Friday, September 18, 2009

Limbaugh: "Obama Is Racism"

Media Matters for America


http://mediamatters.org/items/200909170034

Rush wonders, "is it maybe that Obama wants America to fail?"

By Tom Allison

Rush opened today's show with his customary nuance and grace, speaking on recent comments by former President Jimmy Carter: "What a freaking day -- the national hemorrhoid has doubled down."

Reacting to Obama's endorsement of missile defense system recommendations from the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Rush claimed that Obama "has abandoned Poland and has abandoned Czechoslovakia," despite the fact the Czechoslovakia no longer exists. We call that one "pulling a McCain." Rush also promoted a London Times articleheadlined "Dismay in Europe as Obama ditches missile defence."

Rush claimed that Obama is canceling the missile shield in Europe, even though Obamastressed that he was following the Secretary of Defense's recommendations to shift emphasis to short and mid-range missile defense, not abandoning European missile defense entirely.

Continuing the theme that Obama is weak on national security, Rush complained that Obama "turned 9-11 into a day of serving the state" and "he's about to go wobbly on Afghanistan too." Rush concluded: "You know, I started the year by saying I hope Obama fails. I'm actually wondering -- I'm asking myself, is it maybe that Obama wants America to fail so he can rebuild it and remake it? Is it not eerie?"

"If you have a job, you're getting raises!"

Rush brought up a CNN.com article that reported that those Americans lucky enough to still have a job have been forced to work longer hours for less pay and thus morale has suffered. Always the compassionate one, Rush was adamant that "if you have a job, you're getting raises!"

Rush mentioned that Maxine Waters' comments on The Bill Press Show that she wanted tea party protestors "to be interviewed." Rush said that it "would be a great idea" because there's no way any protestors are motivated by race:

LIMBAUGH: I think it's absolutely a great idea. She went on to say if you put the microphones in front of 'em, if you do the interviews, they'll tell you what they believe, what they think. That's a great idea, Maxine. Let conservatives tell the state-controlled media what they think and why. Actually go out and cover the rally, don't just rely on a C-SPAN camera, actually go out there and cover the rallies and talk to these people. Find out what it is they're doing there and why they're doing there. And then everybody will be shocked when they hear no explanation that contains racism.

"Obama is racism"

After the break Rush dived in head first into claims about racism, mainly that Democrats are losing on everything and are reacting by trying to say the whole conservative movement is racist. Then, Rush offered perhaps the most inflamatory comment of today's show:

LIMBAUGH: He is promoting this. He -- just as he is ACORN, just as he is Van Jones, he is racism. He is behind this. It's his administration. You can't -- you cannot get away with the president of the United States staying above the fray, getting clear of it when the whole operation is orchestrated from his White House.

Rush played several media responses to his comments yesterday that the violence on an Illinois school bus was "Obama's America." Rush highlighted the report from ABC's Kate Snow, noting she contacted Rush's office but criticizing Snow for not comprehending the obvious fact that Rush wasn't serious when he referenced "Obama's America" yesterday. To Rush, this proves that she is a "stenographer" for the White House.

Also during this segment, Media Matters got a shout-out: Rush referred to us as "a slime pit."

"I'm dead serious about it. ... can we actually afford to have an African-American president?"

Back from the break, Rush agreed with a caller that the white male is being threatened in America, citing as evidence that the Democrats wanted Justice Sonia Sotomayor to be confirmed in a hurry but Joe Wilson was attacked for standing up to Obama. Rush went on to claim that the media, the left, and Democrats are all racist.

Rush then read from a Washington Post article that reported that the Obama camp has "deflected" the race issue and saw it as significant that Obama hasn't "abandoned" it.

After another break, Rush made it clear what his favorite topic of the day was going to be: Claiming that liberals would be next to criticize Obama, and since Obama calls anyone who criticizes him racist, then liberals would be "the next racists."

Ignoring his own role, Rush suggested that the national discussion is stuck on race because "Obama hasn't asked the black caucus to shut up."

Rush pushed forward and asked "can we really have an African American president" if the free press is "going to just stand down because of political correctness or bias." Rush also played some comments from Obama from 1995 and claimed that he was talking about reparations.

Rush was pretty excited about a blog post by NewsBusters' Warner Todd Huston claiming that Organizing for America, "President Obama's campaign site cum community organizing website," quietly backed away from a public option in health care reform. Regardless, Rush was convinced that Obama will try to take over health care because he hates capitalism.

"He is ACORN. ACORN is Obama"

Rush cited a Washington Post article reporting that nearly 90 percent of new home loans are funded or backed by the government. Referring to the auto industry, healthcare, and energy, Rush claimed that "the list is endless" and that the Obama administration is attacking prosperity in the private sector.

Limbaugh then claimed that Obama trained ACORN in chaos and disorder and that the President and the organization are one in the same:

LIMBAUGH: ACORN's not going to change, just like Obama isn't gonna change. All this is being done to make it look like ACORN is responding. And the White House, of course, is dutifully distancing itself from ACORN, but hell, Obama was an ACORN trainer back in the '90s. I'm not saying Obama trained ACORN in how to legalize prostitution and all that; don't misunderstand. But he trained them on chaos, he trained them in chaos, he trained them in upsetting balances of power. He is ACORN. ACORN is Obama.

Later, Rush was pretty happy with himself that ABC's Charlie Gibson reported on the ACORN tapes after The Washington Post and New York Times did.

Incredibly, following a rant about the government's control of the mortgage market, Rush falsely claimed that Sen. Chris Dodd, President Bill Clinton, and Rep. Barney Frank were responsible for the takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Limbaugh ended the show upset about "your average, elitist, country club, New York liberal Republican," referring to writer Frank Schaeffer, who recently lamented that the Republican Party is "fed red meat by buffoons like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck."

Zachary Aronow and Zachary Pleat contributed to this edition of the Limbaugh Wire.

Highlights

LIMBAUGH: President Barack Obama, fulfilling something I knew was going to happen -- part of his view that this country is unjust and immoral -- has abandoned Poland and has abandoned Czechoslovakia. On September 17, 2009, the President of the United States made the following statement:

OBAMA (audio clip): We will continue to work cooperatively with our close friends and allies, the Czech Republic and Poland, who had agreed to host elements of the previous program. I've spoken to the prime ministers of both the Czech Republic and Poland about this decision, and reaffirmed our deep and close ties. Together, we are committed to a broad range of cooperative efforts to strengthen our collective defense, and we're bound by the solemn commitment of NATO's Article 5 that an attack on one is an attack on all.

LIMBAUGH: That's absolute BS. This happens to come -- he's canceling the missile shield in Europe to protect these emerging democracies from Russia. He got in bed with Putin. He got in bed with the KGB. He got in bed with Medvedev, which is essentially getting in bed with Iran, because that shield also going to be some sort of protection for anything launched out of Iran. And he makes this announcement to Poland and the Czech Republic 70 years to the day of the Soviet invasion of Poland. This is not an accident; it is not a coincidence. This man is making a statement about what he thinks of past U.S. foreign policy and imperialism.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: So let's take some things in order. The president -- not only is he weakening our economy. Not only is the president attacking the U.S. economy, he is now weakening our foreign policy, he is weakening our military, he is weakening national defense. And it's all being done on purpose. Obama turned 9-11 into a day of serving the state. He's about to go wobbly on Afghanistan too. The generals over there say we need more troops, but in Washington, Pelosi and John Kerry, who served in Vietnam, said "Oh, we're not gonna -- no more troops, no more troops." And so, Obama's about to go wobbly there. He will not rush his decision on his commanders' call for more troops to win there. He has surrendered missile defense to Putin now. He's moving towards large cuts in defense spending. And just as dangerous, while all this is going on, Barack Obama is bankrupting the United States. He is severely weakening our economy. We're not going to be able to defend ourselves even if we wanted to before this guy gets through -- the dollar rapidly declining in value, as is America's military might.

You know, I started the year by saying I hope Obama fails. I'm actually wondering -- I'm asking myself, is it maybe that Obama wants America to fail so he can rebuild it and remake it? Is it not eerie?

[...]

LIMBAUGH: I think it's absolutely a great idea. She went on to say if you put the microphones in front of 'em, if you do the interviews, they'll tell you what they believe, what they think. That's a great idea, Maxine. Let conservatives tell the state-controlled media what they think and why. Actually go out and cover the rally, don't just rely on a C-SPAN camera, actually go out there and cover the rallies and talk to these people. Find out what it is they're doing there and why they're doing there. And then everybody will be shocked when they hear no explanation that contains racism.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: He is promoting this. He -- just as he is ACORN, just as he is Van Jones, he is racism. He is behind this. It's his administration. You can't -- you cannot get away with the president of the United States staying above the fray, getting clear of it when the whole operation is orchestrated from his White House.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: But remember, folks, what drove all this yesterday -- this is hilarious -- was NewsweekNewsweek magazine saying that we're born racist. We're born racist. Oh, yes, white children -- white children are born racist. That's right, not all, not we -- white kids are born racist. And by six months -- I mean, they're able to distinguish black from white and yellow and brown, and they know to hate everybody. And parents are at a standstill, they don't know what to do about it. It's a Newsweek story. Newsweek earlier this summer said we're all socialist, now they say all white kids, all white babies are racist, so I'm playing off of that, OK? It's Obama's America. He is the president, and it's all racism. Everything is now in race.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: ACORN's not going to change, just like Obama isn't gonna change. All this is being done to make it look like ACORN is responding. And the White House, of course, is dutifully distancing itself from ACORN, but hell, Obama was an ACORN trainer back in the '90s. I'm not saying Obama trained ACORN in how to legalize prostitution and all that; don't misunderstand. But he trained them on chaos, he trained them in chaos, he trained them in upsetting balances of power. He is ACORN. ACORN is Obama.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Now, this is your average, elitist, country club, New York liberal Republican. He's -- Frank Schaeffer's his name; first time I've heard of him. I've never heard of him; this is the first time I've ever heard his name, first time I ever heard him speak. But the point is that this illustrates exactly -- maybe not as extreme as the way this guy put it, but I'm telling you, at the upper levels, the upper echelon of the liberal, country club, blue-blood Republican Party is that exact sentiment toward pro-lifers -- village idiots, embarrassing, we should get out. The Republican Party's got problems, do not misunderstand me. But nothing posed by the Republican Party is as threatening as what Obama is doing.

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: And a little warning to you liberals out there, because you soon are going to be the next racists. "What do you mean, Rush, how can liberals be racist?" Well, here's how. Today Obama wants Obamacare, and anybody opposing it is racist, right? In a short while -- he's just biding time on this troop request from the generals in Afghanistan -- in a short while, he is going to meet the request. And he's going to ask for more troops in Afghanistan, he's gonna send them there. And when that happens, the fringe left -- because he owns Afghanistan now. That's why I'm sure he's going to do this. It might be a moderate increase in troop levels, it may not be what the generals are asking for, but he's gonna send more troops over there. And that's gonna start the caterwauling from the left, from the Pelosis, from the Kerrys, form the lunatic fringe on the websites out there. And when they start criticizing Obama, they are going to be the next racists. Because any criticism of Obama is racist.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Now, last October, we played a sound bite of President Obama back in 1995. It's a YouTube video, and I wanna revisit this. Admittedly this was 14 years ago, but this is the kind of vetting that we did not get that I asked yesterday, can we ever really have an African-American president if the constitutional vetting procedure, which is a free press -- if they're going to just stand down because of political correctness or bias or whatever. If they're not going to vet minority candidates just because "It's just unseemly, they've been victimized so much in their lives in the first place, we can't possibly [unintelligible] so we give them a pass." Well, if we're gonna give 'em a pass, if we're not gonna look at their past, if we're not gonna look at their associations, if we're not going to scrutinize their policies, their beliefs, their past, their friends, their associates, where they were educated -- if we're not going to scrutinize any of that, can we actually afford to have an African-American president? I asked the question. I'm dead serious about it.

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