Hour 2: Limbaugh Credits Himself, "Brethren In Talk Radio" For Opposition To Health Care Reform http://mediamatters.org/items/200907220029 This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by Rush's preternatural ability to congratulate himself
By Greg Lewis Before we get into the second hour, we'd like to quickly revisit an argument that Rush made in the last hour -- that the White House is making the health care debate political while the Republicans are standing on principle. Since Rush takes the words of Republican senators -- like Grassley and DeMint -- very seriously, we'd be very interested to know his thoughts on Sen. George Voinovich's (R-OH) statement that 50 percent of the Republican opposition to the president on health care is about "declawing" Obama politically. Anyway, the second hour got rolling with Rush saying that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was pulling a page out of the "30-year-old Democrat [sic] playbook" by "dragging out" people with cancer to support the Democrats' health bill. Rush suggested that Republicans bring out people who "won't get drugs and procedures" they need because they wouldn't be covered under Obama's health care bill. Big government, said Rush, "is not compassionate," but rather, it is "destructive," "harmful," and denies life and liberty instead of enhancing them. Rush then read extensively from the latest Dick Morris column at TheHill.com. Rush insisted we should take this seriously because the column is about Obama's polls, and Morris is a big-time pollster. Ah, yes, Dick Morris. Who better to rely on when talking honestly about health care, predicting the political future, or getting basic facts straight, than good ol' Dick Morris. Anyway, Rush continued to hammer his point that Obama is not doing anything for anybody, and if the stimulus really has rescued the economy like they say it has, then all that's happened is we've been pulled out of the Titanic after it was already on the sea floor. We are drowning, proclaimed Rush. This led to Snerdley asking why public mood is "congealing" on health care. Rush answered, as he did yesterday: "It is I, and my brethren in talk radio. ... So that's why public mood is congealing. We've got the Internet; we've got a great roster of bloggers; we have a great roster of talk show hosts; we've got Levin's book. I mean, there's all kinds of people responsible for this." Before the break, Rush read from another American Thinker piece (that's three for the day, if you're keeping count). This one cited a Wall Street Journal article reporting that federal agencies have been encouraged to host big meetings in "more buttoned-down" locations. Rush said this would anger voters, and he went on to suggest other "buttoned-down" places for meeting -- such as Detroit, Flint, Camden, or even Martha's Vineyard, since that's where Obama is vacationing. On the other side of the break, Rush took a caller who said that the health insurance she gets working part time for a national home improvement chain is "horrible," but still "better" than what Obama is proposing. She proclaimed that it was "amazing" how much "worse off" she would be under his plan. Of course, the caller failed to explain exactly how she would be "worse off" after health care reform passed. Nevertheless, Rush said that her story "illustrates" why national health care should be "catastrophic only" because that's what breaks people's banks. After the call, Rush briefly referred to an AP "cry sob story" designed to help get back in gear on health care. After another break, Rush took a call from a woman who talked about her 103-year-old grandmother who recently received a pacemaker. Rush said that under Obama's health care plan, her grandmother would instead be given pain medications and referred to an end-of-life counselor, per the House bill. As we pointed out yesterday, the notion that the House bill establishes government end-of-life counselors -- first posited by the ever-reliable American Thinker -- is false. Then Rush read from a Washington Post article about how health insurance would be mandated, similar to the way car insurance is mandated. Rush then articulated the inherent differences between health and car insurance, insisting this proved his point that the article was nothing more than "state-run media propaganda." Rush then once again patted himself on the back for being the first to wish for Obama's failure, as he did yesterday, and played a new DNC ad featuring Rush and other Republicans talking about Obama failing on health care. Rush came back from the break with a brand new, gut-bustingly hilarious comedy sketch, this one featuring Jimmy Carter giving advice to Barack Obama. Then Rush randomly interjected this little ditty about abortion: LIMBAUGH: By the way, here's another way to look at it. We've learned that elective abortions -- Peter Orszag, the budget director, said, "No, I can't -- the elective abortions -- I can't say that they're not going to be paid for." Elective abortions will be covered in Obama health care. So, the way to explain this to people is that President Obama, of the compassionate Democrat Party, wants to provide cover for those who kill us before we're born. He wants to pay people to kill some of us before we are born, and before we're ready to die after we're born. It's called "efficiency." We're still scratching our heads on this one. Is it possible for something to be simultaneously nonsensical and offensive? Anyway, Rush finished off the hour with one last call, this one from an individual who said he has health insurance because he chooses to pay for it, and that it is a lie that people can't afford it. Rush explained that people have been conditioned to think they don't have to pay for things like health insurance, because their employer or the government would pay for it. Simon Maloy, Zachary Pleat, and Zachary Aronow contributed to this edition of the Limbaugh Wire. Highlights from Hour 2 Outrageous comments LIMBAUGH: By the way, here's another way to look at it. We've learned that elective abortions -- Peter Orszag, the budget director, said, "No, I can't -- the elective abortions -- I can't say that they're not going to be paid for." Elective abortions will be covered in Obama health care. So, the way to explain this to people is that President Obama, of the compassionate Democrat Party, wants to provide cover for those who kill us before we're born. He wants to pay people to kill some of us before we are born, and before we're ready to die after we're born. It's called "efficiency." Ego on loan from Narcissus LIMBAUGH: Why is what? Oh, why is skepticism building? Why is the public mood congealing? Well, I answered this question yesterday. It is I, and my brethren in talk radio -- and you know what else? Mark Levin's book. That book's out there all -- I think it's sold over a million copies. And it's still at the top of the list, and they still are trying to kill it when they review it. There is a pulse. There is a -- oh, it's more than a -- there is a big heartbeat going on in this country. The mainstream media, state-run media -- I've said they have met their Waterloo. We can talk about Obama meeting his, but the media's met theirs, and it's Obama. They have sacrificed whatever integrity they had left, whatever character they had left. Whatever professionalism they had left, it's gone! Their Waterloo is Obama. Obama's destroying them, too, along with our economy; it's just that they are in on destroying themselves. MSNBC is running -- do you believe this? -- a countdown clock all day to an Obama press conference. Right now, it's six hours and 46 minutes and some odd seconds. They've got a countdown clock! And they're talking about it on MSNBC today as, "Can he pull this out? Can he" -- they're not talking about what a bomb, bad, debacle of a mess the program is. They're not even reporting on the details of it. So that's why public mood is congealing. We've got the Internet; we've got a great roster of bloggers; we have a great roster of talk show hosts; we've got Levin's book. I mean, there's all kinds of people responsible for this. But the people who are appointed the watchdogs and guardians have checked their professionalism at the door, and all they care about now is getting some private time with the president to talk about the kids. America's Truth Rejector Rush falsely claimed that the House health care bill will create "end-of-life" counselors: LIMBAUGH: That's what the plan will do. And we learned yesterday that, in the House bill, there are end-of-life counselors. So in the case of your grandmother, under ObamaCare, they'd tell her "no" on the pacemaker and then they'd send a therapist in to, you know, help her deal with the fact that the government's just sentenced her to death. | 
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