RUSH: I got a question for you. Mollie Hemingway has tweeted something that we’re all asking. In fact, I’ve asked myself this question since I’ve been hosting this show. Let me read her tweeted pregunta to you. “What is the appropriate remedy or response for the years of fake news being peddled by most of major media?
“They’ve caused major damage to domestic health and foreign relations. They are continuing the fake news even now. What can be done? What should be done?” I’d like to go further in characterizing this. The mainstream media is not media. It is a political activist organization which somehow has finagled First Amendment protections.
They are not media. They disguise themselves as journalists. They claim the work they’re doing is journalism, but it isn’t. Stop and think. Victor Davis Hanson’s point in his piece today is this is so outrageous — the crimes that are occurring around this by our government and by our political class, by the bureaucracy, by the administrative state, by foreign countries.
The crimes are so massive that we can’t possibly get our arms around it. We can’t comprehend it. We don’t know what to do about it. And in the case of this… Look at what they’ve done. She doesn’t quite get to the nub of it. This is more than fake news. This is a full-fledged… The only way to describe this is to call it what it was: This is a coup attempt.
This was an attempt hatched in the Obama Oval Office to sabotage a duly elected president. And the primary tool for disseminating and executing this coup was the U.S. media. The DOJ can be doing all they wanted. The intelligence community could do all they want.
But if the media weren’t willing to spread their lies, if the media were not willing to openly attempt to destroy people, then it would have taken a little bit longer. The DOJ could have done it by themselves, but without the media legitimizing it? How does a fake organization like today’s news media legitimize anything?
But they do, because, what, statistically half the people in the country don’t recognize the media for what it is and what it isn’t? It isn’t media. It isn’t journalism. It isn’t anything you think it is. It exists for one another reason: Advance the cause of the Democrat Party.
Whether that’s socialism or communism or fascism or Marxism or whatever it is, that is their objective because that is who they are. And, of course, there are ancillary objectives. To do that requires the destruction of the enemies of the Democrat Party or the communists and socialists or what have you. So the American media routinely sides with Communist China.
Because that’s the preference for the Democrat Party, because the objective, the immediate objective here and for the last two and a half years has been to get rid of Donald Trump. And whatever news event has happened or whatever event that has happened that they haven’t orchestrated or that they have has been in service to that objective.
So the coronavirus is the latest — we’ll give ’em the benefit of the doubt. We’ll say this thing just happened. Pandemics happen. Viruses happen. They come up. They spread. In this case the American left has taken full advantage of it and is willing to cause pain and suffering to literally hundreds of millions of people in service of their political objective, getting rid of Donald Trump. Her question, what’s to be done? We now know — and, by the way, where is the outrage?
The American people should know they’ve been lied to for three years. The American people were set up. The American people were promised that Donald Trump stole the election, he’s a Russian agent, that he colluded. They were told this over and over again. The people that listen to mainstream media could not doubt it. The Mueller report comes out, “Sorry. We didn’t find anything.” Why does the media have any reputation left? But beyond that her question is what’s the remedy, what’s the accountability?
They have First Amendment protection. In terms of business, the coronavirus is wiping out a lot of journalism. It’s wiping out publication journalism. It’s wiping out news magazines and newspapers of all sizes. Advertising revenue is way, way down. It doesn’t seem to be causing any problem. They’re losing audience in a lot of places. It doesn’t seem to be a factor.
So I don’t pretend to have the answer. I don’t know what the accountability is. Can’t put ’em in jail. They’re protected by the First Amendment. They can say whatever they want. They are free press. But they’re not media. They work for organizations that we think are media — ABC News, NBC News, CBS News. But that’s not what the American people get.
Depending on where you look today, depending on what network you watch, depending on what Web page you visit, you could be forgiven if you, at the end of the day, think that the world is about to end and it’s about over, that everybody’s gonna lose everything by the end of the month. You have no hope of surviving this. Even though we’re gonna keep your economy locked down and shut down to protect you from it, there’s no way you’re gonna be protected from it. You’re not gonna survive. You’re gonna get sick, you’re gonna die. If that doesn’t happen, you’re gonna lose everything else you’ve got. This is the narrative. This is the tone. Of the news.
There ought to be a price paid for this, but what would the price be?
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Folks, here’s a minor example, very minor example of what I’m talking about with the media. This story, by the way, today is intended — it’s a New York Times story — it’s intended to shock and scare everybody. The headline of the story: “U.S. to Accuse China of Trying to Hack Vaccine Data, as Virus Redirects Cyberattacks — The F.B.I. and the Department of Homeland Security are preparing to issue a warning that China’s most skilled hackers and spies are working to steal American research in the crash effort to develop vaccines and treatments for the coronavirus. The efforts are part of a surge in cybertheft and attacks by nations seeking advantage in the pandemic.
“The State Department on Friday described a Chinese Twitter campaign to push false narratives and propaganda about the virus. Twitter executives have pushed back on the agency, noting that some of the Twitter accounts that the State Department cited were actually critical of Chinese state narratives.”
This isn’t news, that the Chinese try to hack our computer networks and systems? Nothing about this is news. And we are constantly trying to hack them. And the Soviets, the Russians are constantly trying to hack us. “U.S. to Accuse China of Trying to Hack Vaccine Data, as Virus Redirects Cyberattacks.” So the Chinese are working to steal our research. And you’re supposed to be scared because you’re supposed to think the Chinese are gonna get away with it because Trump is such an idiot, that Trump doesn’t know what he’s doing, that the Trump administration is gonna sit there and be made fools of. The ChiComs are gonna come in and they’re gonna steal all of our research.
The Chinese, the North Koreans, the South Koreans, the Israelis, the Iranians, the Russians, the Cubans, take your pick, we are cyberattacked by nations every day, countless times. It’s an ongoing — and we’re doing the same to them. There’s nothing newsworthy about this. And yet this is a gigantic above-the-fold story that is supposed to frighten you. I can’t even figure out why they think this is gonna scare people, but maybe it’ll come to me.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Here’s Tom, Tom in Providence, Rhode Island. Great to have you here. Hello.
CALLER: Hello, Rush. Thanks for having me.
RUSH: You bet.
CALLER: Rush, you just said 43 million?
RUSH: It’s 43.5 million, yeah.
CALLER: Okay, 43.5 million. I hope they’re all listening, because earlier you said that we cannot go after Obama? We have to go after Obama. We have to get on the news. I’m listening to Graham and these other guys. They’re all mushy. We have got to address this thing. Do not let Barr and Durham’s work go for naught. That’s what I wanted to say.
RUSH: Okay. Well, I appreciate the call. A lot of people are of that opinion, that somehow we have to hold these people accountable. But a lot of people are asking, in the case of the media, “How?” Now, as for Barr and Durham… See, I mentioned a moment ago that I think Barr is serious about this. I think he’s serious about eradicating the assaults on religious freedom.
But I think Barr is probably more motivated to expose and to hold accountable the people that participated in this coup than anybody probably understands. Now, there’s a story here from Fox News: “Durham Moving ‘Full-Throttle’ on Russia Probe Review, Top Federal Prosecutors Involved,” and let me give you a couple of pull quotes from the story.
“Two sources told Fox News that Jeff Jensen, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri who was tapped by the Justice Department in February to review the case of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn,” his work is done there, “is continuing to help with Durham’s investigation even after the DOJ’s move last week to drop the case against Flynn.
“The sources told Fox News that interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Timothy Shea is also assisting with components of the investigation.” Another pull quote from this story: “The Justice Department declined to comment on Jensen and Shea’s involvement.
“Any indication that Durham could be building a case against anyone involved in the original Russia probe, however, is sure to inflame tensions between the Trump administration and congressional Democrats — who already are ramping up accusations that these Justice Department reviews have become politicized.”
You know, the first thing that needs to happen is stop worrying about what the Democrats say. It’s predictable! We know what they’re gonna say. We know we’re gonna object to it. We know they’re gonna oppose it. We know they’re gonna mischaracterize it. Just ignore them! (grumbling) “Well, yes, we know, Rush. The Democrats are already ‘ramping up accusations’ that these reviews have become…”
Like Chuck Todd tried to do to Barr? Believe me, that’s only gonna egg Barr on more. “‘Barr talks to Durham every day,’ one source recently told Fox News. ‘The president has been briefed that the case is being pursued, and it’s serious.'” Yeah, I know what you’re all thinking. The perfect time for all this to drop would be sometime in October, for these indictments to be announced right before the election.
But even if the timing is not what you want it to be, I know that everybody is demanding that there be accountability for this, ’cause it really was a coup. There was an effort to reverse the election results, and it was based on nothing true. It’s just scandalous. I think Barr is the perfect guy to be running this show because I think he’s dead serious about it — and, by the way, that’s been proven out over time.
Here’s Dave in Allentown, Pennsylvania. You’re next, sir. Hello, sir.
CALLER: How you doin’, Rush?
RUSH: Pretty good. Thank you.
CALLER: Good. Just real quick — I know I have to get to my point, but — the people here, the conservatives in the Lehigh Valley, are all praying for you; they love you. I hear it all the time in the morning shows.
RUSH: Thank you very much. I appreciate that.
CALLER: On a personal note, that blue shirt you’re wearing looks great on you. But, anyway, getting to my point.
RUSH: He’s watching on the Dittocam, for those of you wondering how he can know on a radio show what kind of shirt I’m wearing.
CALLER: Yes. It’s the only way to listen to your show, in my opinion.
RUSH: You like the matching watchband here?
CALLER: I love it.
RUSH: Look at that. Yeah. Stylish. Stylish is what that is. I care. I care. Most people, in the morning, they throw it together. Most radio people are slobs, ’cause they know nobody’s gonna ever see ’em, but I can’t afford that since there’s this camera here.
CALLER: (chuckles)
RUSH: So I have to be stylish.
CALLER: Right. (chuckling) But, anyway, they went way out of their way to keep Candidate Trump from getting to the presidency. They went out of their way so far that they put a general in jail. So my question is, “How far on the other side did they go to hide the corruption of Hillary Clinton?” because it goes hand in hand. If they did one, they had to do the other.
RUSH: Well, but we kind of know how far they went to exonerate Hillary.
CALLER: Right. But now it’s not just speculation; everyone knows it. Now what are they gonna do about it?
RUSH: Well, what do you mean, “they”?
CALLER: Well the Justice Department!
RUSH: Well, that’s… So you mean Barr, what’s Barr gonna do?
CALLER: Barr. What are they gonna do? I mean, they know what they did. They know.
RUSH: Well, they’re investigating it all. They’ve got a grand jury going. I think the effort is to hold them accountable.
CALLER: I hope so. I really do. They can’t get away with it because these people think they are above the law.
RUSH: This is the point. I don’t mean to be a downer here. They have gotten away with it. That’s why everybody’s so ticked off. They did get away with it. Even though they got caught, we all know what happened. They’re still lying on TV every day about there being collusion. They’re still on TV lying about Trump stealing the election. They got caught. Yet, ’cause everybody knows what happened, but half the country doesn’t if they believe mainstream media.
But these people screwed up who knows how much. We lost the midterms. They caused bunch Republicans to retire and resign, which led to us losing the House in 2018. Who knows the damage they’ve done to the Trump agenda, the Trump family, who knows what. I mean, I don’t care what you think of Trump and how tough he is, this is inhumane what this family has been put through, and it’s still going on. It’s still taking place. Just substitute coronavirus for Trump-Russia collusion, the way it’s being dealt with and the way it’s being handled.
So they have gotten away with it. That’s why everybody’s ticked off. We now know what happened, and they’re still roaming free and they’re still on CNN lying through their teeth every night about what they did. And they’re basically laughing in our faces over it. And people are rightfully asking, “What good is a justice system that looks the other way and exonerates those at the very top of that very system who have politicized it and used it to advance their own political objectives while ruining fellow citizens who hadn’t done anything wrong? If they can get away with it with no accountability, what good is the system of justice?”
If the American people collectively think that people in the Washington political class in the administrative state are gonna get away with whatever they do, then you’re gonna have a steady erosion that’s just gonna snowball. Lack of interest in government, lack of concern for it, lack of belief in it. I think this has been going on for a while even before this kind of thing hit.
As I say, remember, while all this was going on, all of this lying, stinking collusion stuff, there were Republicans who knew for the last year that Democrats and the intelligence people were testifying that they had never seen a shred of evidence. And yet were going on television every night lying about it. There wasn’t one leak. There wasn’t one Republican who dared point out and dared try to stop it. Not one. So people are saying we can’t even depend on our own party to defend us or itself. The frustration here is mounting over all this. And, “Justice Department’s gotta do something.” Right. The Justice Department did do something. They ran the coup.