This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by the car of Rush's boyhood dreams
By Simon Maloy

One more hour to go, and Rush got it started by claiming that he couldn't believe he was being criticized for “laughing too much” at the Air Force One flyover. What's funny, according to Rush, is how the media treats Obama like a sitcom, all the while Chrysler and GM have bent over and “grabbed their ankles” for Obama. Rush then claimed that he “wouldn't be surprised if what they were doing” with the flyover “was collecting footage, B-roll for the next 'Obama for President' campaign.” Rush elaborated: “They're up there -- it's for Obama. And I -- you know, maybe they're surveying the Statue of Liberty from Air Force One, replacing that statue with one of Obama in 2013, who knows? I don't know, folks. I'm just telling you none of it computes. None of the official explanations compute.”

After repeating his thoughts on “Don Obama” and his UAW footsoldiers taking over Chrysler and GM, Rush read from a Washington Post article on GM shedding the Pontiac, Hummer, Saturn, and Saab lines of cars. Rush was sadly wistful upon reading this, noting that his first car was a Pontiac, and that bands like the Beach Boys used to sing about these cars. Then he switched from wistful back to... well, normal: “I'm just seeing a bunch of Tony Sopranos as car salesman now.” Rush then counseled his listeners that if they want to buy a GM automobile, the time might be now. There were many reasons Rush suggested that they buy GM, not least the fact that if "[y]ou lose your job, they'll make the car payment up to 500 bucks a month, up to nine months." We've said it before and we'll say it again -- here are Rush's original, non-hypocritical thoughts on this very same GM program: “Yeah, OK, well -- ask you a question here: With whose money are they going to pay for your car payment? Mine, dingleberry, and every other taxpayer's.”

Leading into the break, Rush explained why there have been more cases of swine flu -- and more deaths -- in Mexico than in the United States: They have socialized medicine, and we don't... yet.

After the break, Rush took a call from a man who had not been listening to Rush the past couple of hours (nor reading the Limbaugh Wire, apparently) and asked El Rushbo to once again offer his thoughts on the Specter defection. Rush dutifully obliged: It's no great loss for the party; he was going to lose against Pat Toomey; and he didn't receive the accolades he expected for opposing the Employee Free Choice Act. Rush was again surprised that he never hears from the media how the Democratic Party has to be a moderate, big tent party. Really? We never hear that from the media?

Rush then took a caller who wanted Rush's opinion on what Specter's legacy will be. Rush's opinion was: “Who cares?!” Rush explained that legacies will be different depending on your perspective, and that he doesn't care much about legacies because Rush always looks forward, not back.

After the break, Rush noted that Gallup's latest poll was slightly out of line with other recent polls in that it put Obama's approval rating at 56 percent, which was lower (at this point of his presidency) than five of the six presidents who preceded him. And yet, Rush said, these poll numbers are being reported by the media as a great triumph for Obama, even though “these first 100 days have been a disaster.” This demonstrates, according to Rush, that there is a huge gap between what is “news” and what is “fact.” To us, it demonstrates that a 56-percent approval rating is still rightly viewed as a pretty good thing for a president to have.

After a quick plug for The Heritage Foundation and a commercial time out, Rush took a call from a man who found it unbelievable, in his “limited experience,” that the executive branch didn't know what was going on with Air Force One. Rush agreed, but cautioned that this was just a minor incident. Wait until the stimulus plan starts “wrecking” the country, Rush counseled, then you'll see some impressive denials of what Obama did and did not know.

Rush's next caller explained why a photo shoot would be arranged for Air Force One -- the flight crew probably gives signed photos to the staff at military bases and airports as thank-you gifts for accommodating the president's jet. Rush was glad to know there is a reason for these photos to be taken, but insisted on knowing when was the last time there was an Air Force One photo shoot and where it took place. There is probably a simple explanation for all of this, Rush said, but the denials from the White Hose “raise red flags.”

One more break and Rush came back reading a “hilarious” statement from the “union thug group,” Americans United for Change, which said Specter's decision is the “ultimate rejection” of the “Limbaugh-led party of no.” Rush then aired some sound bites of Specter saying that wasn't going to let the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate judge his 29-year record, and that he still opposes EFCA. Rush said Specter had “firebombed” Pennsylvania Republicans, and that he'll have to remember Specter saying he still opposes EFCA, because, just last month, Specter said he wasn't going to leave the GOP.

Well, that's a wrap for today's Limbaugh Wire. It's always fun when our nose for conspiracy theorism turns out to be spot-on -- though in fairness, it's not tough to sniff 'em out when listening to Rush these days. We'll see you all tomorrow. Until then, Media Matters' ever-growing and thoroughly informative Limbaugh archives are at your beck and call.

Highlights from Hour 3

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: Everybody's asking me, “Rush, what if -- OK, you can't understand. What -- they didn't have to take the plane up there 'cause they could've Photoshopped it. What do you think is going on?”

I don't know what they're doing. I have no idea. But I'll -- I wouldn't be surprised if what they were doing was collecting footage, B-roll for the next “Obama for President” campaign. He may be paying for it out of the campaign. If they do, legally, he would have to pay for it out of his campaign funds. For crying out loud, that's just a phone call to George Soros. That's no big deal. They have the money for it.

I guarantee you that something like that is what they were doing. They're up there -- it's for Obama. And I -- you know, maybe they're surveying the Statue of Liberty from Air Force One, replacing that statue with one of Obama in 2013, who knows? I don't know, folks. I'm just telling you none of it computes. None of the official explanations compute.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: You know, if you want a General Motors car, while it's still General Motors, right now is the time to do it. Honest to goodness. So, what -- they're holding onto Cadillac. They're holding onto Chevrolet, Buick, and GMC. And they're -- they got a -- I happen to know this. General Motors has got a new sales plan for Cadillac and for Chevrolet -- still the Hummer, too. They've got to get rid of the inventory.

So, they're backing for five years the powertrain: five years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. A full year of On Star is standard on every Cadillac model. On Star is amazing. In fact, it's got a nav system that beats most other navigation systems if where you want to go -- like, if you're headed to Port St. Lucie, and where you want to go in Port St. Lucie is not in the navigation system, all you have to do is call the On Star operator, and they'll give you turn-by-turn directions because they know.

And that number -- if you're in an emergency, if you need your car unlocked, if you go into McDonald's and you get all upset in there because they're out of McNuggets, and you didn't shut the car off, the keys are in it, you go back out, you're still mad because you've got no McNuggets -- “Oh my God, how do I get in the car?” -- call On Star and they'll unlock the car for you. Well, they may not get you -- direct you to where they do have McNuggets if the McDonald's you're at doesn't have them, but, you know, On Star can do a lot.

And also, this: You lose your job, they'll make the car payment up to 500 bucks a month, up to nine months. And it's such a shame 'cause they're making -- Cadillac is a -- we've driven a lot of them -- but the Cadillac -- what's the crossover? What's the -- XRX or something. It's just a -- just a great car.

So, General Motors still moving automobiles out there, doing what they can. And they are making deals. Then, if you want a General Motors car, now might be the time to look into it.

Clips from this hour

Limbaugh on auto bailout: GM and Chrysler “bent over and grabbed the ankles”

Limbaugh refers to Americans United for Change as a “union thug group”

Limbaugh throws out another conspiracy theory: Maybe Air Force One was in NYC to replace Statue of Liberty with “one of Obama”