorial of the Financial Times. “China will overtake the US and become the biggest energy consumer soon after 2010. Sales of new vehicles will exceed those of the US by 2015, almost quadrupling Chinese demand for transport fuel by 2030. By that year, 2030, China will need more than 1300 gigawatts of new electricity generating capacity, more than all the power stations in North America alone.” Do you know how many coal plants, coal-fired power plants the Chinese are building? One every two days. That’s the rate that they’re building these things. They don’t care, by the way, what they’re polluting. They don’t care, and let me tell you why. The biggest challenge that the ChiCom leaders have is employment. They have to find 25 million new jobs a year, because the introduction of the American capitalist system has caused an economic explosion.

Yet the ChiComs want to keep ChiCom-type control over their people. So they need jobs for them to have something to do, but they also have a lot of people who live out in the countryside. They have to keep those people there. There have to be jobs created out in the countryside, because if they flood the cities, which are already teeming with people and a number of the negative aspects of a whole lot of people, living like in an ant farm, then they lose control of the population. So they’re being forced into this. People, if you need them out in the country, they’re gonna need transportation as the country modernizes. That’s why they’re going to be building and buying all these new cars, going to need all the fuel. The answer to this from the United States’ standpoint should be what? You know, you can go back to the seventies, and you can recall that Jimmy Carter was going to make us energy independent, with his synthetic fuels. Will all these new alternative sources of energy, will biofuels and ethanol and all this sort of stuff, will this keep us in the growth posture that this country expects and has already enjoyed?

Will Big Environment give Big Energy a break so that we can deal with this problem? This is going to be a huge problem, not just in supply, but in price as well. The ChiComs are going to do whatever they have to do to get the oil to keep their people from revolting and to keep them satisfied. We, on the other hand, in this country are going in the opposite direction. We are not doing anything to increase our energy supplies and energy sources. We’re running around saying, “Turn off light bulbs, or exchange light bulbs, or release some oil from the strategic reserve,” minor little worthless, irrelevant things. Drive hybrids. You know, everything we’re doing in this country is oriented toward no growth. Everything we’re doing in this country is oriented toward, in fact, not no growth, but actually slowing down. And conservation, that’s fine, saving and not wasting, that’s cool, but that’s not growth. It doesn’t equal growth and it never will, and with the ChiComs — and let’s not forget India — India is in this mix as well. They’re modernizing at a rapid rate economically.

So this is not just a competitive situation, but it’s also an aspect where we’re going to have to define who we want to be in the future. This is what I think the presidential race is going to be about — who we are going to be as a country and where our country is headed and how we’re going to define ourselves and are we going to allow ourselves to head backwards or stagnate while these other countries around the world are in this massive, rapid growth rate. It will be interesting to see. If you think that we need to stay in this massive rapid growth rate, you have to ask yourself, since these are political questions, requiring political leadership, who in the world do you think is best suited for growth, and who is going to stunt it? And need I remind you which party it is that wants to raise your taxes on virtually everything in your life they can, and that will, of course, do what to your own personal growth? It will limit it, it will stunt it, slow it down for awhile. We have entrepreneurs who will always find ways around those obstacles, but not everybody’s an entrepreneur. Not everybody finds a way, and those people are going to get hurt and they’re going to start bellyaching and moaning and whining, maybe even crying when Barack Obama comes along and holds their hand.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Rush Named Human Events Man of the Year

RUSH: You are listening to Human Events’ 2007 Man of the Year, Rush Limbaugh, and the EIB Network. I had no idea. I got a note from Koko this morning, “Do you want us to post the Human Events piece on you?” I said, “What Human Events piece?” “They’ve named you Man of the Year, F. Lee Levin wrote it.” And so there it is, we’ve linked to it at RushLimbaugh.com, if you don’t know the Human Events website.
Story #2: Reverend Sharpton Withholds Endorsement

RUSH: By the way, big story: Reverend Sharpton is waiting this time to endorse. He’s waiting for commitments. That means he’s probably waiting for money from one of these two camps.
Story #3: Columnist Compares Clinton, Rush, Obama, McNabb
RUSH: Carl Golden, writing at NewJersey.com: “‘Bill and Rush — Perfect Together?’ News stories coming out of New Hampshire suggest that former President Bill Clinton, angry and frustrated over the defeat of his wife in the Iowa caucuses by Sen. Barack Obama, feels the media is complicit in Obama’s victory, that it has a vested interest in his continued success.

“Say what? Wasn’t this the essence of what conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh said a few years ago about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb — that the media has a vested interest in seeing a black quarterback succeed in the National Football League and therefore overlooked his flaws and shortcomings. Limbaugh was bounced from his analyst role on ESPN within 48 hours while politicians, candidates, civil rights leaders, sports figures and anyone else with access to a microphone or printed page fell all over one another to weigh in on his comments. Clinton’s complaint that the media is handing Obama a free pass is eerily similar and just as fallacious as Limbaugh’s assertions about media coverage of McNabb. The difference in reaction, however, is striking. Limbaugh was accused of veiled racism, of using what he saw as gentler treatment of McNabb as another instance of the liberal media promoting an unfair agenda of affirmative action, minority set-asides, and quotas in everything from college admissions to employment.” A little bit exaggerated, that wasn’t my point. How many times have we discussed this?

“Limbaugh, of course, is as much entertainer as analyst who makes his living by such commentary and has amassed a legion of believers. Consequently, he was an easy target for his political opponents who used his remarks about McNabb and the media to belabor him and his views. No one has stepped forward to challenge Clinton’s assertion that his wife’s campaign is being shortchanged by a media which is covertly giving aid and comfort to Obama’s campaign. … Blaming the media for a candidate’s loss is, of course, nothing new. It’s what candidates and their staffs do when their performance doesn’t match expectations or hopes. … For the former President, however, to suggest that the media is actually helping his wife’s chief opponent takes blame-shifting a step further. Discontent is now bubbling to the surface over the heightened role he has taken in his wife’s campaign, that he’s upstaging her and drawing the spotlight to him. … But, the irony involved in Clinton using a tactic similar to Limbaugh — the charter member of the ‘vast right wing conspiracy’ intent on bringing down the Clintons — is just too delicious to let pass quickly.” That’s Carl Golden who gets it 75% right, maybe 80% right here at NewJersey.com.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Jimmy Carter Lusts in His Heart for Obama

RUSH: Try this. Jimmy Carter, in Playboy magazine November 1976, quote, “I’ve looked on a lot of women with lust. I have committed adultery in my heart many times.” Jimmy Carter in November 1976. January 30th of this year, at age 83, Jimmy Carter, “Obama’s campaign has been extraordinary and titillating for me and my family.” Jimmy Carter weighing in. He’s supporting Obama but they don’t want him to endorse Obama publicly, so that isn’t going to happen.
Story #2: Save on Energy Bills at ForeverHotWater.com

RUSH: The other day I mentioned the Rinnai Tankless Water Heater in just sort of a joking way. A caller came in here giving me a little heat and I said, “You know, felt like I had a Rinnai Tankless Water Heater.” People have been sending me e-mails. They don’t know how to spell Rinnai, and they’re trying to go to Rinnai on the web. The website is ForeverHotWater.com, and some of these e-mails are saying, “I don’t understand. When you say it only has hot water on demand, you say it doesn’t store hot water; then how is it always there on demand for you?” That’s the genius of it, folks, and all of it is explained on the website. They explain how you will save money. It’s got this little calculator on the website that shows how much you can save in electricity and energy costs if you put one of these — or a series, depending on how large your home is, a series of — tankless water heaters, and a lot of people have done this. You can easily understand if you’ve got this big tank heater and it’s constantly using gas or electricity to keep the water hot, and a lot of that water is not used. And sometimes you have to use so much, if you got guests, and it’s not there. That never happens with this. You can run the dishwasher and all this. But I’m not enough of a tech expert just to tell you how, and I certainly can’t do it in 60 seconds, so just go to ForeverHotWater.com and you will… Look at that. A dove just flew up in the window. Peace! ForeverHotWater.com. Even doves like this.
Story #3: Jack Hollander: Poverty Endangers Environment
RUSH: The simple fact of the matter, you go and look around the world, as I have done, and you will find that the slow economies, or the nonexistent economies, the true poverty-ridden countries on this planet are the filthiest, the dirtiest, the most polluting cesspool places that you’ll ever run into on the planet, and yet they try to make our country out as the culprit. Jack Hollander has written a book called The Real Environmental Crisis: Why Poverty, Not Affluence, Is the Environment’s Number One Enemy. “Drawing a completely new road map toward a sustainable future, Jack Hollander contends that our most critical environmental problem is global poverty. His balanced, authoritative, and lucid book, challenges widely held beliefs that economic development and affluence pose a major threat to the world’s environment and resources.” Of course, without even giving any details and having read it, he’s exactly right. Common sense would tell us this. The attack on all the industrialized nations, including us at the top of the list, ought to be the biggest giveaway as to what’s really at stake here.

“Hollander points to the great strides that have been made toward improving and protecting the environment in the affluent democracies. He makes the case that the essential prerequisite for sustainability is a global transition from poverty to affluence, coupled with a transition to freedom and democracy.” The Real Environmental Crisis is the title of the book, “takes a close look at the major environment and resource issues: population growth, climate change, agricultural and food supply, fisheries, forests, fossil fuels, water and air quality, solar and nuclear power. In each case, Hollander finds compelling evidence that economic development and technological advances can reveal such problems as food shortages, deforestation, air pollution, and land degradation and provide clean water, adequate energy supplies, and improved public health. The book also tackles issues such as global warming, genetically modified foods, automobile and transportation technologies,” and so forth and so on. “The significance of the Endangered Species Act, which Hollander asserts never would have been legislated in a poor country whose citizens struggle just to survive.” So whereas in this country the bald eagle is protected, in a poor country where it’s not you go out and capture whatever you can to eat because that’s all you can do because you don’t have refrigeration, you don’t have transportation. It’s still catch what you can and eat it tonight. And whatever you can catch, you eat.

He asks us “to look beyond the media’s doomsday rhetoric about the state of the environment because most of it is simply not true and commit much more of our resources where they will do the most good, lifting the world’s population out of poverty.” Amen. Spread capitalism around. So here’s Der Schlick Meister running around in Denver, “Yeah, the only way we’re going to save the planet from greenhouse gases and global warming is we gotta slow down our economy.” Who in their right mind ever talks about that? Look at the panic this country goes into when you tell ’em we’re headed to a recession, and here’s Clinton out there basically, “Yeah, we gotta slow it down, maybe not full-fledged recession out there, Limbaugh, but at least slow it down some.” It’s absurd. Patently absurd.
Story #4: Environmental Regulations Killing Oz Economy

RUSH: Speaking of all this, this is from Oz, Australia, the Australian newspaper: “Major Australian greenhouse gas emitters believe that emissions-trading costs of about $65 a tonne of carbon are inevitable, forcing household electricity bills to rise by almost 100 per cent.” So how are the poor going to pay for heat when it doubles in the aim of saving the planet? “The new director of the Australian Industry Greenhouse Network (AIGN), Mike Hitchens, told The Australian business should look to evolving carbon markets in Europe to estimate the future cost of emissions trading.

‘We all need to understand that linking to other emissions-trading schemes outside of Australia is inevitable, whether done formally or informally,’ Mr Hitchens said. ‘That means that it’s the world price of permits we need to incorporate into analysis about the impacts on the Australian economy, not simply the implications of setting our own targets. The price of emissions in Australia will very likely be set in Europe. Australia is a price taker for commodities in all other global markets, and we will be a price taker in this global market as well.’ The European Commission has estimated a future price of about $65 per tonne of carbon, with European banks predicting a price of between $60 and $80.”

I first heard about these back in the early nineties, and when I first heard about them, I started laughing myself silly, and I got a warning e-mail from my good friend Professor Hazlett, who I’ve referenced several times on this program. He said, “Look, Rush, trading pollution credits,” they’re now called carbon credits, “trading pollution credits makes all kinds of sense.” Let’s say you have company A, you got pollution levels that the EPA or the government or some other wonderful, lovely agency sets, and company A is way above those limits, but company B out there is way below those limits. So company A can buy the credits, the remaining pollution not being created by company B, and that will allow them to continue to pollute above the levels, as long as company B stays below them. And that’s what this whole carbon trading offset scheme is. You know, it’s what Algore does. Algore hasn’t reduced his carbon footprint at all in his giant mansion down there in Nashville. What does he do? He invests in a company he owns. So he takes money out of one pocket and puts it in another. What do they do? They plant trees. They say they plant the trees. The trees are supposed to soak up all this extra carbon. They produce the oxygen, which people have said just compounds the problem. But anyway, it’s a total scheme.

So now what’s happening here in Australia is that the cost of these carbon credits or pollution credits being set on the world market, not on the market circumstances in Australia. For these people in Australia to continue to produce the power they need to satisfy the population, they’re going to have to go buy some carbon credits somewhere in Europe at whatever the price is, $65 a ton, which means the power companies in Australia are going to add what they have to buy in Europe, permission to pollute, and they’re going to add it to the bills. So in the process of supposedly reducing the carbon footprint of the world, the customer is going to have their electricity bills doubled. Do you see the scheme here? “Well, but, Rush, the whole point here is to get people to use less.” Don’t give me that. Countries like Australia and us, conservation is a wonderful thing, but it’s not the answer, and it’s not growth.
Story #5: Congress Urged to Help More Pay Heating Bills

RUSH: This is from Reuters. “Congress urged to help more people pay their heating bills.” Home heating oil dealers. “Corporations urged Congress to put extra money in the US economic stimulus package to fully fund a program that helps poor families pay their expensive winter heating bills. The New England Fuel Institute and the Petroleum Marketers Association of America asked lawmakers to back a proposal to add $3.6 billion in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, LIHEAP, as part of the stimulus package that will send rebates to taxpayers to spur the economy. ‘No one should have to choose between putting food on the table or staying warm.'” Of course not, and no one should have to choose between dog food and medicine, and nobody should have to choose between medicine and food.

Nobody should have to choose between a flat screen high-definition TV and unemployment on Super Bowl weekend. So, just the headline, more whining, checks aren’t going to be out until this spring, you people, sometimes not ’til August! But the whole concept Congress should help pay the heating bill — Waaahhh! You know it’s going to go up every year, you live where you live. Notice the heating oil providers, “You know, we’ll bite the bullet this winter. We think people ought to be warm. We’re going to lower our prices. We’re going to lower our profits.” No, why should they? No, they want you and me to pay their price so people in the Northeast won’t freeze to death. And, by the way, I mean February, March — ah, I guess there’s some cold months left, but with global warming it ain’t that bad.
Story #6: Stimulus Package Includes Checks for Illegals

RUSH: I mentioned this yesterday. It looks, ladies and gentlemen, like the tax package passed by the Democrat-controlled Congress, the stimulus package, will include refund or rebate checks to illegal aliens. Now, John Ensign, the Senator from Nevada, is going to introduce an amendment in the Senate to see that this doesn’t happen, but it’s in there, it’s in the House version, the Senate wants to put it in there, and if you ask me, this is just another in a long line of back-door attempts, behind-the-curtain attempts for Congress to get the amnesty they so want. Let me ask a question. If illegals have records from the IRS, in other words, they’ve gotta know who you are, somebody has to know who you are. Even people that don’t pay income taxes do pay payroll taxes. You have to file a tax return even if you don’t earn anything, you have to do that. Now, if the IRS can find these people, these illegals, to give them the rebate, what more do they need to be considered legal? I’m very suspicious of this. See, this is one of these things that is not what it appears to be. “Oh Rush, they’re here, they’re working hard, going to stimulate the economy.” If you think our friends in Washington have given up on the idea of amnesty for these illegals, you have another thing coming.

Story #7: Jackson Criticizes MLB Umpire Investigation
RUSH: “The Reverend Jackson criticized Major League Baseball today for sending investigators to the hometowns of umpires to ask neighbors questions that include whether the umpire belongs to the Ku Klux Klan.” Have you heard about this? Major League Baseball sending investigators to the homes in the towns where umpires live and they’re going to the neighbors and asking them all kinds of personal questions, including, “Did you ever, or are you, a member of the Klan?” The Reverend Jackson, in an amazing act of triangulation, said, “Major League Baseball’s done a disservice to its progressive social history by equating southern whites with white supremacists. I’m surprised the professional league which helped change social attitudes in all sports leagues about segregation by championing Jackie Robinson would make such a destructive move.” In other words, the Reverend Jackson is opposed to finding out whether any Major League Baseball umpires are members of the Klan. But where did this come from in the first place? What in the hell inspired this?

Oh, I remember: There was a story out there some time ago about some statisticians. Daniel Hamermesh — professor of economics, University of Texas — did a survey. He did an actual study and concluded that umpires might be racist, that black umps favor black pitchers when it comes to calling balls and strikes; that white umps favor white pitchers when it comes to calling balls and strikes. I remember when this came out. It was TIME Magazine on August 13th of last year, and the story was written here by Katie Rooney. Major League Baseball stepped up background checks of its umpires last August when that big cheating scandal hit the NBA — that ref, Tim Donaghy, for betting on games. But that still doesn’t explain why in the world you’re sending investigators to ask people whether umps are members of the Klan! (interruption) Okay, they’re asking if they’re members of any groups, but they’re including the Klan! Look the whole notion here… But if you’re gonna ask that specifically… I know they’re asking if you’ve got any members of groups, but including the Klan?
Story #8: Immigrants Hit Hard by Economic Slowdown

RUSH: “Immigrants Hit Hard by US Slowdown in Subprime Crisis.” Yesterday it was the animals, the pets, the dogs and cats. “As an economic slowdown and the subprime mortgage crisis deepen across the United States, Hispanic immigrants are increasingly in danger of losing their jobs and their homes.” Fine. We’re all miserable; we’re all a paycheck away. That’s why they’re being included in the stimulus bill.
Story #9: Three Stories with Super Bowl Death Warnings

RUSH: Speaking of the Super Bowl, I have three stories warning of how you can die watching it. “Super Bowl Could be Heart Health Hazard.” This is from the AP. “For rabid fans of the Giants and the Patriots, the Super Bowl won’t just be a game. It may be a health hazard. Heart attacks and other cardiac emergencies doubled in Munich when that nation’s soccer team played in World Cup matches, according to a new study. While history suggests European soccer fans get a bit more worked up than the average American football fan, doctors think there are some valid warnings to be shared,” and the rest of the story is, you know: Don’t drink this! Don’t eat that! Try to keep your temper in control and your emotions in check. What, Snerdley? Oh, yeah. Don’t beat your wife. We have that phony story that the NAGs put out that wife beating triples on the Super Bowl because angry husbands and their team loses or screws up, take it out on the wife. It turned out to be totally bogus. But anyway that’s a story. Number two: “Sports is a Strain on Fans’ Hearts,” in the LA Times, by Jia-Rui Chong.

“Talk about a heart-stopping game. Studying medical records from…” Oh, it’s just a repeat of this German business. But it says after you’re done beating your wife, “A study says you may have a heart attack during the Super Bowl. People with heart disease are at greater risk,” and then, let’s see. What’s the third story here? Oh, yes. From Jeremy Manier, Chicago Tribune: “Don’t Be a Super Bowl Statistic: Stress of Watching the Big Game Can be Hazardous to Heart.” So one study — one study! — from some people in Munich has created a wave of Drive-By stories about how you can die watching the Super Bowl, and there are tips in here to avoid death while you are watching the Super Bowl. This, ladies and gentlemen, is an indication of just how helpless they think you are. Watching the Super Bowl, is now a health risk. It can kill you. This is what you can do if you have access to a fax machine and you have the numbers of all the newsrooms of the Drive-By Media. You can create a literal panic, over the fact that you might die watching the Super Bowl.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Hillary Could Be Picking Up Steam in Ohio, Texas

RUSH: It looks, folks, like my strategery may be working. I’m getting the sense that Hillary is starting to pick up a little steam out there. Depending on the polls that you look at, you can see that it’s a dead heat with some polls in both Ohio and Texas, and the Ohio poll, which, let’s see, conducted between February 28th and March the 2nd, that would be yesterday, has Hillary up nine points, 51 to 42 of Democrat primary voters. Obama has erased Clinton’s once double-digit lead in Texas, but Mrs. Clinton has held onto her advantage in Ohio, and she says she’s only getting warmed up, she’s not getting out of this. Howard Wolfson said they got 16 states to go after Super-Duper Tuesday tomorrow.
Story #2: The New York Times Turns on McCain Once Again

RUSH: The New York Times has once again turned on John McCain. Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah. See, I Told You So. This is by Elisabeth Bumiller: “On Signature Issues, McCain Has Shown Some Inconsistencies in the Senate.” Really? Really, really, really? We said all of this, pointing this out throughout all the early primaries on this program. Now the New York Times says it after he gets the nomination. This demonstrates how the media manipulate the news. They wanted McCain to be our nominee. They chose our nominee. They wanted him to be our nominee. They ignored his switches on positions. We talked about them all the time. Now that he will be the nominee, they raise these issues in hopes of hurting him against the Democrat. He has shown some inconsistencies in the Senate is the headline. So, I don’t know, just pointing it out to you here, folks.
Story #3: Ahmadinejad Echoes Obama Talking Points
RUSH: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is back. He’s in Iraq, and he today dismissed US accusations that his country’s training extremists and demanded that the Americans withdraw from Iraq, which is right out of the Obama campaign. Once again the president of Iran utters Democrat Party talking points. “Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke in a nearly hour-long conference at the end of his visit, and he said that US allegations that Iran’s training Shi’ite militants who target American troops and Muslim rivals don’t matter to the Iranians. ‘Of course American officials make such remarks and such statements, and we don’t care, because they make statements on the basis of erroneous information. We can’t count on what they say.'” Anyway, he’s urging the US to get out of Iraq just as the Democrats are. So once again, our enemies line up with the Democrat Party.
Story #4: Shorenstein Blasts Pro-Obama Media Bias

RUSH: Now, the founder of the prestigious Institute on Media and Politics at Harvard, this is the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy. The founder of that revered institution is Walter Shorenstein. He’s a prominent San Francisco-based real estate developer, huge, huge lib. He’s a Democrat fundraiser, longtime supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton, and he has written a memo to Democrat Party superdelegates and other activists criticizing media coverage of the Democrat presidential campaign. He is upset over the complaints or the perceived press bias in favor of Barack Obama. In his memo, Shorenstein concurred with the Clinton campaign’s assessment. He says, “I’m absolutely outraged with the media coverage of the presidential campaign.” The AP, by the way, got hold of a copy of this. “This is the most important election of my long lifetime, and to quote one of my favorite movies, ‘I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore.'” He’s talking about the movie Network. “There’s too much on the line for the media to ignore important issues while they obsess about Hillary’s hairdo or Barack’s baritone,” Shorenstein continued. “Is it in the country’s best interests that voters receive far more information about Hillary’s laugh than Obama’s legislative record? Is it good for our nation that more attention is paid to the differences in their speaking style than their health care plans?”

Hey, Walter, your big problem, buddy, is that there isn’t that much of a difference between ’em policy-wise, and so these are the only distinctions that people can make. Walter, I tell you, there’s something else. She just isn’t cutting it when it comes to the public speaking stuff and this little thing called charisma. You know, Nurse Ratched didn’t have any charisma, either, and the media is not giving that to Obama. He’s got it. Here’s a lib complaining to fellow libs, the Drive-By Media. Hey, Walter, I’ll tell you another thing, old buddy, old pal, what’s doing you in here is all of the years of affirmative action and quotas and two different systems of how to treat people based on their skin color. You have asked, along with your buddies, that minorities be given a little help or maybe a step or two up the ladder. Certainly we can’t be critical of them, because it will make people racist. So everything you libs have advocated for all these years is coming home to roost in this campaign. What we’re coming down to here is fascinating to watch.

We have one aspect of Democrat liberal politics, which is feminism, and it’s up against the racial coalitions of the Democrat Party. And you know what the Democrats are finding out? Gotta laugh at this, too. I can’t laugh because I’ll have a coughing spasm, but just know, folks, I want to laugh right now. This is what has Gloria Steinem all upset. It’s frankly much easier, more fashionable, and less harmful to be sexist than it is racist. This is what’s showing through in the campaign, Walter, old buddy, old pal. Don’t you love this? The guy who endowed the Kennedy school — well, the Shorenstein Center for press and politics, whatever, upset. Where do you think these media people have gone to learn how to do this? Places like Walter Shorenstein’s big place up at Harvard. This is exactly what I’m talking about here, by keeping Hillary in this. Now you’ve got liberals beating up on liberals about press coverage? Whoa. Love this. By the way, Walter, old buddy, old pal, how come we never heard from you on press coverage and bias when your buddies from Harvard and the Shorenstein Center and everybody else in the Drive-By Media was trying to destroy George Bush in the last five years? How come when it involves Republicans, there’s no such thing as press bias, Walter, old buddy, old pal? I mean, there are plenty of examples.

I don’t want to talk about myself. You people know I don’t like doing that, but, Walter, I’ve never complained about it. I deal with it when it happens to me. I understand it. The difference is, Walter, your guys didn’t make me so they can’t destroy me. They can try, and they have, but I didn’t hear you pipe up about how unfair it was and how biased and how important. Now, when his babe, when his candidate Hillary can’t keep up on her own — got more stories in the stack — everybody’s at fault in that campaign but her, Mark Penn, who the hell else is involved, all the usual suspects. She continues to escape any blame, any blame for it, and so to see these guys now start complaining, Hillary’s people complaining about media coverage, you gotta love it, folks, you just have to eat it up.
Story #5: Didn’t the NIE Say Iran Gave Up Their Nukes?

RUSH: What the hell did I just see? The UN Security Council’s meeting to put more sanctions on Iran for nuclear activity? Well, now wait just a minute here, folks! I thought the NIE said that they gave it up. I thought that the National Intelligence Estimate (interruption)… Well, don’t just say the libs. The Drive-Bys did, too. The Drive-Bys tried to destroy the Iraq mission over it; they tried to destroy the Bush administration over it. A lot of people believed the NIE, even though we found out who wrote the thing, a bunch of saboteurs. Well, they were.
Story #6: Eco-Terrorists Blow Up Luxury Seattle Homes

RUSH: Did you see these houses have been blown up out there in Seattle by the Earth Liberation Front? This is serious. These are not just fires. These are explosions. A bunch of these houses — well-to-do houses. Yes, there are well-to-do liberals, and some of them just lost their homes to an extremist left-wing group. Environmentalist wackos: the peaceful, the tolerant, the kind, the sweet, the understanding. The Earth Liberation Front has blown up all these houses. Are they claiming credit for it or did they…? They believe it’s them, but did they leave some kind of a calling card around? Is there something to indicate it’s ELF in one of these houses?

Story #7: Brilliant Obama Wrong on Rockefeller War Vote
RUSH: Let me give you another example of how Obama is doing things. I don’t know if you chalk this up to incompetent or just risky. Ed Morrissey alerted me to this. He left his own blog, Captain’s Quarters, and went over to Michelle Malkin’s site, Hot Air. So I was reading Ed Morrissey, this is now on the Fox News website. It’s also at RightontheRight.com. Everybody’s got this now. Obama is saying that he showed excellent judgment and brilliance for opposing the Iraq war. Obama was not in the Senate when the vote on the Iraq war took place. He was campaigning. He continues to refer to his decision as very informed and very educated because he had the sense even campaigning to vote against it. He also, in a recent appearance, said that Jay Rockefeller, who is head of the Intelligence Committee, also voted against the war, or the use-of-force authorization, which was in October of 2002. You all remember this? This is when the Democrats sensed that the American people, a little over a year after 9/11, you got the midterm elections, and the Democrats are going bonkers and wacko, and they asked for another debate on the use of force in Iraq to get on the record as supporting it. And, of course, Bush was more than happy to comply, because this meant in October that the Democrats stop talking about their issues, kitchen table, back pocket issues going into the midterm elections.

So, anyway, Rockefeller did not vote against it. He voted for it, and with a stirring speech, and he talked in great detail about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein. Now, Obama is out there describing how he was on the same page as Jay Rockefeller. Rockefeller, by the way, was not even the chair of the committee at the time. He voted in favor of the war authorization. You remember who was chairman at the time, Senate Intelligence Committee, was Bob Graham, of Florida. But he voted against the resolution. But Obama didn’t mention Graham’s name in his passage or on his website. But he’s talking about Hillary here. She didn’t read the National Intelligence Estimates. Jay Rockefeller read it, but she didn’t read it. “I don’t know what all that experience got her, because I have enough experience to know that if you have a National Intelligence Estimate, and the chairman of the national Senate Intelligence Committee says you should read this, this is why I’m voting against the war, that you should probably read it. I don’t know how much experience you need for that.” He cited Jay Rockefeller in error. Hillary’s going to try to turn this around and hammer Obama with this. See, he’s got the luxury, he didn’t have to vote on this, so he can run around and say, “I was the one that was reasonable. I was the one that had the brains. I certainly had enough experience to realize how bad this was.” He didn’t have to make a vote, didn’t have to vote. We’re dealing here with another Bill Clinton in so many ways, and we know how that went.
Story #8: Controversy over Washington Post Obama Headline

RUSH: There’s a big controversy over what happened yesterday on the Outlook pages of the Washington Post. A column that was written by a woman, and the headline — this is why I thought today, Hillary is really bringing out the worst in everybody, particularly women on her side, the woman’s name is Charlotte Allen. “We Scream, We Swoon, How Dumb Can We Get?” And she’s talking about women swooning and fainting in Obama audiences and so forth, and how this looks bad for feminism and so forth. It really caused quite an outrageous reaction, and, in fact, they changed the headline. The original headline was, “We Scream, We Swoon, How Dumb Can We Get?” They changed the headline: “We Scream, We Swoon, Why Do We Look So Dumb?” And now the editor at the Washington Post Outlook section, “It was a parody, it was tongue-in-cheek.” Oh, really?

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: McCain’s Habit of Throwing Supporters Under Bus
RUSH: I guess this is in Texas, was in Houston, and a questioner at the town hall meeting took the microphone to level an insult at Mrs. Clinton. “Referring to the introduction of McCain’s wife Cindy, a man in Houston said, ‘Unlike other candidates in the race, if Cindy answers the phone at three in the morning, she won’t be wondering where her husband is.'” So there was raucous laughter, the crowd loved it, gales of laughter, there was applause, there were lots of smiles, including one from Cindy McCain. Senator McCain, however, “according to The Politico.com was forced to dissociate himself from the comments, while the acknowledging that the line was meant in humor, McCain said, ‘Americans want us to have a respectful campaign” and he honors and respects both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama, which also got applause but not nearly so much as the original line.” So Senator McCain chastises yet another voter, supporter — dissociates himself from another supporter — at one of his town hall meetings. So… I’m just not even gonna comment on it myself, not gonna comment on it myself, just throw it out there; let you people ponder it amongst yourselves. See what you think.

Story #2: Drive-Bys Sweat, Fret Three More Primary Months
RUSH: Here’s the headline today from the Rocky Mountain News. This is in Denver. “‘Tuesday’s Results Could Mean Chaos for the Democrat National Committee.’ There was more confusion than closure in Tuesday’s presidential primaries, preserving the prospect of brutal chaos leading right up to the Democratic National Convention in Denver.” Amen, bro, this is exactly what we wanted. The delegate count — what did she pick up, something like 22 delegates or something like that? She didn’t get that much closer, she didn’t narrow the gap, and the odds are still really, really against her winning the nomination. Here’s how it goes. This is how the delegate math — for those of you who are all worried. By the way, you wouldn’t believe the number of sound bites I have coming up from the Drive-By Media commenting on the Limbaugh Effect: How much was it? How big was it? And then, we have some Drive-By people saying here that I am corrupting and perverting democracy, that what I did was ungentlemanly. I’m not kidding you. We’ve got the sound bites coming up. No, I’m not kidding at all. I’ve got the sound bites coming up.

Let me tell you something, folks. You who listen to this program regularly understand one of the guiding principles of this program, and that is to illustrate absurdity by being absurd. If the Democrats and if the media can pick our nominee, then why the hell can’t we pick theirs? If it’s really fine and dandy and wonderful and bipartisan for Democrats and independents to cross over in the early Republican primaries in states where there are not a dominant number of conservative Republicans and essentially nominate Senator McCain, how come that’s all hunky-dory, how come that’s wonderful, how come that’s all sweetness and light, how come that’s democracy in action? But when Republicans, after our nominee is already chosen, decide to enter the Democrat primary and express their wishes on that side of the aisle, how come that’s corrupting democracy? It’s not corrupting, it’s just making them mad, which is another objective that we succeeded in pulling off.

Let me give you the delegate math here to calm some of your fears out there. If Clinton and Obama basically tie in the remaining 12 contests, Obama would need 164 superdelegates to come his way to put him over the magic number of 2,024. Here’s the thing that you have to understand. Because of what happened yesterday, this contest is assured to go another three months to Puerto Rico on June 7th, exactly as we told you in a piece written — I forget who wrote it — in American Spectator on Monday. There is no way that either one of these two candidates is going to wrap up the number of delegates by Puerto Rico, which means we’re going to get Florida and we’re going to get Michigan redo’s. That will happen in June sometime. Well, I don’t know when it’s going to happen, but I would bet that we get Florida and Michigan redo’s. “Well, yeah, because you can’t disenfranchise all those voters. It’s just not right, Mr. Limbaugh, we can’t do it.” Remember what I told you, Snerdley, there are no rules in the Democrat Party; there are only customs and traditions. Don’t frown at me. Stop and think of it.

Do you realize what a brilliant observation that is? There are no rules, and therefore there are no rules to break. There are customs, traditions. And of course one of the great Democrat traditions, one of the great Democrat customs is every vote counts, at least twice, and sometimes three times. It’s a great custom. It’s been that way in Chicago for a long time; been that way in West Virginia for a long time. They tried to make that happen in Cuyahoga County last night. I keep hearing judges are loath to keep polling places open. (laughing) Democrat judges aren’t, certainly not in St. Louis and not in Cleveland.

Story #3: Chicago Press Begs Barry to Come Clean on Rezko
RUSH: The Chicago Sun-Times, by the way, is all over Senator Obama. Jury selection began Monday in the trial of political influence peddler Tony Rezko. This would be the time before a single witness takes the stand for Barack Obama to finally share every detail of his relationship with Rezko. This is an editorial from the Chicago Sun-Times. “Rezko stands accused of funneling state business to companies that lined his pockets and made campaign contributions to Governor Blagojevich. Rezko allegedly directed 10 grand to Obama’s 2004 campaign to the US Senate. The criminal charges against Rezko in no way implicate Obama in any wrongdoing, but they do raise the question of the dealings between the two men. For months, sometimes investigative reporters have had a standing request to meet with Obama face-to-face to get answers to questions such as these: ‘How many fundraisers did Rezko throw for Obama?’ ‘Obama’s donating $150,000 to charity that Rezko brought into the campaign, but how much in all did Rezko raise?’ ‘Did Rezko find jobs for Obama backers in the Blagojevich administration or elsewhere?’ ‘Why did Obama only recently admit after Bloomberg News broke the story that Rezko had toured his south side mansion with him in 2004 before he bought it?’ Dribs and drabs of people’s lives have a most unfortunate way of coming out in trials.” And so the Chicago Sun-Times, “Hey, Barack, to prevent the dribs and drabs, tell us in advance.”

I mention all this only because if you don’t think Clinton, Inc., is going to be keeping a sharp eye on this, I mean, how many Clinton, Inc., jurors will there be? And, of course, Obama could fire back with Norman Hsu stuff if he wanted to; plenty of stuff to fire back at here. Hope it happens, that’s the whole point. “As questioning of potential jurors wrapped up Tuesday in the corruption trial of political fund-raiser Tony Rezko, a new accusation has surfaced that Rezko paid a $1.5 million bribe in an effort to win a $50 million business deal in Iraq. In a court filing, Rezko’s lawyers say that prosecutors accused him in a closed-door meeting of paying the bribe to Aiham Alsammarae, Iraq’s former minister of electricity. Rezko’s defense team called the accusation ‘baseless.’ They accused the prosecution of relying too heavily on the word of Daniel Mahru, a former Rezko business partner who is expected to testify against Rezko.” Drips and drabs, drips and drabs. Here’s Obama, all hot to trot on his anti-Iraq policy, should not have gone there, shouldn’t have had anything to do with what’s going on, bad mistake, Bush should have never gone. The guy, therefore, who enabled Obama to buy his house at below market price is now accused of paying a $1.5 million bribe in an effort to win a $50 million business deal in that very same Iraq that Obama says we have no business being in.

Story #1: Markey to Big Oil: Put Yourself Out of Business

RUSH: USA Today — they had a story on the hearings of Big Oil before Ed Markey and his committee. I didn’t miss this, it went past me. Ed Markey and the Democrats pointed their fingers at the Big Oil execs yesterday and told them that they need to be looking at alternative fuels and that they’re being un-American and unpatriotic and they’re raping people if they don’t do that. Now, I had a Big Oil monologue and so forth, but stop and think of just what Markey said. You guys need to be looking into alternative oils. What he was essentially saying was, “You guys are responsible for finding the product that’s going to put you out of business.” This would be like bringing up Ford dealerships and saying, “You have got to take your Fords out of the showroom and bring in General Motors and Toyota cars.” And perhaps you can think of better analogies than that. But we’re still back to this notion that there is some massive overnight fix for oil, that oil has become evil, it’s dirty, and so forth.
Story #2: Operation Chaos Exposes Democrat Liberalism

RUSH: Tom Bethell today in the American Spectator analyzes the Clinton and Obama primary race in a way that he thinks is unique. He says there’s problems for the Democrats, and, yeah, all the fallout that might happen at the convention, but what he said here that’s really on display is the pure, 100% liberalism of both of these candidates. There is not one inspiring thought about the country, other than Obama’s meaningless and vacuous speeches of long ago on change and hope and the future and all of that. And that’s true, folks, and that’s one of the ancillary benefits of Operation Chaos, that the longer this goes on, the more people are going to notice just exactly who they are and the way they’re speaking about the country.
Story #3: Anne Kornblut on Mrs. Clinton’s Tales of Misery
RUSH: The Washington Post today, Anne Kornblut. Now, Anne Kornblut, reporterette, I have detected has had a bit of an animus toward Mrs. Clinton throughout this entire primary season. At least I think so because Anne Kornblut was on television once talking…

What, Snerdley? Well, no, she won’t do an interview with me. She’s only talking to editorial people and columnists and she’s very controlled. She’s not talking to reporters. So she’s building up this animus among people; when they have a chance to take a shot, they do. Anne Kornblut’s story today in the Washington Post: “In Speeches, Clinton Often Veers to the Dark Side.” She never tells an uplifting story, never tells stories of hope, never tells stories of the greatness of America. “It almost always comes when the audience least expects it: the moment Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton brings a roaring crowd to a hush with a heart-rending anecdote. ‘I remember listening to a story about a young woman in a small town along the Ohio River, in Meigs County, who worked in a pizza parlor,’ [Hillary] said during a stop in Cleveland, beginning a particularly grim tale. ‘She got pregnant, she started having problems. There’s no hospital left in Meigs County,” and why the hell might that be the case? Does anyone want to take a stab at answering why the hospital wouldn’t still be in Meigs County? [S]o she had to go to a neighboring county.

“She showed up, and the hospital said, ‘You know, you’ve got to give us $100 before we can see you.’ She didn’t have $100,’ Clinton said. ‘So the young woman went back home,’ she continued. ‘The next time she went back, she was in an ambulance. It turned out she lost the baby. She was airlifted to Columbus.’ She paused before concluding: ‘And after heroic efforts at the medical center, she died.’ The audience, as always, gasped. … In hushed tones, sometimes with palpable sadness in her voice, Clinton tells dark, difficult anecdotes picked up on the campaign trail. They often relate to health matters, culled from her conversations with voters, and are designed to illustrate a policy point. … For Clinton, the approach seems to bring together her best skills, especially her ability to listen to voters she meets. In speeches that sometimes wear on and sometimes derail into deadening policy, sharing bleak stories can focus the audience’s attention. … [T]he story drew audible gulps of horror, she ended by saying: ‘It’s a real indictment of our health-care system. That shouldn’t happen in America,'” and this is true. She and Obama, too, this is what the liberal Democrat Party has become: negative after negative after negative after negative, examples of stories, as though to mainstream these stories, as if to make it out like this is common in the country.
Story #4: Calls for Dingy Harry to Step Aside for Hillary
RUSH: In the Wall Street Journal today, there’s an editorial, “Solving the Hillary Problem,” and there’s a pull quote in this editorial that says: “Democrats should let Mrs. Clinton be Senate majority leader.” Isn’t it amazing? They are so eager to get her out of there; they will let her be the Senate majority leader! That’s something that you have to run for, and I don’t know that Dingy Harry’s ready to give it up. But here’s the point about this. When Mrs. Clinton first ran for the Senate and decided to make her move on New York… By the way, if she had run in Illinois, there wouldn’t be a Barack Obama, but she ran in New York. There was a congresswoman — Snerdley, you’ll remember this name — by the name of Nita Lowey. It was Nita Lowey’s turn. Nita Lowey had climbed the ladder. She’d been in Congress. She stepped aside. She passed on her turn so as to open the door for Mrs. Clinton. Now they want Dingy Harry to step aside. What does he get for giving up his title as majority leader? Maybe make him Secretary of Surrendering in the new administration. Offer him something. Don’t put him on the court. Secretary of Surrendering is good. Everybody is supposed to part ways and make way for Mrs. Clinton, get out of her way because what’s hers is hers and she’s entitled to it. Except when it comes to the presidential nomination, they’re not willing to do it anymore. They want her gone. We at Operation Chaos, we want her gone, too, but not for another few months.
Story #5: AP Hit Piece on Mrs. McCain’s Beer Fortune

RUSH: Moving on to the Associated Press and their treatment of John McCain. Headline: “Beer Executive Could Be Next First Lady.” And, of course, the story here is that behind yet another presidential candidate is a rich wife. Can you say Teresa Heinz Kerry? “On a spring day at a speedway in the South, John McCain posed with his wife, Cindy, and racing star Dale Earnhardt Jr., highlighting the couple’s political and business interests in a single snapshot. McCain served as honorary starter of the NASCAR race that weekend in Charlotte, NC. Earnhardt drove the Budweiser car. … Budweiser, then NASCAR’s official beer, is brewed by Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., whose products have made Cindy McCain and her family a fortune. The brewer sold toy replicas of its race car to aid the Special Operations Warrior Foundation and publicized its support for the group, on whose board John McCain served and whose chairman later endorsed him. The speedway appearance helped McCain court NASCAR voters, and his campaign circulated video of the event over the Internet. … As heiress to her father’s stake in Hensley & Co. of Phoenix, Cindy McCain is an executive whose worth may exceed $100 million.

Her beer earnings have afforded the GOP presidential nominee a wealthy lifestyle with a private jet and vacation homes at his disposal, and her connections helped him launch his political career — even if the millions remain in her name alone. Yet the arm’s-length distance between McCain and his wife’s assets also has helped shield him from conflict-of-interest problems. Nearly 30 years before John McCain became the Republican presidential nominee, he worked in public relations at his wife’s family company. Within a few years of marrying Cindy Hensley, the daughter of a multimillionaire Anheuser-Busch distributor, John McCain won his first election. He was new to Arizona politics and fundraising in the 1982 House race, and his campaign quickly fell into debt. Personal money — tens of thousands of dollars in loans to his campaign from McCain bank accounts — helped him survive.”

The story goes on, “McCain’s campaign still taps Hensley assets: His presidential campaign paid at least $227,000 last year to a limited liability company in which his wife and children are invested, King Aviation, for use of its private jet, according to campaign finance reports. … McCain is routinely ranked among the richest senators. But a prenuptial agreement has kept most assets in his wife’s name. That arrangement served as a defense for McCain when the Senate ethics committee scrutinized a real estate deal involving his wife, her father and disgraced savings and loan owner Charles Keating, Jr. McCain said at the time the separation of assets helped prove the deal didn’t benefit him. … In contrast, Cindy McCain is a millionaire many times over — though the McCains haven’t disclosed just how many times. In government records, McCain is permitted to describe his wife’s salary at Hensley as simply ‘more than $1,000’ and, when listing her major assets, say only that they are worth ‘more than $1 million.’ The reports show Cindy McCain has at least $9 million in assets on her own and at least $15 million with the McCain children. But those figures are virtually meaningless; her stake in Hensley & Co. alone almost certainly exceeds them by tens of millions of dollars. Beverage industry analysts estimate Hensley’s value at more than $250 million and its annual sales at $300 million or more. Hensley describes itself as the third-largest Anheuser-Busch wholesaler in the United States. It sold more than 23 million cases of beer last year and is among the nation’s biggest beer distributors regardless of brand.”

So we have a contrast here. We have got a total whitewash going now of the Trinity United Church of Christ, and now we have the portrayal of McCain as nobody and nothing without a rich wife, feeding off of her income, off of her assets, over her family worth, flying around in private jets and so forth, while shielding his true wealth by saying, “It’s not in my name.” However, while it’s typical AP and there is going to be more of this to come as we get to the general election, wasn’t it yesterday in Annapolis, Maryland, that Senator McCain made a speech in which he sort of criticized people who make easy money? Didn’t he sort of get real critical of people who are cynical and maybe don’t have appreciation for what they have? Could we say that Senator McCain would not have anywhere near this kind of wealth were he not married to his wife? Could we have said the same thing about John Kerry, the haughty John Kerry? So you see where the press, the Drive-Bys are headed with this? I’ll tell you what it’s going to be: McCain is phony. I’m just warning you, I didn’t write the story. It’s going to be all over the place, folks. You might be mad at me for reporting it to you, but I didn’t write it. This is where we are headed.
Story #6: AP Syrupy Puff Piece on Obama and Rev. Wright

RUSH: The Associated Press today has one of the most syrupy stories, and it’s about Jeremiah Wright and the Trinity United Church of Christ. “A young Barack Obama was searching for answers, and perhaps a place to belong, when he decided to visit a fast-growing church recommended by friends. What he heard left him in tears.” Oh ho-ho no, poor baby. “The Rev. Jeremiah Wright preached that day about suffering — about the seemingly endless problems of the world and of individuals. But he also talked about the importance of hope, the audacity of believing things can be made better. ‘Hope is what saves us,’ Wright said.” Wrong, Rev. Hope is an excuse for not doing anything. “That message moved Obama to embrace Trinity United Church of Christ, along with its philosophy of translating faith into action. But it’s a side of Wright that has been overshadowed by his inflammatory remarks about everything from race relations to the Sept. 11 terror attacks. The furor over Wright’s remarks has provoked the greatest crisis for Obama’s presidential campaign thus far, but Obama has refused to leave Trinity or sever his ties with Wright. … Trinity is a predominantly black congregation in a mainline, mostly white denomination — the United Church of Christ. Its 8,000 members include politicians, doctors, lawyers and other leaders on Chicago’s South Side. The rapper Common, the former director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, the former director of the state Department of Professional Regulation, and at least one state representative are members of the church. Oprah Winfrey has attended services there.” She quit! She quit the church.

“The church offers a long list of services — housing and employment programs, scholarships, a ministry to people with HIV/AIDS — that mesh well with Obama’s political philosophy.” This is a Drive-By navel gazing. The Drive-Bys are feeling guilty that they got sucked in to criticizing Reverend Wright and so now it’s time to go out and say we were wrong and write a story about how this church is the best damn church that ever hit Chicago, and we are so guilty and we feel so bad that we reamed this church and Reverend Wright. So now they’ve gone and they’ve found all the humanitarian aid, the wonderful things the church does. It’s the kiss-and-make-up phase now. Coordinated effort for the Drive-Bys to see to it that Reverend Wright nor this church no longer carry any baggage for Obama. It is a long story. It’s another full page here. Talks about all the preachers that love the church and are big supporters of the church. So the Drive-Bys are doing everything they can here to get rid of anybody’s impression left by Reverend Wright, ah, this is one of the most compassionate, the most supportive, the most humanitarian congregations in the history of churches in Chicago.
Story #7: Axelrod Asked PR Firm to Help Wright’s Church

RUSH: By the way, something from a website called TPM Election Central: “‘Senior Obama Adviser Asked Top Public Relations Firm To Help Wright’s Church’ — Here’s an interesting peek at some of what was going on behind the scenes in Chicago during the controversy over Jeremiah Wright, the pastor at Obama’s Trinity church.” Greg Sargent is the poster here on this blog. “I’m told that top Obama adviser David Axelrod privately tried to help Trinity with its raging public relations problem by asking one of Chicago’s top PR firms to go in and help the church deal with its PR mess. Axelrod confirms to me that amid the controversy, Trinity put out word that it was overwhelmed by media calls and in need of help. Axelrod confirms that he called Jim Terman, the president of Jasculca-Terman and Associates, a major Chicago PR outfit that specializes in doing crisis PR management for corporations and large institutions.” And it worked. So they got a PR firm out there feeding the Drive-By Media with all this rotgut here about the great humanitarian work, the oh-so-misunderstood aspect of Reverend Wright, and it had to be a thousand words in that story.
Story #8: Study Says Smoking Addiction is Genetic
RUSH: The New York Times today: “Scientists say they have pinpointed a genetic link that makes people more likely to get hooked on tobacco, causing them to smoke more cigarettes, making it harder to quit, and leading more often to deadly lung cancer.” Gasp! “The discovery by three separate teams of scientists makes the strongest case so far for the biological underpinnings of the addiction of smoking and sheds light on how genetics and cigarettes join forces to cause cancer, experts said. The findings also lay the groundwork for more tailored quit-smoking treatments. … A smoker who inherits this genetic variation from both parents has an 80 percent greater chance of lung cancer than a smoker without the variants… The three studies, funded by governments in the US and Europe, is being published Thursday in the journals Nature and Nature Genetics.” You know, it isn’t going to be long before it’s not our fault. It’s not our fault, if you’re smoking.

It ain’t your fault. Right around the corner! Victim. You know, nicotine is the most addictive drug around. You disagree with this? You disagree with this? Some people say, “Well, Rush, what are you talking about? I mean, you ever seen somebody take crystal meth? See they’re spiking some of these drugs that they’re giving these kids out there today?” Yeah. I learned a little bit about this. Try this, though. Every drug that people take that’s like a mind-altering drug, the experience is usually pretty pleasant, is it not? “Ooh, wow! I’ve never felt this way before.” No one — no one — has a pleasant first experience with nicotine. You ever seen some kid take his first drag of a cigarette? Hack, hack, hack! … and go right on smoking. That’s pretty powerful drug. I can see Dawn on the other side of the glass. She doesn’t think I know what I’m talking about, but it is the only drug I know of that people don’t have a pleasant first experience with and they just stay with it. Regardless, whether it’s the most powerful or not, it’s very close.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Berlusconi: Right-Wing Women More Beautiful

RUSH: From the BBC: “Italian opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi has claimed that right-wing female politicians are better looking than their left-wing counterparts.” Who can argue with this?
Story #2: California Sheep Follow Government Orders

RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, over the course of many moons I have chronicled for you how, for example, in California, the state, for years, for whatever reasons — fuel economy, global warming, pollution emissions — urging people left and right to buy smaller cars, more economical cars, cars that get more miles to the gallon. As is the case, in a state as populous as California, you’re going to have enough sheep out there that when the government says do something, they’ll go do it because they think that’s what defines being a good citizen is following orders from the government. And enough of them did over the course of recent months that less gasoline was sold. This coupled with a higher gasoline price and all the other factors contributed to what? Less tax revenue pouring into the public coffers in Sacramento. This alarmed state officials because everything they suggested people were doing in enough numbers, sufficient numbers, as to impact negatively the collection of tax revenues. So what did they do? They figured out ways to raise taxes on gasoline and other things to make up their loss. This is typical government, typical liberal government. They tell you to do these great things to save you money and save the planet at the same time. When they figure out that you saving tax revenue means they don’t get it, then the days of you saving tax revenue are over. So you’ve gone out, you’ve purchased a bunch of junk-heap automobiles that you really didn’t want but because of your desire to be good citizens. You’re driving around a bunch of claptraps, barely able to do 50 miles an hour, but you think that you’re a good citizen, and all of a sudden everything they told you to do harms them.
Story #3: NC: Higher Water Rates… Because You Conserved
RUSH: In Raleigh, North Carolina, recently, they banned garbage disposals. Now, when I moved to New York, you couldn’t have a garbage disposal in the city in any high-rise, you just couldn’t have ’em. No, you couldn’t, as recently as 1988. As recently as 1984, you couldn’t have a garbage disposal. You know why? Because it eliminated jobs for union workers to pick up garbage and trash. You had to put your food in a trash bag, throw it down the chute in the building, ends up outside on the front curb waiting for the trash truck to come pick it up. What a lot of people would do after they got the permit of certificate of occupancy from the local inspector, they would secretly install the Kitchen Aid or whatever garbage disposal. I never did because I didn’t want to flout the law. You can do it in New York now. I still haven’t put one in because I’m not in there enough. I should do it. But they just recently tried to ban them in North Carolina, and for the reason that they were clogging up sewer lines, which was pure bogus. And there was such an outrage they’ve rescinded the ban. That was in Raleigh.

Now, in Charlotte, North Carolina: “It’s official, Charlotte-Mecklenburg water and sewer customers: Your rates will go up because you conserved.” A fifteen percent increase in the water rate has been approved. This is from the Charlotte Observer. “Charlotte City Council approved an unusually steep water and sewer rate hike Monday — double the normal annual increase — to make up for lower water sales in recent months, as the region has stopped lawn watering,” and they’re in a drought. So the officials say, “You can only water once a week, you can’t water at all, you can’t wash your car, you’re supposed to brush your teeth without the water running, you’re supposed to wash your hands without the water running. ” So people have been following the orders, they’re good citizens, and they know there’s a drought. They’ve been told you’ve got 90 days, 90 days if it doesn’t rain and we’re officially out of water, so people have been paying attention, and they’ve been doing it. Now their water rates are going up, because they’re not using any. The vote was seven to three.

Now, just extrapolate this to whatever might come down the pike on global warming. They tell you what to do and how to save money, and when they find out their tax revenue falls, guess what? You’re going to get taxed for less! You’re going to get taxed for using less of anything. Republican councilman John Lassiter said, “We’re in a box, and it distresses me. I feel like there should have been a lot more disclosure to this council prior to 30 days ago.” So where are we? The city of Raleigh and Charlotte, wherever in the state of North Carolina, bans you from watering your lawn, from any new plants, from washing the car, using a garbage disposal, with all these hysterical demands to conserve water. They’re running commercials on television with the governor and a bunch of pretty children asking North Carolinians not to run water while shaving or brushing their teeth. They say you only have enough water in North Carolina to last 90 days. In three months, there will be no water coming out of the taps of North Carolina, they say. So, like the good little sycophants the North Carolina citizens are, they do all that. People are even putting rain barrels out. They’re putting rain barrels out to collect rainwater when it rains because they’re trying to conserve water, to follow what the government says. And then, bammo, the Charlotte city council, coming soon to other North Carolina cities as well I’ll bet you, realizes all that conserving is now causing the local government coffers to lose millions of dollars in revenue, so what do they do? Raise the rates on the water.

There was nothing they could do. Nothing they could do. They were in a box, and these rates more than double the normal annual increase. Does this not sound like I said, ladies and gentlemen, suspiciously like the manmade global warming garbage out there. Record cold, it’s global warming. Record heat, it’s global warming. More hurricanes, global warming. Less hurricanes, global warming. By the same token, less water, and your bill goes up. Use less gasoline in California, and the expense, the cost goes up. And if you come back and use more water, your bill goes up. Use less water, it goes up in price. Use more water, it goes up in price. In both cases, liberal governments are in charge of the charges. “Okay, Rush, okay. Fine and dandy. You tell us about this, but then what?” Stop electing Democrats! Plain and simple.
Story #4: Camille Paglia on Hillary’s Girlie-Men

RUSH: Camille Paglia, in her latest column at Salon.com, answers e-mail. She got an e-mail from a guy named Chris Richard in Agoura Hills, California. He writes to Camille Paglia, “‘I would like to get your feedback on the subject of those who end up in Hillary’s orbit. Can you conceive of a strong, leader-type male ever working under her? An alpha, if you will. And if the answer is no, then why do you think that is? The men you always see under her are to a person passive-aggressive, sadistic, mean, little, petty beta-male pieces of work who would not naturally succeed in a common male-type hierarchy. By that I mean an environment that values straightforward achievement rather than the darker political arts. …” Who are these guys? Camille Paglia’s reply: “You have succinctly expressed one of the most unsettling aspects of Hillary Clinton’s character and modus operandi. There is a strangely static and claustrophobic quality to the fiercely loyal cult she has gathered around her since her first lady years. Postmortem analysts of this presidential campaign will have a field day ferreting out all the cringe-making blunders made by her clique of tired, aging courtiers who couldn’t adjust to changing political realities.”

Ms. Paglia continues: “I agree that the male staff who Hillary attracts are slick, geeky weasels or rancid, asexual cream puffs. … If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say Hillary is reconstituting the toxic hierarchy of her childhood household, with her on top instead of her drill-sergeant father. All those seething beta males … are versions of her sad-sack brothers, who got the short end of the Rodham DNA stick. The compulsive war-room mentality of both Clintons is neurosis writ large. The White House should not be a banging, rocking washer perpetually stuck on spin cycle. Many Democrats, including myself, have come to doubt whether Hillary has any core values or even a stable sense of identity. With her outlandish fibbing and naive self-puffery, her erratic day-to-day changes of tone and message, her glassy, fixed smiles, and her leaden and embarrassingly unpresidential jokes about pop culture, she has started to seem like one of those manic, seductively vampiric patients in trashy old Hollywood hospital flicks like ‘The Snake Pit.’ How anyone could confuse Hillary’s sourly cynical, male-bashing megalomania with authentic feminism is beyond me.” That’s Camille Paglia, Salon.com. It is an interesting question, and it is interesting to note that all of these guys in Hillary’s orb, you know, would be in Revenge of the Nerds 10 — and that’s even being charitable towards them, in terms of being men.
Story #5: New Tax Bracket for Maryland Millionaires

RUSH: Folks, I don’t know what… I’m an optimist and very happy, good cheer, content and all that. But I think I’ve gotta prepare you for what we face, possibly. We’re going to face confiscatory taxation like people can’t comprehend, if either Hillary or Obama get elected president. Two stories. The Baltimore Sun. There is a new tax bracket for Maryland millionaires, specifically millionaires. Not the rich. “…Maryland’s new millionaires’ tax bracket. A little more than 6,000 households statewide qualify for the distinction…” In all of Maryland, there are 6,000 households where people have an income of a million dollars or more. “[M]ore than 40 percent of [these 6,000] reside in Montgomery County. It’s a group that includes a Fortune 500 executive in Potomac, an energy company CEO in Roland Park and wealthy retirees with bayside estates in St. Michaels.” They go on to list people. Even Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens is one who would qualify for this new tax. “With the General Assembly’s passage of the new 6.25 percent top tax rate on incomes above $1 million, and Gov. Martin O’Malley’s signing of the bill yesterday, Maryland has apparently become the first state to create an actual millionaires’ bracket.” That’s a 6.25% tax if your income is a million dollars or more. Now, that’s still pretty low compared to like 14% in California or 12% in New York. This is just the first round. The point is, there’s a millionaire tax now.
Story #6: “Millionaire’s Tax” Could Fund NYC Mass Transit

RUSH: In New York, Mayor Bloomberg is fit to be tied. He had a new tax plan, a “congestion tax,” and you were going to be charged if you drove into the city, if you entered… I forget the details of it because it doesn’t apply to me because I don’t live there. But you were going to get soaked, and the State Assembly told Mayor Bloomberg to go to hell. They’ve come up with a different plan. “Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan may be dead, but Assembly Democrats do have a plan to raise money for mass transit: tax the rich. It’s what Albany calls a ‘millionaire’s tax.’ … Under the plan, people who earn over $1 million in New York state will pay an income tax surcharge of about 3/4 of 1 percent for five years,” meaning in perpetuity because it will never, ever be eliminated. It will only increase. So whatever the top rate is in New York State — and I know what it is…I just don’t pay any attention to it because it makes me sick. The accountant figures it out. So for people over a million dollars it’s going to be an additional three-quarters of 1%. “[I]t would raise over $5 billion for mass transit. Supporters say that of the 75,000 affected taxpayers, about 35,000 don’t live in New York. ‘They could be ballplayers at Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium, Madison Square Garden,’ Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver told CBS 2 HD. ‘They could be Wall Street people who live in Greenwich, Conn., or Princeton, NJ,'” but who work in the city. So you said, “It’s just the first of many,” Snerdley. You’re absolutely right — and five billion to pay for mass transit? What about all the tax revenue they already raised in New York State and New York City? Well, that’s going to prop up the never-ending and always-growing welfare state that New York has, independent of the federal government’s welfare state.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: HuffPo Kooks Compare OpChaos to Genocide

RUSH: The Huffington Post today. Before we get to the battle plans, you gotta hear this. Some guy named Jeffrey Feldman has posted a piece: “‘Did Limbaugh Try to Incite Violence?’ — For weeks, now, Rush Limbaugh has been trying to incite political violence by giving on-air military-sounding orders, effectively ‘commanding’ his listeners to wage war against the US electoral system… How does Limbaugh’s bid to incite political violence with radio broadcasts differ from previous instances where radio has been used to that end (e.g., Rwanda)” to conduct a genocide? The Huffington Post has now compared Operation Chaos, with its radio military orders, to the Rwanda genocide. This is how successful Operation Chaos is: The left now is going nuts trying to explain it. Where do we go from here? What did you say, Mr. Snerdley? Well, Mr. Snerdley, the only thing that Operation Chaos and Rwanda have in common is that the Clintons refuse to stop it — that’s it.
Story #2: NC Superdelegate Shuler Declares for Clinton

RUSH: A North Carolina superdelegate, ladies and gentlemen, has just declared for Hillary Clinton. His name is Heath Shuler. He is a conservative Democrat, a former quarterback for the Washington Redskins. Shuler had promised to support the Democrat candidate who won his conservative western North Carolina district. Unofficial results showed that Clinton won that region by 13 points. That has to be Operation Chaos. Heath Shuler and his vote gives Clinton the support of three superdelegates in North Carolina, including governor Mike Easley. Six of them have backed Obama. But this clearly was not supposed to have happened, and so even though I released the superdelegates to support Obama today, still dissension in the ranks. At least Heath Shuler understands the importance of promises and commitments and the vote.
Story #3: Split Between Denver Convention Protest Groups
RUSH: Try this, from the Rocky Mountain News: “A split has opened in the ranks of two groups organizing protests during the Democratic National Convention in August. Tent State University, a group that hopes to bring college students from across the country to Denver, said Monday that it has severed ties with Re-create 68. ‘Re-create 68 has demonstrated an inability to fulfill the needs of a growing list of individuals and organizations,’ Tent State organizer Adam Jung said in a prepared statement. ‘Our ability to effectively present our message to the delegates, the Democratic Party, and the public, is our number one priority.’ The statement said that Tent City [sic] organizers felt their efforts would be compromised if they tried to maintain a relationship with Re-create 68. The two groups had been sharing the proceeds of concerts held as fundraisers such as one held in Fort Collins, said Tent City [sic] spokeswoman Jo Pease. That no longer will happen, she said. [Glenn Spagnuolo], an organizer with Re-create 68…”

You know what this is. We’re talking people here who want civil unrest and perhaps more at the Democrat National Convention. Now they can’t even get along with each other. Here’s the unity party led by the unity candidate, Barack Obama. These two protest groups — Tent State and Re-create 68 — can’t even get along with themselves. Now, Spagnuolo, “an organizer with Re-create 68, described the split as a mutual one… said that his group had concerns over the images that…” Get this. This is just hilarious. The Re-create 68 guy says he “had concerns over the images that the name Tent State seemed to convey, because it suggested Kent State, the university where four students were shot to death by National Guardsmen during a Vietnam War protest in 1970.” So Re-create 68 is worried about the image they would have if they align with a group called Tent State. Don’t you just love all this love, this mutual admiration going on in the Democrat Party at their convention?

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1:Michelle Obama Causes Whoopi to Wet Herself

RUSH: Michelle (My Belle) Obama was on The View today, and Whoopi Goldberg wet herself. I am not making this up. Whoopi got so excited, she wet herself. “Rush, what can you possibly mean?” Very simple, ladies and gentlemen. She got so excited she spilled her drink cup all over herself. Now, watching replay highlights, let me check the audio sound bite roster. I’m not sure we have any; I’m not sure I want any. Let’s see what we have here. Doesn’t look like it. I’ll betcha Cookie’s in the process of breaking some down if she said anything interesting.
Story #2:Algore’s Mansion Proves His Solutions Don’t Work

RUSH: You might have seen the news yesterday that Algore’s home is now using 10% more electricity after taking all of these energy-saving steps that he highly touted one year ago. We have, therefore, proof from Algore that we need to drill more oil. We have proof that conservation does not work. Thomas Lifson of the American Thinker points out that the morality play on offer from these environmentalist wackos and their media buddies says that we can’t drill our way to cheaper oil prices, but that conservation and new technologies for alternative energy are the answer. Thus, we should all be “thankful to Al Gore for proving that even in a high-profile demonstration project these ‘solutions’ won’t work. The Tennessee Center for Policy Research reports that Gore’s home in Nashville has increased its energy usage by 10% in the past year.

“This is in the face of proudly-announced (and expensive) energy-saving steps. Stop the ACLU cites the Soros-Funded Think Progress site for information: Gore’s family has taken numerous steps to reduce the carbon footprint of their private residence, including signing up for 100 percent green power through Green Power Switch, installing solar panels, and using compact fluorescent bulbs and other energy saving technology,” and it didn’t work. His usage went up 10%. “Now that Gore has proven his measures are ineffective, it is time to drill offshore, ANWR, mine coal and oil-bearing rock, and build nuclear power plants.” Algore, by the way, is not going to join Obama on the campaign trail. He’s not going to subject himself to questions on global warming. He will not debate.
Story #3: Mississippi River Swells, Drive-Bys Yawn
RUSH:The Mississippi River, it’s really swollen out there. It’s swelling up, threatening all these levees in Illinois and Iowa; and is now down to Quincy, Illinois; and approaching Hannibal, Missouri. We all know where the Mississippi River ends up, don’t we? Where does the Mississippi River end up, Brian? Where does it end up? It ends up in New Orleans. That’s exactly right. A flooded Mississippi River is going to end up in New Orleans, and when it does you’re going to see an entirely different kind of coverage from the Drive-By Media (snickering). When the Mississippi River is just, you know, a day or two away from reaching New Orleans and the delta (gasp!) they’re going to go nuts out there.
Story #4:Jellyfish Profundity: Nature Cannot be Out of Sync

RUSH: Here is a story that illustrates how the Drive-By Media — and who is this? Well, I don’t know who wrote this. Is it Live Science? I don’t know what the website is here. I’m hoping it’s AP, but I don’t recognize the author’s name. It’s the French News Agency. But this is a classic example of a nature story, a global warming story that is designed to instill fear and to promulgate the notion here that: Man, we humans, we are just messing everything up; we are causing so much damage! Headline of the story: “Jellyfish Outbreaks a Sign of Nature Out of Sync — The dramatic proliferation of jellyfish in oceans around the world, driven by overfishing and climate change, is a sure sign of ecosystems out of kilter, warn experts. ‘Jellyfish are an excellent bellwether for the environment,’ explains Jacqueline Goy, of the Oceanographic Institute of Paris. ‘The more jellyfish, the stronger the signal that something has changed.'”

I am about, ladies and gentlemen, to share with you a profundity. “Jellyfish Outbreaks a Sign of Nature Out of Sync.” Ladies and gentlemen, it is impossible — it is physically, geophysically, ontologically, metaphysically, intellectually impossible — for nature to be out of sync. Nature is, by definition, natural. There cannot be anything out of sync in nature. We’re talking about the Mother Nature type. I know. I can hear you shouting at your radios, “You’re wrong, Rush! You’re wrong, you’re wrong.” No, you are, if you’re shouting at me. Human beings can become out of sync, but even then, who’s to say who’s out of sync? Are we not measuring this by our own observations and therefore our only statistical analysis? You see, only by virtue of our perception can nature be said to be “out of sync.” We observe. We see things and say, “Oh, haven’t seen this before,” but we have. I dare say there’s probably nothing happening in the climate or within nature that has not happened before, and therefore how can it be out of sync?

Only by virtue of our perception can nature be said to be out of sync. So we spot a lot more jellyfish out there. “Ooh, ooh, global warming! Global warming! We’re overfishing.” (sigh) Nope. Nope. That’s our perception. “But, Rush! but, Rush! We’re causing it!” No. We’re part of nature, too, folks — and, you see, this is the key. We are not innocent bystanders. We are not irrelevant here. Other existence on this planet is every bit a part of nature as this stupid jellyfish. We in south Florida are having an iguana infestation. The little buggers are just popping up everywhere. They’re eating people’s gardens. I happen to love lizards; I think they’re cute as hell. These things, though, they don’t eat insects. I love the little anoles and the geckos. Their little buddies eat the insects. But these things are running around. They stowaway on ships coming up from the Caribbean. They’re sold as pets, then they get too big and the pet owner says, “I don’t want this damn lizard running around.”

They don’t like to be petted. They don’t like to be picked up and held very much. So people just throw ’em away. Well, they start reproducing out there left and right. Is it nature out of sync? “But, Rush! But, Rush. There’s never been this many iguanas here before.” How do we know? There haven’t been any in our lifetime but in our recorded history, how do we know? But what’s to say them coming here is not natural? Perfect climate for the damn things. It’s perfectly natural for them to exist here, otherwise they couldn’t exist here. I’m not trying to make too big a deal out of this. What I’m saying is, we are not destroyers. We are not predators. We are not the people responsible for destroying the environment or the planet ’cause we can’t. We are part of it.

No more than a beaver destroys a forest by chopping down trees and building a dam. Why don’t we get mad at the beaver? I mean, for crying out loud, this is just so simple, yet it sounds so profound — and it is. Nature by definition is natural. So if there are more jellyfish running around out there tell these Jacques Cousteau types just to be quiet. Folks, I don’t know about you. As a human being, I’m getting fed up being blamed for every damn thing that’s bad in the country, and everything in the world, too, that’s bad. Do you realize we humans are the only ones that destroy things? We’re the only ones that destroy the planet and the climate? Everything else is pristine and lovely and wonderful, but we? We? We’re just debris. We’re human debris, soiling the pristine nature of the planet.

Story #1: Crazy Joe Klein Wants You to Kill Your Air Conditioner

RUSH: Joe Klein, TIME Magazine, latest issue. His piece is entitled, “Kill Your Air Conditioner.” Now, this is a political reporter, Joe Klein. I’ve seen Joe Klein on TV a bunch of times the past two weeks, month, what have you, and I’m reading this piece, and I’m genuinely concerned: What has happened to Joe Klein? Joe Klein used to be a down-the-middle political reporter. He’s always been a Drive-By, oriented toward the left, but he has become increasingly angry, bordering on being out-of-control. He’s not making any effort to hide the activist agenda that he has been responsible for, but this piece is simply deranged. There is no other polite way to describe this. These are his words. “The unnecessary refrigeration of America has become a chronic disease. It seems to have gotten worse over the past few years, with thermostats routinely set at 68 deg. F, and sometimes even 65 deg., in the (far too many) hotel rooms I’ve suffered on the campaign trail.

“‘Americans seem to keep their houses cooler in summer than they do in the winter,’ muses Edward Parson, an environmental expert at the University of Michigan Law School.” Seem to keep their houses cooler in summer than they do in the winter? I don’t know how they could ever prove that assertion. How in the world does anybody know what the temperature in somebody’s house in the summertime is versus what it is in the winter? Secondly, what is an environmentalist wacko doing at the University of Michigan Law School? Anyway, he says, “‘Americans seem to keep their houses cooler in summer than they do in the winter,’ … But it’s hard to know for sure, since there are no comprehensive studies that measure air-conditioning trend lines.” So, Joe, why quote the guy?

What’s happened to Joe Klein? He then says, “I will confess a bias here. I love warm weather, even when it slouches toward humidity. I detest the harsh, slightly metallic quality of the air forced through even the fanciest AC systems. The only air conditioner I own sits, unused, in my car; my home is happily unrefrigerated. But given the energy mess we’re in, I can now gild my personal preference with a patina of high-mindedness: Air-conditioning is bad for the planet, and for national security, and for our balance-of-payments deficit. Unfortunately, it is not as bad as I’d like it to be — in part because not all of our electricity is provided by fossil fuels (although coal does predominate). And also because air-conditioning represents a relatively small slice of our energy use, an estimated 4%.”

So he’s asking for a greater crisis. Joe Klein wants there to be a greater energy climatic crisis than there is, because of air-conditioning. (No, Snerdley, I don’t know what his beliefs in toilet paper are. I don’t know what his beliefs on flushing the toilet are.) Clearly, something’s happened to Joe Klein. He’s either on the meds or he’s off of them. What a thing to get riled up about. What a thing to get upset about. But then when you stop and think, “No, he’s in the left-wing media, and the left-wing media is on a crusade to promote the hoax of manmade global warming.” Folks, if these people were ever to succeed with this… You just need to go back and take a look at the Twenties! You talk about the work output that would cease, the productivity in this country that ratcheted way up once air-conditioning was discovered?
Story #2: Why Obama Says He’s Against the Fairness Doctrine

RUSH: You know, the Fairness Doctrine, this comes up and we talk about this every now and then. Now, Obama, I have to tell you, I’ve got the story in the stack. It’s from a couple of days ago. Obama says, or somebody in his campaign said, “We don’t care about the Fairness Doctrine. We got bigger fish to fry than that. We have no intention of reinstating the Fairness Doctrine.” Obama doesn’t have to say it because Nancy Pelosi has; a number of other Democrats have. But the Fairness Doctrine, they may try, folks, but, look: They’re not going to just be able to succeed with this overnight if they try it. They’re going to have all kinds of opposition and the kind of opposition that they fear most, and that’s going to be from you, the American people.

The American people are not going to put up with it. There’s too high a level, degree of sophistication now, understanding what would happen if the Fairness Doctrine were implemented and reinstated. The broadcast community, yes, it’s regulated by the FCC. But when I started my national radio show in 1988, there were 125 radio stations doing talk. Today, some 20 years later, it’s over 1200. Now, that means that the talk format has withstood all the other downturns, formatically, in radio. You know, certain music formats are having trouble. A lot of formats are having trouble. Talk radio is not. The industry is just not going to sit around and let the Democrats make it worthless without a fight. It’s going to take much more than the snap of a finger or the waving of a magic wand to bring this about. I have no doubt the Democrats want to do it. I have no doubt that Nancy Pelosi wants to try it. They are typical in that way. They don’t want to put up with people that they disagree with. They don’t want to put up with criticism. They don’t want to engage it. They just want to silence it. What do you think political correctness is? Political correctness is nothing more than using intimidating tactics to make people shut up and not say things that liberals don’t want to hear, pure and simple.
Story #3: TIME: Ten Things You Can Like About $4 Gas
RUSH: TIME Magazine, Amanda Ripley: “’10 Things You Can Like About $4 Gas’ — The world had long assumed that Americans were just unrepentant energy pigs.” That’s the lead. So the lead has to do with what the world thinks of us, talking about four-dollar gasoline. The world just assumed we’re a bunch of unrepentant energy pigs. “If gas prices went up, well, we kept our Explorers aimed at the horizon, and little changed. We truthfully didn’t have lots of options. Unlike Europeans, we didn’t have jobs we could bike to or convenient public transit. Gasoline prices never stayed high enough long enough to force those kinds of shifts in how we lived. Now here we are. Gas prices are near $4 per gal., as no one needs to tell you, and they are likely to stay that way. Most of us still don’t have the alternatives we need to adapt with grace.” We don’t have the ability, so… “we will adapt by suffering. We will run out of gas on I-80, ease our minivans over to the shoulder and tell the kids everything is O.K. We’ll fall behind on Visa bills to pay for gas so we can buy food made ever more expensive by energy costs. But it’s also true that Americans are finding options where there seemed to be none. They’re ready to change — just waiting for their infrastructure to catch up. They are driving to commuter-rail lines only to find there are no parking spots left. They are running fewer errands and dumping their SUVs. Public-transit use is at a 50-year high. Gas purchases are down 2% to 3%. And all those changes bring secondary, hard-earned benefits.”

Now, here, in the final paragraph, is the real reason for writing this story. “Eric Roston, author of a new book about energy, The Carbon Age, says, ‘You suddenly are reminded how the economy works. Nobody wants high prices for oil. But there’s also no faster mechanism to change behavior.’ The suffering will go on. But the story, like any good tragedy, is not without redemption.” This is TIME Magazine, Amanda Ripley. And so what’s the great thing about gas prices going up? You pigs will change your behavior. You unrepentant energy pigs will change your behavior, and you’ll get on the rotten, unreliable mass transit, if you have any. Otherwise you’ll find a job where you can ride your bicycle to like these brilliant Europeans. But you are an unrepentant energy pig, and it’s about time your behavior changed, and thank God for four-dollar gasoline to do that.

So here we have the arrogance and the elitism and the snobbery of the Drive-By Media and their noted experts in a short little piece, “10 Things You Can Like About $4 Gas,” and it’s all predicated on the fact that you are pig, that you are guilty, that you deserve to suffer, but there is redemption. And so we’re happy for high prices in energy ’cause you are going to change your behavior, ’cause you are destroying the planet, you are greedy, you are this, you are that. Hello global warming. This is a microcosm. The same kind of arrogant, snob effetes want to tell you how to live ’cause you’re too stupid to know how to live right. And when you are too stupid, and don’t live the way they want you to live, then you embarrass them in the eyes of the Europeans. And our elite, effete-snob Drive-By Media leftists and other leftists do not want to be embarrassed in the eyes of the Europeans! So you, you worthless shreds of human debris, we’re going to change your behavior — because you’re too stupid to live in a way that won’t embarrass the elites.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Thanks for All the Gardenia Candles, Folks

RUSH: Before we go anywhere, I have to issue a thanks. I have been getting gardenia-scented candles sent to me out the wazoo here ever since I mentioned it a couple weeks ago, and it’s gotten to the point here I need to thank some people. Rex Mason at the Root Candle Company, they are in Medina, Ohio — they sent a whole bunch of things in. A company called Wicks n’ More, I got a great catalog from them. I don’t know where they’re from, but anyway, great catalog here, and two babes founded Wicks n’ More, and there are others that have sent these in. I thank you all very much. We’re fully scented here at the EIB Network.
Story #2: Victor Davis Hanson:
Obama’s Close to Bush

RUSH: Victor Davis Hanson today has a piece at National Review Online which details just how close to existing Bush policy, foreign and domestic, Obama is right now. The big thing is, you know, this is just maneuvering. He’s a leftist and he’s going to govern that way if he is elected.
Story #3: Obama: We Can Whip Iran
(But Not Iraq?)
RUSH: Yesterday Barack Obama in discussing the launch of missiles from Iran said something that went right past me, and I was reminded of this by a subscriber at RushLimbaugh.com. Barack Obama said, “I’m not worried about Iran, they’re not going to launch anything against us. They don’t stand a chance against us,” and the reason that that kind of slipped by is because they don’t, if we ever got serious about it, I mean militarily, they don’t stand a chance against us. But the fact was pointed out to me that Obama has been part of the chorus that we can’t win in Iraq; that we never had a chance against the insurgents in Iraq; that the surge had no chance of working. So Iran doesn’t stand a chance against us, but we can’t beat Iraq — at least according to The Messiah, the Lord Barack Obama.
Story #4: Farewell, Bottom-of-the-Hour Name Shout Jingle

RUSH: Hey, congratulations to the broadcast engineer, there’s no name shout jingle here, as there has been at every bottom-of-the-hour break for the last 15 years. Sometimes they take up a little bit more time, and I’m always eager to get back to the programming content portion of the program.
Story #5: Ralph Nader Writes Open Letter to El Rushbo

RUSH: I’ve just been made aware that Ralph Nader has sent me an open letter. I have read this letter, and I’m convinced that it’s a plot. This letter is designed to make Barack Obama look intelligent. We’ll have that, maybe. Nader is obviously starved for attention. I’m not sure what I’m going to do here.
Story #6: Republicans Renounce Republican Sign on OJ

RUSH: From Trenton, New Jersey, ladies and gentlemen: “A local Republican Club in New Jersey has removed a slogan from its website that read, ‘Obama loves America like O.J. loved Nicole.’ The Pemberton Republican Club had posted the slogan that referenced NFL Hall of Famer O.J. Simpson, who was acquitted in the 1994 murders of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman. Bill Layton, the Burlington County Republican chairman, said the posting was not authorized by the party. ‘I think it’s despicable, and I completely denounce it,’ he said.” The Republicans are doing a lot of that these days, they’re denouncing, they’re renouncing, they’re distancing from all kinds of things.

“The club’s webmaster, Ed Kuck, didn’t respond to a message left at his home but told The Philadelphia Inquirer that he saw the slogan on an Internet site and copied it onto the club’s Web page as a joke. ‘I just want to apologize to anybody who was offended, because that wasn’t our intention at all,’ Kuck told the newspaper.” Well, what was the intention, then? “Richard Perr, chairman of the Burlington County Democratic Committee, decried the slogan. ‘Comparing Barack Obama to O.J. Simpson, an accused murderer who was found civilly liable for his ex-wife’s death, is reprehensible,’ Perr said. ‘Moreover, it is a veiled attempt at inserting race into the political arena for which the Republicans should be ashamed.'” Ha, ha! The racism and bigotry is alive and well in the Democrat Party.
Story #7: Toyota Executive Works to Death on Hybrid

RUSH: Sad news, ladies and gentlemen, out of Tokyo: “A Japanese labor bureau has ruled that one of Toyota’s top car engineers died from working too many hours, the latest in a string of such findings in a nation where extraordinarily long hours for some employees has long been the norm. The man who died was aged 45 and had been under severe pressure as the lead engineer in developing a hybrid version of Toyota’s blockbuster Camry line, said Mikio Mizuno, the lawyer representing his wife. The man’s identity is being withheld at the request of his family, who continue to live in Toyota City where the company is based. In the two months up to his death, the man averaged more than 80 hours of overtime per month, according to Mizuno. He regularly worked nights and weekends, was frequently sent abroad and was grappling with shipping a model for the pivotal North American International Auto Show in Detroit when he died of ischemic heart disease in January 2006. The man’s daughter found his body at their home the day before he was to leave for the United States.”

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Should the Government Bail Out USA Today?

RUSH: Wow. Did you see this? USA Today, the nation’s newspaper saw their advertising revenue plunge 27% in June. Maybe Congress can bail them out, too. Bailout season.
Story #2: Capitol Hill Democrats Unhappy with Obama

RUSH: Yesterday in ThePolitico.com. “After a brief bout of Obamamania, some Capitol Hill Democrats have begun to complain privately that Barack Obama’s presidential campaign is insular, uncooperative and inattentive to their hopes for a broad Democratic victory in November. ‘They think they know what’s right and everyone else is wrong on everything,’ groused one senior Senate Democratic aide. They’re kind of insufferable at this point,'” talking about the Obama people. This is interesting ’cause the Republicans think the same thing about McCain. The Republicans think McCain is out there just trying to get elected president, doesn’t care what happens to the rest of the party, and now some Democrats on Capitol Hill are saying the same thing about Obama, that he doesn’t care what happens to the rest of the party. I don’t think that’s true in Obama’s case. I think the Democrats just assume that they’re going to win in the biggest landslide in American history. I think they think they’re going to pick up 70 seats in the House. I think they think they’re going to pick up 12 in the Senate. They’re going to win 60-40 in the White House. I don’t think they think they have to do anything for coattails.
Story #3: Denver Gives Homeless Movie Tickets for DNC
RUSH: The homeless are fine as long — as they are in somebody else’s neighborhood. But when the Democrats are going to show up for their big time convention in Denver, they can’t have them anywhere! It was the same thing in New York. They just can’t have those TV images. It’s going to be bad enough with Recreate ’68 out there trying to cause all kinds of hijinks, so they’re going to give the homeless movie tickets in Denver the week of the convention. I’m not making it up.
Story #4: DJs Know: Sexy Voices Don’t Equal Sexy Babes

RUSH: A little story from LiveScience.com: “People with voices deemed sexy and attractive tend to have greater body symmetry upon close inspection…” Who got to do the close inspection?

“‘The sound of a person’s voice reveals a considerable amount of biological information,’ said Susan Hughes, an evolutionary psychologist from Albright College in Reading, Pa. ‘It can reflect the mate value of a person.’ Hughes, whose new study is detailed in the June 2008 edition of the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior…” Well, hell, we gotta get on that list! I thought we subscribed to all these things, but I’ve never heard of this. We have to get a subscription. We can get a free one because we are powerful, influential members of the media here. The Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. This new study is detailed in the issue. It “cautions that an attractive voice does not necessarily indicate that this person has an attractive face.” Now, let me jump in here, ladies and gentlemen, with some personal testimony based on years and years of experience guided by intelligence: they did not need to do a survey, a study; they didn’t need to do any close inspection to learn that somebody with an attractive voice has an attractive face.

They didn’t need to do this. Virtually anybody, any male who has been a disc jockey at any radio station at any time since Marconi invented it could tell you this. I’ll just tell you my experiences. When I was a struggling young disc jockey star of the future, while you were playing the hits and playing the tunes, getting ready for the next hit to play; of course, you’ve got a little downtime in there getting on the next commercial set setup and whatever you have to do; and the phones are ringing off the hook, usually, if you’re on a station that has an audience and they’re calling to make requests, maybe calling to enter a contest, “Be the 43rd caller, you can win this little trip down to the sewer,” whatever the station was giving away, and among those people calling were groupies. They were legion. Brian, you know what I’m talking about. As an engineer you probably haven’t dealt with this personally, but you know that they’re out there. Okay, you know that they’re out there, and I’ll tell you.

Some of them, you pick up the phone and talk to ’em, and, man! Those voices that some of them had. Despite what you knew, you say, “This one has to be for real,” and you’d set up a meeting, and you’d get disappointed every damn time until you finally Figured out that if they had anything worthwhile to do they wouldn’t be calling you. I developed as a struggling young disc jockey a system for this, ’cause I kept hoping. You know, hope is a strange thing, as Obama knows. I kept hoping is that just one of these times… Now, remember, I’m 16, 17, 18, 20, 21. I kept hoping that just one of these times, one of these beautiful voices would match a beautiful face. They never, ever did. Never! So I had a system set up to find out. It takes a while for this to happen, but you suggest getting together, which is what the groupie wants in the first place.

But you don’t jump at it ’cause you don’t want to appear desperate. Because just like if the groupie had anything better to do, she would be calling you; if you had anything better to do, you wouldn’t be running around trying to meet the groupie. It works both ways. I am now mature enough to admit this to you and to myself. So what I would do is I would lie about the kind of car I had, and I would lie about the time that I was going to meet the groupie. So I’d say, “Okay, I’m showing up at X place and I’m driving this. You stand out there and I’ll drive up.” You’d describe yourself on the phone, and always a lie as well; and then you’d drive by a little later than you said you would be there — not much, sometimes a little earlier — in a car that you’ve lied about and you scope it out. And I guarantee you, every damn time I just kept driving. Not one time — not once, Dawn, not once — did I stop.

“Mr. Limbaugh, that sounds so mean and cruel.” I’m sure it does to some of you New Castrati, but the whole point of telling you this story is they just finished who knows how much money this cost, a research survey for a magazine called the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, and the big result is a caution that an attractive voice does not necessarily indicate that the person has an attractive face. Anybody with experience could have told them this, and it would not have been anecdotal. I can’t think… I knew a lot of other guys that were deejays who did the whole thing, and some of them had low standards. They didn’t care what the groupie looked like. They just wanted the feedback and the ego thrill. That was not me. I had much higher standards, but there were never any exceptions to this. Never, ever, ever!
Story #5: Does Anyone Care about the Olympics Anymore?

RUSH: By the way, is anybody excited about the Olympics? I keep seeing these stories… The body of water for the sailing races — it turned into pea soup or something from the algae and so forth, and they got the algae out of there. The Chinese say that they’re going to mess with the weather for the opening ceremonies, if the weather’s not good. They’re putting all kinds of restrictions on banners and so forth. A lot of people would look at it as a great opportunity to work for a network that would send you over there to cover this. That’s the last place I’d want to go, to this kind of crowd, this kind of place. What, Snerdley? The hotels are not a capacity? Well, I wonder why. You know, as my friend, Don Ohlmeyer said, “Until Al-Qaeda gets a team, the Olympics just aren’t going to be what they were.” You know, back when the East German women were men and taking all kinds of steroids, and have mustaches — and the Soviets hockey team was actually a bunch of army guys that were armed with pistols — those were the good old days of the Olympics. This, I don’t know. I just can’t get into it.

Story #6: Catfish Walk Through Florida Neighborhood

RUSH: This story is from Pinellas County, Florida. I’m just going to read this story to you as it is written: “About 30 fish were spotted ‘walking’ through a Florida neighborhood, shocking homeowners who said they’ve never seen anything like it. ‘I was like, “No way there’s fish in the street,”‘ homeowner Dianna Fernandez said. ‘And I kept going further and further and seeing fish everywhere — in driveways. I’ve never seen anything like it.’ The walking catfish were spotted in the road near a Pinellas Park subdivision Tuesday. The fish used their pectoral fins to walk or shuffle around the streets. Video showed the fish moving through the neighborhood. A scientist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said the catfish can travel on land as long as they stay moist. ‘We thought it was a prank at first,’ resident Hannah Cline said. ‘(We thought) that maybe somebody dumped some fish but then we realized that it was coming up from the sewer that we had so much rain last night.’ Experts said the type of fish spotted in the neighborhood likely hit the land because of the large amounts of rain in the area. Homeowners said it is the first time they’ve ever seen fish in their neighborhood.”

There’s a still shot here of a fish walking, slithering around there on a driveway it looks like. I just wanted to get this news to you el quicko, because it won’t be long before this is blamed not on rains, but blamed on global warming. When the Drive-Bys get hold of this story, they will probably omit the fact that these fish can walk anyway, as long as they’re moist, that there is actually a walking catfish, so just be on the lookout, ladies and gentlemen. You heard it here, as you do most things, first.
Story #7: Shazam! A Revolution in the Mortgage Industry

RUSH: From the Associated Press, the remaining Drive-By news organization that is a monopoly, the lone remaining Drive-By news organization that is a monopoly, and they just had a policy changed at AP where they are purposely now inserting the opinion of the reporter in stories ’cause they think that opinion is what makes news and money in the media. “Doug Gylfe still can’t afford to buy a home in Torrance, Calif., despite a 23 percent drop in prices. And Congress isn’t helping.” Yes, AP, and just exactly what is Congress supposed to do? In fact, could we not say, ladies and gentlemen, that the problems that we’re having in the subprime mortgage area are precisely due to Congress being involved and dictating that lenders lend money to people who couldn’t pay it back? In fact, I saw there was a story in the stack yesterday, revolutionary new concept in loaning money. New standards are going to be implemented when making home loans, and one of the things that is going to now be required is that the lenders verify income to make sure that the people borrowing the money can pay it back. What I want to know is — I haven’t borrowed any money in a long time — when did they let that go lax? Years ago?

Are you telling me that you can walk to a bank and say, “I need $1,500 bucks,” and get it without telling anything about your income? Oh, mortgage brokers, Snerdley. Okay. All right. So a revolutionary new concept here in the mortgage broker lending business, and that is going to be that you who borrow money through a mortgage broker are going to have to prove that you can pay it back. Well, shazam! Snerdley, I know it’s discriminatory. It discriminates against people who can’t pay it back. But I guess we’re in so much trouble that we’re going to be now doing government sanctioned discrimination. We’re going to go back to discriminating and we’re going to require people to prove they can pay it back where some people can’t. If people are going to get loans ’cause they can pay ’em back that means other people who can’t pay ’em back are not going to get loans, that’s government discrimination. Some people have a harder time not verifying it but proving it because they’re in the all-cash business, they’re under the table. Some of them don’t have any income. Some of them don’t have any income and they still want to borrow money for a house and in the past they’ve been able to do that because the government did not want to discriminate against people who didn’t have any money. But now we’ve got a big problem.

We’ve got a big problem. People that borrowed money, couldn’t pay it back, are now being foreclosed on and kicked out of their houses, and that’s discriminatory, that’s unfair. Now we’ve got this big housing mess. So the government is going to fix this by making sure that if you borrow money from a mortgage broker to buy a house, you have to be able to prove you can pay it back. I tell you, this government is heartless, isn’t it? I warned you people about this. They’re just absolutely heartless, cold-hearted, cruel SOBs. Can you imagine requiring somebody to prove they can pay the loan back, when everybody knows they’re going to get bailed out if they don’t pay it back anyway. And now this, poor old Doug Gylfe, still can’t afford to buy a house in Torrance, California, despite the fact there’s been a 23% drop in home prices out there. And Congress isn’t helping? Man, oh, man. “That’s the dilemma this week for the nation’s lawmakers and millions of Americans who are priced out of homeownership: any rescue policy to stem foreclosures could artificially prop up home prices and perpetuate the affordability crisis in many major cities coast to coast.” How many times can they put the word crisis in a sentence?

Worrying about this is what got us into this mess. Here we’re in the middle of the mess, we’re trying to fix the mess and here comes the AP with a sob story that essentially says we should repeat the steps that got us into the mess. Congress isn’t helping poor old Doug Gylfe buy his house, and so lawmakers are grappling with that this week to deal with the millions of Americans who are priced out of home ownership. Isn’t that how this all started? We had millions of Americans who were priced out of home ownership. I’m just looking at this and I can’t do anything but laugh. This is sheer, utter irresponsibility and stupidity from the Associated Press. The very thing they are advocating here is what led to the circumstances that we are in now, and so, guess what? Congress creates a problem, they give people money to buy a house, people can’t pay it back, they get foreclosed on, all of a sudden now there’s a crisis ’cause people are getting foreclosed on, and all these mortgage bankers are going belly up because nobody’s paying ’em back, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are out of money.

Guess who’s been involved intimately with Fannie Mae? Does the name Jamie Gorelick ring a bell? This woman is everywhere, and Jamie Gorelick got a 26 million payout when she left the place. Jamie Gorelick got 26 million to leave, one of Clinton’s guys, Franklin Raines, Franklin Raines, he was kicked out after corrupting the place. He left shortly before he was taking it in the shorts, but he got out of there with no penalty whatsoever. What is it with these Clinton people? This is why we don’t get any tell-all books on the Clinton administration because they were all set up in these sweetheart deals — money, money, money, money — I still can’t get over this. Congress is not helping poor old Doug Gylfe, so now we have millions of Americans who are priced out of home ownership, which is how this all started. “Any rescue policy to stem forecloses could artificially prop up home prices and perpetuate the affordability crisis,” yet I’ll guaran-damn-tee you if government did nothing and home prices continue to fall then tomorrow the AP would write a story whining and moaning about the lack of asset value for people who still do own their houses. We just can’t win with these people.

“Lawmakers, however, appear more focused on the negative economic consequences of falling home prices than the benefits. Congress, in a way, is facing a real estate hydra: The declining home prices, rising foreclosures, tighter lending standards, higher interest rates, and industry layoffs. Yet while trying to protect the economy and honest homeowners who are suckered into bad loans, Congress may cut off one of the serpent’s heads only to see two serpent heads grow back.” Exactly right! Liberalism. This is what liberal Democrat activist government always does, it’s a great way to put it. Okay, so we’ve got a problem out there with poverty. Fine, have the Great Society. Bam, we cut off that serpent’s heads and then three more pop up. We destroy the black family, we destroy work incentive, and we destroy productivity among the people we’re trying to help. The Congress didn’t get it right the first time. Trying to protect the economy and honest homeowners who were suckered into bad loans? You know what I think that means? It means that somebody didn’t define A-R-M for them? Now, who in their right mind does not know what an adjustable rate mortgage is? So now we got the predatory lender, we’ve got it all wrapped up in this story, and the headline says it all: “At Housing’s Bottom, Many Will Be Priced Out.” Aw, I am going to start crying. I am going to start crying. People are going to think I’m harsh, people are going to think I’m lacking compassion. At housing’s bottom, many will be priced out. What’s the alternative? How about we have a housing boom? You can write the same headline: “At Housing’s Boom, Many Will Be Priced Out.” Hey, can I give you a little hint, AP? At all times, good or bad, in the housing market, some aren’t going to be able to afford one, damn it!

Story #8: Washington Post Puff Piece on Franklin Raines

RUSH: I was talking about Franklin Raines a moment ago, former Clinton administration official who ended up running Fannie Mae for a while. The Washington Post has a very sympathetic story regarding Mr. Raines, and again I think this falls under the category of why we’ve never had tell-all books on the Clinton administration from members of that administration, because so many of them got wired into big money deals; and it would threaten those big money deals and appointments if they ever did the tell-all books. “In the four years since he stepped down as Fannie Mae’s chief executive under the shadow of a $6.3 billion accounting scandal, Franklin D. Raines has been quietly constructing a new life for himself. He has shaved eight points off his golf handicap, taken a corner office in Steve Case’s D.C. conglomeration of finance, entertainment and health-care companies and more recently, taken calls from Barack Obama’s presidential campaign seeking his advice on mortgage and housing policy matters.”

I just want to choke here. This is a guy who presided over a fraudulent accounting setup at Fannie Mae to the tune of $6.3 billion, and the Obama people are asking him for advice — and he’s taken eight points off his golf handicap, and he has the office with Steve Case. “And he’s privately smoldered over the events of the past week, when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were portrayed as being on the brink of disaster, prompting steep drops in their stocks and a federal intervention. In his first interview in two years, Raines remained insistent that the mortgage finance giant’s problems are not rooted in the company but stem from a time when the Bush administration and the Fed insisted the government-sponsored enterprise carried no explicit federal backing,” and it goes on and goes on.

The next two paragraphs: “Watching from outside the limelight has been frustrating, said Raines, who has not spoken publicly about Fannie Mae since being charged by federal regulators with manipulating Fannie Mae’s earnings in 2006. Rising from the working-class streets of Seattle to the highest levels of political and corporate life, Raines for more than a decade enjoyed a bully pulpit in Washington, first as head of the White House Office of Management and Budget under President Clinton and then as chief executive of Fannie Mae, where he was the first African American chief executive of a Fortune 500 company.” This is such pap. Fannie Mae, a Fortune 500 company? It’s a government company, a government-run private sector business, which is an oxymoron.

Anyway, I don’t want to get distracted by that. Franklin “Raines settled charges brought by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight by agreeing this spring to pay $2 million and forfeiting $22.7 million in stock and other benefits. And though none of it will come out of his pocket — the payment was covered by insurance — he has not emerged unscathed. He and his wife of more than 25 years, Wendy, are separated. Their house, a 1910 colonial in Northwest Washington, is for sale. An old friend, former Time Warner chairman Richard Parsons, describes [Raines] as being ‘in strong recovery mode.'” Well, boohoo! Here’s a guy forced out, who presided over a $6.3 billion accounting fraud and we’ve got a big sob story about how he is going to lose $2 million and forfeit 22.7 million other dollars, although he won’t have to pay personally because it will be “covered by insurance.” This guy no Ken Lay. This guy is no Jeff Skilling. Now he’s playing golf, and he’s just trying to recover. He’s watching this from the sidelines. He’s so devastated.
Story #9: Lawsuits Have Taught Us Not to Get Involved

RUSH: Interesting story, Washington Post today: “The Impassive Bystander.” You and I were talking about this the other day, Snerdley, with the woman in the hospital who fell down and nobody gave her any attention. “A woman sits alone on a gray chair in a psychiatric ward in a Brooklyn hospital. When we first see her, we do not know how long she has been sitting there. Suddenly, the woman collapses on her face onto the dirty floor. We watch through a surveillance camera as she lies there, her blue gown above her knees, her legs convulsing. We watch as a guard comes into the room, puts his hand on his hip, looks at the woman, then looks up at the television hanging from the ceiling. Then the guard walks away. We watch as two other patients sit across the room as the woman lies there. We watch them watch her.” The Impassive Bystander. Why? What is happening to us? Wesley Perkins, a professor of sociology at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, in Geneva, N.Y., says, “The larger question about the culture of indifference has a lot to do with bystander behavior. The bystander phenomenon is generated by the perception that other people are not doing anything about it, therefore I shouldn’t either.”

“Most of us do the right thing only when others are doing the right thing,” it says here. “Real heroes are the ones who break out of the group norm. The predominant cultural impulse is for people to transfer responsibility.” We don’t know how common this is because there haven’t been surveillance cameras all over the place in hospitals showing us these things, at least they haven’t gotten out if they do, but the situation in that Connecticut town where the guy got hit by the car, hit-and-run, was out there on the ground in the middle of the street for a long period of time before a cop showed up and nobody in the street would do anything. Do you think there’s a reason for this? We got all these societal, cultural analysis trying to figure this out. I think, among many other possibilities to explain this, is the fear of lawsuits. I think the lesson is, don’t get involved, because if you get involved, you might get sued. That woman falls over, and you walk up and do something, and she ends up being fine or maybe is a little bit injured because of her fall and because you were there, you might be charged with doing something. I think there’s a big stand-off attitude here simply because there’s no desire to get sued by a tort lawyer, even from a patient in a mental hospital.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: The NFL Returns with Preseason Games

RUSH: Aside from this stupid move in the Senate, I am in such a fabulous mood, ladies and gentlemen. The National Football League is back, preseason games last night. I, of course, as a powerful, influential member of the media have access to many of these games from the comfort of my own theater. And tonight the Steelers and Eagles are live on the NFL Network at 7:30. Man, I go into withdrawal as far as television is concerned when the football season ends. Brian, are you excited about it being back? I’ll watch the first quarter of a preseason game when the regulars are playing. I know it’s just an exhibition; it’s just a full-fledged scrimmage in real uniforms. Still it’s great to have them back. They play four, except the teams that play in the Hall of Fame game play five preseason games. So that means the Redskins and the Colts will have five preseason games. The NFL is back. All is right in the world.
Story #2: Favre Just Doesn’t Look Right with the Jets

RUSH: Yeah, I heard that Brett Favre is playing for the Jets now. I don’t remember where I heard that. (Heh-heh.) I’ll be very honest: I’ve been asked if I’m happy that he’s playing with the Jets. Now, you know me. I am a huge football fan. I love the National Football League. Even though I said to a woman the other day who wanted me to analyze Favre, “Look, at the end of the day it’s just sports, and so it’s not that significant in terms of really impacting our lives,” other than maybe your self-esteem, when your team wins; you might feel depressed when your team loses. But the NFL is not going to raise your taxes. They’ll only raise your ticket prices. You have an option not to pay it. The great thing about sports is it’s the one thing in which you can invest total passion, everything you’ve got, without consequence. Try that with your boss, try that with your spouse, try that — well, you can do it with a dog. A dog will love you no matter what you do. You can’t do it with a cat. A cat will take advantage of you. Well, you could go through emotional things, I know, but at the end of the day, it’s sports. It’s an escape from whatever people consider the humdrum of their life to be.

That having been said, I watched Brett Favre in his press conference with the Jets in Cleveland last night at about 6:30… It just didn’t look right. And this is nothing against anybody. The guy spent 16 years, and he never missed a start with the Green Bay Packers. He says in his press conference he’s “always going to be a Packer” while the Jets are introducing him. He says he’s just “one of 53 guys,” but he’s not. He is now The Team. As goes Brett Favre, so go the New York Jets (at least in the early stages). From a fan standpoint and from a league standpoint, media standpoint, it’s good for the game, exciting for the attention. Yeah, it’s great that he’s playing and it’s great that this that little soap opera happened and it’s great that all this drama is going on.

But I guarantee you in Green Bay they’re happy to have lost the drama and they’re glad to have switched and passed the drama on to the Jets. But the purist, the purist in me, says, “Don’t pull a Willie Mays. Don’t play to the point where you can’t catch a simple fly ball anymore.” He could have a Joe Montana year, could do a couple years, but the Drive-By sports guys are even ripping Montana, and they’re ripping Montana because he went to a small market in Kansas City. He revived that franchise! Montana was great with the Chiefs. He took ’em to the playoffs a couple of times. He never got to the Super Bowl. He had trouble in the later rounds of the playoffs, but…

I don’t know. I just can’t express this. I grew up in sports when players were with teams their whole careers unless the odd trade happened before free agency and stuff; and we real fans have had to adjust to this free agency stuff and look at sports in a different way because it’s a business reality. You know, it is what it is. But I wish Favre the best and I wish the Jets the best, and it is good that the Jets finally have a personality on that team. They’ve got a star. They’re not also-rans as a franchise.

And did you hear what Woody Johnson did? And I have met Woody. Woody owns the Jets. As soon as Favre landed on Woody Johnson’s private jet in Morristown, New Jersey, they put Favre on Woody Johnson’s helicopter and the helicopter toured the new Jets practice facility, and then they flew Favre out over Woody Johnson’s farm, so Favre could see that there’s farmland in New Jersey, because Favre likes farmland and hunting. His home in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, is on a farm. (And, of course, people don’t think of New Jersey as having an agriculture community — just nuclear waste.) So they had to show Favre that there is a genuine agriculture community there, and if he wants to buy a farm, he can. And then they flew him to Teterboro. He hopped another jet to fly to Cleveland to do the press conference because the Jets are playing the Browns in their first preseason game.
Story #3: Vice President Cheney Will Speak at Convention
RUSH: By the way, Vice President Cheney is now going to speak at the Republican National Convention. What I told you the other day was true. What I told you the other day — and I didn’t go as far as I know, and I didn’t tell you as much as I know, but he was specifically told he wasn’t welcome, Vice President Cheney was. This was not wise, it was not handled the right way, and it’s leaked out in not that form, but of course the stories that Cheney wasn’t going to speak, might not speak, and why not? You know, McCain is going to need the votes of people that love Cheney and Bush, going to need ’em. You just don’t cast them aside. You don’t put Lindsey Graham up there and all these five senators here after the stupid deal they did with the Democrats on energy. So Vice President Cheney will be there on the same night that President Bush will be there.
Story #4: EPA Refuses to Relax Ethanol Quotas

RUSH: “The Environmental Protection Agency rejected on Thursday a request to cut the federal government’s quota for the use of ethanol in cars, concluding, at least for now, that the national goal of reducing oil use trumps any effect on food prices from making fuel from corn.” So here’s an agency of unelected people, the Environmental Protection Agency, and you know that this agency is populated with a bunch of leftists. Could you get rid of this mandate on this quota on the use of ethanol in cars? Nope, nope, nope, not going to do it, not going to do it, cutting down on our use of oil is far more important than people eating, the cost of food. The agency’s administrator, Stephen Johnson, said the mandate was “strengthening our nation’s energy security and supporting America’s farming communities, and that the mandate was not causing severe harm for the economy or the environment.” Severe harm. See, the harm to the economy or the environment isn’t severe enough to reduce the quota. And need I add, ladies and gentlemen, that the EPA will be given even more powers in this Gang of Ten bill in the Senate joined by five Republicans over restrictions and regulations on drilling.
Story #5: Organically Grown Food Is Bunch of BS

RUSH: Hey, Snerdley, are you an organic food guy? You are? Yeah, I figured as much. Well, from the UK Telegraph: “Organic Food Does Not Have More Vitamins,” and it costs up to one-third more. “Organic food is no richer in vitamins than food grown with pesticides and artificial chemicals, according to a new study. Shoppers can pay up to a third more for organic produce, but the researchers said that with no more nutrients, it was a ‘lifestyle choice.'” University of Copenhagen, by the way. “The team found no clear evidence of any difference in the vitamin and mineral content between the organically and the chemically grown crops.”

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Obama-Biden Kick Off Campaign in Beaver, PA

RUSH: Regardless the process, regardless how it came out, it’s just a great choice here with Sarah Palin. An absolutely fabulous decision was made here — and they kept it secret. They brilliantly executed the whole ceremony today, the whole appearance, knocking coverage of Obama’s messianic descent from the heavens last night in Denver. They just obliterated it. Obama is nowhere. He and Biden are opening their campaign in Beaver, Pennsylvania, on the day that McCain named Sarah Palin his vice presidential running mate, and they put out this statement: “Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Governor Palin shares McCain’s commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil, and continuing George Bush’s failed economic policies. That’s not the change we need. It’s just more of the same,” said Adrianne Marsh, Obama campaign spokeswoman.

They are floundering out there! We may have wrested the women’s vote away from the Democrats with this choice. She is the governor of a state that has just 100,000 fewer citizens than the state of Delaware. Delaware has 700-some-odd thousand some odd citizens and Alaska has around 638,000. She is an executive. She has a story.
Story #2: John O’Sullivan on Lady Thatcher’s Experience

RUSH: John O’Sullivan is a veteran of many political experiences over many years. He’s edited National Review, he’s very close to Lady Thatcher, and he points out that Lady Thatcher came to office as prime minister with very little foreign policy experience, but she surrounded herself with experts that believed in her, that she trusted their instincts as compared to her own. Now, Joe Biden has foreign policy experience on the Foreign Relations Committee — yip yip yip yip yahoo — 30 years of being wrong on everything. What good is experience if you’re wrong on everything? And that’s what this is going to boil down to. Obama and Biden are simply wrong and it’s been proven. They were against the surge. Obama was against the whole thing in Iraq. They’ve been wrong on everything that has been important. Her foreign policy experience is — you know, that’s where character comes in, education, surrounding yourself with the right kind of advisors. McCain can handle that. That’s a baseless charge. They’re going to have a lot of problems going after this woman, they really are. Her son deploys to Iraq on September the 11th.
Story #3: Drive-Bys Hoping Gustav Hits New Orleans
RUSH: By the way, you know the Drive-Bys — and this is sad to say — but these Drive-Bys are just dying. They can’t wait for this Hurricane Gustav to hit wherever it’s going to hit in Louisiana. It’s almost sick to see them out there. “Really, this is so unbelievable! This is happening three years after Katrina! It may hit again! Yaaaaay!”

Sorry, I don’t mean to cheer. But they want this Hurricane to illustrate the incompetence of Republicans again, that’s going to backfire on them with Governor Jindal down there running things, already. If you put a conservative Republican in charge of a state rather a couple liberal Democrats like Nagin and Blanco, you’re going to see the difference if this happens. But while Drive-Bys and the Democrats are keeping a sharp eye out on Hurricane Gustav, category three; Hurricane Sarah struck the Democrats and made landfall today as a category ten and global warming had nothing to do with it! And I would have loved for Senator McCain to say today, “All right, Governor Palin and I are hitting the campaign trail now. We think that Senator Obama should head to Louisiana and stop Hurricane Gustav.”
Story #4: Denver Stripper Business Slumps During DNC

RUSH: This is from MediaNews Group, which is out there filing stories at the Democrat National Convention: “‘Strip Club Business Slow During the Democrat National Convention’ — The political convention is kind of a bust for downtown strip clubs–” this easily understood by me “–but techies in town for next week’s electronics show should give the clubs a boost, one exotic dancer said.” Bad news for strippers in Denver. How many real men were in Denver this past week? That’s the question you need to ask.
Story #5: Three Drive-By Accounts of the Palin Story

RUSH: Now, this is interesting, ladies and gentlemen, this is interesting. I have summaries of three Drive-By reports on the choice of Sarah Palin today. First, the Boston Herald: “Mitt Romney Lauds McCain’s Sarah Palin Pick — ‘Governor Palin’s story is one that all Americans will find inspiring,’ Romney said in a statement. ‘She’s a Washington outsider with a commitment to conservative principles that will make our nation stronger. I look forward to campaigning for Senator McCain, Governor Palin, and Republicans across the country. Mitt Romney.'” From the Pioneer-Press in Minnesota: “Pawlenty Calls Palin an Outstanding Pick — Governor Tim Pawlenty this morning praised the Alaska governor, Sarah Palin. ‘She’s an executive. She’s a reformer. She’s going to be a great leader for our country,’ Pawlenty said after his weekly radio show at the Minnesota State Fair.”

Anne Kornblut, Washington Post: “Though it was high in shock value, the Palin pick left bruised feelings among the short-list contenders who were not picked — and infuriated some Republican officials who privately said McCain had gone out on a limb, unnecessarily, without laying the groundwork for such an unknown. Two senior Republican officials close to Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty said they had both been rudely strung along and now ‘feel manipulated.’ ‘They now know that they were used as decoys, well after McCain had decided not to pick them,’ one Republican involved in the process said.” Which spin will become the “truth”? They hate us. They just hate us!
Story #6: Civil Rights Leaders Upset with Obama

RUSH: Jesse Washington writing in the Associated Press: “Obama Avoids Race on King’s ‘Dream’ Anniversary — Obama accepted the nomination Thursday night standing on the shoulders of King and thousands of others who suffered and bled to give blacks the right to vote — yet Obama did not speak King’s name. … ‘I think Dr. King would have been proud to have witnessed tonight’s events,’ said Joseph McNeil, one of the four black students who started the 1960 desegregation sit-in at the Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, NC. ‘No place in my mind, or I’m sure his, would we have imagined seeing so many people of all type of backgrounds rallying behind someone like us who had been denied full participation for so long,’ said McNeil…

“‘The walls that (King and Obama) are trying to tear down are much different,’ said Calvin Smyre, a 34-year veteran of the Georgia statehouse. ‘King was trying to tear down the walls of injustice. Obama is trying to build walls of opportunity.’ Yet others, while staunchly backing Obama’s candidacy, remain alarmed by his avoidance of all things racial as he seeks to mollify the white voters needed for victory. ‘It looks like he’s running from history,’ Dr. Cornel West,” well-known radical leftist “professor of African-American studies and religion at Princeton University, said after the speech. ‘He couldn’t mention Martin, he couldn’t mention the civil rights movement, he couldn’t mention those who sacrificed and gave so much. It’s very, very difficult to actually create a new world if you don’t acknowledge the world from which you are emerging.'”

A-ha! We’re starting to see some cracks out there, folks. The radical civil rights left, and it’s pretty large, are being dissed. They’re being ignored. Other than delegates, there weren’t a whole lot of black people on TV last night as the cameras up and down the stadium, because the cameras didn’t get up to the upper deck. Well, Michelle went out there and painted her lifetime story as June Cleaver, whatever. Mrs. Partridge, what have you. They quickly hustled to cover that. “No, no, no! The Huxtables! The Huxtables, yeah.” Well, Bill Cosby was the Huxtables, and they tried to destroy him. So this guy, Cornel West, he’s right, in terms of analyzing what the Obama campaign is trying to do.
Story #7: Multiple Liberals Rip The Messiah’s Speech

RUSH: Another article criticizing Obama, Charles Babington, AP, “Obama Spares Details, Keeps Up Attacks.” He talks about what specifics Obama proposed, then says: How the hell is he going to do it? This can’t be done. “For instance, Obama said it’s time ‘to protect Social Security for future generations.’ But he didn’t mention his main proposal, which is to add a new Social Security payroll tax to incomes above $250,000 a year. He said he would ‘cut taxes for 95 percent of all working families,’ but did not say how.” Here’s another one, from Jim Drinkard at AP — another article of total criticism.

“Obama’s tax proposals come with a hefty price tag. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, a joint effort of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, estimates that Obama’s tax proposals would reduce projected tax revenue by $2.95 trillion…” His tax increases reduce tax revenue? The AP is saying his tax increases will reduce revenue! This is unheard of. “Foreign Policy. The promise: Obama says he would engage both allies and adversaries to repair the U.S. image abroad and regain leverage and leadership that he says Bush squandered. … The problem: The United States has already reversed many policies other nations saw as isolationist or bullying — for example, by joining international diplomatic efforts with ‘axis of evil’ nations Iran and North Korea. Obama would continue those efforts and others without any greater guarantee of success.”

Unbelievable! This is the Associated Press with three stories in a row ripping The Messiah! “The promise: Pull all US combat forces out of Iraq within 16 months, send more combat troops to Afghanistan … The problem: A troop pullout is feasible and conforms roughly to a withdrawal timetable advocated by the Iraqi government. But a 16-month timetable risks shifting responsibility to Iraq’s security forces before they are ready…” Where’s the one on oil? Here we go. This is the Associated Press again: “Barack Obama’s promise Thursday to work to ‘end our dependence’ on Middle East oil within a decade may be good political rhetoric … but the goal likely would be difficult — perhaps impossible — to achieve and flies in the face of how global oil markets work.” I’ve not seen anything like this before. And look, these stories get run in thousands of newspapers. I have not seen this. Obama has said nothing new last night that he hasn’t said all campaign, and this is the first time — I mean, three AP stories deep, long. I just gave you the highlights, full-fledged analysis, explaining how Obama can’t do what he promises to do or how if he tries it, it’s going to really cost a lot of money. Not only to you, but to your government that you love so much.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: When Bailout Bill Passed, the Dow Dropped

RUSH: Well, the bailout bill passed the House of Representatives. Now, when the bailout bill passed, the final vote was 263 to 171, and I’m told 108 Republicans voted against it. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is hovering around 230 to 250 when it passed, and it spiked up, but now it is free falling. Ha! It’s down to 101. It was at 175 just three seconds ago. It was up to 230 or 250. This is exactly what happened in the Senate. The Senate passes the thing and the DJI went down 400 points. Now it’s up 93. It just lost nine more as we give you the Dow Jones Industrial Average play-by-play here on the EIB Network. Oh, 84 now, plus 84. Obviously sell on the news has been sounded throughout Wall Street. Sell on the news, and people are selling on the news the bill passed. It’s down to 77 up, ladies and gentlemen. They were only up 77. We’re close to now having lost about 20 points today since it passed. Oops, it just went up to 79. Who can keep track?
Story #2: NC Poll: Half Blame Republicans for the Economy

RUSH: Here’s a story from North Carolina. “Nearly half of North Carolina residents blame the Republican Party for the nation’s economic crisis, according to a poll released today.” Elon University,” I never heard of it, “surveyed 477 people statewide,” big whoop, “and found that 47.7% felt the Republicans are more responsible for current economic problems compared with 24.4% who blame the Democrats.” There’s a margin of error here plus or minus 4.6 points. Now, this is common. Republicans are perceived to be the party in power. President Bush is in the White House. But the Democrats for all these years been pounding Bush economic policies, “failed economic policies of the past,” blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. We’ve got this October Surprise here with the bailout thing where it’s now been turned around; it’s the Republicans’ fault.

But let me ask those of you in North Carolina: Do you know who runs Congress? Do you know who has been in charge of Congress for two years? Do you know who’s responsible for the mortgage crisis? Do you know, those of you in North Carolina, who propped up failure after failure after failure on the basis of making sure that minorities and poor people who should have never qualified to buy houses were not kicked out of them? Do you know, you people in North Carolina, now who it was that made sure those banks — under threat of investigation — made those loans? It’s the Democrat Party. To the extent that we’ve got an economic crisis that everybody’s talking about here, you people in North Carolina, your Democrat Party gave it all to you. If there was a Republican they could blame this on, I guarantee — you would’ve seen his face on television in front of congressional investigators for the last month.
Story #3: FBI Raids Home of Another Chicago Obama Crony
RUSH: This is from the Commentary Magazine blog. The FBI has raided the home of another Obama Chicago crony. This one is somebody for whom Obama got millions of dollars earmarks. This is not just a guy in Obama’s neighborhood, as Bill Ayers is, according to Obama. “Larry Walsh, a poker buddy and close political confidante of Barack Obama had seen home raided by the FBI.” The Chicago Sun-Times reporting is this: “Mr. Walsh, who served in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2005, was endorsed by Mr. Obama in his county executive election bid. With the support of some of Mr. Obama’s U.S. Senate volunteers, he easily defeated incumbent [the Republican]. … A corn farmer from Joliet, Mr. Walsh has supported his friend’s presidential bid, and campaigned for him in rural and farming areas of the state.” Obama got a lot of earmarks in there for Will County which is where the offices of Walsh are. “[T]he Walsh investigation may be tied to lobbying firm Smith Dawson and Andrews, which was hired in 2006 for $10,000 per month to help Will County acquire federal grants,” and they got ’em through Obama. Now, this could be interesting. It could lead to something. But will McCain do anything with it?
Story #4: AP: As Economy Sags, So Do Breasts and Faces
RUSH: All is not lost, ladies and gentlemen, as the AP headline reads: “As Economy Sags, So Do Faces and Breasts,” and we can’t have that. So it’s getting serious now. “The economy isn’t the only thing that’s sagging — so are faces, breasts and bellies as would-be cosmetic surgery patients increasingly opt against costly nips and tucks because of tough financial times. Anecdotal reports and a recent unscientific survey from an industry trade group suggest many cosmetic surgeons have been seeing a drop-off in costly operations, some by as much as 30 percent or more. Diane Lawyer, a software company manager in Atlanta, said belt-tightening has made her put off getting her eyes done, a procedure that would cost a few thousand dollars. ‘I just can’t justify that right now,’ she said. Lawyer, 55, has started shopping at a discount grocery, rarely drives to save on gas, and loaned money to help keep her sister out of foreclosure.”
Story #5: Oprah’s Mother Says She was Tricked into Debt

RUSH: You know, Oprah Winfrey’s mother owes some store $156,000. Now, Oprah has how many billion? Oprah’s mother is equivalent to George Onyango Hussein Obama living in the hut in Kenya on $12 a year. Obama’s rich and doesn’t help out his brother, yet he says he’s his brother’s keeper. Where is Oprah paying this off? It would be a drop in the bucket. But Oprah’s mother is fighting this, and you know what she said? She said, essentially, “They shouldn’t have lent me the money in the first place. They shouldn’t have let me charge all this in the first place. It’s their fault! It’s their fault for putting me in this situation because they should have never extended to me this kind of credit.” Maybe Oprah’s mom is in the bill, I don’t know. Maybe Oprah’s mom is getting bailed out.
Story #6: Forgotten Foot Soldiers in the War on Success

RUSH: A fascinating piece here by Brad O’Leary in Investor’s Business Daily. It was posted yesterday afternoon after the program, is entitled, “Forgotten Foot Soldiers In War On Success.” The War on Success. That’s exactly what the Democrats are waging. “One of the greatest achievements in the life of an astronomer is to discover a new planet or solar system. In the political world, the equivalent is uncovering a new voting bloc. When writing my latest book, ‘The Audacity of Deceit: Barack Obama’s War on American Values,’ I discovered a relatively unknown constituency: the 30% of American voters who do not pay federal income taxes. These Americans are exempt from paying income taxes either because their income level is below the threshold that would require them to pay, or their total deductions leave them with no income-tax liability.

“So I set out to determine exactly who these people are and what makes them tick. In conjunction with Zogby America, I conducted a series of carefully orchestrated polls. For more results than I can write about here, you’ll have to buy my book or go to www.BarackObamaTest.com. First, I found that 60% of likely voters among non-taxpaying Americans favor Obama for president, whereas only 31% favor John McCain. In addition, a majority of the 30% of Americans who don’t pay federal income taxes agree with Obama’s $65 billion plan to institute taxpayer-funded, universal health coverage. On the other side, a majority of the 70% of Americans who pay federal income taxes (i.e., the folks who would have to foot the bill for this boondoggle) are opposed to Obama’s health care plan.

“A majority of non-taxpayers (57%) also favor raising the individual income-tax rate for those in the highest bracket to 54% from 35%. A majority of non-taxpayers (59%) also favor raising Social Security taxes by 4% for any individual or business that makes at least $250,000.” Stick with me on this, now. “Non-taxpayers support Obama’s plans for increased tax deductions for lower-income Americans along with higher overall tax rates levied against middle- and upper-income households as well. They also want to expand their ranks…” The non-taxpaying Americans “want to expand their ranks from 30% of all Americans to 40%. Obama’s tax plan, with its smorgasbord of deductions and credits aimed at lower-income households, would do exactly that. Today, 70% of Americans shoulder the majority of the federal budgetary burden for all Americans.

“These Americans, by and large, do most of the risk-taking and innovating that produces the wealth, jobs and products that drive the American economy — not to mention pay the taxes that fund an ever expanding array of federal welfare programs and handouts. Obama claims 95% of Americans would get a tax cut under his tax plan. Yet only 70% of Americans actually pay federal income taxes. How does this compute? Is he going to give more money to non-taxpayers? The math simply does not add up. You can’t give a tax cut to 95% of Americans if only 70% of them pay federal income taxes in the first place. Then again, math may not be Obama’s strong suit, and judging by his earlier foray into ‘improving’ education, it isn’t a priority.

“When Obama worked with unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers for the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, the foundation doled out $160 million to effect education ‘reform’ in the Chicago school system. Yet students at Annenberg schools showed no marked improvement over non-Annenberg students. This is because Obama, Ayers and the Annenberg Challenge focused their resources on projects designed to promote an awareness of social injustice among students, as well as a general disrespect for authority — as opposed to projects that focused on core subjects like math and science…. Obama’s lack of devotion to math aside, he fails to understand that successful, hardworking, taxpaying Americans have created the world’s No. 1 economy — by far. Even when recession threatened earlier this year, U.S. gross domestic product still weighed in at an eye-popping $13.8 trillion.”

Now, the point of this: “[I]f Barack Obama and his legions of non-taxpaying supporters are allowed to set America’s economic policies and priorities, a wrench will be thrown into the gears of our remarkable economic machine. America will face a new war. Call it Obama’s ‘war on success.’ In this war, there will be no winners — only losers — taxpayers and non-taxpayers alike.” Remember how O’Leary started the piece. The greatest find, the greatest discovery in the political world is a new voting bloc, and his book and his research here is targeted at proving that Obama’s big voting bloc is the thirty percent-plus of Americans who pay no income taxes. These people get polled a lot, they are played to constantly, and they are all for ever higher taxes on everybody else ’cause it means more for them, in their own version of “trickle down.”

Story #7: Hidden in Bailout: The Federal Housing Manager

RUSH: It’s too late to do anything about this now, but I want to share with you something that’s in the bailout bill. Michelle Malkin had this back on September 28th, and I’m sure it survived the bill. Remember, now, we gave you details on Biden last night promising that bankruptcy laws would allow judges to determine interest rates, principal payments for people under foreclosure or threatened by bankruptcy. We had Obama call James Clyburn of the Congressional Black Caucus and assure him that this was going to be happening, not to worried about it. This is one of the things that got the black caucus to get some votes changed today to vote for this thing, but listen to Section 110 of the Assistance to Homeowners’ Plan in the bailout bill. It is driven by one of the bill’s key stated goals of preserving homeownership.”

“General. To the extent that the Federal property manager holds, owns, or controls mortgages, mortgage backed securities, and other assets secured by residential real estate, including multifamily housing, the Federal property manager shall implement a plan that seeks to maximize assistance for homeowners and use its authority to encourage the servicers of the underlying mortgages, and considering net present value to the taxpayer, to take advantage of the HOPE for Homeowners Program under section 257 of the National Housing Act or other available programs to minimize foreclosures.” They made some modifications. The modifications are: “In the case of a residential mortgage loan, modifications made under paragraph (1) may include : (A) reduction in interest rates; (B) reduction of loan principal; and (C) other similar modifications.”

So in the quest to “preserve home ownership” here, the government will be determining the value of homes directly in the marketplace, even before they go into bankruptcy. Section 110 turns over the real estate market to the federal government. I want to see this operated in practice. I want to see you go to your bank, your lending institution and get a mortgage, and they tell you, “Okay, this is the down payment that’s required. Here are the points. This is your principal, and this is your interest every month,” and you don’t like it and you say, “Why, I can’t pay that much! I’m going to the federal housing manager!” And if you happen to be an approved Democrat constituent when you go to the federal housing manager, the federal housing manager will call the bank and say, “What are you doing to this poor Democrat constituent? Why are you loaning money at a rate he can’t pay? You’re going to lower the interest rate. You’re going to lower the principal. You’re going to reduce the points.”

That’s what the bill gives them power to do! Now, if I went in to try to get a mortgage, and I got a bank give me the deal and I didn’t like the deal, if I go to the federal housing manager as an unapproved Democrat constituent, they’ll go back to the bank and say, “Raise the principal. Increase the interest.” They have the power to do this. “Affow-dable housing,” Barney Frank said, “affow-dable housing!” Call it reparations. Call it $300 billion worth of reparations.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Big Media Bailout? TIME Offers Buyouts
RUSH: So now credit card companies want their share of the bailout pie, and Big Auto wants its share. It isn’t going to be long before Big Media asks for a bailout. In fact, TIME Magazine today is asking for volunteers for buyouts. I kid you not. Isn’t that just fabulous? And what happens if nobody volunteers? Which liberal journalist will be first? I thought they were into sacrifice — they’ve been wanting us to sacrifice for the longest time. But anyway, TIME, Inc.’s biggest magazine has put out the call for at least 83 volunteers to quit, to take buyouts, according to memos and staffers at the company. I think TIME should just apply for — hell, the whole newspaper industry should just call Paulson and say, “We want some of the bailout money.” That will really tick me off! It’s bad enough that I’m paying my credit card bills and some people aren’t, and we’re going to bail them out. If they start bailing out the Drive-By Media… That won’t go down.
Story #2: Bosnians Start Obama Fashion Line
RUSH: Bosnians have started a whole new clothing line named after Obama because of his “elegant” sartorial splendor. They make Hugo Boss stuff, apparently, at a factory in Bosnia, and now there’s going to be an Obama fashion line.
Story #3: AP-Obama Poll: Public Will Wait for Tax Cut
RUSH: Get this. The Associated Press-Obama. Hee, hee — I’m sorry. I know this is not really worth laughing at, but I can’t help it. Are you ready? AP poll: “Public Willing To Wait For Obama’s Tax Cuts.” Ha! Isn’t this a convenient poll?

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, “People want the tax cuts promised during the presidential campaign, but may be willing to wait while President-elect Obama takes on the larger issue of fixing the economy.” This is absolute bull-bleep! They’re manufacturing news here! They’re just covering for Obama at every turn. He is nothing but an image right now, and when this guy gets in gear — I’ll warn you — it’s not going to be pretty. Look, we already have the Obama recession in full swing, the market down 267 points right now. It really plummeted when Paulson went out there: “By the way, we’re not going to do what we said we’re going to do.” Anyway, continuing with AP, Only 36% say trimming income taxes should be a top priority when the new president takes office, according to a new AP GfK poll. That was less than half the 84% who cited improving the economy as a number one goal.” Do you think the two might go hand in hand?

But that’s not all in this poll, ladies and gentlemen: “Until the weakening economy overtook Iraq as the No.1 problem on the public’s mind nearly a year ago, Obama’s pledge to seta timetable for withdrawing troops from the war was his highest-profile issue. But now the Iraq war has faded as a paramount public concern.” Only half of the people say they want Obama to get us out of there. The other half say, “Hey, go ahead and stay a hundred years, Obama’s president now. We’re cool. We don’t want our tax cuts, and we don’t care about getting out of Iraq. We just want our health care.” That’s the number one thing they want in the poll from AP, they want their health care. Now, the problem with that is, when you look at exit polling data, do you know where health care showed up on people’s minds in terms of how they voted? Something like 5%, 9%. And yet here comes AP — this has to be a bogus poll, nothing purposeful here other than to cover for Obama. The purpose of this is to tell you: forget the tax cut.
Story #4: Creepy, Isn’t It? The World Waits for Barack Obama

RUSH: “The world is waiting for Barack Obama.” That is creepy, that is just creepy. We have seen this before. Here we go. In the New York Times today: “The world is waiting for President-elect Barack Obama, and some of its most prominent leaders are flying into the United States this weekend clamoring to meet with him. But they will have to keep on waiting.” So Obama is not going to the financial confab that President Bush is convening. The world is waiting for Barack Obama. Creepy.
Story #5: Newsweek: Obama Can Fail But Still be Liked
RUSH: From Newsweek: “Obama Won’t Meet Everybody’s Expectations.” Well, whose expectations is Newsweek trying to manage here? The end of the article, here, an interesting quote: “To be sure, America’s friends will be grateful for the change in tone Obama is likely to bring. They’ll be delighted if he closes Guantanamo Bay, as promised. And even if he disappoints allies early on, there will be plenty of time to repair things later in his term. One reason for hope: Kennedy and Clinton went on to become immensely popular around the world.” Now, what’s going on here? These guys at Newsweek are setting the stage for failure. “But there will be plenty of time for Obama to recover,” because he’ll be there for four years. “One reason for hope”… for what? What are we hoping for here, Newsweek? You got the guy failing miserably, but you hope that somehow his reputation can be resuscitated? What the hell is this? Why does this matter to anybody? “Kennedy and Clinton went on to become immensely popular around the world.”

Why are the liberals so insecure that they have to be liked by people who will rob, cheat, and steal ’em blind, who will burn their crops, salt their fields, kill their livestock, poison their wells, kidnap their women, and then slit their throats the first chance they get? This is the kind of approval the Democrats seek. Why? What does it matter what the reprobates of the world think of liberals? What does it matter? So the whole focus here in the Newsweek story is how Obama’s going to screw up, but there will be plenty of time to repair things. Okay.
Story #6: Rahm Emanuel Choice Angers Middle East

RUSH: As I said before the previous hour concluded: don’t doubt me. When Barack Obama named as his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, many on our side immediately began attacking Rahm Emanuel. And. you know, we told some stories here about Emanuel, too, and his partisan nature and so forth, but it was I, ladies and gentlemen, and, as far as I know, I alone, who observed that this was a smart move made by Obama. One of the things that dogs Obama is the notion that he’s got ties to the Middle East. In fact, our friends at Power Line have written today and have uncovered the fact that Obama associates are actually in the Middle East meeting with Hamas people. It is actually happening, even though Obama’s denying it, he rescinded their endorsement before the election, but there are people — according to the Power Line guys, and they’ve got their source. But I said the appointment of Rahm — he’s Jewish, and if there are any Arabs over there who were going to dance in the streets because Obama was elected, if there were any Arabs in the Middle East who were going to be all happy because somebody with Kenyan roots has been elected president of the United States, Rahm Emanuel is going to throw cold water all over that because he’s Jewish and these Arab people, “What, what, our guy named the chief of staff a Jew?” They don’t like Jews in the Arab world.

Lo and behold, from Reuters, the dateline is Beirut: “Barack Obama’s election as U.S. president cheered many Arabs and Iranians driven to anger or despair by George W. Bush’s policies over the past eight years. But Obama’s choice of Rahm Emanuel, a combative, pro-Israeli political operator, as his White House chief of staff splashed cold water on some who hoped the next U.S. leader would be more even-handed and sensitive in grappling with the Middle East. ‘For millions of Arabs who expressed jubilance at the monumental victory of Obama, (Emanuel’s) appointment has put a damper on a short-lived fiesta,’ wrote Jordan-based commentator Osama al-Sharif.” A fiesta? Arabs are talking about a fiesta? Regardless, exactly what I thought would be the reaction, and Obama is smiling today because, remember, now, Obama is a campaign and a man of image. Osama is unhappy with Obama. Osama al-Sharif is unhappy with Barack Hussein Obama because he appointed a Jewish guy as the chief of staff. Cold water splashed on the Arab fiesta. But I’ve never seen an Arab fiesta. I’ve seen fiestas. Well, anyway, I’m not going to nitpick here over language. But the fact is it’s now worked because for all these people running around thinking Obama — he may have still have, I don’t know — but the image is Arabs angry at Obama, so how could they possibly be in league with him, you see.
Story #7: Arnold Schwarzenegger Asks for More Aid

RUSH: “With unemployment rising, state officials warn that Ohio’s fund for paying jobless benefits is dwindling and could be empty by next month.” Next month is what? December — as in Christmas. Governor Ted Strickland says he’s asking Congress for federal aid to replenish the fund. And Arnold Schwarzenegger says he now has a $28 billion deficit in California, and he’s asked the feds for five billion dollars or seven and a half billion dollars.
Story #8: Amnesty Advocates Plan Massive Payback Rally
RUSH: According to the Washington Post, folks, dozens of immigrant advocates gathered in Washington this week. They are demanding that the incoming Obama administration halt immigration raids and offer amnesty to illegals. One advocate said, “We voted in the millions and now we’re going to demand progress in the millions.” To drive the point home they’re planning a massive rally on the Washington mall the day after Obama is sworn in. You see, folks, elections have consequences out there. Now it’s payback time. Democrats have long complained that Republicans are beholden to special interests, such as businesses trying to shield themselves from higher taxes, burdensome regulations, mandates, all that stuff that cripple our ability to compete. Groups seeking to shore up rights once assumed to be constitutionally protected like Second Amendment rights or the right to life itself. But, the Democrat special interests, their immigration advocates who demand the right for millions to break the law and steal citizenship rights.

Another Democrat special interest is the feminazis. They demand the right to destroy life to the level of the human embryo. Labor unions, they demand the right to kill the secret ballot. Teachers unions who demand the right to propagandize with no accountability in failing schools. And, of course, the tort bar, the good old trial lawyers, liberal lawyers and judges who demand the right to trample the US Constitution. In short, Republican special interests are givers who add to our prosperity and quality of life. Liberal special interests are takers, takers of life, takers of liberties, and takers of the pursuit of happiness. These people, they’re not even happy, how can we be happy being around them? Even now they’re not happy. They say they’re running around giddy, but they’re not happy. They’re all worried about all kinds of things.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Good News: Fewer Travel for Thanksgiving

RUSH: Well, it says here: “Despite plummeting gas prices and unusual last-minute holiday deals on airplane tickets, more people are expected to stick close to home this Thanksgiving. In fact, the Automobile Association of America says the 41 million Americans expected to take trips at least 50 miles for Thanksgiving is about 600,000 less than traveled last Thanksgiving.” They’ll find a way to convert this into bad news. For a lot of people, it’s good news, it’s less crowded airplanes; it’s less crowded airports; it’s less crowded highways. And for some people, it’s fewer guests not showing up. So there’s all kinds of good news here, ladies and gentlemen. Ha! But you watch. It’s going to be reported as something horrible.
Story #2: Indians Sank Fishing Trawler, Not Pirate Mother Ship

RUSH: More good news for the Somali pirates. Everybody thought that the Somali pirate mother ship had been sunk by the Indian navy. It turns out that the pirate mother ship supposedly sunk last week was actually a Thai fishing trawler that had been commandeered hours earlier by the pirates, this according to an international maritime agency. “The Indian navy defended its actions, saying it fired in self-defense. Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur said one Thai crew member died when the Indian frigate fired on the boat in the Gulf of Aden on November 18th.” So, the Somali pirates did not lose their mother ship. They just lost a frigate that they hijacked. We don’t know what the cargo was. So the Somali pirates live, ladies and gentlemen, to continue to prosper. As you know we had the news report yesterday the Somali pirates are building stone houses, they are hiring chefs and preparing specialized meals for their hostages and marrying beautiful women. They have really stepped up their lifestyle as a result of their piracy in the Gulf of Aden. They have lowered the ransom demand on that hundred million dollars of oil they hijacked from the Saudis. It was ten million and then I made fun of ’em for being so cheap. They upped the ransom to $25 million and they got no offers on that. They have now lowered the ransom to $15 million.
Story #3: Katrina Health Failures Show Obamaism Doomed
RUSH: Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, we had a story about all of the misery that exists in New Orleans and all of the unspent federal and state money to help people in the Katrina hurricane aftermath. The story yesterday featured the plight of people who rent apartments and the people who rent them from the landlords. There’s all this money that was allocated to help people get back in, and it’s just a mess, it’s a bureaucratic nightmare. Once again it was an illustration. Here the government’s going to do all these make-work projects under Obama, the government’s going to fix this, streamline that, streamline that, take care of this, and yet every bit of evidence that you look at when the government goes in to try to fix a mess, straighten something out, it becomes a joke. Well, from Newsweek, more proof that when government does the work of churches and communities, or tries to, it fails. What you are about to hear is just sad and it should not happen in this country.

“Even before the storm, they were some of the country’s neediest kids. Now, the children of Katrina who stayed longest in ramshackle government trailer parks in Baton Rouge are ‘the sickest I have ever seen in the U.S.,’ says Irwin Redlener, president of the Children’s Health Fund and a professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. According to a new report by CHF and Mailman focusing on 261 displaced children, the well-being of the poorest Katrina kids has ‘declined to an alarming level’ since the hurricane. Forty-one percent are anemic — twice the rate found in children in New York City homeless shelters, and more than twice the CDC’s record rate for high-risk minorities. More than half the kids have mental-health problems. And 42 percent have respiratory infections and disorders that may be linked to formaldehyde and crowding in the trailers.”

Now, we have to allow for one thing. We have to allow for the fact this is Newsweek, this is the Drive-By Media, this is the media that wants to continue to try to destroy any aspect of the Bush administration, including its legacy. So they may be exaggerating some of this stuff, they may be doing it in order to continue to harm Bush, but what they don’t realize is that this would happen regardless what administration was in charge of it. The government is simply not equipped to do the work of churches and communities. It’s not equipped to do so, I don’t care who runs it. So what Newsweek has inadvertently done here is spell out how the Obama campaign plan is going to bomb out.
Story #4: Russian Navy Pays Visit to Hugo Chavez

RUSH: Okay. So for three days here we’ve had consecutive Barack Obama daily say-nothings. They’re called press conferences, but he says nothing, what he said during the campaign. Don’t you think, ladies and gentlemen, that it would be important here, maybe even almost urgent for President-select Obama to be addressing Russian ships in Venezuela, Hugo Chavez land? It seems to me, ladies and gentlemen, that this would require an urgent press conference from the office of the president-elect. I mean, the Russians are down there doing war games with their navy in Venezuelan waters.
Story #5: Don’t Lose Your Holiday Photos! Get Carbonite

RUSH: Folks, we’re just about back together now on our website. We lost everything, human error, one clunk head out in Los Angeles hit the wrong button and we lost the ability to display the most recent data and some of the old stuff at RushLimbaugh.com. I am thankful it was saved. It was saved because we backed it up. We backed it up. It took a while to restore it, and there’s so many elements to this great website we just now finished, finally, putting back together the entire Essential Stack of Stuff, which is our encyclopedia at RushLimbaugh.com. I shudder to think where we would be if we hadn’t backed this up. This happens to individuals at home, especially new computer users, and sometimes they’re advised to go out and just get an external hard drive. Well, you still have to hook the external hard drive up and you still have to do the manual backup, and it’s fine and it works, if you do it. But then what happens if that craps out on you? Your hard drive is going to go out on you at some point.

Carbonite, though, is an online backup, stores your data somewhere online securely, nobody else can get it, and every time you’re online it’s backing up. You don’t have to tell it to do it, it’s constantly backing up so that when your hard drive blows, or when somebody comes in, throws your computer on the floor and smashes on it because they’re mad at you or the economic circumstances, a simple matter of retrieving it. Go on to Carbonite.com, it’s the best $50 insurance policy you will ever buy, Carbonite.com. Mac version coming next year.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1:Putin Wants to Hang Georgian Leader by Testicles

RUSH: Putin says he wants to hang this Saakashvili guy, the Georgian, by the testicles. “The French magazine Le Nouvel Observateur reported last month that Putin told French President Nicolas Sarkozy that he would hang Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili by the testicles.” The remark came following a conversation with Jesse Jackson, who wanted to do the same thing to Barack Obama.
Story #2: Would-Be-Bride Swept to Sea During Proposal

RUSH: From Neskowin, Oregon: “A romantic marriage proposal on the Oregon coast turned deadly for the bride-to-be when a wave swept her out to sea.” Now, picture this. See, they’re laughing in there. It’s a horrible story. It’s tragic, and everybody’s laughing. This is a sitcom today. “Scott Napper had taken 22-year-old Leafil Alforque to Proposal Rock near Neskowin Beach to pop the question at a place that got its name from couples ready to marry.” So this Leafil Alforque and Scott Napper “had been dating since they met on the Internet in 2005. But Alforque had arrived in Oregon on a visa from the Philippines just three days before the fateful trip to the coast. Napper said the tide had receded around Proposal Rock on Saturday when the couple began to walk to it.” The tide began to recede? Okay.

“He planned to propose and give her the ring he carried in his pocket. About 10 feet from the rock, a wave about 3 feet high suddenly came toward them. ‘I turned into it to keep from getting pulled under it,’ Napper said.” How does a three-foot wave drag you under? “‘I turned into it to keep from getting pulled under it.’ By the time he turned to find Alforque, only 4-foot-11 and 93 pounds, she had been caught by the receding waters. ‘She was about 30 feet away, getting swept away,’ Napper said. The 45-year-old Silverton man tore off his jacket to get rid of any extra weight, and when he looked up again she was gone. ‘That’s the last I saw of her.'” This is a tragic story, but I’m trying to picture this. I live on a beach. I see waves like this all the time that do not drag people. Well, I’m sure she couldn’t swim, obviously she couldn’t swim. I do not know. I cannot envision how you’re on the shore and a three-foot wave comes up, bam, and takes you if you can see it coming.
Story #3:Gulf Oil CEO Says Gas Could Hit One Dollar
RUSH: The president of Gulf Oil came out yesterday and said he sees a possibility in 2009 of gasoline being one-dollar-a-gallon. And so, what is happening on Capitol Hill? Our brilliant Central Planners who are now taking over the auto industry are conditioning the bailout bridge loan or what have you, on how many electric cars these people are going to build while we’re looking at one-dollar-a-gallon gasoline. Central Planning is dictating these little three car makers, what they can sell. The markets are telling them something completely different, but because the car makers are broke, they go along with the plan even though they all know this is a sure loser.
Story #4:Down South: America’s “Other” Auto Industry

RUSH: I have a great story that just cleared the printer: “America’s ‘Other’ Auto Industry.” It’s a story from the Christian Science Monitor.

“The US auto industry is throwing bolts, but here in Georgia’s Chattahoochee Valley a South Korean car company is building a massive new manufacturing plant along the new Kia Parkway, replacing abandoned textile mills. The recently opened Korean BBQ House now vies for customers with Roger’s Pit-Cooked Bar-B-Que. And in an indication of just how welcome Kia’s nonunion jobs are, some 43,000 people applied for 2,600 positions — with starting wages of $17 an hour — as the plant gears up to turn out its first model next November. The expansion of this ‘other’ auto industry — one that’s foreign-owned, nonunion, and based largely in the South — stands in stark contrast to this week’s dire reports from America’s own Big Three, whose CEOs laid out plans for a dramatic downsizing before traveling to Washington to plead for $34 billion… Two-thirds of ‘foreign imports’ are, in fact, built in the United States in nonunion shops, where it costs at least $2,000 less in labor to build each vehicle.”

The point of the story is there is a thriving automobile industry in this country right now, and it’s taking place in the South. It’s happening in Georgia, it’s happening in Alabama, Mississippi, and all of these companies are owned by foreigners, but they employ Americans. I mean two-thirds of the foreign imports are built in the United States, and one of the big secrets is right out in the open, and the Drive-Bys are now writing about it: unions! Here’s the deal. Seventeen dollars an hour is what these people are going to work for at the Kia factory here in Chattahoochee Valley, and $28 bucks is what your average UAW worker makes. You get $28 bucks-an-hour for the average UAW worker for the Big Three or the big two-and-a-half, and 17 to 18 bucks-an-hour for the non-union people.

Now, as Charles Krauthammer pointed out yesterday, what’s happening here, because I don’t care what you’ve heard from what’s this guy’s name, Wettelfinger, Gettelfinger, the UAW guy, he’s up there with the Big Three. Whatever you’ve heard about concessions, there aren’t any. Oh, and the big question was asked this morning by some lib, a member of Congress, she asked the Big Three, “Hey, wouldn’t it really help you all if the government took over your legacy health care costs?” Okay, there it is, folks. Finally it was right out in the open out there where we all know this is headed anyway. Krauthammer pointed out, look, the people in this country who are making 17, 18 bucks an hour, on average, are being asked to bail out the people making $28 bucks an hour, the union people that work for the United Auto Workers. It’s all about being able to competitively stay in the business, and Chris Dodd, I mean, you have to give him credit, give credit where credit is due, he asked a smart question yesterday. He said, “Regardless what we do here, everything hinges on getting people into dealerships and buying your product, right?” It does. No matter what these clowns do up there.
Story #5: The Levin Brothers Get Ride to Hearing in GM Volt

RUSH: I went up to Washington last night to do a speech for the Hillsdale College people. I was flying up there, and I did not know this ’til I read about it today. I saw Carl Levin and Sander Levin, they are Michigan senator and congressman respectively, riding in the back seat of a Chevrolet Volt.

Now, what happened, Rick Wagoner, who is the CEO of General Motors, drove there in a Malibu rather than fly on the corporate jet. Now, while people weren’t looking, he had a Volt shipped in, because the Volt is not ready yet. A Volt could not make the trip. They haven’t got a battery big enough yet, I don’t think. It’s not due ’til 2010, the Volt is not. It’s a plug-in electric car. So he had it shipped in because he wanted to arrive at the hearing in the Volt because that’s a PR show, PR play. And I saw these two, the congressman and the senator, in the back seat, and it just made me laugh. Everything is a sitcom. Here these two old buffoons, socialist libs in the back seat of a Chevrolet Volt, driving about ten feet, and they’re smiling like little kids at the Dodge car display at the county fair. And I was like, “What have we come to here?” Everything’s PR, everything is image. These guys show up, drive ten feet in the back seat of the Volt. By the way, I wish General Motors all the luck in the world with the Volt, don’t misunderstand, everything is just amusing me here.
Story #6: Obama Elected: Power No Longer Corrupts

RUSH: Folks, do you remember back in the mid-nineties we had a newspaper story from the Associated Press which said that lying was actually quite healthy for us? Lying spared people’s feelings being hurt; lying kept our social fabric intact because telling the truth too often to too many people would just cause civil unrest, and we couldn’t have that in the midst of perhaps the most dishonest president we’ve ever had, Bill Clinton. Well, Live Science: “Our research suggests that people may not need to worry too much about power corrupting Obama. His newfound power might enable the change he desires rather than that power changing him instead.” So in 1995, lying was healthy. In 2008, all of a sudden, power does not corrupt.
Story #7:Exotic Birds Fall Prey to Foreclosure Crisis

RUSH: Reuters story from Seattle: “Real estate agent Jeffrey Dolfinger was making a routine occupancy check on a foreclosed home near Poughkeepsie, New York–” Why is this datelined Seattle? Ah, hell, who cares. This guy was checking on a home, a foreclosed home in Poughkeepsie. I challenge you Obama voters to spell “Poughkeepsie.” At any rate, he made a heart-wrenching discovery while checking on his foreclosed home. “Two bedraggled cockatiels nearly starved to death.” Exotic birds are falling prey to the foreclosure crisis as well. “It’s a little-known side of the foreclosure crisis: exotic birds abandoned or dropped at shelters because their owners cannot move into an apartment or a relative’s home with the sometimes noisy creatures.” You just hate it when this stuff happens.
Story #8:Pray for Rain During The Messiah’s Inauguration

RUSH: Get this: “Cameras and cell phones, yes. Backpack, no. If you’re planning on going to the inaugural ceremony of The Messiah, be forewarned, you cannot take a backpack, you cannot carry a sign. Umbrellas, strollers, and thermoses are forbidden.” I will be praying for rain that day, since umbrellas have been banned.
Story #9:O.J. Simpson Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison

RUSH: O.J. Simpson, 15 years in jail. There. I’ve said it and covered the story.
Story #10:Expert Blames American Values for Health Care Crisis
RUSH: A press release from UCLA: “‘UCLA Expert Blames American Values for Health Care Crisis’ — To heal our ailing health care system, we need to stop thinking like Americans. That’s the message of two articles by UCLA’s Dr. Marc Nuwer, a leading expert on national health care reform, published this week in Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology. ‘Americans prize individual choice and resist limiting care,’ says Nuwer, a professor of clinical neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. ‘We believe that if doctors can treat very ill patients aggressively and keep every moment of people in the last stages of life under medical care, then they should. We choose to hold these values. Consequently, we choose to have a more expensive system than Europe or Canada.’

“Consider these statistics. The United States boasts the world’s most expensive health care system, yet one-sixth of Americans are uninsured. Medical expenditures exceed $2 trillion annually, making health care the economy’s largest sector, four times bigger than national defense.” Let’s look at why this is. We might find that part of the reason is the government meddling in this business. We might also find the introduction of trial lawyers into this business might be contributing to all of this money being spent. Another statistic. “By 2015, the US government is projected to spend $4 trillion on health care, or 20 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. An aging population will boost spending. Half of Medicare costs support very sick people in their last stages of life, and experts estimate that Medicare funds will be exhausted by 2018. Thirty-one percent of US health care funds go toward administration. ‘We push a lot of paper,’ Nuwer says. ‘We spend twice as much as Canada, which has a more streamlined health care system that demands doctors complete less paperwork.'”

Yeah, more people die up there. More people leave their system to come down here. Anyway, “10 percent of US expenses are spent on ‘defensive medicine’ — pricey tests ordered by doctors afraid of missing anything, however unlikely. ‘Doctors don’t want to be accused in court of a delayed diagnosis, so they bend over backwards to find something — even if it’s a rare possibility — in order to cover themselves,’ Nuwer says. Reforming the US health care system with the goal of providing universal, affordable, high-quality care will require rethinking our overall values and paying greater attention to care-related expenditures, according to Nuwer.”

Snerdley, why are you so shocked? Why? No, this guy is doing us a favor! This guy is more right than he knows. In order to get national health care, we do have to stop thinking like Americans. Real Americans wouldn’t put up with it. We need to start thinking like socialists, that’s the only way it’s going to happen. This guy, I know it offends you, because he’s advocating it. He’s advocating that we change the way our values are structured so as to get national health care. This is exactly what people need to be told. This is un-American to do it the way it’s being proposed — universal national health care.
Story #11:Norm Coleman Still Leads Parasite After the Recount

RUSH: All right, in Minnesota, 100% of all the recount votes are counted, 100% of all the recount votes are counted and Coleman leads now by 238 votes after the recount. Somebody needs to tell the parasite, Al Franken, to quit, to concede. There’s no point in stealing it ’cause you still can’t get to 60. The only way that the Democrats and Harry Reid would engage in activity to steal it, is if it got them to 60, but Saxby Chambliss screwed that all up, so it’s time for Franken to quit. The reason he won’t quit is he doesn’t know how to get a real job. He cannot make any money unless he uses somebody else’s name to do it, a pathetic figure. You people in Minnesota, I am stunned that it even got this close. The idea that this country is now a sitcom is exemplified by how close that stupid election was in the first place.
Story #12: Hillary Clinton Syndrome Hits Kansas City Politics

RUSH: And now, ladies and gentlemen, the Hillary syndrome has hit Kansas City. “The people of Kansas City thought they were getting a straight shooter with financial smarts –” You know, every story today, this UCLA story, “Look, we’re going to have to give up our American values in order to get health care.” Every story is from ScrappleFace or The Onion. You’d think every story is a snow job. This one reads like a parody. “The people of Kansas City thought they were getting a straight-shooter with financial smarts as their new mayor. What they got, critics say, is a henpecked husband,” who only does one thing behind his wife’s back, and that’s zip her up. He needs his wife to tell him what to do. Dawn’s looking at me with real anger in her face. I’m not making this up. This is an AP story. I don’t know if it’s a male or a female because the name is Andale Gross, A-n-d-a-l-e. It might have been a person who’s done a sex change ’cause you’ve got Ann in there and you’ve got Dale, could go either way. Whoever this is is writing about a henpecked mayor.

“In an era when politicians get in trouble for infidelity, Mayor Mark Funkhouser finds himself under fire for his devotion to his wife, a sharp-elbowed New Yorker whose role as his closest adviser has locals wondering who’s really running this city of 450,000.” This is why I call this Hillary Clinton syndrome. “‘I knew Mark for almost 18 years as auditor and didn’t even know he was married. It’s not like he needed his wife when he was auditor,’ said City Councilman Ed Ford, a leading critic of Funkhouser and his wife, Gloria Squitiro. ‘I think we were all surprised that he felt she was so indispensable once he became mayor.'” Remember, now, this story is running nationwide on the AP-Obama wire. This is not a local story in the Kansas City Scar. This is running all over the country.

“Squitiro ran her husband’s campaign for mayor, and after he got elected last year, she took a desk near his office in City Hall.” So what? It happened in Washington, we’ve had a redefinition of roles, and so buy one get one free, whatever. “That arrangement came to end soon after a former mayoral aide filed a lawsuit last summer in which she accused Squitiro of making lewd comments around the office and calling the aide, a black woman, ‘Mammy.'” Ooh, ouch. That would make a difference. “The council responded with an anti-nepotism ordinance that bars Squitiro from volunteering in the mayor’s office. Funkhouser vetoed it, and the council overrode the veto. Funkhouser shot back by suing the city, saying the ordinance infringed on his authority.” We’re not even halfway through this story, folks. You want to keep going on this? “On Thursday, the council rejected Funkhouser’s request to settle the lawsuit with the former employee after he declined to drop his suit against the city. After the city council passed the ordinance, Funkhouser began conducting a large share of city business from his house, stunning members of the council,” ’cause the counsel cannot make him kick his wife out of the house.

And now they’re trying to figure out, okay, who came up with this plan to run the city out of his house? And everybody is pointing fingers at Squitiro. “‘I think government business should be done at City Hall and not out of the mayor’s home,’ Ford said. ‘Part of it’s transparency. Part of it is “Why is the mayor working out of his home?” It’s obviously so Gloria can be by his side.’ The Kansas City Star, which backed his candidacy, retracted its endorsement last month.” Big whoop. You know, the Kansas City Scar is just another propaganda outlet. So the Kansas City Scar, which is impotent and has nothing to do with anything anymore, renounces its endorsement, or takes it back, big whoop. “Funkhouser has also become a routine target of the paper’s editorial cartoons –” So am I and it hasn’t hurt me a bit. “– including one this week that lampooned the power couple as ‘Nitro’ and ‘Glycerin.'” Well, hardy-har-har. That’s a really funny editorial cartoon, Funkhouser and Squitiro as nitro and glycerin. If they keep working on it Comedy Central might hire ’em when they get laid off at the cartoon department over at the Kansas City Scar.

“In a letter to the editor this week, one reader said: ‘I didn’t see her name on the ballot. I don’t recall a two-for-one deal.’ Another wrote recently: ‘He should be removed from office immediately so he can spend all of his time with his wife without his job getting in the way. Separation anxiety problem solved.'” So this guy, they’re portraying him: He’s a bed-wetter; he is henpecked; he can’t do anything without his wife around because his wife is making him keep her around. Bring back the old days. You know, when I lived there they had a mayor named Charles Wheeler and he never even knew what day it was. He went on the radio every morning, he had his own little five-minute radio show, but everybody loved him. Charles ran around town, he was always at the St. Patrick’s Day parade. No town business got done, but the snow was always removed and so forth. It was a fun place to live, except if you didn’t have any money, and what is a fun place to live if you don’t have any money?

But actually, I left something out of this Kansas City mayor story. I left out the best part of this. Squitiro, this is the Hillary wife, the Nurse Ratched. “But Squitiro quickly gained a reputation as a controlling influence on the mayor and a divisive and meddlesome figure at City Hall. Funkhouser’s chief of staff, Ed Wolf, resigned earlier this fall, complaining, ‘It was kind of like having your mother-in-law go along on your honeymoon.’ As for the allegations in the lawsuit, the couple’s lawyers said that Squitiro routinely gave affectionate nicknames to staffers and that the word ‘Mammy’ came from Squitiro’s adding an ‘e’ sound to the word ‘Ma’am.'” She didn’t mean mammy as in Gone With the Wind mammy, just ma’am-ie, like an I-E, like Rushie, mammy. “In a sworn statement, Squitiro acknowledged making sexual references but insisted they were jokes. The episodes have been part of a bumpy 18 months for Funkhouser. He was criticized for accepting free use of a hybrid car from a local Honda dealership.” Man. It’s bad enough to be henpecked by your wife, but to be bribed by a hybrid? Where has our self-respect gone? Bribed by a hybrid?
Story #13: More Obama Staff Layoffs: Rocky Mountain News

RUSH: Did you see where Scripps Howard may have to close down the Rocky Mountain News? Propaganda organs are just falling by the wayside. The Obama campaign staff is being pared with these layoffs. I mean, how many of them are media?
Story #14: Obesity Pays: Dog Frozen to Sidewalk Saved by Fat
RUSH: When we get back on Monday I’ll tell you the story of the dog that got frozen to the sidewalk but didn’t die because it was saved by the amount of fat that it had. So here’s to obesity as we head into the weekend.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1:Reverse Status Symbol: Ripped Off by Madoff

RUSH: I’m not going anywhere. The Madoff thing. I’m staying here. You know, it’s bad out there. This actually has become a status symbol. We were talking about public relations and the rich, and the phoniness with which they operate and so forth. It has now become a status symbol among the rich to say that you got ripped off by Bernie Madoff, because everybody is losing money in the market, everybody is, but it makes you special and unique if you lost money because of Madoff. These people don’t think it makes ’em look stupid. It continues to elevate their status, they think. So there are people actually saying, “No, I won’t be coming down to Palm, maybe a couple weekends this year but, you know, the Madoff thing, we’re not going to be able to be quite as active.” I’ve had people tell me that who heretofore I didn’t know they were involved in the Madoff thing, (laughing) it’s amazing.
Story #2: Seattle Environmentalists Halt Snow Removal

RUSH: Get this. This is just classic. It’s not record snow in Seattle; it’s close to it. They had a big snowstorm on Saturday night, Sunday morning in Seattle and then again Sunday afternoon. It was so bad that the New York Jets, who went out and promptly lost to one of the worst teams in the league, needing to win the game to further their playoff hopes –although that loss did set up a quite-interesting showdown at 4:15 Eastern Time Sunday afternoon as the Dolphins arrive in Giants Stadium to play the Jets. Nevertheless it was like a one o’clock game out in the Left Coast. It’s a game that ended actually a little early, I think at quarter ’til four. Because I’m a student of the game I happen to know that visiting teams try to be packed up, everything, and out the door an hour after the game.

Sometimes they’re not able to do it depending on how long the coach and the players have to spend with the media, but at least the equipment truck is gone. They just pack everything up. It’s a massive project to move an NFL team around but they get it done in about an hour, then they have to head to the airport. You can generally figure… It’s rule of thumb if you care about such things, and I’m a big logistics person so these things interest me. When you gotta move that number of people around and do it efficiently, it’s always fascinating to me how you do it. But an NFL team is generally at the airport, on the plane, and ready to leave two hours after a game. So local time, this would have been six p.m. in Seattle. The Jets’ plane did not lift off until around 11 p.m. local.

They were on the tarmac and the runway four or five hours because of snow, huge, unexpected — well, not unexpected. The forecast had it right, but they were not prepared for this kind of snow in Seattle. They have lots of rain, right, Snerdley? Snerdley used to live there. It was one of the most disappointing, miserable times in his life, he often recounts for us. So the Jets didn’t get back ’til like 6:30 on Monday morning. So I saw this story about the snowfall out there and how it’s backlogged the city. This is from the Seattle Times. Did you know this, Snerdley? “Seattle Refuses to Use Salt.” It’s not just that. They refuse to use salt. The Roads are “‘Snow-Packed by Design.”

It’s not just that they want to save their precious roadways. They’re worried about the salt runoff hitting Puget Sound. Look, fine. It’s an admirable goal — typical liberal bureaucratic idiocy, but admirable. Again, wonderful intentions, lousy results. Listen to this: “The city’s approach [of no salt and snow-packed roads] means crews clear the roads enough for all-wheel and four-wheel-drive vehicles, or those with front-wheel drive cars as long as they are using chains… The icy streets are the result of Seattle’s refusal to use salt…” In other words, folks, the people who run the streets in Seattle in snowstorms want them icy; and the only cars that can pass the roads after Seattle has “cleared” them are the cars liberals are trying to take outta your garage: SUVs, four-wheel drives, front-wheel drive, chains.

You think chains might do more damage to a roadway than salt would? “If we were using salt, you’d see patches of bare road because salt is very effective,” said Wiggins, the Department of Transportation chief of staff out there, Alex Wiggins. “We decided not to utilize salt because it’s not a healthy addition to Puget Sound.” Now, what is this? The only cars that can safely get around in Seattle after such snowstorms are the same cars these same liberals want to take away from everybody. (interruption) Puget Sound is made of saltwater, but it’s a delicate balance. It’s a very delicate balance. You know, man can destroy Puget Sound, Mr. Snerdley, with salt runoff from snow removal, the three or four times a decade they have to do it. These are very sensitive people. I’m surprised you’re questioning their actions.
Story #3:Market Falls as Putin Beats Obama in Drudge Poll
RUSH: When you get to your computer and you go to the Drudge page and you’ll be able to see the online poll between who is the hunkiest authoritarian socialist leader — by the way, Drudge is not presenting it that way. That’s the way I’m characterizing it. You’ve got Putin and the KGB and you got Obama. And right now, the vote is 52,000 plus have voted, it’s 33,000 to 19,000 for Putin.

The stock market is now down 60 points, after I reported the news Obama is losing the beefcake poll on the Drudge Report to Vladimir Putin for hunkiest socialist authoritarian leader. Putin is miles ahead of Obama, stock market down 60 points. Ladies and gentlemen, the purge has begun. And also, after a conversation with Snerdley here at the top of the hour break, I am stunned at his lack of understanding on certain things. Yes, a 60-point collapse in the stock market today after the Drudge Report ran a poll, still running the online poll, on who is the hunkiest authoritarian socialist leader, Putin or Obama. By the way, I mean, folks, both these guys, if you look at these pictures on Drudge, they’ve been body shaved. There was no way either of these pictures are accidental. Well, I mean, look at it.

When you look at the two pictures that Drudge has up there you’ll note that both Putin and Obama have body shaved their chests. They are hairless and looking for the sheen, you know. But what you’ll find is that Putin looks like a fully developed man as you would expect somebody in the KGB to look. Obama looks boyish. He looks beanpole-ish while he does have some definition. I think that’s why Obama’s losing this big time.

Story #4:Purge Begins: Madoff Fund Operator Found Dead

RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, the purge has begun. Mere moments ago the body of a Madoff fund operator was found in his New York apartment. The name, de La Villehuchet. De La Villehuchet found dead in his apartment today, a Madoff fund operator. Of course, the active question here is was it murder or was it suicide? And this brings to mind that I miss Tom Lantos, a great immigrant to this country, Hungarian-Jewish, became a member of Congress, very elegant, erudite, refined and dignified. He was from Northern California, and I will never forget during the Craig Livingstone FBI file controversy in the White House that nobody could remember who hired Craig Livingstone. Craig Livingstone had custody of the 500 FBI files of Clinton enemies, but nobody could recall for the longest time who hired him. After a while it became very embarrassing for both the Clinton administration and the Democrat Party in general that Livingstone was out there cutting such a wide public swath. So they had him up to hearings about, oh, three weeks after a famous Navy admiral had committed suicide after it had been learned that he had falsified information to get medals that he had not deserved.

I will never forget Tom Lantos interrogating Craig Livingstone, who looked like he was in shell shock anyway. I mean, he was just obviously some flunky that was given custody of these things, and he was the fall guy. He was always intended to be the fall guy. So they threw him up to the wolves, and Lantos actually said to Craig Livingstone, (doing Lantos impression) “At least Admiral Boorda had the decency to commit suicide,” and Livingstone just looked like, “What the hell is this guy telling me? Boorda was a better guy ’cause at least he committed suicide?” Admiral Boorda committed suicide while Livingstone was continuing to walk free. So now we wonder if de La Villehuchet, the fund operator for the Madoff fund, found dead in his New York apartment today, was suicide or was it foul play? Regardless, ladies and gentlemen, the purge has begun.

I guess it could be safely said that de La Villehuchet simply wasn’t enjoying the new high status of being involved with Bernie Madoff. If you missed the first hour, folks, it is true, the rich that were involved with this guy are now using it as another status symbol in reverse. “Hey, are you going to be down in Palm Beach this season?” “Ah, not so much, you know, the Madoff thing,” implying that they’ve suffered some financial losses. A lot of Madoff people don’t want it known because they might have been involved, but those who had no involvement, they’re proud to now tell people because it was such an exclusive club, so they’re proud to admit their stupidity because everybody is losing in the market, it’s no big deal to lose, but it’s a status symbol to say you lost with Madoff — (laughing) — what a sick bunch.
Story #5:Three Drive-By Stories on Teens and the Economy

RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, you remember, not long ago we chronicled the most amazing story. I was totally incredulous. There was a story from AP, and I shoulda known that it was only the beginning, it was not just a standalone story. The story was the dilemma that modern day parents have over how to approach their children during the holiday season in the midst of a recession. The story sought to advise parents on the various ways they could go. The two primary options were to not tell the children of how tough financial times are, just spend like it was last year. Don’t upset the fragile little beasts, they can’t handle it.

Or, confront them and tell them you’re not going to get as much this year, we’re going to cut back our spending.

(crumb-cruncher impression) “Why? Why?”

“Well, because there’s a recession and we just don’t have as much money.”

“Well, get some more.”

“No, it’s not that easy.”

There have been a couple follow-up stories, and today there are three more. From AP-Obama, first one headlined thus: “Teens Learning About the Economy First-Hand — Many say they have lowered their expectations for the holiday season.” It’s from Des Moines, Iowa. “Teenagers have never been known for their restraint, but perhaps these times are different. Tuned in to worries of a deepening recession, many teens say that they’ve been smart shoppers and have lowered their expectations for receiving gifts this holiday season. ‘I plan to spend less this year,’ said Shakara Walker, 18, a senior at Benjamin Banneker High School in Atlanta. ‘Since I’ve gotten older, it’s got to the point now where gifts aren’t everything.'” This kid made it to her senior year in high school and she says, “It’s got to the point.” She’s a senior in high school. At least her expectations have been tempered. Teenagers learning about the economy firsthand. How the hell else would they learn about it? Gee whiz.

Here’s the next story, and this could be any media outlet. This could be your local paper, could be a network. It happens to be AP-Obama, but could be anything. You parents are incompetent and unqualified. You do not know how to talk to your kids about money, and so, from the AP, I’m holding it right here in my formerly nicotine-stained fingers: “Five Tips for Talking with Teenagers About Money,” offered by our Drive-By Media parents. “Number one: Understand the difference between needs and wants. Many kids may consider movies and designer jeans needs, but they need to understand that needs are the true essentials — such as food, clothing and shelter. Wants can make life easier, but kids need to learn that they must address and pay for their needs before they can spend money on their wants.”

Now, I must take AP to task here because none of this is relevant, especially if these people voted for Obama because he’s gonna handle it all, he’s going to handle wants and needs. Seriously, is this not shocking? This is what passes for journalism? Hey, parents, we know you’re at wits’ end over how to deal with your kids about money and how scarce it is. Here are five tips. Tell them the difference between what they want and what they need. Can you imagine being such a low-life human being that you have to have the media tell you how to be a parent? If you are a parent and you see this story in your local paper, if you still have one, and you read this and it turns on lightbulbs for you, “Oh, yeah, I never thought of that,” you are sick, you are in bad shape and you need to go look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself why you had kids in the first place. Good grief almighty. Tell you your kids the difference between wants and needs. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.

“Number two. Set financial goals and budget accordingly. One of the best ways for young people to learn about managing money is for them to set and achieve a simple financial goal,” like owning their first house of 5,000 square feet at age 21, with zero financing, brought to you by Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, and Freddie Mae, Fannie Mac, whatever. Set and achieve a simple financial goal? “Younger teens can benefit from opening a savings account and choosing something to save for.” By the way, I want to say something about this, ladies and gentlemen, because point number five here, “Start saving early.” Really? Really? Brian, you just had a little baby not too many months ago. Are you going to advise your little kid to start saving early? You are? You’ve started an account for him? You’ve got a passbook savings account in the local bank? You trust the bank?

You see, ladies and gentlemen, this is dangerous and risky. Two groups of people, let’s call them kids. One group had very strict, responsible parents who made them save as much as they could, and the parents were doing likewise. Another group of kids had parents that were just laissez-faire, go do what you want, and those kids saved nothing and they went out and bought a lot of stuff. Those kids still have their stuff. The other kids who saved have been wiped out. [snip] And the final Associated Press-Obama story on teenagers and money is headlined this way: “Your Teenager’s First Recession: Learning to Cut Back.”
Story #6: Dutch Company Punches Holes in Font to Save Ink
RUSH:Try this for stupidity, a little comedy. This is a story from the Associated Press from Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The headline really says it all: “Dutch Company Punches Holes in Font to Save Ink — A Dutch company looking for ways to reduce the environmental costs of printing has developed a new font that it says cuts ink usage by about 15 percent. In essence, the ‘Ecofont’ has little holes in the letters. … [C]ompany co-founder Gerjon Zomer … concedes the font isn’t beautiful, but says it could be adequate for personal use or for internal use at a company.” Holes in your font. Now, for you Obama voters, a font, think of it as typeset; like ABC on a typewriter or keyboard; and they put holes in every letter; an A with holes in it, holes in the B. There are even holes in the O even though the O already has its own hole.

This makes about as much sense as back during the Seventies when I was living in Kansas City. TWA had a huge maintenance center at Kansas City International Airport and they ran a test because jet fuel was skyrocketing, gasoline was skyrocketing. So what they did is they stripped all the paint off of two of their airliners because they figured the paint added weight. You paint an airplane and there’s a lot of weight there, and they flew these unpainted planes — other than the federal markings required for identification, the N number. But they flew these around with no paint on them, just the aluminum, to see if they could calculate any savings on jet fuel.

And, of course, there’s no way to know because no two flights are identical, with winds and such. (sigh) It was silly. And even if they had said, “You know what? We’re saving 1% here. Okay, the next time you fly to LaGuardia and they put you in a 45-minute hold before you land, you’re still burning up all that fuel you otherwise might have saved by having the plane not painted.” It’s the same thing with the stupid idiocy of putting holes in your font, all to save 15% on ink. I told you, folks, these leftists, they are hilarious. If you have the right frame of mind following these people around, you can enjoy yourself frequently.
Story #7:Far Out: Stoners Think Obama May Decriminalize Pot

RUSH: Hey, the stoner community is very happy out there. Esquire magazine with a report saying Obama really might decriminalize marijuana. This comes from sources on the transition team. [snip] Obama really might decriminalize marijuana, Esquire magazine. “The stoner community is clamoring to say it: ‘Yes we cannabis!’ Turns out, with several drug-war veterans close to the president-elect’s ear, insiders think reform could come in Obama’s second term — or sooner.” Apparently there are some transition team people that are telling the press, Esquire, that Obama wants to decriminalize marijuana.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Brut Poll on Chicago Democrats and Shower Sex

RUSH: Dawn, have you heard of the men’s cologne by the name of Brut? I don’t know who uses Brut anymore. High school guys use Brut. They used Brut and they used Jade East. I don’t think anyone can get Jade East anymore. Brut was available at the discount counter at the corner drugstore. They’re still around, apparently, and they went out there and they did a survey, and it was of Chicago elected officials. Eighty-six percent of Chicago elected officials, almost all of whom are Democrats, by the way, said that they have enjoyed sex in the shower. The other 14% said they hadn’t been to prison yet so they couldn’t answer.
Story #2: Somali Pirates Go Down with Ship and Ransom

RUSH: How about these poor Somali pirates? One of the funniest things I have ever seen. They start out, they hijacked this hundred-million-dollar ship, a hundred million dollars worth of oil from Saudi Arabia, and they demand a ransom that’s not nearly high enough, I think it was five or seven million bucks. We on this program urged them to up the ransom price to at least 15 million. They settled on 10, but they had no takers. The Saudis were saying, “Hell, we’re not going to give you 10 million bucks for that,” so they lowered the ransom to 3 million, so the Saudis said, “Okay, we’ll go for that,” and they airdropped it. Did you see the picture of this, folks? They parachuted the cash in to the pirates on their ship, and then five of the Somali pirates who released the Saudi supertanker drowned with their share of the loot. “Their small boat capsized,” said a pirate and relative of one of the dead men on Saturday. The boat the pirates were traveling in capsized because it was running at high speed, because the pirates were afraid of an attack from the warships that were trolling around. There had been human and monetary loss.

“What makes us feel sad,” said one pirate, “is that we don’t still have the dead bodies of our relatives.” Four are still missing. One washed up on the shore, and the ransom is gone. These five guys went down with the ship, so to speak, $153,000. Only one of the pirates has been recovered. His body washed ashore with $153,000 in cash near Mogadishu. The pirates promised to soon free a Ukrainian arms ship. It’s unfortunate. What a bad break for the Somali pirates. That picture, however, of the ransom being dropped by parachute, you know, if I had been the Saudis, if I’m going to do that, I would have put it in watertight containers, and I would have dumped it in the ocean right next to their ship. That may have happened, I’m not really sure. It might have hit the ship. But airdrop the ransom? Ha! I know, Snerdley: They could’ve dropped gold bricks.
Story #3: Obama Advisor Rubin Quits Crumbling Citigroup
RUSH: Speaking of gold bricks, the Citibank share price is plummeting. It’s down 12%, and just a little bit over six dollars a share now. If it gets to five dollars, that’s when all the pension funds are required to pull out of there. When the price is at five bucks a share the law says that they have to pull out of there, that can start a cash run on the place. Robert Rubin designed in disgrace over the weekend from Citibank; people are keeping a very sharp eye on this.
Story #4: Judge Refuses to Send Bernard Madoff to Jail

RUSH: I just read that Madoff has been given house arrest. They wanted to put him in jail after the shenanigans last week. Yeah, he’s to remain under house arrest, will not have to go to the big house. Bail will not be revoked.

Actually, I saw a picture of Bernie Madoff on the TV a minute ago and I said to Snerdley, “There are going to be a loooot of people mad about that.” And Snerdley said, “Yeah, they have they have a right to be mad.” I said, “Why? What did he do? Beyond the original fraud, what did he do? How has he violated the bail?” Snerdley said, “Well, he gave away and was sending out all these assets, these watches and rings and so forth, a million dollars worth of stuff to friends and so forth all over the country.” But how do we know this? Who’s telling us this?

Madoff’s bunch is denying it. His lawyer is denying it. It’s the Drive-Bys telling us that. I have no brief for Bernie Madoff now; do not misunderstand. But the only way we know it’s $50 billion is that’s what Madoff is reported to have told his sons, who remain mysteriously innocent in all this. Madoff told his sons, “Yeah, there’s nothing there, this is going to read $50 billion.” So that number is just out there: Bernie Madoff ran off with $50 billion. But we don’t really know that yet. What we know is that he had $123 million of checks that were written and signed that were found in his desk, and he was going to send them out. But we know about that, too, according to his sons. They said that Bernie said he wanted to pay off some friends and families, give them bonuses or what have you, before Christmas, before he went public and confessed to the crime. But Madoff hasn’t said any of this — it’s his sons who have said this.
Story #5: Latest Cancer Scare: Mouthwash with Alcohol

RUSH: From the UK Daily Mail. There is now sufficient evidence mouthwashes containing alcohol contribute to the increased risk of the disease, according to a review of the latest studies. Now, this has to be absurd! What about the alcohol in alcohol? If the alcohol in mouthwash causes oral cancer, how come the alcohol in alcohol doesn’t? How come they haven’t warned us about that? When I first asked this question, somebody said, “Well, how many times a day do you gargle with alcohol alcohol?” And I said, “I don’t know, maybe you should ask Maureen Dowd.” So this is the latest scare tactic: mouthwash. And they’ve got some poor dope who looks like Ryan Seacrest drinking a bunch of it here, blue colored and so forth. I don’t want to mention any brand names. They don’t mention any brand names here. All these scares. They just never cease.
Story #6: Pittsburgh Steelers Become Bird Exterminators

RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, I was fortunate yesterday: I had the privilege of treading the hallowed ground at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, where the Pittsburgh Steelers at least maintained sanity in an NFL season as a home team winning a playoff game. Go Steelers! They’re up next against the Crips and the Bloods, the Baltimore Ravens next Sunday at 6:30 in Pittsburgh at Heinz Field. The Steelers have become bird exterminators now. They play the Ravens on Sunday and then they’ll face in the Super Bowl either the Arizona Cardinals or the Philadelphia Eagles. Trust me, the powers that be are hoping for the Eagles in the Super Bowl in Tampa, Florida. It was a great, great game yesterday. It was spitting snow in Pittsburgh, and about 25 degrees. The Steelers finally were healthy, and all phases of their game were put back into Steelers football, back to norm. It was a great, great day.
Story #7: Using Algore’s Internet Contributes to Global Warming

RUSH: Algore invented the Internet, correct? “Performing two Google searches” — which you have to have the Internet in order to do that — “from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, according to new research. … ‘Google operates huge data centres around the world that consume a great deal of power,’ said Alex Wissner-Gross, a Harvard University physicist whose research on the environmental impact of computing is due out soon. ‘A Google search has a definite environmental impact.’ Google is secretive about its energy consumption and carbon footprint,” but if you go to Wikipedia (which I know it’s an iffy proposition) here’s what Wikipedia says about Google. “Google runs its services on several server farms, each comprising thousands of low-cost commodity computers running stripped-down versions of Linux. ‘While the company divulges no details of its hardware, a 2006 estimate cites 450,000 servers, ‘racked up in clusters at data centers around the world.’ The company has about 24 server farms around the world of various configurations. The farm in The Dalles, Oregon is powered by hydroelectricity at about 50 megawatts.”

Google searches! Remember, now, the Google guys, these are some of the biggest wacko environmentalists out there, and wait ’til they’re hit with the news that they are major contributors, because it’s not just one Google search that happens at a time. There are gazillions… Think of the carbon footprint that Google is causing to destroy the climate! Wait till Larry Page and Sergey Brin hear about this. I want to see the justification for them being allowed an exemption. Environmental impact of Google searches. And again you have to ask, who invented the Internet. Of course, the answer, Algore.
Story #8: Giant Plasma TVs: The 4×4 of the Living Room

RUSH: From the UK Independent on Sunday. “Energy-guzzling flatscreen plasma televisions will soon be banned as part of the battle against climate change, ministers have told The Independent on Sunday. ‘Minimum energy performance standards’ for televisions are expected to be agreed across Europe this spring, they say, and this should lead to ‘phasing out the most inefficient TVs’. At the same time, a compulsory labelling system will be drawn up to identify the best and worst devices. The moves, which follow last week’s withdrawal of the 100W incandescent lightbulb, are part of a drive to slow the rapid growth of electricity consumption in homes by phasing out wasteful devices and introducing more efficient ones. Giant plasma televisions — dubbed ‘the 4x4s of the living room’ — can consume four times as much energy as traditional TVs that used cathode ray tubes (CRTs).”

Well, unless you have a plug-in television, I don’t know anybody using a cathode ray tube, unless you still have your Sony Trinitron. I gotta ask. Some people still have some CRTs. We’re gonna go back to that? Are we going to go back to the horse and buggy? Are we going to go back to chicken poop and horse manure in the streets? Can you believe the absurdity? A Google search leading to climate change and plasma TVs leading to climate change! In the midst of a freezing winter cycle!
Story #9: Pravda: We’re on the Verge of an Ice Age
RUSH: Did you see this? Pravda had a huge story from a noted scientist about how we are on the verge of an ice age, a huge ice age, and that if this guy is right… Now, these predictions are all over the ballpark, but if this guy’s right, there are areas of the northern hemisphere which in a few years will be uninhabitable. That’s in the Russian version of the New York Times: Pravda. They also said that Germany has warned people that wear metal earrings, to take ’em out because it’s so cold they could stick to your ear and when you do try to take ’em out you’ll rip skin off, but plasma TVs and Google searches are causing global warming.
Story #10: Tony Dungy Steps Down as Coach of the Colts
RUSH: Tony Dungy stepping down as coach of the Indianapolis Colts, said good-bye to team members, players, and the executive staff of the Colts this morning at their Indianapolis Colts complex. Jim Caldwell, the designated head-coach-in-waiting will take over. No word yet on whether Dungy is going to actually retire or maybe seek another coaching position. I don’t think he will retire for at least another year, but upheaval continues in the National Football League.
Story #11: Joe the Plumber Lashes Out at Media in Israel

RUSH: Joe the Plumber was over in Israel on Saturday. He arrived at noon, and he really lashed out at the media in Israel for ripping into the Israelis and taking up the cause of the Gazookas in Gaza. You should see it.

Story #12: AP Tamps Down Inauguration Crowd Estimate

RUSH: The Associated Press is now tamping down the expectations of crowds at The Messiah’s coronation. The Washington Post did this on Friday. Now the AP-Obama gets in on the act. Here’s the template: They always go out and find some citizen to talk about the trials and tribulations of any activity in the United States of America. “Jim Baca and his wife were all set to travel from New Mexico to Washington for the inauguration. They had booked plane tickets and arranged to stay with friends in Virginia. Then they started reading about all the obstacles they would face once they arrived: packed subway cars, perhaps miles of gridlock on the roads and even prohibitions on bringing seemingly harmless items like umbrellas to the National Mall.

“‘All of a sudden, a fireplace and Irish coffee sounded a lot better,’ said Baca, a former Albuquerque mayor who says he worked to help elect Barack Obama. Besides, he said, ‘we can probably get a better view on TV.’ The warnings about massive crowds, sparse lodging and tight security have convinced some would-be visitors that it is best to stay home. That might mean smaller crowds than first estimated for the Jan. 20 swearing-in of the first black president.”

Now, this is such smoke and mirrors. I love this because the first story was never true. The first story, none of it was true. Five to six million? It’s like $50 billion from Madoff. We don’t know that. I mean, six million would flood the mall! Six million would flood Washington for this inaugural! This was all media created and driven. In fact, I’ll betcha you can get a hotel room in Washington right now if you call. I’ll bet you can. It’s just a wild guess, just a wild guess. You might have to pay a little bit more for it than otherwise, but I bet you can.

Oh, and this reminds me — remember that story from Friday? It almost brought me to tears. Remember, it was about some guy who lives in some upscale part of town. He read all this Obama-hype and said, “Oh, man! I’m going to put my home up for auction for a week and go to Morocco while everybody is here! I’ll make tons of money” So he put his little apartment, some three bedroom little apartment up for two grand a week — no takers! No takers at $1,500. Finally I think he settled on a thousand but that’s not enough to go to Morocco and back and spend a week there. So they did a big sob story, “Awwww, how sad,” and it was a classic illustration of how the media drives all of these expectations.

Six million people! You know, about five and a half million of them wouldn’t be anywhere close enough to see what was going on! The number of tickets to inauguration is 250,000. “The warnings about massive crowds, sparse lodging and tight security has convinced some would-be visitors that it is best to stay home. … The city’s police chief, Cathy Lanier, said Thursday that authorities were anticipating 1 million to 2 million people. That is far shy of the headline-grabbing 3 million to 5 million figure that Mayor Adrian M. Fenty initially projected.” Oh, yeah, the key phrase there is: headline-grabbing. “The largest turnout the Park Service has on record is 1.2 million for Lyndon B. Johnson’s inauguration,” and we’re going to get three to five million? I even saw six million mentioned once.

“Antron Johnson of Atlanta and his group of Obama supporters once planned to charter three 57-seater buses. Now they are down to two. ‘I am completely frustrated and disappointed,’ Johnson said. Among the reasons that people back out are concerns about overcrowding in the city and potential cell-phone outages. One indication of waning inaugural interest — or at least the calm after the initial hype — is the sluggish demand from out-of-towners seeking housing,” and the key phrase here is: initial hype. The “initial hype” was supplied by the Drive-Bys. They create the hype; they create expectations in the minds of locals that they can rent their homes like people in Martinez, Georgia do during Augusta week. And then they just drive on by while people figure out they can’t rent anything to anybody because nobody is coming.

“Andre Butters decided to create a Web site to help local homeowners find renters, based on the mayor’s initial crowd estimate. Yet demand has been light. There are about 730 properties listed on his Web site, but only about 100 out-of-towners have registered to find a place, Butters said.” One hundred out-of-towners, and we were going to have to a crowd of three to five million? “‘I’m just as stumped as everybody,’ he said. ‘We thought it was a no-brainer.'” Well, even no-brainers are above the heads of the Bamster’s supporters. I was not “stumped.” I predicted this! From the get-go, five to six million, this was all part of the hype. It was all part of the historic nature. It was all part of the, “Never before has anything like this ever happened! Never before had we had…HIM! Never before have we had a messiah!” All of it was lies. It was just smoke and mirrors.

“Andrew Wiseman isn’t having much luck, either. He and his roommate were excited about the chance to make a profit by renting out their row house in northwest Washington. They posted an ad in December on Craigslist to see what would happen. At first, they asked for $2,500 a night. With no takers, they have slashed the price to $1,800” a night. Wait a minute, now. They wanted $2,500 a night? Isn’t that called evil profiteering? What would the Obama Messiah say of this! That is gouging. I mean, that’s worse than Big Oil ever thought about doing! It’s speculation and gouging at the same time. “Rooms can be had at hotels, too…” Why, didn’t I just say this? Do you know that about 600 hotel rooms remain available? No, it says right here, and this is from AP-Obama. The writers are Nafeesa Syeed and Brian Westley.

Rooms could be had at hotels, and so these clowns are charging $1,800 a night! Folks, let me tell you something. If you have $2,500 a night to spend on a hotel, come to Palm Beach. It’s worth it. But all these people were having trouble getting in… None of it was true. None of it! Six hundred hotel rooms are available, and these clowns are trying to off-load their houses for 1,800 bucks a night. By the way, the 600-hotel-room availability is according to Surveys by Destination DC, which is the city’s own tourism bureau — and get this! “An additional 12,000 rooms are available within a 200 mile radius of Washington.” They might be expensive, and hotels still are requiring minimum stays, but… So 12,600 rooms, 600 of them in the city, the district. They should all be sold if we’re going to have five million people there!

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Heritage Finds Climate Change Garbage in Porkulus

RUSH: My friends, my other friends at the Heritage Foundation had found something else in the Porkulus bill. Listen to this. This is from www.Heritage.org: “President Barack Obama’s trillion dollar stimulus plan,” the Porkulus plan, “has morphed into an appropriations bill devoid of debate. The process forgoes any pretense of targeting unemployed people and resources. For instance, the [Porkulus] bill reads ‘Provided further, that not less than $140,000,000 shall be available for climate data modeling.’ This raises the question of how many unemployed climate modelers are out there pounding the pavement. When presented with that question, last Friday, Pat Michaels, former president of the American Association of State Climatologists stated ‘I don’t know one unemployed modeler.’

“Whether or not another $140,000,000 for climate data modeling is a good idea, it is hard to see an immediate, economy-stimulating impact from this item.” I’ll tell you something else that’s going on with this. This establishes that if you’re a climate modeler, you get money from the federal government. This government is the Obama government. They want to propagate this manmade global warming hoax. You take money from them for your climate computer models, when you don’t even need it? What, do I wonder, are your results going to show? Exactly what Obama wants. Where did I find this? Heritage Foundation. AskHeritage.org. It’s all I did.

Go to the website, AskHeritage.org, special reports on the stimulus, the Porkulus, any number of things. Become a member, and you will have an encyclopedia open. I’ve been using the Heritage Foundation. It’s one of the most crucial educational elements throughout the last 20 years of this radio program. I’ve used them the first moment I discovered them, when I learned that they were heavy architects of Reagan administration policy. They’re quality, class people. They’re us. They’re us people. They’re scholars, but they’re not eggheads. They’re scholars and they’re brilliant geniuses but they are not elitists. If you’re just looking for how to understand, explain ideological conservatism as applied to current-day events, that’s a pretty good place to go. That and my website, the Essential Stack of Stuff.
Story #2: Is the Senate Gang of 14 Poised to Strike Again?

RUSH: Okay. Try this. Fox News. The headline: “The Senate’s Gang of 14 may be poised to strike again over the stimulus bill. The Gang of 14 compromise in 2006 displeased many conservatives. Now with Democrats in power, a similar compromise may be brewing for Obama’s [Porkulus] economic bill.” This is all about Ben Nelson, Democrat, Nebraska, “who gathered Republicans and Democrats and the Gang of 14 to avert the nuclear option over judges.” My friends, I don’t want to appear overly confident here. I just want to tell you: Don’t worry about this. They may try for their Gang of 14, but I have a gang of 20 million, and our gang of 20 million will overwhelm their Gang of 14. Of course Democrat Ben Nelson is going to try to get our moderates to repeat their folly, after the House Republican unity of the day before yesterday. So Democrats, you have to ask yourself over and over: Why do they care? They don’t need our votes. They don’t need Republican votes to pass this. Why do they want them? It’s not just the bipartisan thing. I’m being repetitive here, and I don’t want to say the same thing over and over again, but it’s important.
Story #3: How Did World War II End the Great Depression?
RUSH: We had one lingering caller who wanted to know: How did World War II end the Depression? Very simple. It got the economy going. We took unemployment from 23% down to 2%. We had to build airplanes. We had to make bombs. Rosie the Riveter — everybody was working to build material to win the war. The government wasn’t spending money with a stimulus; people were working.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1:Democrats Kill GOP Bid to Extend DC Vouchers

RUSH: By the way, in the Earmarkulus bill that was signed today, as predicted, the Democrat Party has sold out African-American schoolchildren in Washington, DC. They did sneak a provision into the Earmarkulus spending bill that cleared the Senate which closed down the school choice project in Washington, it’s a special scholarship program. It takes African-American, minority kids, gives their parents vouchers and lets them go to places like Sidwell Friends where the Obama girls go. That program has been killed. The teachers unions win. Inferior public schools win.

Story #2:Hope? 53% Think We’re Entering Depression

RUSH: Rasmussen Reports’ latest poll: 53% of the American people say it is likely we will enter a depression similar to the thirties. Fifty-three percent say it’s likely we will enter a depression, and they want me to believe that Obama’s approval number is at 56%? Fifty-three percent? Do you know what that means? That means President Obama has failed to bring hope to Americans! How can there be any hope when a majority of Americans fear we are going to enter a depression?

Story #3:Stimulus, Part Two is Coming Sooner Than Summer
RUSH: As I predicted weeks ago, there will be a second stimulus package by summertime. The only thing I was wrong about, they’re not waiting ’til summertime. They’re talking about it now. “Congress May Need to Fund Another Stimulus,” Pelosi says.

I have here, I am holding in my formerly nicotine-stained fingers, a summary of news stories backing up the need for Stimulus 2. From the French News Agency from yesterday: “President Barack Obama’s pledge to create or save 3.5 million jobs … will fall short of its target, lawmakers were warned on Tuesday.” From Dow Jones: “Democrats were given a report by economics suggesting the initial recovery package will create or save 2-1/2 million jobs, far short of Obama’s goal of 3-1/2 million.” Now, you have to understand, none of these stories are critical. All of these stories push the notion: Oh, yeah, we need Stimulus 2! ABC News: “President Obama has repeatedly said the $787 billion stimulus plan passed by Congress last month would save or create at least 3.5 million jobs. But today House Democrats heard a sharply downsized prediction: 1 million fewer jobs.” Ooh, we need Stimulus 2!

Story #4:Pelosi Panties in Twist over Denial of Military Aircraft

RUSH: How about Nancy Pelosi getting her panties in a wad over the fact the military doesn’t have GVs ready for her every time she wants to take one? Talk about being tone deaf… Any of you Democrats have any problems whatsoever with the arrogance and the sense of entitlement? Nancy Pelosi gets mad when there isn’t a GV to take her family and friends wherever she wants to go? What, Snerds? I know she’s a speaker of the House, big whoop! How many books did she sell? She sold fewer books than David Frum, and you gotta work hard to sell that few books!

But anyways, do you know what happens when she calls up? She calls the Air Force over at Andrews Air Force Base and orders an airplane. It costs a lot of money to get an airplane off the line, out there serviced, fueled, and ready to go, and it takes people. Then she calls and cancels. That’s money that is being wasted. There’s the sense of entitlement that she gets to fly around on a government airplane whenever she wants, and if it doesn’t happen, why, the speaker is going to be very, very mad! The speaker is going to be very, very mad. So 53% of the American people think we’re headed into a depression like the thirties; Nancy Pelosi’s out there worrying she can’t get a GV to go home on or wherever she wants to go. Would somebody explain to me where is the hope?

Story #5: PB Post Obsessed with Rush Billboard, Stimulus $$$

RUSH: You know, the local paper here, the Palm Beach Post, they’ve got a story here. They’re preoccupied here with two things. They’re preoccupied with the Democrat National Committee’s billboard campaign. The Democrat National Committee has now finalized, they’ve got five potential winners of the slogan that they’re going to put on the billboard in West Palm Beach aimed at me, that they somehow want me to see. And these five slogans, I don’t have them in front of me, but they are weak. I could’ve come up with something better making fun of my own self than they have come up! It’s just hilarious. The second story that they’re obsessed with: “‘It May Be Months for Stimulus Cash to Spur Florida Road Jobs.’ — Thousands of jobless Floridians hope the $1.3 billion in stimulus money coming to Florida–” (gasp!) “–for road projects might help them get out of the unemployment line and back to work. And it will. But just how quickly, nobody knows. The most optimistic guess is mid- to late summer. But that could be unlikely, given the bureaucratic labyrinth–”

If I might be quite honest, it is sad. Do you know how many people are really hurting because of this economy, their arms are extended, their hands are open, and they’re wondering where the stuff Obama promised them, where’s the money, where’s the kitchen, where are the McNuggets? Where is it? Where are the jobs? And the Democrat National Committee is doing a contest on a billboard on me. If you people at DNC haven’t decided yet, can I throw in my own suggestion here? You’re going to have a billboard that’s got my name on it, right? Here’s the slogan. Now, granted it’s more than ten words, they had a ten-word limit. “Your government spent $3 trillion to help you. You got a $13 raise, everybody happy? Shut up.” And that’s just off the top of my head.

Story #6: Banks Have TARP Remorse, Want to Return Money

RUSH: Another story here in the New York Times. The list of demands keeps getting longer. Some banks are just angry as they can be, folks, over all the strings attached to their activities now, and they want to give back this bailout money. Conditions have become so onerous that they want to return the bailout money. They’re not allowed to run their business the way they’ve wanted to in the past. Now, granted, if you’re gonna put your hand out and you’re going to take somebody else’s money, I don’t care whose it is, that person’s going to have some say in how you run your business. But the banks are getting fed up with it. So there’s a potential for more cracks and fissures here.

Story #1: Fannie, Freddie Decry Bill to Tax Bonuses
RUSH: This is just too rich. The Washington Post today, the headline: “Fannie, Freddie Decry Bill to Tax Bonuses.” Subhead: “Proposal Could Put Housing Recovery Programs at Risk if Employees Leave.” This is just hilarious. It’s sadly hilarious. It is a mess. The Democrat Party has brought us to a mess. We depend on grownups to clean up the mess. There aren’t any grownups anymore. “Legislation to severely tax bonuses at companies receiving government aid may imperil the Obama administration’s housing recovery program by igniting an exodus of employees from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, employees at the companies said.” As a little aside, you employees at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac threatening to leave, just where in hell are you going to go? Where you going to go to get another job? Do you realize your entire sector has been demonized? Do you realize the entire financial sector, the business sector in this country is being scapegoated for this economy? AIG, you name it. Sure they’re culpable. But half of this problem is due to what Congress made these people do, starting with the illustrious boy president, Bill Clinton.

“By including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the measure, legislators fueled feelings of fear and betrayal at those two companies, where some employees polished their rsums and began to call headhunters who had tried to recruit them in recent months.” This silly, stupid, and probably unconstitutional legislation from yesterday could affect hundreds of people at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. By the way, what are we supposed to do here, play the violins? You people at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, yeah, it’s fine when somebody else’s ox is being gored. And, by the way, what are we going to do with these AIG people? You know what I think we need to do? We need to somehow always know who these people are. Put a giant red A, make them wear a giant red A on some article of clothing every day of their lives, so that these tours, organized by unions to go harass them at their houses, the tours will know where to go.

When you’re walking down the street in Manhattan and an AIG employee goes by you’ll know because they’re wearing a giant red A on their shirt. You ought to know who they are because we ought to be able to give these people hell. We ought to be able to harass these people. We ought to be able to tell these people they’re destroying this country, because that’s what the US Congress wants you to believe. So, yeah, let’s put a giant red A on every AIG employee and let’s put a giant red F on every Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac employee. Screw that, they’re not government workers. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, supposedly private sector enterprises owned by the government. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Oxymoron. “The legislation could affect hundreds of people at the companies, which are among the largest employers in the Washington area. At Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, where salaries often range from $100,000 and $150,000, retention payments for many people are in the low-to-mid five figures. Many employees lost small fortunes — in some cases life savings — when the government seized the firms and wiped out almost all their shares.”

Hey, which government did this? It’s the Democrat Party doing this. “Employees put aside work for a time yesterday to attend meetings focused on the potential impact of the legislation, according to several employees at both companies. Workers expressed frustration that they may be penalized for decisions made by derivatives traders at AIG and top executives at banks under some of the legislation being contemplated. … ‘You can’t keep people motivated if you’re going to constantly stress them out,'” said one employee at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. I’ll tell you what, I would love to have sympathy for you people. I would love to have sympathy, but where were you when this was happening to AIG? Only when you found out the legislation was going to affect you do you then throw up your hands and start acting like a bunch of little babies in the crib. I swear, this is just outrageous what is happening here. It’s hard for me to have any sympathy now for these people at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. I want to have it, I really do. I really want to have sympathy, but until everybody in this sector realizes what is being done to them and how they are being used.

These are not executives we’re talking about at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They’re worker bees. The executives got off scot-free at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac! The executives got $90 million and huge houses, the executives are gone. The people that raped those two places are in fat city and they are among the protected, beloved class inside the Beltway. All of this is being done to scapegoat the Democrat Party and the US Congress for the real damage to the US economy. “Others in the Obama administration and Congress were not supportive of Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s payments.” Yada yada yada yada yada. Barney Frank, President Obama, went into the recording studio, so happy were they at the outcome of events yesterday, this is what they produced.

Story #2: Gordon Brown’s DVDs Don’t Work in Europe

RUSH: Remember those 25 DVDs that Barack Obama gave Prime Minister Gordon Brown? Remember my question, “I hope he remembered to make ’em region two.” Gordon Brown sat down to watch one the other night. He wanted to watch Psycho, and damned if they weren’t region one. The 25 DVDs given to the British prime minister by President Obama will only play in North American DVD players. Officials at number Ten Downing Street called the White House for technical assistance on this, according to the UK Telegraph and Tim walker. A Downing Street spokesman said he was “confident” that any gift Obama gave brown would have been “well thought through,” but the reporter called the White House for assistance on the technical aspects of this. Tim Walker, the UK Telegraph, says that the White House spokesman “sniggered” at him when he put the story to him, said he was still looking into the matter when the deadline came last night. The PM actually sat down to watch these. The writer here wonders if the movie Clueless was included in the 25.

You know, it just gets worse and worse and worse. This is such an elegant man, so suave, a man of the world, remember that? Why, he’s traveled, he is a man of the world. The world will have newfound respect. He’s elegant. He’s suave and debonair, Barack Obama. And this was said by people on our side, Sarah Palin was vulgar, you remember people on our side said. Yep. He gave away region one DVDs. What, Snerdley? I will not take that bet. I would assume that Barack Obama does not know the difference in region one and region two. I will also bet you that Barack Obama didn’t even know that that was the gift until somebody said, “Here it is.” You know, the state department actually does this. The state department people are the ones that actually do presidential gifts, from what I understand. There’s some office of protocol that does this. The president doesn’t actually sit there unless he’s got something personal in mind and wants to do it. They give too many gifts away, somebody is assigned to do this. But nevertheless, somebody’s going to, “Hey, Mr. President, you’re going to give him 25 DVDs.” “Well, I hope they’re reg two, make sure.” He’s so elegant, so cultured. Who cares whose screw-up it is, I don’t care. It’s the Obama administration. It’s Obama’s screw-up. These guys pass the buck. That’s why Janet Reno is going to be back in this administration. Janet Reno is the best at accepting the buck being passed I have ever seen in my lifetime. So they get right of Geithner, they’ll bring Janet Reno back and they’ll put Jamie Gorelick in there to actually run the Treasury department with her $25 million that she got from Fannie Mae.

Story #3: Stimulus: Walmart Awards $2B to Hourly Employees
RUSH: Now, this next story is going to make unions livid. The headline really says it all: “Walmart Awards $2 Billion in Bonuses to US Hourly Employees.” It’s a Reuters story out of Chicago. “Walmart Stores Inc is awarding approximately $2 billion to its U.S. hourly employees through financial incentives, including handing out $933.6 million in bonuses on Thursday, after the world’s largest retailer gained market share amid a recession.” This is stimulus! This is what you call genuine stimulus. “In a memo to Walmart employees obtained by Reuters, Walmart CEO Mike Duke said the retailer is awarding roughly $2 billion to U.S. hourly employees, which includes $933.6 million in bonuses, $788.8 million in profit sharing and 401(k) contributions, millions of dollars in merchandise discounts, and contributions to its employee stock purchase plan.”

You want to hear this again? Because remember the unions are trying to shut Walmart down. Unions hate Walmart. When has any union member ever gotten a deal like this? The unions are going to be outraged. Union leaders, let me specify. Union thug leaders are going to be outraged over this. Walmart is “awarding $933.6 million in bonuses, $788.8 million in profit sharing and 401(k) contributions, millions of dollars in merchandise discounts, and contributions to its employee stock purchase plan.” Wow look at all the benefits they’ve got, and they’re not unionized, look at all the benefits here. Bonuses, profit-sharing, 401(k) contributions, merchandise discounts? Employee stock purchase plan? Well, man, oh, man. “While economic challenges forced others to step back, we moved forward,” said the CEO Mike Duke stated in the memo. “Duke said Walmart now needs to ‘accelerate and broaden all of our efforts.’ … A year ago, Walmart said it awarded almost $1.2 billion in financial incentives to its U.S. hourly employees, including more than $636.4 million in bonuses.” So if you add that up, $3.2 billion in bonuses the last two years from Walmart.

Story #4: AIG Says Wants Its Overpaid Taxes Back

RUSH: Hey, folks, get this headline. It is from the New York Times today: “‘A.I.G. Sues U.S. for Return of $306 Million in Tax Payments’ — some related to deals that were conducted through offshore tax havens.” AIG claims it overpaid its taxes, and they want the money back, ladies and gentlemen! Ha! Three hundred and six million in tax payments! That’s right! “A.I.G. says it overpaid its federal income taxes after a 2004 accounting scandal that caused it to restate its financial records. A.I.G. says in part that it is entitled to a refund of $33 million that SICO paid in 1997 as compensation to employees, which it now says should be characterized as a deductible expense.” Hubba, hubba!

Story #5: CNN Falls to Fourth Place in the Cable News Race

RUSH: Story at Conde Nast: CNN is collapsing. Well, their ratings are collapsing. They are the last. They’re number four in the cable news race in the prestigious 25-to-54 demographic in primetime. Headline News has drawn things like Nancy Grace, and CNN is doing liberal news in all night and in primetime, but they’re in fourth place. So you’ve got Fox, you’ve got PMSNBC, got Headline News, and then CNN. But you almost have to try… I mean, you have to try to be fourth!

Story #6: Reminder: Rush Out Monday, Mark Steyn Sits In

RUSH: A reminder, ladies and gentlemen, I am not here on Monday, but Mark Steyn will be here. Don’t worry. It’s another charity golf outing, an Ernie Els deal for autism, and we’ll be back Tuesday, and you love Steyn so everything is cool. See you then. Adios.

Story #1:Idiot Perez Hilton: Miss USA Must Be PC

RUSH: I chronicle all this stuff going on in the country and I’m in 100% disbelief. And then we have this stupid thing that happened with the Miss USA pageant, where, guess what? This judge, this blogger, Perez Hilton — and you ought to see some pictures of this guy as he wants to be seen — has been asked, “Why did you penalize Miss California, Carrie Prejean here for telling the truth?” (paraphrasing) “Look it, Miss USA is supposed to be inclusive. I gave her a question. She’s supposed to dance around it.” In other words, you better be politically correct in the entertainment world or the political world today or we are going to penalize you and chop your head off and do whatever we can to ruin you. Political correctness running amok.

Story #2:“The Best Way to Generate Capital is to Earn It”

RUSH: The US banking group, Wells Fargo (my bank, by the way), said today that it earned a record profit of $3.05 billion dollars in the first quarter following its acquisition of Wachovia. The Wells Fargo president and chief executive John Stumpf with the quote of the day: “The best way to generate capital is to earn it.” Now, in the Obama administration, this could be a hate crime, because the Obama administration, the best way to generate capital is to print it and to borrow it and then to give it away or to tax it. But Stumpf says to earn it.

Story #3:Obama Should Sue! Nicotine Gum Causes Cancer
RUSH: From the UK Times, you know what the latest thing to cause cancer is? Nicotine gum. Nicotine lozenges. Obama should sue! These people are trying to save lives, like our interrogators. We need an investigation. This is grounds for prosecution, what the nicotine gum manufacturers are doing.

Story #4:Haughty John Kerry Hints at Newspaper Bailout

RUSH: We told you earlier the New York Times, $34 million on hand in cash, $1.3 billion in debt, and yet the CEO got salary and bonuses of $5.8 million, and Little Pinch got $2.8. Sounds like Wall Street CEOs, company’s going to hell, executives getting high compensation and bonuses. The New York Times is in big trouble. Advertising revenue is down 27% and everywhere you look in the liberal media, newspapers are bad shape, they’re crumbling, CNN is practically not on the radar with ratings, MSNBC is just drifting away. The three networks’ share of people who watch evening news is down significantly over the last 30 years. News magazines, nobody’s reading them anymore, compared to the numbers that used to. It’s just amazing. And none of them, they don’t hear a word about the fact it might be their content and their arrogance that’s turning people off.

However, there is a savior, a savior lurking in the Senate who wants to save and rescue newspapers, and that would be John Kerry, the haughty John Kerry, who by the way once served in Vietnam. “Troubled by the possible shuttering of his hometown paper, Sen. John Kerry reached out to the Boston Globe on Tuesday, then called for Senate hearings to address the woes of the nation’s print media. ‘To the Boston Globe family,’ Kerry wrote, ‘America’s newspapers are struggling to survive, and while there will be serious consequences in terms of the lives and financial security of the employees involved, including hundreds at the Globe, there will also be serious consequences for our democracy where diversity of opinion and strong debate are paramount.'” He’s not talking bailout yet, but I mean what the hell else would this be? So the primary media organs of the Democrats experiencing trouble, and here comes help from the United States government, particularly John Kerry in the US Senate.

Story #5: Poll: King Obama, Earth Day Numbers Take Hit

RUSH: Well, this is interesting. The Rasmussen Reports is out with its daily presidential tracking poll and, you know, there’s a gap here that is referred to as the presidential approval index that Rasmussen tracks. What they do is they take the strongly approve numbers in their poll and measure them against the strongly disapprove numbers. Now, this gap between strongly approve and strongly disapprove has been as high as 16 points on the approval side, since the king was crowned. But it’s down to plus two now. “Thirty-two percent strongly disapprove of Obama; thirty-four percent strongly approve, which gives the president an approval index rating of plus two. On the generic congressional ballot, it’s all tied, 39% for Democrats, 39% for Republicans.” Additionally in this poll, “most voters continue to believe that the financial and auto bailouts were a bad idea, but the political class agrees. Sixty percent now believe the federal government has too much power and too much money, but the political class is practically just opposite of that.”

Also, it’s Earth Day, “and 72% think individuals can improve the environment by their actions. Just 31% believe most Americans are environmentally aware. Half of America’s workers say their employer does a good job when it comes to recycling. What a bunch of pap. There’s always a bunch of pap in every good news poll. And the Earth Day poll is pap.

Story #1:

RUSH:

Story #2:

RUSH:

Story #3:
RUSH:

Story #4:

RUSH:

Story #5:

RUSH:

Story #6:

RUSH:

Story #7:

RUSH:

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1: Would You Buy a Hybrid to Get a Parking Space?

RUSH: Hey, Dawn are you going to go out and buy a hybrid just so you can park close by the Doubletree Hotel that’s only ten miles from your house? Dawn told us yesterday she knows a hotel ten miles from where she lives that they have reserved spaces for handicapped people and people who drive hybrids. Ha! Would you buy a hybrid just to be able to park? People who buy hybrids, I would think, want to get exercise and run around, crunch on granola bars and that kind of thing. Why do you have to give people who drive a hybrid a close space? I mean, aren’t those the people that don’t want to use their cars anyway? You know, park as far away as possible and take the hoof express.

Story #2:Obama Blows Off Sobbing Children for Steelers Event

RUSH: Yesterday in Washington, after President Obama went out and made that Castro-like speech that never ended defending his position on closing Guantanamo Bay and turning terrorists loose or whatever he’s going to do with them, he went back to the White House and had a party, so to speak, a greeting ceremony for the world champion Pittsburgh Steelers. The Pittsburgh Steelers were invited to the White House after their last Super Bowl win by George W. Bush.Obama invited them to show up yesterday since they’re this year’s Super Bowl winners and things were a little different this time around. The Steelers players, the last time they were there, showed up in the very appropriate coat and tie, most of them did. This year they were told not to wear coat and ties, that there was a surprise waiting for them. So they all showed up in slacks and golf shirts and when they got there Obama put them to work stuffing boxes of goodies to be sent to troops overseas, which is fine and dandy.

The Steelers were there for about four hours. Obama was presented with an official Steelers jersey, home jersey with the number 44 on it. It’s just a tough picture to look at because I’m, as you know, a Steelers fan. It was bad enough a year ago during the campaign when they gave Obama a Steelers jersey with the number 1 on it, so he’s got two of them now given to him by the team. But I happened to note something. See, I am a student of the NFL. They did not give him locker room jerseys. They might be exact jerseys, I mean the same material, the same price, but you Steelers fans, I’m sure you know if you’ve gone out and bought the real thing, says NFL equipment on it, on field, and the label down in the lower left, you’ll notice when you look at the sleeves it’s not like the jerseys the Steelers wear on the field. The locker room jerseys in almost every case in the National Football League are different than what they sell retail. It’s the same material, it’s the same design, you would never notice it unless you were a pure student. And I’ve noticed that they are not locker room jerseys that Obama got.

I can’t explain to you why. I mean, I could, I could try, but it has to do with the sleeves and the stripes and how the sleeves are sewn on. They’re sewn on differently in the locker room jersey, the game day jersey, than the ones that you buy retail. Just trust me on this. I know it. It’s irrelevant to anything. I’m just showing off with how much I know. But there was an added story about the Steelers showing up yesterday that NBC — I can’t believe that NBC reported this: “Thursday was supposed to be the highlight of the year for more than 100 kindergarteners from Stafford County, Va. They got up early and took a chartered bus to the White House for a school field trip. But when they arrived, all the 5-year-olds got was a lesson in disappointment. The buses from Conway Elementary arrived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue a little later than planned, and they were locked out.”

Obama told the kindergarteners to go home. Five-year-old Cameron Stine said, “‘We were going to the White House, but we couldn’t get in so I felt sad.’ Parents say they were just 10 minutes late for their scheduled tour. School officials say White House staff said they needed to get ready for the president’s event with the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, so they couldn’t come in. So a long-planned field trip from a suburban Washington school broomed by the Obama White House. What about the children? Can you imagine the effect of this on these children for the rest of their lives, is nobody thinking about this? These kids, how long they had been looking forward to it, they were going to go to the White House. They were going to get a tour. They were maybe going to meet President Obama, an historic figure, and they show up and they’re only ten minutes late, and the mean guards at the gate won’t let ’em in because the Steelers are in there putting gift packages together to send to military troops overseas. I think they should’ve let the kids in and helped the Steelers. What a double whammy for Obama, let those kids in, they get the meet the Steelers, the parents get to meet Steelers, get to help ’em out putting care packages together for the troops. But no. The buses were sent away with the little children in tears. My friends, the long-term effects of this might incalculable.

Story #3:AP Panic: College Students Stressed and Depressed
RUSH: Before giving the details of this story, let me ask all of you who have graduated from college — now, I cannot say that. I have not. But I can include myself as a high school graduate in this. How many of you, when you graduated college, were optimistic? How many of you thought finally I’m getting out there, this is my chance. You probably attended your commencement where the commencement speaker told you that you were the future; that you had to go out there and continue the traditions. Yeah, you might have been scared and it might have been challenging finding a job and so forth, first time on your own, theoretically. But I mean I want you to really think about how much — I mean, I couldn’t wait ’til I got out of school. To me that was freedom. I couldn’t wait to get out on my own. There was an America out there; there was my place in it out there; there was my opportunity waiting out there. That opportunity had knocked and knocked and knocked and I was going to open the door.

My fortune, whatever it was to be, was out there, I couldn’t wait to get out there. The last thing I was when I got out of school was depressed. I wanted to throw a party because I got out, and most of the people I knew my age when they got outta college looked at it the same way. Some of them couldn’t face it so they went to grad school. Some didn’t know what they wanted to do so they went to grad school and became teacher assistants. But they still were excited about having done it. Now contrast, no doubt, the way you felt getting out of school with this story from the Associated Press today, which is why I worry about the longtime effects of those five-year-olds that got thrown away from the White House yesterday because the Steelers.

“Stress over grades. Financial worries. Trouble sleeping. Feeling hopeless. So much for those carefree college days. The vast majority of college students are feeling stressed these days, and significant numbers are at risk of depression, according to an Associated Press-mtvU poll. Eighty-five percent of the students reported feeling stress in their daily lives in recent months, with worries about grades, school work, money and relationships the big culprits.” Wow. Did you worry about grades when you were in college? Did you worry about grades? Did you worry about getting your schoolwork done? Yeah, I did, too. I hated it. Did you worry about the money you were going to make first time on your own, did you worry about that? And did you have problems with relationships? Hello, universal. This happens to virtually everybody. And yet in the AP, why, this is ground breaking, this is unique. Eighty-five percent of the students stress, worry about grades, schoolwork, money, and relationships.

“At the same time, 42 percent said they had felt down, depressed or hopeless several days during the past two weeks, and 13 percent showed signs of being at risk for at least mild depression, based on the students’ answers to a series of questions that medical practitioners use to diagnose depressive illness. These students complained of trouble sleeping, having little energy or feeling down or hopeless — and most hadn’t gotten professional help. Eleven percent had had thoughts that they’d be better off dead or about hurting themselves. Mental health disorders like depression typically begin relatively early in life, doctors say, and college is a natural time for symptoms to emerge.” I simply am asking you to go back and remember your own college graduation, and does any of this sound familiar? You wanted to kill yourself? You wanted to hurt yourself? You were despondent to the point of needing to go to a psychiatrist? Yeah, I mean, there were some people, but there always have been. But stress over grades. “College Students Stressed, Depressed, Poll Says.”

Forty-two percent are down, depressed or hopeless, in the time of hope and change, in the time of hope and change, in the time of hope and change, 42% have zero hope. The only change is they’re in worse shape than they were before they went into college. What explains this? What is it that explains this? What happened to the traditional attitude when getting out of college: there’s a world out there; there’s my place in it, and I can’t wait to get started. I can’t wait to get away from my own home. I want to make my own life. I can’t wait to get out there and have my own responsibility. I can’t wait to get away from people telling me what I can and can’t do. Where is all this coming from? Where is this fright and fear coming from? I, ladies and gentlemen, have at least part of the answer. I would say that the people in this poll, these college students in this poll, have more than likely been to their share of self-esteem classes; there have been self-esteem curricula; they have been told how wonderful they are; they have been told how special they are; they have been told that nothing is their fault; that something happens, it’s either George Bush’s fault or somebody else’s fault.

They’ve had conflict resolution classes. Whenever they have a disagreement or argument with somebody, they know how to deal with it, conflict resolution. They have been trained according to the experts to have nothing but joy and bliss as the attitudes they take into the real world after graduating from these institutions of higher learning, but they’re coming out of there mental cases. They’re coming out of there with linguini for spines. It is precisely because of all this self-esteem rotgut, the focus on how you feel, not on what you’re learning, not on what you’re accomplishing, not on what you’re learning about how to think. No, this about how you feel each and every day, and I’m going to tell you, most people who are encouraged to do nothing but be self absorbed in how they feel are going to conclude they feel rotten most of the time. So more liberalism designed with good intentions to produce healthy and vibrant, nonviolent, walking little robots is instead producing head cases graduating from college with a shocking 13 to 14% who have considered killing themselves or harming themselves, and the story asks, how can this be? And, of course, it’s the tumultuous last eight years, the war in Iraq, the war on terror, unsettled economic circumstances.

But then we have Obama, hope and change. This was supposed to change everybody who had attitudes of pessimism like this into optimistic unifiers. Why, we were going to have utopia out there. So how’s that hope and change working for these college graduates? Doesn’t seem to me hope and change is working. And so, what lifetime scars have been imprinted on the impressionable skulls full of mush of the five-year-old kindergarteners turned away from the White House yesterday on their field trip, even though it was scheduled, because they were ten minutes late, they were not allowed in ’cause the Steelers were there. Obama said to the five-year-olds, (raspberry) you and your parents, too. They go back and they’re in tears, they don’t understand it, it was a field trip planned weeks ago. The scars of this will be permanent. They’re five years old. My guess is they’re going to be told that the president’s George W. Bush.

Story #4:Harold Witkov: It’s Time to Legalize Counterfeiting

RUSH: Would you relax in there? I was in my favorite part in So Very Hard to Go by Tower of Power and I just had to listen to it. All right. No, I have not meant to tease you. It is: “Time to Legalize Counterfeiting,” by Harold Whikov, with this opinion piece at the AmericanThinker.com today. “Many Americans today believe certain illegal vices in our society should be decriminalized, taxed, and regulated. The most popular of these vices include marijuana smoking, prostitution, and all forms of gambling. The proponents for decriminalization believe that the new tax revenues produced would help support schools, healthcare, and the impoverished, ease the pain of taxpayers, and reduce the deficit. They also believe that transgressions such as these will take place no matter, but, if properly regulated, would be safer for society in general. It would be a win, win situation.

“Unfortunately, when it comes to lowering taxes and helping the downtrodden, the best-laid government plans seem to fall short of expectations. However, there is one vice, one small illegal indiscretion, that, if decriminalized would solve all our problems. The United States needs to legalize the victimless crime known as counterfeiting. Once legalized, counterfeiting would be for everyone. This could be accomplished by making Federal Reserve Note paper (complete with silk threads, watermarks, etc.) available to the public. With the correct paper, most computers with the right software would have no trouble replicating U.S. currency.

“If a household did not have a computer, special over-the-counter counterfeit kits could be made available, with instructions in both English and Spanish. Once in place, universal counterfeiting would prove to be the ultimate stimulus package for the economy. Employees would always have enough money and never have to go on strike. Citizens would have no trouble paying their mortgages and never face foreclosure. Everyone would gladly pay his or her taxes and there would be no need to have an IRS. Free market consumerism would return with a flourish. People would purchase whatever they wanted and stores would only have to worry about having enough merchandise on hand. Stores could charge the consumer whatever they wanted and the consumer could still afford.

“Every shopping day would be like the day after Thanksgiving and the day before Christmas. Once legalized, counterfeiting would still have to be regulated. Parity and fairness would dictate that families earning over $250,000 would only be allowed to print $1, $2, $5 and $10 denominations. Families with combined incomes of less than $250,000 could print $20 and $50 bills. The unemployed could print $100 bills, and ACORN workers and UAW members would be entitled to counterfeit a new denomination, something even larger than the $100 bill (with President Obama on the front). Universal counterfeiting could be the entitlement program that ends all other entitlement programs and sets us free. It is time to stand up and tell our legislators we want universal counterfeiting. If they protest, ‘You cannot just print money,’ then promptly respond in kind, ‘Why not? It works for you.'”

Story #1:US Gasoline Demand Hits 18-Month High

RUSH: From Bloomberg: “Motorists bought an average 9.695 million barrels of gasoline a day in the week ended June 26, MasterCard, the second-biggest credit-card company, said in its weekly SpendingPulse report. That’s 1.6 percent above a year earlier and the most since the week ended Dec. 21, 2007. The rise ‘is pretty consistent with what’s been going on over the past two to three months,’ said Michael McNamara, vice president at Mastercard Advisors, in a telephone interview. ‘It’s pretty typical going into the July season.'” The point is, the summer driving season is not being curtailed in the midst of recession, two and a half million jobs — do you realize all of the job gains the last nine years — in other words, the job gains during the Bush administration have now been wiped out, they have been lost, when you dig deep into the unemployment numbers we had yesterday that led me to proclaim the United States now a banana republic, it’s astounding. And yet Transformers 2, $400 million, gasoline peak driving season, people are not deterred.

As I read this story, I don’t detest political bias or agenda here; this is just facts as the reporters at this website see ’em. But what this tells me is that it’s time for Obama to get busy jacking up the price, because if people are willing to pay this price for gasoline in the middle of a recession, I guarantee you they’re not going to buy the Obamamobile that he is going to demand everybody buy and that his auto companies make. So don’t be surprised if the price of gasoline sees a spike up.

Story #2: Saddam Admitted Lying About WMD to the World

RUSH: From the state-run Associated Press: “After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Saddam Hussein stayed in Baghdad until he saw ‘the city was about to fall.’ Months later, he was caught hiding at the same farm where he had fled in 1959 after taking part in an attempt to kill the country’s prime minister. Unclassified FBI interviews conducted during his incarceration at a US detention center offered new details Thursday about the late Iraqi dictator’s life on the run — both before and after he was ousted. The documents also confirm previous reports that Saddam” lied about having weapons of mass destruction. The documents confirm that Saddam falsely allowed the world to believe Iraq had weapons of mass destruction because he feared revealing his weakness to Iran. He was more afraid of Iran than he was us or anybody else. Remember, now, Saddam was captured on December 13th, 2003, eight months after his regime was toppled by our invasion. An Iraqi tribunal convicted him of crimes against humanity and he was hanged at the end of 2006.

You know, people try to write me and tell me when I misspeak and I’m grammatically incorrect and I’m going to get it here. “Rush, he was hung, not hanged.” No, he was hung means something entirely different that’s almost inappropriate for a family oriented radio show. The proper way to say this is Saddam was hanged. Now the point is he was lying about his weapons of mass destruction. Well, he allowed the world to believe it, falsified all those reports. Now, this is not going to satisfy anybody on the left because they’re mean, their template is Bush lied, faulty intelligence, Bush knew and even if Saddam was lying, they said Bush knew that Saddam was lying. It’s just everybody knows this.

Story #3:Heritage: Get Your Free Declaration, Constitution
RUSH: You know, what we’re celebrating this weekend, independence, freedom, that’s what people around the world like Cuba, North Korea, and Iran, they wish they had that in their lives. We’re in the process of just almost freely giving it up while people crave it. We have celebrated and fought for our freedom for 233 years now. Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, seven of the most famous words authored by our Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence, a document that espouses the virtues gained by self-government, an organization dedicated to upholding these same principles as the Founding Fathers is the Heritage Foundation. That’s why this week Heritage is giving away free copies of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. You can order one online at AskHeritage.org. Ask for it and they’ll send you freebies of the Declaration and the Constitution. And better yet, use this week of celebrating our liberty and freedoms by becoming a member of the Heritage Foundation. They are the one organization standing up for the principles of our founding, 233 years ago this weekend. It all starts at AskHeritage.org. Once you go there you will not believe what you will find on that website. It’s just valuable. It’s incredible. All kinds of stuff on health care, on the Fourth of July. The left’s assault on the Declaration of Independence is a piece today, and it’s brilliant as well. AskHeritage.org.

Story #1:Obama Science Czar: Traditional Family Obsolete

RUSH: Does the name John Holdren mean anything to you? Do you know who John Holdren is? John Holdren is President Obama’s science czar. Do you know who he is? All right, I know you didn’t know. And I, frankly, know that most of the rest of you don’t know which is why I introduced it this way to grab your attention. It’s a very well known broadcast technique that most broadcast amateurs (which is most broadcasters) don’t understand. President Obama’s science czar, John Holdren, co-wrote a book with Paul Ehrlich back in 1977 called Ecoscience. In that book…

Remember Paul Ehrlich is the guy who said we had to limit the population. His first book was The Population Bomb. “President Obama’s Science Czar, John Holdren, took a controversial and amoral approach to the science of population by recommending mass compulsory sterilization and even forced abortion (and/or forced marriages) under certain circumstances,” in this book. This is a posted commentary at the Washington Examiner by David Freddoso who used to post at National Review Online, and may still. Here’s what they wrote, Holdren and Ehrlich. It was actually Ehrlich and his wife, Paul and Anne Ehrlich. “‘Radical changes in family structure and relationships are inevitable…'”

This is back in ’77. These people have not renounced this, and these people are still held as gods to the left. Ehrlich has been totally discredited. He’s still a god. “‘Radical changes in family structure and relationships are inevitable, whether population control is instituted or not. Inaction, attended by a steady deterioration in living conditions for the poor majority, will bring changes everywhere that no one could consider beneficial. Thus, it is beside the point to object to population-control measures simply on the grounds that they might change the social structure or family relationships,'” ’cause they’re gonna change anyway. So abortion is a population control measure, exactly as Ruth “Buzzi” Ginsburg admitted last week in the New York Times, but it is what the left looks at it as: a population control measure.

What population, exactly? And who gets to decide that? Who gets to decide which population we want less of? Well, the liberals do. So basically you could say here that Obama’s “science czar” suggests the traditional family is obsolete and large families need to be punished. You might say, “Well, why did Obama pick this guy?” Ladies and gentlemen, my ears itch. This is who Obama is. I don’t know how to convey to people any more than I have the sheer radical nature of this man, his administration, his friends, his nominees, his appointees, his czars — who have no oversight whatsoever, no congressional oversight whatsoever. These czars are free to do whatever they want to do. They work solely for Obama. He decides everything.

We don’t even know what they make! He can pay ’em whatever he wants to pay them. I’m on the verge here of saying all this is un-American. We Americans don’t look at population control. We don’t look at abortions as a means of control. We don’t look at things the way the left does.

Story #2:Emanuel Eyes Total Control of Medicare Purse Strings

RUSH: You look at this health care bill and it’s an absolute disaster. And now speaking of the health care bill, this is the Washington Post today, and they’re not really happy about this. “Obama Eyes the Purse Strings for Medicare.” Now, that may not be a big surprise to you, but here’s why it is.

“At the same time President Obama is asking members of Congress to take one of the most politically difficult votes of their careers,” i.e., for health care reform, “he is also pressing lawmakers to give up one of their most valued perks of office: boosting Medicare payments to benefit hometown providers. Setting reimbursement rates for local hospitals, doctors, home health-care centers and other providers is a legislative ritual that amounts to one of the most effective and lucrative forms of constituent service,” i.e., pork. Obama is telling members of Congress he wants it. He wants total control of this. He wants total control of everything the government does. And this is the guy who is out there saying, (paraphrasing) “I’m too busy. I don’t want any more power. I got Iraq on the table. I’ve got Afghanistan on the table. I don’t want any more.”

Rahm Emanuel says that the Medicare payment debate is the most important thing in the whole health care reform. And this is the first we’re hearing of it in the Washington Post story today! The most important thing is who is in charge of Medicare payments at the local level. Obama wants to take it away from Congress. Now, look, we can debate here the whole point of these reimbursements and how they’re rotten and bad. They’re political no matter who is in charge of them, but the reason for mentioning this is this is something Congress is not gonna want to give up, and Emanuel is this is the most important aspect of health care reform? Medicare payment debate is the most important thing in the proposed health care reforms?

Why is that? Power. It’s not about health care, folks, and in some cases not even about transfer of wealth. I saw Obama today. Was it today or yesterday? He said there’s no free lunch on health care. There will be a free lunch for a lot of people. They’re not going to pay a dime for it because it’s going to be redistributed. They’ll pay for it in other ways. There is no free lunch, but it’ll be interesting to see how Congress reacts to this, and I guarantee you, Emanuel is already engaging in thug behavior, threatening up there. So the traditional family’s obsolete. We gotta punish large families, and Obama wants to be in charge of Medicare rules and the reimbursement payment for all the local providers: doctors, hospitals. All of the local Medicare involvement, Obama wants total control of it — or somebody in the White House does.

Story #3:40,000 Follow a Fraud: El Rushbo Does Not Twitter
RUSH: Speaking of Twitter, I was told yesterday that there are a bunch of people pretending to be me and that there are now 40,000 people out there thinking they are tweeting back and forth with me. I don’t tweet, folks. I don’t have a Twitter account, don’t have it, so whoever is out there is a phony baloney, plastic banana, good-time rock ‘n’ roller, a fraud. I wanted to mention that.

Story #4:Social Security Bureaucrats Party at Posh Resort

RUSH: Have you heard the story about 700 executives from the Social Security Administration on a party junket to Phoenix? While Obama is telling everybody else in the world don’t travel, you can’t fly your plane to Vegas, those days are over, federal bureaucrats are filling the vacuum. “Members of Congress are giving the Social Security Administration just two days to turn over all records about a $700,000 management conference at the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa.” ABC did an investigation on this, and we’ve got some audio on it.

Claiming they need “to learn how to reduce stress because of a growing number of death threats made against them, nearly 700 executives from the Social Security Administration,” 700 executives! It cost $700,000. That’s a thousand dollars per attendee. “We received threats against our employees by people who are in the American public,” said Social Security Administration Regional Commissioner for San Francisco, Peter Spencer, in defense of the conference. He said, “There is a tremendous amount of stress involved in the job that we do.”

What stress? You don’t have any competition from anybody. All you’ve got is a bunch of complaining people, which is never going to change as long as the government runs anything. Look at Congress being outraged. It’s proper to be outraged by this. This, folks, is very simple. This is as understandable as the House bank scandal. When this kind of news gets out, ladies and gentlemen, with unemployment news what it is, unemployment continuing to rise, government executives going on retreats for a hundred grand a person for three days, to relieve stress over deaths threats. The American people can’t do that right now, the American people are paying for it, but this is nothing. This 700 grand, this is nothing to the pillage that the government as a whole is doing in the trillions on this economy every day. But these little Social Security guys are going to go take the heat for 700 grand. I’m not saying they shouldn’t. But don’t let it divert from the real issue. There’s no money in Social Security. It’s bankrupt. We’re all gonna get royally screwed.

“Social Security’s head of West Coast operations said the conference was essential, that teleconferencing was not an option.” Somebody needs to tell ’em it’s called GoToMeeting.com. Folks, the interesting thing here about all of this, this is more and more like the Politburo each and every day. The politburo had its hierarchy of leaders from the premier, president on down to these clowns at the Kremlin, they all had their dachas, their houses out there, their girls, their liquor and so forth, people in the country couldn’t find food in the stores. Now we’ve got these people in Washington who are treating the US Treasury as a personal piggy bank to go party. They’re better than everybody else, and they’re so stressed out ’cause they’re getting death threats. Seven-hundred thousand for three days for 700 people. Social Security executives. Okay.

Story #5: Nuking the Liberal Notion of Health Care as Right

RUSH: Investor’s Business Daily again: “A ‘right,’ as we all know, has one key characteristic.” This is what is so brilliant and unique about our founding documents. The Declaration of Independence says: “We are all endowed by our Creator…” Not our government, not our family. “We are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights.” You can’t take these away. Rights can’t be taken away. Life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Democrats oppose all three of those, by the way, right now. Democrats are miserable. They don’t want anybody pursuing happiness. They’re trying to destroy that. Liberty, that’s under assault — and life, of course, is too. So… “A ‘right,’ as we all know, has one key characteristic: It can’t be taken away. Ever. That’s exactly what the new Democrat-sponsored bill would ensure. As the Associated Press put it, the legislation would ‘for the first time make health care a right and a responsibility for all Americans.’

“That second word — ‘responsibility’ — is also key. The government will force you to take part in its plan, whether you want to or not. As it turns out, ‘responsibility’ is code for ‘tax hikes’ and ‘compulsory participation.'” Ed Morrissey at HotAir.com has a pretty good parody today on this whole notion of health care being a right. Well, why not…? Let’s do legal care. I’m going to summarize what Ed’s point. Let’s do legal care, and let’s have the government in charge of paying lawyers like they’re going to be in charge of paying doctors. And a lawyer can only get so much for that service, only get that much for what he does. No contingencies, no nothing.

Of course, it would never happen. It illustrates the whole flaw in the notion that health care is a right. Do you think the trial lawyers are going to allow that, the biggest contributing group other than unions to the Democrat Party? The lawyers will never do anything. All of this stuff is to boost lawyer income. The FDA announcement on Zicam is to open up more lawsuits against them. We’re never going to have the government limit what lawyers can make like they are limiting what doctors can make, but if the right to an attorney is a right — and the right to health care is a right — then why should anybody profit from it? Why not make the doctors and the lawyers provide the service at no cost because it’s a right? It’s an excellent point out there by Mr. Morrissey.

Story #6: VP Chia-Joe Biden Does It Again: Take a Look Around!

RUSH: Vice President Biden has done it again. He’s making a speech today. “To those who say that our economic decisions ‘have not produced jobs, have not produced prosperity, and simply have not worked’ I say, take a look around.” Ha! He’s actually inviting people to look at the devastation that has been wrought by his administration. “Come see what I see everywhere I go: workers rehired, factories reopened, cops on the street, teachers in the classroom” — it’s summertime — “progress toward getting our economy back on the move. I ask those critics…. Would they not help the states prevent lay off thousands of teachers, firefighters, cops? Would they not give a tax cut to 95 percent of the American people? Would they sit back and do nothing as our economy collapsed?” Oh, the State-Run Media’s more than eager to help facilitate this notion that the economy is roaring back and there’s prosperity out there.

By the way, for Biden, Cisco Systems, they make routers (among other things for computer systems) has reduced its head count, which means its fired people at its Silicon Valley headquarters, according to the Wall Street Journal. Cisco is cutting 600 to 700 jobs. Also, Harley-Davidson is cutting 1,000 more jobs as profits plummet, says the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Story #1:Hurricane Center Tracks Bunch of Thunderstorms

RUSH: I swear, this is the most political hurricane track I have ever seen from the National Hurricane Center. These people are so desperate for a storm, they’re calling a cluster of thunderstorms a tropical depression and they got a path, they got a cone and it includes Miami, it includes Tampa, it includes every major city in Florida. They’re just so desperate for some damage to happen because of global warming and it’s a cluster of thunderstorms, a cluster of thunderstorms. It’s not even a tropical depression, tropical wave.

Story #2:Cash for Clunkers Dealers Waiting for Payment

RUSH: A car dealer in Buffalo, New York, says “dealers may quit selling new cars under the Cash for Clunkers program unless they’re reimbursed more quickly.” (laughing) They can’t even do this one billion, now three billion program right. “Some dealers say they’ve submitted hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of rebates for repayment that are still outstanding. One dealer in the Northeast is said to have fronted more than $3 million and hasn’t yet got a dime. The federal agency overseeing the program is not saying how much has been paid since the program began July 27th, but a survey this week among some 100 dealerships in Virginia found that only 2.8% of the roughly 4,000 Cash for Clunkers deals submitted to the government have been paid.” First Obama’s out there running down the post office as a means of selling health care, and now the Cash for Clunkers program is $3 million behind in paying dealers. The Department of Transportation is dealing with this. They’ve increased computer capacity. They’ve hired more staff to help out. Three billion, it actually started as a $1 billion program with all the federal employees we have at the DOT and they’re not prepared for this and they’re understaffed?

The body of evidence day-to-day examples, ladies and gentlemen, of the inability of the government to run anything efficiently is just blaring and glaring us right in the face, and the idea that they can take control of health care and do it better than anybody else, who do they think they are? Is that hope and change working for you here?

Story #3:Hope & Change: Asian Car Companies Clean Up
RUSH: “The Cash for Clunkers program has been a boon for car makers, especially those in Japan and South Korea.” He-he-he-he. “Government data show that while 54% of the top ten selling cars were manufactured domestically, eight-out-of-ten carry Japanese or South Korean nameplates. The Toyota Corolla is the most popular car bought under the program. Only the Ford Focus and the Ford Escape cracked the top ten.” Not one Obamamobile in the top ten, nothing from General Motors and nothing from Chrysler, the two companies that Obama owns. So how’s that hope and change working for you?

Story #4:Obama’s Snitch E-Mail Op Moves to New Location

RUSH: Okay, flag@whitehouse.gov is officially dead. This was the snitch website. A third-party was sending out all those Axelrod e-mails. Now, that’s possible, right? It’s possible a third party could have been spamming them, it’s possible but it’s not likely with the security techniques that they have up there. So they’re passing this off on probably some spammer over in the Greek isles on his yacht. I’ll tell you who it is. The guy that did the Joker posters of Obama out here in Los Angeles probably is who is behind the spamming. But, anyway, flag@whitehouse.gov is no longer in service. You get a failure message when you try to snitch on somebody. The e-mail address you just sent a message to no longer in service, we are now accepting your feedback about health insurance reform at WhiteHouse.gov/realitycheck. So they haven’t really gotten rid of the snitch website. They’re just moving it to different place.

Story #5: Wake Up, America! ChiComs on Oil-Buying Binge

RUSH: From CNNMoney.com: “China is on an oil buying binge. Over the past few months, the Chinese government — or its big government-controlled oil firms — have closed or floated a slew of deals in countries all over the world. These deals have expanded the nation’s oil reach and may one day position the nation to match the skills of western oil firms. The deals include a $10 billion loan the Chinese government extended to Russia’s Rosneft in exchange for a guaranteed cut of that company’s production. … But it doesn’t end with loans. Last week the Wall Street Journal reported that China National Petroleum Corporation is interested in buying all or a part of Argentina’s YPF for $14.5 billion, although a deal is far from certain. … It’s clear what the Chinese are doing. ‘They are stilting on a huge pile of cash and they’re using this as a buying opportunity,’ said Greg Priddy.”

Now, folks, when are we gonna wake up here? We are borrowing money from the ChiComs, and why? We are going in debt in part to build a bunch of worthless windmills and electric cars that nobody wants. We’re going all green. We’re going to come up with this new green technology and we’re going to create all of these new jobs, never mind that there hasn’t been one created yet. We’ve gotta get rid of our use of oil. It’s destroying the planet; it’s causing global warming, and meanwhile the ChiComs who also tell us screw you on Kyoto, screw you on carbon output, they’re out buying up as much oil as they can while we borrow money from them to invest in a bunch of energy options that are worthless. Good grief, you know, it is scary how dangerous these people are, scary how dangerous the people running this country are.

Story #6: Scientific American: Will Electric Cars Wreck the Grid?

RUSH: Scientific American, a companion story: “Will Electric Cars Wreck the Grid?” We talked about this last week. This is just another piece on it. “Plug-in electric cars could destabilize the distribution of power.” Where do you think the electricity companies get the electricity or the power to generate it? They use heavy oil, they use coal. So you go out and you buy your electric mobile that you think gets 230 miles to the gallon — by the way, do you know how the Volt gets 230 miles a gallon? One of the ways it happens is they drop it via parachute from the space shuttle. I mean, all of this is asinine. We’re going to go out and get an electric car, plug it in, and carbon emissions are not going to change at all.

Story #7:What? Obama Shifts Focus to Renting, Not Owning

RUSH:Here’s the story I mentioned earlier from the Boston Globe: “‘President Shifts Focus to Renting, Not Owning.’ — Using $4.25b to build affordable housing.” Haven’t we been there and done that? Didn’t we do this with the subprime mortgage business under the guise of affordable housing? “The Obama administration, in a major shift on housing policy, is abandoning George W. Bush’s vision of creating an ‘ownership society’ and instead plans to pump $4.25 billion of economic stimulus money into creating tens of thousands of federally subsidized rental units in American cities.” This is stimulus money! I thought the stimulus was about getting people jobs. Four-point-twenty-five billion into creating tens of thousands of federally subsidized rental units. Don’t we have those, they’re called housing projects. “‘I’ve always said the American dream should be a home – not homeownership,’ said Representative Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and one of the earliest critics of the Bush administration’s push to put mortgages –” Barney Frank was one of the earliest critics of the Bush administration’s push to put mortgages in the hands of low- and moderate-income people? They’ve turned this into a Bush idea now that Barney Frank opposed? So now it’s upside down. This is the Twilight Zone.

Story #1:Immortality Only 20 Years Away, Scientist Says

RUSH: I have a story here from the UK Telegraph that’s a liberal dream. I’m not making this up. I genuinely feel like I’m in la-la land. “‘Immortality Only 20 Years Away Says Scientist’ — Scientist Ray Kurzweil claims humans could become immortal –” for those of you in Rio Linda, that means never die “– in as little as 20 years’ time through nanotechnology and an increased understanding of how the body works.” Ray Kurzweil is an American scientist (no doubt voted for Obama) “who has predicted new technologies arriving before, says our understanding of genes and computer technology is accelerating at an incredible rate. He says theoretically, at the rate our understanding is increasing, nanotechnologies capable of replacing many of our vital organs could be available in 20 years time.

“Mr. Kurzweil adds that although his claims may seem far-fetched, artificial pancreases and neural implants are already available. Mr. Kurzweil calls his theory the Law of Accelerating Returns. Writing in The Sun, Mr. Kurzweil said: “I and many other scientists now believe that in around 20 years we will have the means to reprogram our bodies’ stone-age software so we can halt, then reverse, aging. Then nanotechnology will let us live for ever.” Well, hell’s bells, folks, we don’t need to spend all this money on health care then! We don’t need to do cap and trade — we’re going to be able to adapt. Nobody is going to ever die! It’s going to play traffic havoc, but we’ll have Obama designers deal with that. Can you imagine, nobody dies? Somebody’s going to have to die and who’s going to decide that, Mr. Kurzweil? Oh, that’s right, Obama. It’s in his health care plan.

Story #2:UK Extends Carbon Rationing Scheme Trial

RUSH: This is from the UK Times. Story almost slipped by me. “People who emit more than their fair share of carbon emissions are having their pay docked in a trial that could lead to rationing being reintroduced via the workplace after an absence of half a century. Britain’s first employee carbon rationing scheme is about to be extended, after the trial demonstrated the effectiveness of fining people for exceeding their personal emissions target. Unlike the energy-saving schemes adopted by thousands of companies, the rationing scheme monitors employees’ personal emissions, including home energy bills, petrol purchases and holiday flights. Workers who take a long-haul flight are likely to be fined for exceeding their annual ration unless they take drastic action in other areas, such as switching off the central heating or cutting out almost all car journeys. Employees are required to submit quarterly reports detailing their consumption. They are also set a target, which reduces each year, for the amount of carbon they can emit. Those who exceed their ration pay a fine for every kilogram they emit over the limit.”

I’m not making this up. This is not from The Onion; this is not Scott Ott; this is not ScrappleFace; this is the UK Times’ Ben Webster, environmental editor September 14th. I say, it nearly slipped by me. It’s preposterous. This is just some kooky company, some kooky country, right? Could never happen here, oh, no could never happen here. But I again remind you, 25 years ago, Richard Lamm, the then governor of Colorado, said old people have a duty to die and get out of the way and he was savaged for it. He was pelted, he was lampooned, mocked, criticized, said he was cruel, and now 25 years later, we have a Newsweek cover, “The Case for Killing Granny.” And we have a president who’s going to put death panels in his health care plan to decide who does and who doesn’t get treatment, 25 years. This is exactly the kind of stuff Obama would love to do as president of the world. The whole world is going to have to do stuff like this.

Story #3:Astronaut Urine Spotted in Skies Above N. America
RUSH: From the UK Telegraph: “Several people contacted astronomy and weather websites to report seeing a streak of light on Wednesday night last week. NASA has now confirmed that the heavenly display was the result of entirely corporeal activities — the space shuttle Discovery had just dumped nearly two weeks worth of urine.” Astronaut urine was spotted in the skies above North America. They dumped it out there, and, of course, urine has a color, and when the light shines… it’s the UK Telegraph, I’m not making it up! I’m telling you, it’s Looney Tunes time. Who could make this stuff up?

“It is not unusual for shuttles to eject urine, but this batch was particularly large and visible because the crew had been unable to unload waste for the duration of their 10-day stay on the International Space Station. ‘It would have been a large quantity because we don’t do water dumps while docked to the station now,’ a NASA spokeswoman told the website Space.com. ‘That is a fairly new restriction over the last couple of flights in order to prevent potential contamination.'” So they don’t dump the urine when docked to the space station, and they were docked there for eight or nine days, and so they had eight or nine days’ worth of urine built up. I mean, you know, they gotta dump it somewhere, and so they dump it out there and then, amazingly, people saw it. You gotta wonder… Well, no, you don’t.

Story #4:Hillsdale College’s Imprimis: A Digest of Liberty

RUSH: By the way, we have new sponsor that started today. Hillsdale College, a little college in Michigan — Hillsdale, Michigan, founded as colleges were intended to be in the founding days of the country. Dr. Larry Arnn runs the place. Used to be at the Claremont Institute, he’s now at Hillsdale College. It’s small, it’s exclusive. There are only 1350 students. It’s a four-year school, and it is rigorous. Even when you’re right at Hillsdale, you are wrong. Your classes at Hillsdale are a constant, never-ending debate. You are challenged on everything you say. They demand that you be able to explain why you believe what you believe. It’s some of the greatest educational training going on in the country. Since 1985 — and Dr. Arnn is very proud of this — since 1985 there have only been five students graduate with a 4.0 GPA, and he’s upset that there are that many! Well, he’s proud and he’s upset at the same time. And I said, “What courses screw up the brilliant students?” Because I’m thinking it’s gotta be some advanced calculus course or mathematics course. There isn’t “Women’s Studies”. And there is not “Conflict Resolution 101”. None of that goes on at Dr. Arnn’s college. No. He said, “You know what screws them up? The way we teach the Constitution, the way we teach the founding of the country, the way we teach American history. We teach truth. We teach real. And it’s hard to comprehend it and write essays and fulfill the demands. But when people graduate from our college, they are critical thinkers — as well as great citizens.”

And they’ve got a publication they put out every month called Imprimis. It’s free. And you can — I don’t have the website right in front of me, the address, but we’ll put it at RushLimbaugh.com. You just sign up and they’ll send it free. Imprimis is just a series of lectures by famous people that have spoken at Hillsdale. I, of course, am one of those people. Margaret Thatcher, Ronaldus Magnus has spoken there. But to listen to Dr. Arnn of Hillsdale College talk about education and his love for it and what the purpose of a college is, it’s a crying shame that his is one of only 50 colleges in the country like it, that mainstream higher education has become the sewer that it is — the indoctrination centers that they have become. It’s rush4hillsdale.com, that’s the website, rush4hillsdale.com, you go to that website and sign up, and they’ll send you Imprimis, genuinely free. But that’s why Dr. Arnn’s very proud: even when you are right at Hillsdale College, you are wrong.

Story #1:BS Alert: Exit Polls Claim Obama Not Factor in NJ, VA

RUSH: So the exit polls. CNN: “Obama Not a Big Factor in Virginia.” Fifty-five percent said Obama was not a factor in how they voted. But you go over to ABC’s website. “’09 Exit Polls: Vast Economic Discontent Spells Trouble for Democrats in 2010 — Vast economic discontent marked the mood of Tuesday’s off-year voters, portending potential trouble for incumbents generally and Democrats in particular in 2010. But in Virginia where polls closed at seven p.m. Creigh Deeds’ main problem looks to have been Creigh Deeds.” His main problem is he’s a Democrat! His main problem is he’s a Democrat, and so is President Obama! “Half of Virginia voters, 51%, said they approved of the way Obama is handling his job, and that rose to 57% in New Jersey.”

This is in the exit polls, which, again, I don’t trust and I don’t believe, especially person to person. You’re walking out of the polling place and here comes some pollster and says, “Mmmm, did your vote have anything to do with Obama? What do you think of Obama?” “Oh, love Obama! I’m outta here!” They’re just not going to say it — and AP. “Election ’09 Tests Not Boding Well for Obama — Republican declared winner in Virginia gubernatorial race.” So somebody at AP forgot the whole template, this is not about Obama, and they ran a story saying that it is.

Have you ever noticed, by the way, these exit polls always say exactly what the Democrat Party wants said? Whatever the Democrat Party wants the message to be is what the exit polls are. “It wasn’t about Obama. Oh, no! No, we weren’t even thinking about Obama when we went in. Oh, no.” Whatever the Democrat Party wants the message to be, seems like that’s always what the exit polls tell us.

Story #2:GOP Win Taints Anniversary of Dear Leader’s Election

RUSH: French News Agency. I thought you’d be interested in this: “Republican Victories Taint Obama Anniversary — Republicans won two key state elections, dealing a stinging blow to President Obama and his Democrats 12 months after they swept to power.” You know, I could imagine what they’re thinking in the White House. “Yeah, it’s really despicable! It’s just despicable of the Republicans to taint our Dear Leader’s anniversary this way. We’ve coming up the anniversary of his election and they have to taint it with this off-year stuff?”

It’s not just the French, by the way, saying Obama’s anniversary has been tainted.The UK Telegraph: “Republican wins in the battles for the New Jersey and Virginia governorships have tainted the first anniversary of Obama’s presidential election victory. With almost all votes counted in the two key elections the game of a vacant congressional seat in a strongly Republican district of New York state was scant compensation for the US president.” Geez.

Story #3:State-Run AP Cries As Maine Rejects Gay Marriage
RUSH: From a dejected Associated Press, the headline: “‘Dejection Fills a Main Ballroom After Marriage Vote.’ — Cecelia Burnett and Ann Swanson had already set their wedding date. When they joined about 1,000 other gay marriage supporters for an election night party in a Holiday Inn ballroom, they hoped to celebrate the vote that would make it possible. Instead, they went home at midnight, dejected and near tears after a failed bid to make Maine the first state to approve same-sex marriage at the ballot box.” There six or seven states where same-sex marriage is legal but it’s never been passed by a vote of the peoples. It has been inflicted on them by governors, legislatures, Supreme Courts in the various states. But if you read the whole story you’ve got chickification of the news, you have distortion of the issue and a conservative trend all here in one story. I’m not going to read it all to you but it’s just predictable.

Story #4:Pelosi Claims Victory After Single House Seat Pickup

RUSH: “‘From our perspective we won last night,’ Pelosi told reporters during a Wednesday morning photo opportunity. ‘We had one race that we were engaged in, it was in northern New York, it was a race where a Republican has held the seat since the Civil War and we won that seat, so from our standpoint, no, a candidate was victorious who supports health care reform, and his remarks last night said this was a victory for health care reform and other initiatives for the American people. So from our standpoint we picked up votes last night,'” But yet Nancy, you might have lost all the Blue Dogs. You know, I guarantee you a lot of Democrats are hearing footsteps today because of what happened in Virginia. Particularly Virginia, but New Jersey as well. These Blue Dogs… I heard Karl Rove. People are picking up on this now. Karl Rove last night said, “Pelosi wouldn’t mind the Blue Dogs losing.” Folks, this is a salient, salient point. Pelosi doesn’t like the Blue Dogs being in the caucus ’cause they’re not radical enough for her. They’re not really dependable. She has to work too hard keeping them in line. She would love to get their votes on health care and send them home and be trounced so she doesn’t have to deal with them. Think of it as “thinning the herd.” That’s exactly what she would love to do. So from her standpoint, it was a biiiiig win last night.

Story #5: Creative: California Calls Income Tax Hike a “Loan”

RUSH: Get this. Wall Street Journal: “Desperation grabs for revenue are nothing new in politics, but California is once again leading the way in creative financing. To help close yet another gaping budget deficit, now estimated to be $7 billion this year and reach as high as $20 billion next, Sacramento lawmakers have authorized a 10% increase in the amount of taxes withheld from worker paychecks starting November 1 and through 2010. The extra withholding tax will reduce Californians’ take-home pay by about $1.7 billion for the year. But the lawmakers say this isn’t a tax increase. OK, how about calling it a compulsory interest-free loan from taxpayers to the state?” A 10% increase in withholding! Ha, ha! It’s an income tax increase, and they’re calling it a loan. Sacramento is demanding “loans” from taxpayers. They’re going to destroy the state. They’re going to take $1.7 billion out of an economy that’s already in trouble.

Story #6: Maureen Dowd Writes Snarky Column on El Rushbo

RUSH: Yeah, Maureen Dowd has a column about me today in the New York Times. I don’t know: either Michael Douglas broke up with her again, or they raised taxes on bourbon. That’s the only thing I can think of to explain to me why she’s so snarky to me today.

Story #7:Heritage Gets It: The State of Conservatism is Strong

RUSH: The Heritage Foundation weighs in today on this election: “The State of Conservatism is Strong — Last night, elections were held in several states across the nation, and by most independent observations, the results served as a warning to liberals. Whether it was Republican victories in Virginia, New Jersey or even in typical liberal bastions like Westchester County, New York, the post-analysis was framed on what does this mean on Capitol Hill, and more importantly, what does this mean for the conservative movement. However, last night did not represent a new day for conservatives. On Monday, the same could have been said: the state of conservatism is strong. The state of conservatism can be measured through its popularity, its policies and its people. Most observers would say Election Day 2008 was not a good day for conservatives.

“However, putting election results aside, President Obama campaigned as a centrist. Obama promised to address jobs, the economy, our national security and even hold teachers accountable for our children’s education. Obama promised that most of America would receive a tax cut. He promised to win a ‘necessary’ war in Afghanistan. These are conservative principles,” that Obama promised. “While many Americans knew he would skew left on health care, the environment and diplomacy, they also took him at his word on his conservative window dressing. Matching reality to rhetoric, President Obama has made Jimmy Carter look conservative, promoting job killing policy after job killing policy. He has taken over nine months and counting to make a basic strategic decision on troop levels in Afghanistan, endangering our troops and our mission. This reality versus rhetoric is reminding the nation that conservatism is not merely a talking point but a first principle.” Now, let’s go back to these recent polls that we’ve talked about.

The Pew Center first. “The Pew Research Center released a poll in May 2009 that was conducted in March and April when President Obama was still hugely popular. The poll showed that the overwhelming trend is toward conservatism, and not merely among Republicans. The number of Independents calling themselves conservative was increasing to 33%, up from 26% in 2005,” and independents went big Republican yesterday. “The number of Democrats calling themselves conservative was up to 8%. In this poll 37% described themselves as politically conservative; almost double the number identifying as liberal (19%).” Then the Gallup Poll in June: “Conservatives…a two to one advantage over liberals (40%-20%).”

Now, this is a great point. This is a great point to make here. The poll was not about a person or a party. It was about ideology. “Conservatism wasn’t [in this poll] grounded in any one party or candidate. It was election neutral. In fact it was the only tri-partisan issue or philosophy overwhelming numbers of Americans seemed to agree on.” Conservatism. “The state of conservative popularity is strong.” It can be seen all over the place. Folks, this is why I really love the people at the Heritage Foundation. This is just a post on their blog today called The Morning Bell. And it is exactly what is needed. We had a guy call here named Bob. He said, “Why aren’t these electoral margins any bigger? How come they’re so close other than this Virginia?”

You know, we’re turning this ship around, and it’s just beginning here, and this was a major, major statement. And what Hoffman almost pulled off in New York 23 is big, when everything is looked at. And so here comes the Heritage Foundation, they write this piece on their blog intended to inspire people. Don’t get depressed. Don’t get down in the dumps. It’s hard because, you know, people still do — even though their numbers are down, people still do — watch the media. And the media does not report what over half the country thinks or over what half the country does. So that half of the country never sees or reads or hears itself mentioned or accurately portrayed in what is called the mainstream media. “Conservatives have been offering alternatives throughout.

“Conservatives support a health care plan that eliminates imaginary barriers from true competition by allowing insurance to compete across state lines, by allowing consumers to take their insurance from job to job, by giving them the same tax breaks the federal government gives big corporations. … Conservatives,” writes the Heritage Foundation, “have a destiny. Conservatives can strengthen our economic and national security. Conservatives can offer real solutions to the nation’s challenges, without robbing Peter to pay Paul. Conservatives can continue to learn about the issues that affect their families, their communities, their businesses, and with this knowledge, they can affect real change. The Heritage Foundation has never been stronger, with over a half million members and growing.” It continues to grow. You can join the Heritage Foundation and help them keep up the work that they’re doing. Just go to AskHeritage.org and check it out. It’s well worth your time. Well worth your investment.

Story #1: Chickification of the News: All Men Watch Porn

RUSH: In a story that ought to be somewhat comforting to Tiger Woods, a scientific survey from the UK Telegraph: “All Men Watch Porn — Scientists at the University of Montreal launched a search for men who had never looked at pornography – but couldn’t find any.” This is an actual news story out there. So Tiger, if I had his phone number I could text the link. I could e-mail it if I had that but I don’t. It’s sort of like my one year of college at Southeast Missouri State University, the main building there is Academic Hall, and it has a dome, and it has a single lightbulb atop the dome. And the rumor was that if the light ever went out that means there were no virgins left on campus. And the light never goes out. (laughing) They got jokes like this all over the place. University of Missouri, the same thing, they got the columns there. So all men watch porn; the chickification of news. They couldn’t find some man who had never seen pornography. It has nothing to do with the job summit. I just thought I would throw that in there, ladies and gentlemen, just one of the lighthearted news mentions to kick off the program.
Story #2: CBO: Impossible to Calculate Obama Porkulus Jobs

RUSH: American Spectator blog, this is the CBO, Congressional Budget Office: “It is impossible to determine how many of the reported jobs would have existed without the stimulus package.” Here is yesterday’s CBO report: “Recipients report that about 640,000 jobs were created or retained with ARRA funding through September 2009. Such reports, however, do not provide a comprehensive estimate of the law’s impact on employment in the United States. That impact may be higher or lower than the reported number for several reasons (in addition to any issues about the quality of the data in the reports). First” and this is the key thing, “it is impossible to determine how many of the reported jobs would have existed in the absence of the stimulus package.”

So it’s garbage in, garbage out. It’s the Universe of Lies, whether it’s climate science, whether it’s jobs, whether it’s employment growth numbers or economic growth numbers, it’s all not trustworthy, it’s all political, it’s all spun to benefit those in power. Maybe Obama today can lead a discussion on the merits of deceit when it comes to jobs created or saved. It’s interesting the job numbers, even the monthly unemployment numbers are just as phony as temperature readings when liberals are in charge. It’s the Universe of Lies.
Story #3:Jobless Claims Drop (In Short Thanksgiving Week)
RUSH: Here are the latest job numbers — and again, the way this is presented is actual fraud: “New Jobless Claims Drop Unexpectedly — Data point to a moderation in the pace of job losses.” When you read the story you find out just how irresponsible this is. I’ll read the story to you. The first four paragraphs make this headline ridiculous, but the headline is what you’re going to hear on radio newscasts at the top of the hour all day long: “New Jobless Claims Drop Unexpectedly — Data point to a moderation in the pace of job losses.” The data in the story will be ignored but I want you to know what it is.

“The tally of newly laid-off workers seeking unemployment benefits fell unexpectedly for the fifth straight week, a hopeful sign that the job market is slowly improving,” and isn’t it interesting this is just in time for the jobs summit at the White House today. But here’s where it gets the truth: “Still, claims remain above the levels that most analysts say would be consistent with an economy that is adding jobs.” So the headline that you’re going to hear all day has just been undercut with reality in the story. The headline is going to be the spin, at every news outlet that is what you’re going to see. “Jobless claims drop unexpectedly. Data point to a moderation. But, claims remain above the levels that most analysts say would be consistent with an economy that’s adding jobs.” How in the world can you say an economy is adding jobs when there are still 455,000 unemployment claims last week? How can you even put that in the same sentence? “The unemployment rate is at 10.2 percent and expected to keep climbing into next year,” yet the data point to a moderation in the pace of job losses. First-time claims for unemployment insurance dropped by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 457,000, the lowest total since the week of Sept. 6, 2008, the Labor Department said Thursday. Wall Street economists expected an increase, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.

“A Labor Department analyst…” now, this is where it gets just fascinating to me in terms of the way the media works. “A Labor Department analyst said the closing of state unemployment offices for last week’s Thanksgiving holiday was responsible for some of the decline.” Oh, unemployment offices are closed for two days so we have a smaller number of job claims filed, and the experts forgot that it was Thanksgiving last week and basically a three-day week at the unemployment places. They forgot there was a holiday last week, might have effected the numbers, they were closed for two days. So all of this is bunk. Once again if you read only the headline, you think good news. That is, until you read the article. But the top-of-the-hour news breaks, as I say, “New jobless claims drop unexpectedly.” This is why the liberals don’t teach math anymore. That way nobody will figure out all of this bad news. Closed for two days!

You gotta wonder if the unemployment offices had been open five days, the experts might have been right and the jobless claims might have been up, but the fact that they’re down over a three-day week points to nothing good. And again, “That total doesn’t include millions of unemployed Americans that are receiving benefits under extended programs paid for by the federal government. About 4.5 million people were receiving extended benefits in the week ended Nov. 14, the latest data available. That’s an increase of about 300,000 from the previous week.” No matter how you do the math on this there aren’t new jobs being created, and there really isn’t any slowdown in jobs being lost. Zilch, zero, nada.
Story #4: US to Lose $1 Trillion in Wages, Minorities Hardest Hit

RUSH: From the Charleston Daily Mail: “The ‘progressive’ Center for Economic and Policy Research issued a study that showed Americans will lose $1 trillion in wages through 2012. Of course the press release said: ‘African Americans and Latinos will be especially hard hit, with the recession causing them wage losses of $142 billion and $138 billion, respectively.'” Of course, this is a liberal progressive blog or research center putting this out. “That trillion-dollar figure works out to more than $7,000 per worker in America. … ‘Unemployment will cost workers more in terms of lost wages and salaries in 2010 and 2011 than they have this year.’ If the $787 billion stimulus were say a $500 billion tax cut over two years to business, real jobs would have been created in real congressional districts. The economy would have grown. And the public might have been more receptive to universal health care.”
Story #5: Rasmussen: 62% Opposes Single-Payer Health Care

RUSH: There are two conflicting polls on the whole concept of universal health care today. First is Rasmussen: “Sixty-two percent oppose single payer health care system.” That’s the public option, 62% percent. Let’s look at it another way. Only 27% of voters nationwide favor a public option, and that is down five points from August. Now, 62% in the polls kept Bill Clinton from being impeached. Well, kept him from being convicted at impeachment. It kept him in office. You would think it would get this damn bill canned. But no, because now we go to Thomson Reuters. [See Next Quick Hit]
Story #6: Stupid People Want Government to Take Care of Them

RUSH: “Most Americans support the public option in health care reform legislation, but are skeptical health care will improve in 2010.” It’s a press release from Thomson Reuters. “A majority of Americans support a public option in health care reform legislation –” no, wait, Rasmussen just said 62% don’t, only 27% do, and here’s Reuters out with a majority of Americans say they want it? I have a way of explaining this disparity, ladies and gentlemen, and I can prove it. It is that the Reuters Thomson poll purposely found stupid, uninformed people and asked them. Here are their results: “Eighteen percent of survey respondents said they expect to spend less on health care a year from now. Twenty-one percent believe the quality of care will improve in the next 12 months. Eighteen percent believe the value of care delivered will be better in a year. Twenty-three percent believe it will be easier for people to receive the care they need a year from now, and 60% of Americans believe a public option should be included in final health care legislation. Margin of error here, 1.8%.”

Now, how to explain this. Rasmussen, only 27% favor a public option. Reuters, 60% do. How can anybody who’s been sitting up and taking notice for any of the last 50 years believe that anything would be cheaper, better, and easier once the government takes it over? What kind of nimrods do we have out there that think that? Reuters found ’em. I wonder how hard it was for Reuters to go out and find the absolute stupidest among us and poll them as average Americans. And why should we care what such amazingly uninformed people think? And then we base a news story on it, or Reuters does. All this poll shows, the Reuters poll, all it shows is that most stupid people want the government to take care of them. And they probably realize that as bad as the government does that, the government does a better job of taking care of them than stupid people do taking care of themselves. That’s the only way to explain this.
Story #7: Secret Service Agents Could Be Fired in WH Breach

RUSH:Speaking of jobs and speaking of Obama jobs created and/or saved, headline in the Washington Post today: “Secret Service Agents Could be Fired for White House Breach.” Now, this couple, they have refused to testify before Congress, and the White House is asserting executive privilege or separation of powers to keep the fired social secretary from testifying. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. [snip] “The head of the Secret Service asserted Thursday that the security breach at last week’s White House state dinner was an aberration and President Barack Obama was never at risk. Mark Sullivan said three uniformed officers have been put on administrative leave.

“The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, said the country is fortunate the affair didn’t end in a ‘night of horror.'” I’ll tell you, this is such a shameless bunch. From what we’re told, this is the first time that the White House did not have a person from the social office at the checkpoint making sure that people on the list were the ones that showed up. The social office is responsible for the event. They had people at the gates to verify the attendees. Now, I don’t know how everything happened here, but folks, I cannot believe, some things just stretch beyond incredulity, and I cannot believe that three Secret Service people would let unnamed, unidentified, uncleared people into the White House for a state dinner without a wink and a nod from somebody.

The couple said they wanted to cooperate. Now they’re not showing up to testify. The White House is not letting the fired social office person show up and testify. So they’re having hearings with no witnesses. But this stinks to holy hell. I’m waiting for the next Gary Aldrich. There’s going to be a Gary Aldrich, remember the FBI agent that wrote the book about what was going on in the Clinton White House? He was savaged. Somebody is going to do that with what’s going on here. The military’s being disrespected, the Secret Service is being disrespected, and these are the people that put their lives on the line for this guy.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1:Drive-Bys Hope: Oil Spill Could Strengthen Hurricanes
RUSH: As we head into the Memorial Day weekend: “Hurricanes could be stronger than usual because black oil would heat water faster and accelerate formation.” So the hurricane geniuses are now revising their forecasts because of all the oil in the Gulf of Mexico. The theory is the oil is dark, it’s black. It gets hot faster than the water does, and if a hurricane comes along, I mean it’s over. Why don’t we all just commit suicide and be done with this? Let’s just be done with it. Every waking moment is a disaster waiting to happen. The Drive-By Media cannot wait for it. Story #2:Biden: Porkulus Was About Ideas, Not Creating Jobs
RUSH: Now, moving on to other things. This is a story from Cybercast News Service. Changing gears here. “Heading up a Middle Class Task Force roundtable discussion on Wednesday” and do you know who heads that, the Middle Class Task Force? That’s Joe Biden. Obama appointed Biden to head the Middle Class Task Force. So they had a roundtable discussion on Wednesday, and “Biden said that one of the benefits of the $787 billion [porkulus] package signed into law in February is that it has generated new ideas for dealing with economic problems, including unemployment. Biden said he and Melody Barnes, White House Domestic Policy Council director, have talked at length about ways to ‘generate new ideas about how to deal with future employment needs,’ Biden said. ‘We have new ideas about how to spend government money wisely.’

“He said that there was ‘virtually no fraud’ associated with the spending so far of the billions allocated for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The government, according to recovery.gov, has distributed just over one half of the $787 billion.” The whole thing is fraud! “Virtually no fraud”? “‘I might add, I’m very proud to say, that’s there’s been virtually no — knock on wood — virtually no fraud associated with the $787 billion program overall,’ Biden said as he banged his fist on the table and against his head” which is wooden. So that’s why he’s knocking on wood. So we were only buying ideas. The stimulus was to give us “new ideas about how to spend government money wisely. It wasn’t to create jobs. Who knew? Who the hell knew? Story #3: Obamacare Repeal on Oklahoma Ballot in November
RUSH:LifeSiteNews.com. “Voters in Oklahoma will be given a chance in November to decide whether they want to reject the core of the recently-enacted national health care reform, which includes taxpayer-funded abortion and requires individuals to buy health insurance or pay a penalty, thanks to a legislative action that bypassed the objections of pro-abortion Democrat Gov. Brad Henry.” So in November, voters will be allowed the chance to nullify the federal health care law, and I predict massive and record turnout in Oklahoma in November. Story #4:Atomic Web Browser App for iPad Blows Away Safari
RUSH: Snerdley, have you had a chance to play with your iPad yet? You just finishing synching it? Oh, good! Good! So you took time out from show prep today to play with the iPad. Way to go. [snip] Snerdley is in there playing with the iPad. I know you are. Let me give you something. There’s a web browser you can get at the App Store. It’s called “Atomic Web,” a-t-o-m-i-c. Atomic Web, and sad to say, it puts Safari to shame. It has tabs, you can increase or decrease font size. It’s amazing. Just go to the App Store, Atomic Web. There’s all kinds of great apps out there for this iPad thing. You’re gonna love it.

*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Story #1:York and Henninger on the Berwick Appointment

RUSH: Byron York had the story in the DC Examiner on Donald Berwick, the new health care czar. He’s the czar of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, CMS. Here’s from Byron’s story. “‘During fiscal year 2003, the Institute created a postretirement health benefit plan for its Chief Executive Officer (CEO). It provides the CEO and his spouse medical insurance from retirement until death. The present value of the estimated cost of this benefit is approximately $120,000, which is being accrued over the CEO’s estimated remaining service period. The amount expensed by the Institute for the years ended 2009 and 2008 related to this liability was approximately $12,000 and $17,000, respectively.'” The bottom line is that Berwick and his wife will be covered for the rest of their lives, a benefit that was on top of the $2.3 million in compensation the nonprofit gave him. He was working for a nonprofit in 2008, and he earned $636,000 a year in 2007.

Now, this is all from his deal with the nonprofit Institute for Healthcare Improvement, a nonprofit health care charitable organization he created and which he served as CEO. So he gave himself and his wife lifetime health insurance from the time he retires until the time he dies — and he’s a huge rationing supporter. Oh, not just rationing. He’s a huge rationing supporter which ultimately means death panels.

Now, here’s Daniel Henninger today in the Wall Street Journal. As you listen to this and you couple this with all the other news — today, yesterday, this week, last week, last month — it will become obvious to that Obama and his thugs really don’t care if they lose the House and the Senate. It doesn’t matter. The polling that shows a majority of the country hates all of this stuff, it doesn’t matter to them. They are taking full control out the legislature, without a mandate. They are just waving their magic wand and doing all of this.

“Barack Obama’s incredible ‘recess appointment’ of Dr. Donald Berwick to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is probably the most significant domestic-policy personnel decision in a generation. It is more important to the direction of the country than Elena Kagan’s nomination to the Supreme Court. The court’s decisions are subject to the tempering influence of nine competing minds. Dr. Berwick would direct an agency that has a budget bigger than the Pentagon. Decisions by the CMS shape American medicine. Dr. Berwick’s ideas on the design and purpose of the U.S. system of medicine aren’t merely about ‘change.’ They would be revolutionary.

“One may agree with these views or not, but for the president to tell the American people they have to simply accept this through anything so flaccid as a recess appointment is beyond outrageous. It isn’t acceptable,” nor is accepting the rules for free service that were announced yesterday. “The Democratic chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus, was taken aback at the end-around: ‘Senate confirmation of presidential appointees is an essential process prescribed by the Constitution that serves as a check on executive power.’ Let’s look, then, at what President Obama won’t let the American electorate hear Dr. Berwick say in front of a committee of Congress. These excerpts are from past speeches and articles by Dr. Berwick: ‘I cannot believe that the individual health care consumer can enforce through choice the proper configurations of a system as massive and complex as health care. That is for leaders to do.'” You don’t have the brains to be in charge and make choices involving your own health. “That is for leaders to do.”

Here’s another one: “‘You cap your health care budget, and you make the political and economic choices you need to make to keep affordability within reach.'” Not you, but they will cap the budget. “‘Please don’t put your faith in market forces. It’s a popular idea: that Adam Smith’s invisible hand would do a better job of designing care than leaders with plans can.’ ‘Indeed, the Holy Grail of universal coverage in the United States may remain out of reach unless, through rational collective action overriding some individual self-interest, we can reduce per capita costs.’

“‘It may therefore be necessary to set a legislative target for the growth of spending at 1.5 percentage points below currently projected increases and to grant the federal government the authority to reduce updates in Medicare fees if the target is exceeded.’ ‘About 8% of GDP is plenty for “best known” care.’ ‘A progressive policy regime will control and rationalize financing — control supply.’ ‘The unaided human mind, and the acts of the individual, cannot assure excellence. Health care is a system, and its performance is a systemic property.’ ‘Health care is a common good — single payer, speaking and buying for the common good.’ ‘And it’s important also to make health a human right because the main health determinants are not health care but sanitation, nutrition, housing, social justice, employment, and the like.’

“‘Hence, those working in health care delivery may be faced with situations in which it seems that the best course is to manipulate the flawed system for the benefit of a specific patient or segment of the population, rather than to work to improve the delivery of care for all. Such manipulation produces more flaws, and the downward spiral continues.’ ‘For-profit, entrepreneurial providers of medical imaging, renal dialysis, and outpatient surgery, for example, may find their business opportunities constrained,'” meaning if he gets his way. “‘One over-demanded service is prevention: annual physicals, screening tests, and other measures that supposedly help catch diseases early.'” There are many more. These quotes go on and on and on, that illustrate the socialist, collectivist nature — the bureaucratic command-and-control belief — of this guy.

One of them is: “‘Young doctors and nurses should emerge from training understanding the values of standardization and the risks of too great an emphasis on individual autonomy.’ … “There is no need to rehearse the analogies in literature and social thought that Dr. Berwick’s ideas summon. That the Obama White House would try to push this past public scrutiny with a recess appointment says more about Barack Obama than it does Dr. Berwick. Vilifying Dr. Berwick alone for his views is in a way beside the point. Within Mr. Obama’s circle they all think like this. Defeat Dr. Berwick, and they will send up 50 more who would pursue the same goals. If the American people want the world Dr. Berwick wishes to give them, that’s their choice. But they must be given that choice with full, televised confirmation hearings.

“Barack Obama, Donald Berwick and the rest may fancy themselves philosopher kings who know what we need without the need to inform or persuade us first. That’s not how it works here. That is Sen. Baucus’s point,” although Baucus is not going to do anything other than caterwaul about it. It’s not going to stop anything. Henninger says, “It should be clear why Berwick is bigger than Kagan. We need a large public debate over these views, over what Mr. Obama has said his health plan would and would not do. We need to find out if every Democrat in Congress and every Democrat writing newspaper columns and blogs agrees with Dr. Berwick about clinical and individual autonomy and about leaders with plans. Then we need to build an election around whether we want to go down the road Dr. Berwick has planned for us, or start dismantling the one that President Obama paved through Congress on a partisan vote.”

Henninger! I’ve never seen him so worked up. This is more important than Elena Kagan. I have never seen this worked up about anything.

Story #2:White House Spin on the Obama Battery Plant Visit

RUSH: Folks, you’re gonna hear about the president visiting western Michigan today at the opening of a new manufacturing facility making batteries for electric cars, but I have the story here in the Stack of Stuff. The White House is gonna spin this event as an example of how the stimulus plan is working out just fine for America. Some hundred-some-odd million dollars is going to a battery plant I think owned by… the Koreans? Somebody needs to tell Obama that a battery has to get its juice from someplace. You think oil is hard to pull out of the earth? You do a quick research project on how lithium is mined. Lithium is what’s in these batteries — and to recharge them, you have to plug ’em in. You’re going to need a power plant to recharge all these wonderful batteries. He spent $500,000 a year per employee. He’s going to create 300 jobs for 300 people. The amount of money they’re going to spend on this equals $500,000 a year per employee to create these jobs. Unreal.

Story #3:Bloomberg Poll: 73% Oppose Drilling Moratorium
RUSH: Bloomberg News: Seventy-three percent of the American people oppose a drilling ban in deep water. Ladies and gentlemen, when was the last time 73% of Americans ever agreed on anything? Seventy-three percent of Americans don’t support Obama’s oil drilling moratorium.

Story #1:State-Run Media Can’t Disguise Bad Economic News

RUSH: Now, this is truly amazing. “New requests for unemployment benefits fell sharply last week, the first decline in a month and a hopeful sign after a raft of negative economic reports.” That’s AP. But there’s another AP story that says, regardless of numbers, it feels like a recession. So it’s getting harder and harder and harder for the partisan political operatives disguised as journalists to even carry the water here, so we go down to 473,000 instead of 500,000, and, yeah, yeah, okay, fine, but still we’re in trouble. It’s gotta be depressing to be at AP today.

So here’s their other story: “Regardless of Numbers, it Feels Like a Recession.” The Associated Press finally has to admit what we have known all along. There is no recovery and there never was. They tried to make it exciting: Only 473,000 jobless claims this week, as opposed to 500,000 last week. They tried to make it sound positive, but they’re not even buying their own line of BS at the AP anymore. “Businesses are ordering fewer goods. Home sales are the slowest in decades. Jobs are scarce, and unemployment claims are rising. Perhaps most worrisome, manufacturing activity, which had been one of the economy’s few bright spots, is faltering.” How many people believe that? That manufacturing had been one of the few bright spots? Most people believe that we’ve lost manufacturing; that it’s all gone elsewhere because of NAFTA.

“‘The odds of a double-dip are rising and uncomfortably high,’ said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, referring to the possibility that the nation will tip back into recession. ‘Nothing else can go wrong. There is no cushion left.’ On Wednesday, the government offered the latest dose of grim news about the economic recovery: Companies cut back last month on their investments in equipment and machines. And Americans bought new homes at the weakest pace in nearly half a century. Earlier this week came news that sales of previously occupied homes fell last month to the lowest level in 15 years.” Why buy one when you can just move in? Squatters and so forth, why buy one?

“The economy has grown for a full year now, and many experts believe the recession technically ended in July 2009. But the pace of expansion has slowed significantly in the past six months.” There hasn’t been any expansion. You see, this is another example. They can write this. They can have their slaves report it. The average American knows there is no recovery and there is no expansion. And the American people are not surprised when any of this economic news is released. The only people surprised are the experts. “Economists are predicting the government will announce Friday that the economy grew from April to June even more slowly than previously thought, at an annual rate below 2 percent…” whatever they report is going to be revised down after everybody’s forgotten the original number. “Of course, for most Americans, the numbers are strictly academic.” Well! AP is finally getting to the nub of it.

“For Tim Reardon, a sales executive at a small Massachusetts company that installs kitchen counters and floors, August is shaping up to be the worst month of business in 11 years. His company cut a third of its staff and is placing factory orders a job at a time. ‘You definitely watch the pennies a little closer — everything from advertising to tools,’ he said. ‘This is feeling like another recession.’ For the average household, whether the economy is growing slightly or not at all may not matter much.” This truth from AP. “Two gauges that matter more are the unemployment rate, which is stuck at 9.5 percent, and home values, which are down about 30 percent from their 2006 peak. William Dunkelberg, an economics professor at Temple University’s School of Business and Management and chief economist of the National Federation of Independent Business…” these people have more words in their titles than dollars that they make. “William Dunkelberg, an economics professor at Temple University’s School of Business and Management and chief economist of the National Federation of Independent Business, ‘Who cares if it’s a second recession or a double-dip? Either way, things are not going well.'” He’s right, Dunkelberg’s right, don’t misunderstand. “Housing has never fully recovered from the recession. Builders have been forced to compete with foreclosed properties offered at sharply lower prices.”

So it’s a truth that they at least today can’t ignore; maybe there’s some bad moods and next week they’ll hop back on the positive gravy train. But you can see how economists can be confused. Recovery and recession both start with the letter R. Well, you have to give ’em credit. Housing prices peaked — did you hear that? Housing prices peaked four years ago. Now, what else happened four years ago? Four years ago is about when the Democrats began to talk down the economy so they could win in November of 2006. Four years ago is when the Democrat Party started launching into this assault on an economy where 4.7% was the unemployment number, where economic growth was still happening, and they were hell-bent on creating in people’s minds a depression if they could, not just a recession. And, lo and behold, housing prices peaked at that time.

Story #2:Trapped Chilean Miners Get Advice from NASA

RUSH: Look at this on Fox: “Trapped Miners in Chile to Get Advice from NASA.” I didn’t know that the trapped miners were Muslims! I am continually surprised each and every day on this program.

Story #3:72 Slain Migrant Workers Found on Mexican Border
RUSH: “The discovery of 72 slain Central and South American migrants on a ranch just south of the U.S. border provides a horrific reminder of the brutality of human trafficking in a country dominated by drug cartels.” That would be Mexico. “Migrants running the gauntlet up Mexico to reach the United States have long faced extortion, violence and theft. But reports have grown of mass kidnappings of migrants, who are forced to give the telephone numbers of relatives in the United States or back home who are then required to transfer ransom payments to the abductors. … In an April report, Amnesty International called the plight of tens of thousands of mainly Central American migrants crossing Mexico for the U.S. a major human rights crisis. The report called their journey ‘one of the most dangerous in the world’ and said every year an untold number of migrants disappear without a trace.”

Well, maybe, just maybe the leftists at Amnesty International will call on the US to do more to close its border, and maybe now Amnesty International will express its support for Arizona’s new legislation as well. I’m just kidding. We all know that the leftist group Amnesty International will do nothing to try to address the root of the problem. See, if we close the border the migrant traffic would stop, their kidnappings and killing would stop, if we would close the border. Where’s the outrage? Do the lives of illegal aliens only matter when they finally get into the United States? Is that the only time the Democrats are going to care about them? Illegal immigrants or migrants can be mass murdered before they get here and, ho-hum, no big deal. But when they get here it’s a whole different matter. I don’t know. It’s just another societal breakdown happening left and right, and the outrage misplaced over all of these kinds of incidents.

Story #4:Fox’s Major Garrett Doesn’t Need to be on Television

RUSH: Major Garrett has announced he’s leaving the Fox News Channel. He’s going back to print. He’s gonna work for the National Journal. The National Journal publishes The Hotline, a couple of other things. And everybody in Washington is stunned. He just got the primo chair in the White House briefing room because Fox News just got it. That’s the Helen Thomas chair. He’s leaving. He used to be at AP, Major Garrett did, then he quit that and went to Fox. I think before Fox he was at CNN. Somewhere there, maybe MSNBC, whatever, he ends up at Fox. Now he wants to go to the print publication, and they’re stunned. “I don’t want to be a reporter who goes on cable to talk about anything that I haven’t reported on specifically … If I reported something, written something, and Fox or CNN or MSNBC or BBC deems it important and wants to talk about it, I’m happy to talk about it, but that’s it. I have no interest in being on television simply to be on television.”

Do you know how rare that is? That is abnormally rare. (interruption) Fox did not get Helen’s chair? They just got moved to the front row? Okay, I thought they got Helen’s chair. It’s probably safer for Fox that they didn’t get Helen’s chair. This is rare for somebody to say you don’t want to be on TV just to be on TV. Everybody wants to be on TV just to be on TV. Major Garrett wants to go back to print.

Story #5: US Tax Money Go to Refurbishing Mosques Worldwide

RUSH: It happens to be true that we’re pouring money into mosques worldwide. For example, it was reported in the Washington Times in April that our ambassador to Tanzania participated in a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the refurbishment of a 12th century mosque in Tanzania. The United States taxpayer provided funds to help the project all along, and it was not just that one — they provided financial assistance to save another mosque in Cairo. This mosque was named after a Muslim conqueror who defeated Christians in Egypt. So, yes, this is where our money is going.