RUSH: I mentioned earlier at the top of the program the utter embarrassment mainstream media has become. (sigh) They have plunged to such depths of incompetence and unprofessionalism and ignorance, it’s actually hard for me to come up with accurate words to describe what has happened to them, but it’s typified by this montage from Anderson Cooper last night on his show 360 on CNN.
COOPER: Is this another sign that the Republican Party has, in fact, declared all-out war on President Obama?
COOPER: Republicans have decided to declare war on the president!
COOPER: …this idea of a Republican war against the president.
COOPER: Is it a sign that Republicans are declaring war on the president?
COOPER: Have they, in fact, declared war on President Obama?
COOPER: …a war, an insurgency by Republicans against the president.
COOPER: …a war by Republicans against the president.
RUSH: He was just last night, he was fit to be tied that no Republicans are supporting Obama on this stimulus bill, and, of course, I will guarantee you that Anderson Cooper doesn’t have the slightest idea what’s in it. I’ll guarantee you Anderson Cooper could not sign a paper swearing he’s read it. I’ll bet you that he could not tell us what’s in it. I’ll bet you he has no idea what’s in the bill. Yet Republicans are on the warpath. Pete Wehner wrote about this today at the Contentions blog, part of the Commentary magazine. Anderson Cooper goes on and on and on about this ‘war,’ but there was not a single mention of how Obama and the Democrats froze the Republicans out from so-called negotiations on the stimulus bill and how Pelosi has delighted in making that point.
There was no mention from Anderson Cooper, of why John McCain (who seems to want nothing more in life than to work across the aisle) considers the legislation to be an abomination. Nor was there any mention of Obama’s gratuitous jabs at Republicans in his appearance before Democrats last week — and there was hardly a critical word about the unprecedented effort to move the Census into the White House and place it under the control of a partisan Rahm Emanuel, who ran the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee in the 2006 election. So, Anderson, what’s really happening under your perfectly coiffed little head and nose, is that the war going on in America today is the Obama war against the Republicans! There is a war, but it’s Obama, and he’s trying to wipe out the Republicans, and he’s got the support of a couple or three that are going to make it somewhat easy for him to do it.
Bill in Richmond, Virginia, you’re next, sir. It’s great to have you with us.
CALLER: Rush.
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: About your comments on wanting Obama’s policies to fail.
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: They continue to make a huge deal about it on the mainstream media. Almost every night I hear something about it.
RUSH: Yeah?
CALLER: One thing that I haven’t heard mentioned. Couldn’t you argue that in November almost 60 million Americans voted for Obama to fail?
RUSH: Yeah. Exactly right. He did not win that big a majority. The idea that this country is totally in the tank for Obama is a big myth. Also, do you know this? He’s the most popular president ever! My God, the American people love him, they’ve got so much invested in Obama, right? So his first press conference after his inauguration, 49 million viewers. Bill Clinton’s first press conference after his inauguration attracted 64 million viewers. So many myths have been set up about Obama. But, look, the left needs a demon. The left needs an enemy, and nobody on our side (in an elected position) is willing to be that. So it fell to me, and I decided to take the responsibility simply ’cause nobody else was.
I was just being honest when Hannity asked me about this. I want everything he’s doing to fail! His stimulus is not about creating jobs. It’s about… Oh, we’ve been through this. I’m getting blue in the face talking about this. Anybody with a brain knows what’s in this. Anybody with a brain knows that this approach has never worked. There’s no evidence it’s ever worked. It will be the first time. This is not about creating jobs. This is the exact opposite. This is all about rebuilding the Democrat Party into an unbeatable entity. It’s about remaking the United States of America without the Constitution as the guiding light. Of course I want this to fail. Of course I want Obama to fail. And after this stimulus bill package passes, I want it to fail.
Let me give them some more fodder: I want the stimulus package to fail. ‘Cause if this thing for the first time ever does what it never has done before, we’re in even worse trouble. If it becomes established that the federal government and the federal government alone can manage the economy and take over the private sector, then forget it, folks. I’m looking for property in New Zealand, and I’m going to put my money in Singapore. I do not want this to succeed, and nobody who has any respect for the founding of this country and for the capitalist system, who is honest and who has looked at it, would want it to succeed either. We are being told it must succeed because it’s Obama’s. Well, what’s such a big deal about Obama? Somebody tell me. Somebody tell me.
Somebody in the Drive-By call me. What is it that’s so big about Obama that no matter what he does it has to succeed? I want you to tell me. I want somebody to tell me just why we have to ignore every detail. We have to ignore history. We have to ignore his lies. We have to ignore his prevarications and misleading statements. We have to ignore everything historically we know and make sure we support him. Would somebody tell me why and what it is about Barack Obama that makes it necessary that we all check our brains at the door and walk into the room brainless and support this? Somebody tell me: What is it about Barack Obama?
It’s because he cannot fail!
What is it about Barack Obama that says we have to fall in line, and we have to support this? Why is it that people who have no earthly idea what’s in this legislation, why is it that they tell us we have to support ’em? Why are they so outraged when somebody would dare publicly say, ‘Gosh, I hope this albatross doesn’t work. I hope this doesn’t succeed’? Would somebody tell me in the Drive-By Media just what it is about Obama that mandates everybody supporting this thing? The Porkulus bill passed the House (which was a no-brainer) 246-183. We need to know how many Democrats voted against it. We know the Republicans all did. We need to know how many Democrats voted against it. The last tally I saw, there were six Democrats that were voting against it before the final tally, and I haven’t seen a breakdown since the finally vote was reached. Here is Cameron in Altoona, Pennsylvania. It’s great to have you on the program. Hello.
CALLER: Rush, it is a distinct honor to talk to you.
RUSH: Thank you, sir, very much.
CALLER: Rush, listen. I’m sad for the nation today because we have now the ‘Specter of Arlen’ hanging over our heads, and it is to Pennsylvania’s shame.
RUSH: Yeah. This guy, ladies and gentlemen, is just one of hundreds we are hearing from today. You’re in good company out there, Cameron. I’m told, Snerdley tells me, that we’re being inundated with just countless people like you from Pennsylvania who are just as angry as they can be as Senator Specter. (interruption) Okay, seven Democrats voted against it as opposed to 11 or 12, whatever it was, the last time. So they picked up more Democrat votes for the Porkulus bill in the House than they got last time. Cameron, thanks much for the phone call. I appreciate it. Really, I’m serious. Somebody in the Drive-By Media call me or send me a note. You’re criticizing me for hoping he fails. You tell me what it is about this guy personally that says we have to hope he succeeds. What is it about him? You tell me.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Instead of being asked — and I refuse to go on the defensive about this anyway — you know, why do you want Obama to fail? I’ve explained it. I’ll say it again. Not only do I want Obama to fail, I want this package to fail. I want this to blow up in their face. I want this to be seen by the American people for what it is, nothing to do with getting them jobs, nothing to do with reviving the gross domestic product of this country. I want, once and for all, the American people to see full frontal nudity on what liberalism is and what a lie it is. They have been sold a bill of goods. This legislation will not accomplish anything that the people are being promised. And I want people to see it. We can’t stop it, so if the Democrats want to destroy this economy to their benefit, to create more and more poverty, to create more and more homelessness, to create more and more dependency on the federal government, let the American people see it, let the American people see what messiahs do with unchecked power.
Some of you people in the media, I’m serious, you tell me why he has to succeed regardless. You tell me what it is about Barack Obama that makes it imperative his policies, regardless what they are, succeed. You tell me. And then let me ask you some questions. Did Obama and the Democrats hope Bush succeeded? Do they hope Republicans succeed? Does Obama hope I succeed or does he want people to stop listening to me? You people in the media, answer these questions for me. Did Obama and the Democrats hope the US military succeeded in Iraq? Or did they try to guarantee failure? Were they trying to engender a defeat for the US military? You people in the media tell me because you were helping ’em. Do the Obama Democrats want oil companies to succeed? Do Democrats want the airline manufacturers to succeed? Do the Obama Democrats want tobacco farmers to succeed? Do Barack Obama Democrats want Halliburton to succeed? Who do you think you’re kidding here? ‘Limbaugh: I Hope Obama Fails.’ Exactly. I hope the stimulus bill fails. I hope it does exactly what we know it will do, blow everything to smithereens and not do one thing that has been promised. Apparently, experience is the greatest teacher, and when these poor people who think Barack Obama means a new house, a new car, a new job, when they find out that’s not what Barack Obama means, maybe then they’ll see. So I hope that happens.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: The den of thieves is gathered around Nancy Pelosi to celebrate themselves. No Republicans voted for this, and you watch: Once again the media and the Democrats will be harping on the Republicans for not joining them, bipartisanship. You watch. The Republicans are going to come under severe criticism for this, and it’s actually a great thing that they have done here for themselves and for the country and the future, and the media is going to be all over ’em. This is as predictable as the sun setting tonight. It’s almost going to be portrayed, not totally but there will be tings of, ‘My, it’s a shame. This is not a total victory for Obama. He didn’t get the bipartisan support.’
Trevor in Wichita, glad you called, sir. Hi.
CALLER: Hello Rush. Do you want President Obama to fail in the implementation of his ideas or policies, or after they’re implemented, would you support ’em after they’re already passed?
RUSH: Trevor, if I oppose the policies before they’re passed and support the policies — the same policies — after they’re passed, why would I have opposed it in the first place?
CALLER: Well, I understand that. Like I oppose the stimulus package, for instance, because of the overspending, but once it is passed, do we have another choice? How can you oppose it once it’s passed?
RUSH: Oh, (sigh). Easily. I oppose it beforehand; I oppose it afterwards. I’m being consistent. You know the reason? You know why I oppose it, Trevor?
CALLER: Why is that?
RUSH: Well, because I’m all for prosperity and opportunity and freedom. I don’t want people to be poor. I don’t want people to be unemployed. I don’t want people to be hopeless. I don’t want people to be misled. I don’t want people to be lied to. I don’t want people to be told that somebody like government is going to do something for them when they’re not. I want this to fail because this is the most expansive expenditure in the Democrat Party and liberalism’s power that there has ever been. I hope it blows up in their face. I hope this thing does exactly what those of us who have studied these kinds of things do. I hope it prolongs the failure. I hope it prolongs the recession. Because people are going to have to figure out here that this is not how economies recover. Government is not the central planner. Government is not control of this. Government can’t do it. This is a disaster. And, you know, I could sit here and say, ‘Yeah, I’m going to cross my fingers and hope and pray this is the first time this works,’ but if this works, the America that you and I know is over, Trevor, for your kids. It’s over for a generation. It just is.
CALLER: Is there any way to fight it after it passes?
RUSH: What?
CALLER: Is there any way to fight it or oppose it after it passes?
RUSH: Nope. No. It’s a done deal. We can’t do anything about it. Just not participate in it the best you can by not putting yourself in a position of need, but it doesn’t matter. You’re still gonna get raped financially for those who are.
CALLER: That’s true.
RUSH: So, I mean… Look, it is what it is. I’m just going to tell you, if you, Trevor, if somebody came to you and asked you two months ago to design a stimulus package you thought would fail, this would be it. If somebody said, ‘Write a bill that will not create private sector jobs. Write a bill that will increase inflation and indebtedness,’ this is the bill. It’s not like I’m criticizing something I would ordinarily be in favor of. If Bush and McCain were proposing this, if a Republican were behind this, it’d be same thing. I hope it fails, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Folks, it is going to fail. This is sad. It breaks my heart that it’s going to fail.
BREAK TRANSCIRPT
RUSH: Look here, just to clarify, heading into the weekend — and we will be here on Monday on Presidents Day, by the way. When I say before the plan passes I hope Obama fails — see, by the way, did anybody notice I have hope, too? I hope Obama fails. Now the bill has passed the House. I hope when they implement it, that it fails. If I hope it fails beforehand, I better hope it fails afterwards to be consistent, right?