RUSH: This was in Seoul, South Korea, this morning. President Obama and the outgoing Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, held a powwow. And near the end of the meeting Obama and Medvedev were overheard having this exchange. It’s one of these hot-mic situations that nobody knew the microphone was on.
OBAMA: On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this — this can be solved but itÂ’s important for him to give me space.
MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I understand. I understand your message about space. Space for you —
OBAMA: This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility.
MEDVEDEV: I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir, and I stand with you.
RUSH: Were you able to hear that? Let me read the transcript for you. Obama on a hot mic said, “This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.” Medvedev said, “I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir, and I stand with you.” I will tell the KGB.
So here you have the president of the United States telling the president of Russia (paraphrasing): “Hang loose, Dmitry! Sit tight out there. Once I get past this election, I’m gonna have a lot more flexibility.” What he means is: “Nobody can stop me. I don’t have another election, so I don’t have to worry about popularity, and I don’t have to worry about doing things the American people won’t like. I’ll be free and clear do whatever I want to do, Dmitry, and that’s when I’m gonna really be able to reduce our nukes.
“Just tell Vlad to sit tight and be patient.” And Dmitry Medvedev said (impression), “Yes, I understand. I transmit this information to Vladimir, and I stand with you.” No one ever leaves the KGB! This is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the first time something like this has happened. I remember when Ronald Reagan was president, Teddy Kennedy actually told Soviet leaders at the time (I forget the specifics, but): Look, wait ’til we get rid of Reagan, and we’ll be fine. During the eighties in Nicaragua, the Iran-Contra battles, the Soviet client state’s little tinhorn was a guy named Daniel Ortega.
And when he wasn’t shopping for sunglasses with Peter, Paul, and Mary on Fifth Avenue in New York, he was down in Managua, Nicaragua. And this was during a time where the Reagan administration was trying to support the Contra rebels who wanted their freedom and to make sure that a Soviet client state was not established in Nicaragua. And the Democrats in the House of Representatives first led by Jim Jones (who was a congressman from Oklahoma, who went on to run the American Stock Exchange in Chicago) and then Jim Wright, the former Speaker of the House from Houston — coupled with George Miller and a number of others — would constantly go down and advise Ortega on how to deal with Reagan.
And more specifically not to embarrass them, his Democrat sponsors in Washington. The Democrats would oppose aid to the Contras. They would pass legislation like the Boland amendment or other pieces of legislation. Reagan wanted money for the Contras. The Democrats would vote it down. After one such incident, Daniel Ortega flew to Moscow and asked the Soviets for $500 million. The Democrats sent George Miller… He’s still a member of Congress. He’s from Martinez, California. (I think it’s Martinez. It’s the Bay Area.) They sent George Miller down there to slap Ortega on the wrist and say: Don’t embarrass us this way. You can’t go flying off to the Soviet Union and ask for $500 million after we vote down Reagan! You gotta sit tight here. You’re making us look bad!
And the Democrats would say: “We don’t support communism! You can’t say we support communism!”
Well, how would your vote be any different if you were supporting communism? So it’s another instance of a Democrat president saying to a foreign leader (paraphrased), “Hey, just hang with me here. You know, when I don’t have to worry about the people, don’t have to worry about Congress, don’t have to worry about anybody the country wants, I can get rid of more nukes. Just tell Vladimir to sit tight.” Now, what else is he telling other foreign leaders to sit tight on aside from nuclear weapons? “Just wait ’til I get my second term here. Wait ’til I win this election. Then we can really do business.” What’s he saying to Hugo Chavez, for example, or what’s he saying to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt or Syria or wherever?
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