This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by Rush's powers of clairvoyance
By Karl Frisch and Greg Lewis

As Simon, the chief Limbaughlogist here at Media Matters, mentioned at the end of yesterday's Limbaugh Wire, he'll be taking a well-deserved vacation. Nevertheless, the Wire shall carry on in his absence in the coming week, as thrilling and informative as always.

Rush kicked off his show citing a Rasmussen Reports poll released today, which found that, “When all voters are asked which branch of the federal government they trust the most, 34% say the Supreme Court, while 27% choose the president, or what the Founding Fathers called the Executive Branch. Only 13% say Congress is the branch of government they trust most.” This didn't “mean much,” to Rush, but he thought it might be “setting the stage” for a “total overhaul” of Congress in the 2010 midterm elections.

Moving on, the right-wing talker couldn't help but brag about another one of his “predictions” coming to pass. This time, he played a clip from his show on November 12, 2008, in which he predicted “big media” would ask for bailouts. Well, apparently Washington state has approved tax cuts for newspapers, so Rush takes credit for his clairvoyant superpowers. It sounds like he's been talking to Miss Cleo a little too much lately.

Then El Rushbo read a few more articles relating to the economy. First up was a story that U.S. foreclosure activity jumped 42 percent from a year ago to a record high. Rush concluded from the article that the 'Bamster will never be blamed for the economy, it will always be somebody else's fault. Next up was an AP article about retail sales “unexpectedly” dropping in April which caused Rush to muse that every economic news story by AP always contains the words “unexpectedly” or “surprisingly.”

Next up was an article from today's New York Times by David Leonhardt detailing the hurdles to the Democrats' forthcoming health care plan. Rush gave his own warning with regard to the proposal: “The worst thing the Republicans could do would be sign on to nationalized health care, because it really -- nationalized health care is not about the money, folks. You have to understand this. Nationalized healthcare -- single-payer, government-provided, whatever you want to call it -- once that happens, then virtually every activity that you engage in can be controlled because they can say it relates to how much health costs the government's gonna have. ... If they get national health care, it is the entrée to controlling every aspect of your life because they will be able to say and attach every behavior to some health malady or health risk.” Of course, neither the president nor the Democratic leadership in Congress are offering a “single-player” plan.

Back from a break, the Dittohead-in-chief shifted his attention to the Obama administration potentially releasing photos depicting abuse of detainees held in U.S. military custody abroad. This led Limbaugh to read from a post on National Review's The Corner blog by his buddy Andy McCarthy, who criticizes Obama for releasing the photographs not because he has to, but because he “wants them” to be released.

On both sides of the next commercial, Rush discussed a Politico article which reported that Democrats are unhappy with the CIA for releasing memos on their interrogation briefings. This led Rush to ponder about why the torture briefings story is getting more coverage than others: "[I]f this story is getting more play in the drive-by media than all these other evidences or stories that are involving White House corruption, you can damn well rest assured that the White House is encouraging this story. You can damn well rest assured the White House is dictating this story to the Politico and the drive-by media. The executive editors of this story are in the White House. This is aimed -- folks, I don't know this, but the ultimate target of this is Nancy Pelosi." Rush thinks that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is vying to oust Pelosi as Speaker, which makes perfect sense to Rush because Hoyer is also “tight” with White House chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel. Rush also remarked how the use of enhanced interrogation techniques foiled the terrorist plot in Los Angeles, which as we've noted many times before, conflicts with the Bush administration's chronology of events.

Concluding the hour, Rush shared his thoughts on California potentially legalizing marijuana -- he considered supporting the move, since it would mean that Obama supporters would all just flock to the state, which is already a Democratic stronghold. Finally, Rush took a call from someone unhappy that she might have to go on the “government teat” for health care. Rush says Democrats want single-payer health care, which again, isn't what is being called for in the plan currently up for consideration.

Highlights from Hour 1

Outrageous remarks:

LIMBAUGH: The worst thing the Republicans could do would be sign on to nationalized health care, because it really -- nationalized health care is not about the money, folks. You have to understand this. Nationalized healthcare -- single-payer, government-provided, whatever you want to call it -- once that happens, then virtually every activity that you engage in can be controlled because they can say it relates to how much health costs the government's gonna have. Your kids may not be able to use a swing set anymore; it may be too dangerous. You may not be able to buy a TV that hangs on a wall because it might fall on your kid and break his head. I'm not making this up. They're talking about banning sugars yesterday, or taxing sugars yesterday. If they get national health care, it is the entrée to controlling every aspect of your life because they will be able to say and attach every behavior to some health malady or health risk.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Now, is this story -- a question -- is this story getting more coverage than Obama kneecapping the CEOs at the White House? Remember when he brought them in there and said, “I'm the only one standing between you and the pitchforks?” Is this story getting more play than the Chrysler secured creditors having their Fifth Amendment rights trampled on? Is this story getting more play than the corruption associated with TARP money? If so, if this story is getting more play in the drive-by media than all these other evidences or stories that are involving White House corruption, you can damn well rest assured that the White House is encouraging this story. You can damn well rest assured the White House is dictating this story to the Politico and the drive-by media. The executive editors of this story are in the White House. This is aimed -- folks, I don't know this, but the ultimate target of this is Nancy Pelosi.

Echo chamber:

Rush read several news stories highlighted on The Drudge Report.