RUSH: Marilyn in Clearwater, Florida, you’re next on the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Hey, Rush. Marilyn here in Clearwater with a comment on how this incredibly brilliant woman had another evasion last night to Tim Russert when he said: With all your experience, Mrs. Clinton, how can the American people find that out, since your husband has signed a paper to the National Archives in his presidential library that all communications between you and him cannot be released for way into the future?
RUSH: In 2009, after she’s inaugurated.
CALLER: Right. So she said, oh, you know, Tim, there are so many papers there, and it just takes so long to go through them all, but it’s all being done very carefully. He held up the paper in his hand, and he said, Mrs. Clinton, how can we find out your experience when here is your husband’s signature, and they may not be released? She just continued to say, no, well, they’re being released slowly but surely.
RUSH: Well, we have these sound bites.
CALLER: Good.
RUSH: Would you like to hear them again with us?
CALLER: Oh, I’d love to.
RUSH: Well, let’s listen to it. It’s audio sound bite number thirteen, and Brian Williams said, ‘Rudy Giuliani said this about you, quote, ‘I don’t know Hillary’s experience. She never ran a city, never ran a state, never ran a business. She never met a payroll. She’s never been responsible for the safety and security of millions of people, much less even hundreds of people. So I’m trying to figure out where the experience is here.’ Senator, how do you respond to the former mayor of New York?’
HILLARY: My experience of 35 years as an advocate for children and families, as a citizen activist, as someone who helped to bring educational reform and health care reform to Arkansas, bringing the children’s health insurance program to fruition during the years in the White House, my time in the Senate. I think my experience on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. In a perverse way, I think that, you know, the Republicans and their constant obsession with me demonstrates clearly that they obviously think that, uh, I’m communicating effectively about what I will do as president, and I am trying to do that, because it matters greatly. We’ve got to turn the page on George Bush and Dick Cheney. In fact we have to throw the whole book away.
RUSH: That’s just meaningless platitudes. Turn the page on George Bush and Dick Cheney? My experience of 35 years, advocate for children and families, health care reform in Arkansas, education reform, blah, blah, blah. You know, I’ll tell you something, Marilyn, there’s a piece today in a Washington Post blog, and perhaps her most extraordinary achievement so far has been to largely silence the negative questions about her husband and to accentuate him as a positive asset, redefining him from a disgraced impeached philanderer who pardoned his brother, his cronies and Marc Rich on the way out the door, to the statesman-like eminence of the Democrat Party, who presided over times of peace and prosperity and is now ready to pass the torch to his wife. That is what the Washington Post blog said may be her best achievement: rehabbing her husband.
CALLER: Exactly.
RUSH: And I think there’s a second one. She’s got 35 years experience of bimbo eruptions, and this is also part of rehabbing her husband. She’s the one that monitored the phone calls. She’s the one that managed the bimbo eruptions and made sure the bimbos didn’t erupt, and the ones that did, got trashed.
CALLER: Right. And, Rush, you know, the liberals are constantly emptying everything of significance. They empty words of their significance. They’re trying to empty our institutions of the significance. You noticed in that, why, it’s ‘perverse’ the way the Republicans are attacking me. No, she’s the perverse one. But they always turn everything around and accuse the other people of doing exactly what they’re doing.
RUSH: Yeah. That’s called projection. And, by the way, the Republicans, their constant obsession with her demonstrates one thing: They hope she’s the nominee. They want Mrs. Clinton to be the nominee. They assume she’s going to be, and they’re already running against her. Now, here’s the question that you made, or referenced, from Tim Russert. This is a good one. ‘In terms of your experience as first lady, in order to give the American people an opportunity to make a judgment about your experience, would you allow the National Archives to release the documents about your communications with the president, the advice you gave? Because, as you well know, President Clinton has asked the National Archives not to do anything until 2012.’
HILLARY: Well, actually, Tim, the archives is moving (fake laugh) as rapidly as the archives moves. There’s about 20 million pieces of paper there. And they are moving, and they are releasing as they do their process. And I am fully in favor of that.
RUSSERT: But there was a letter written by President Clinton specifically asking that any communication between you and the president not be made available to the public until 2012. Would you lift that ban?
HILLARY: (huffing sigh) Well, that’s not my decision to make, and I don’t believe that any president or first lady ever has, but certainly we’ll move as quickly as our circumstances and the processes of the National Archives permits.
RUSH: These documents are at his Library and Massage Parlor! These are communications between Mrs. Clinton and her husband while they were in the White House. The reason that Russert’s asking… By the way, the Clinton team is livid today at Russert. They are just livid at him. They thought that his performance was horrible and a personal attack. Trust me on this, folks. But these are communications of Hillary in the White House, with her husband, the president. Russert’s point — and it’s a good one — is she’s out there touting her experience. Well, fine! Let’s see it! Let’s see what you did in the White House! Well, Tim, National Archives are moving as fast as they can, they’ve got 20 million documents. Well, your husband said specifically the communications between you and him are verboten until 2012. By the way, presidents have that right. They can do that, and she’s right. A lot of presidents have done it, but Russert’s question is still a good one. Wait a minute, though. You’re touting your experience. Would you ask him to lift the ban so that you could reveal some of these documents? ‘Well, that’s not my decision to make, Tim.’ Right. So she has no power here. Oh, no. She’s a victim! She’s a victim of her husband’s decision. She’s a victim. She can’t do this. The National Archives operates very slowly. This is like a woman who, obviously, has something to hide and doesn’t want us to see those communications. In the past I think on some occasions I think she’s actually said, ‘I’ll talk to Bill about that.’ In this instance, ‘No. (grumbling) I can’t. It was the president’s decision to make, it’s not mine to make, I can’t…’ shooting daggers at Russert the whole time. Next it was time for Obama, Senator Obama, your hand is up.
OBAMA: Not releasing I think these records, at the same time, Hillary, as you’re making the claim that this is the basis for your experience, I think is a problem. Part of what we have to do is invite the American people back to participate in their government again. Part of what we need to do is rebuild trust in our government again, and that means being open and transparent and accountable to the American people.
RUSH: This is what I mean. She opened the door wide. She threw a hanging curveball to any of these other candidates up there to knock out of the park, and all he can do is talk about this meaningless platitude of transparency in government. Like he’s going to have all of us over to the White House during the course of his presidency and show us everything in there that he’s doing. We’re not this dumb, you people! These Democrats continue… I get so worn out with my intelligence being insulted by these people, thinking we’re just a bunch of absolute idiots. ‘We must have more transparency in government…participate in their government again…rebuild trust in our government.’ This was a hangs curveball and this was a chance to really go after her. ‘Mrs. Clinton, what are you hiding?’ It’s a very simple question: ‘Mrs. Clinton, what are you hiding? What do you not want the people to see — or, what does your husband not want the American people to see?’ That’s how you do this, if you’re serious about it. But these people aren’t serious. They raise their hands for an opportunity to be called on by the teacher! Obama raised his hand. ‘Oh, Mr. Obama, your hand is up.’ Well, you do miss Al Sharpton these moments. At least he’d run in there. But he’d make a comment about himself and get a laugh. He wouldn’t go after her, either. These people aren’t even serious about it. I don’t think it’s worth even watching another one of these Democrat debates because none of these people want it. None of them want it. That’s a hanging curveball there, folks. (sigh)
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: All right, we’re back. Drudge has it posted here on his website: ‘Clinton inner circle blame unfair moderator Tim Russert. ‘He bordered on the unprofessional,’ top Hillary advisor charges. ‘He broke debate rules and was belligerent.” He’s belligerent, that’s what they said. He was belligerent. Withering, scathing, brutal, ganging up on her. Belligerent? I don’t think Russert’s got belligerence in him. Al-Qaeda’s belligerent. I mean, that’s belligerent. Al Sharpton is belligerent. The Reverend Jackson is belligerent. Besides, any of these documents, folks, I have to tell you, why does Hillary worry about them being released? Sandy Burglar could go get ’em first before anybody else saw ’em, and nobody’d ever see ’em, and then she could say they were released, she had no idea what happened to them.