This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by Obama's desire to govern like an “African colonial”
By Greg Lewis

Rush kicked off the third hour discussing the New York Times' and the Wall Street Journal's reporting on Dick Cheney and the CIA's “secret” plan to capture and kill Al Qaeda operatives. Rush said the Times' reporting emphasized the concealment of the program and its link to Cheney. However, Rush said that the story here is that the Journal reported that this plan had been in place since 2001 to target Al Qaeda leaders -- although, as Rush noted at several points, it was never actually implemented -- but Leon Panetta and the Democrats “ended it.” That's the “real story,” said Rush -- that the Democrats ended a program designed to go after terrorists. See if you can follow the logic here. Cheney can't be faulted for concealing this CIA program from Congress because it was never implemented after being authorized in 2001, but the “real story” is that the Democrat Panetta canceled this program to pursue Al Qaeda operatives. If Rush feels this program is so important, isn't the “real story” that Bush and Cheney had eight years to get it off the ground but never got around to it? Here's the deal -- no one really knows what this program was, why it never really got rolling, or why Panetta canceled it. But in Limbaugh Land, Cheney is God and Democrats love the terrorists, so such gaps in information are moot.

Rush went on, describing the Times story as giving “cover” to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for lying about her waterboarding briefing. Rush elaborated on this, adding that Attorney General Eric Holder “wants to go back and actually prosecute Bush administrations for war crimes because of torture.” He continued:

LIMBAUGH: Folks, that doesn't happen in the United States of America. Administrations change; they go into the past; the current one leads to the future. It's in banana republics and totalitarian dictatorships where you go back and criminally prosecute your predecessors for the purpose of seeing to it that they never surface again.

Then Rush moved on to quickly address the newest senator from Minnesota, Al Franken, as he reminisced about his years-long policy of not referring to Franken by name and lamented that he doesn't know how he'll be able to do that now. Anyway, Rush said that Franken gets “a rant” this afternoon on Sotomayor because he's on the Judiciary Committee. Sticking on the Sotomayor hearings for a few more moments, Rush managed to squeeze in a plug for a Heritage Foundation conference call -- for AskHeritage.org members! -- on the Sotomayor hearings, featuring Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and former Attorney General Edwin Meese.

Then Rush took a few moments to reiterate his point on the CIA story. The story is that Panetta cancelled the plan. It was never implemented, added Rush, but the story is that a Democrat [sic] CIA director canceled a plan to pursue Al Qaeda operatives, while we're in Afghanistan doing just that.

From there, Rush discussed former Secretary of State Colin Powell's comments about him from last Sunday's State of the Union on CNN. After playing the clips from the week-old broadcast, Rush managed to then tie his dislike for Powell together with his dislike for Sotomayor:

LIMBAUGH: I'll tell you what, let me try this. You know what? I'd have been a better secretary of Defense and a better secretary of State because I'm a white guy and I have a better understanding of the history of this country and national defense than Colin Powell. You think I'd be called a racist? Yes, I would. I would be called a racist if I had said that -- and I would be. If I'd said I'm better than Colin Powell 'cause I'm white and he's black, I'd be called a racist. So, why does she get a pass? She said she's better 'cause she's Latina.

After the break, Rush continued his post-vacation catch-up-athon, taking some time to address last week's resignation from Sarah Palin. He stated that the “state-run media” continue to misread Palin, then aired an audio montage of the media suggesting Palin might go on to be “the next Rush Limbaugh” or “Rush Limbaugh in a skirt.” He also berated NBC News' Andrea Mitchell for saying on Meet the Press that Palin's “big flaw” is that she needs a coherent world view. Rush went on to criticize those in the media who say Palin is not refined or “well-read.” Rush then voiced his concern over the possibility of a Palin-led third party, warning that third parties always lose and you never end up with congressional or Senate candidates. The bottom line, said Rush, was Willie Brown's column in the San Francisco Chronicle -- Sarah Palin is “outsmarting everyone.” Rush added that she can “overcome this quitting business” depending on what she does between now and then -- although Rush explained that he had no idea what that would be, other than trying to “make some money.”

After another break, Rush took a caller who brought up Obama's speech in Ghana, in which Obama decried government corruption, something both the caller and Rush found ironic. Rush used this opportunity to launch into a rather vile -- and repetitious -- rant. “Our government's soon going to be skimming 51 percent off the top of everything we make,” said Rush. “What does that make Obama? Obama just kneecapped the auto industry; he put the United Auto Workers in charge on the board of directors and made them owners. What the hell is that? He kneecapped an entire industry.”

It got worse:

LIMBAUGH: This is a speech he could have made to Americans. He gave a speech to Ghana that he could have made to Americans. This speech was given to make Obama look like he's for democracy, freedom and the rule of law, low taxes, economic growth. And he wasn't even speaking to Ghana. You know what? His primary audience -- right here; primary audience here at home. He wants to govern like the people he is lecturing. Obama wants to govern like an African colonial.

Jumping from that, Rush then read at length from a Financial Times interview with Larry Summers. Rush said that Summers is totally remaking the American economy, and on the subject of the “pay czar,” Rush said that it was none of their business what anybody in the country earns. Then Rush read from Robert Samuelson's latest column in Newsweek about how the rich “are no longer recession-proof.” Rush said taking money out of the private sector economy is exactly what the Obama people have in mind.

One more break, and Rush concluded the program with a call that was surely a boost to his already dangerously inflated ego. The caller told Rush about a paper he wrote as a college freshman, explaining that he had to write on an influential person, and he chose Rush. The caller said he received the highest grade in his class for the paper, and his professor said that Rush might be the most influential person of our time. Anyway, the caller got to the point, explaining that he has been saving up his money since he wrote the paper so that he could purchase skybox tickets at an Arizona Cardinals game, and invited Rush to go along. Rush declined the invitation, but told the caller he would keep in touch, as he would come up with a better way to spend some of the money.

We certainly hope you all enjoyed Rush's glorious return to the microphone today. But if you have spent some time with our vast Limbaugh Wire archives, you might have noticed that after a week off the air, he had virtually nothing new to say.

Simon Maloy, Zachary Pleat, and Ariana Probinsky contributed to this edition of the Limbaugh Wire.

Highlights from Hour 3

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: All this does -- this is -- this confirms that this is just nothing more than an attempt to cover up Pelosi's lies about her waterboarding briefings. That's all this story's purpose is, is to give her cover, and, perhaps to further the cause that Eric Holder has announced. He wants to go back and actually prosecute Bush administrations for war crimes because of torture.

Folks, that doesn't happen in the United States of America. Administrations change; they go into the past; the current one leads to the future. It's in banana republics and totalitarian dictatorships where you go back and criminally prosecute your predecessors for the purpose of seeing to it that they never surface again.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: I'll tell you what, let me try this. You know what? I'd have been a better secretary of Defense and a better secretary of State because I'm a white guy and I have a better understanding of the history of this country and national defense than Colin Powell. You think I'd be called a racist? Yes, I would. I would be called a racist if I had said that -- and I would be. If I'd said I'm better than Colin Powell 'cause I'm white and he's black, I'd be called a racist. So, why does she get a pass? She said she's better 'cause she's Latina.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Well, folks, I'm gonna tell you what: Our government's soon going to be skimming 51 percent off the top of everything we make. What does that make Obama? Obama just kneecapped the auto industry; he put the United Auto Workers in charge on the board of directors and made them owners. What the hell is that? He kneecapped an entire industry.

He said, that's not democracy; that's tyranny even if occasionally you sprinkle an election in there; that now is the time for that style of corrupt governance to end. Well, the last I looked, Obama just ordered the Justice Department to drop election intimidation charges against the New Black Panthers. He is funneling billions in tax dollars to ACORN, which is a criminal enterprise, if widespread illegality and voter registration means anything.

This is a speech he could have made to Americans. He gave a speech to Ghana that he could have made to Americans. This speech was given to make Obama look like he's for democracy, freedom and the rule of law, low taxes, economic growth. And he wasn't even speaking to Ghana. You know what? His primary audience -- right here; primary audience here at home. He wants to govern like the people he is lecturing. Obama wants to govern like an African colonial.